Reflections on the Path of our Married Life

On June 8, Tim and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary. My parents and sister were in town and took care of the boys so we could go out and have some much-needed "alone time" without having to worry about the boys. It was so refreshing to have quality time alone to talk about life, reflect on the past, and plan for the future. We went to St. Peter’s village for lunch and a hike through some great hiking trails.

We came up to a falling apart railroad beam bridge during our hike. We spent a bit of time there so that I could have fun taking some pictures (Tim is so gracious to humor me in my photography pastime). Beyond the bridge lay a really neat trail that really struck me in its beauty but also got me thinking about our lives.

The trail was so straight after walking a curvy trail leading up to that point. The trail curtained in luscious green. The path was level with small pebbles keeping the forest growth from overtaking the trail making the path slightly bumpy but far from treacherous.

It would be so nice to have our life be reflective of this trail – Beautiful green scenery, a straight path allowing you to see where you are going as far as the eye can see, the footpath slightly bumpy to keep things interesting but not enough to cause injury or stumbling. So far, our married life has been the opposite of these details. Our path has been so windy that we can hardly see around the bend in front of us. There have been times when the trail has been so bleak and barren that life had seemed to be sucked out of the area. Instead of small rocks lining our path, we’ve had sharp boulders causing hardships and struggles and pain as we try to continue to navigate the trail.

As I reflected on these visible and imagined images, I several thoughts came to mind:

• If beauty and ease always abounded, we would quickly take our path for granted, and we beauty would become mediocrity. 
• If the path were so easy, we wouldn’t have to rely on God for help to climb the boulders blocking our way. 
• We wouldn’t be as strong as we are today or have the endurance without the hardships to exercise our faith, physical bodies, emotional centers, and psychological well-being. 

So in conclusion, has life been really hard? Absolutely! If we could plan out our own lives, would we change the path we have tread? Perhaps slightly- maybe not so many boulders to climb all at once - give ourselves a chance to catch our breath once in a while. However, we really have no regrets because we realize that all that we have been through has been a result of our Designer’s plan to work all things for our good and His glory and to bring us to an expected end. Do we want to change the course of our future path? No way! 

God has proved his faithfulness to us in the past 12 years. He can continue to be faithful to us in the next 12 years and beyond. I am thankful to have not walked this rough path alone. With God and Tim at my side, I can keep on walking until I reach "the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).