Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in the Fog

John and I spent the weekend away from Sariah for the first time and headed over to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The weather had been gloriously warm and sunny for many days and we planned on hiking a couple of harder mountains together since we didn't have to carry Sariah along.

By the time we arrived at our condo for the weekend, the clouds had rolled in and there was 100% chance of rain for the following day. But we didn't care because we were childless for the first time in almost two years and we needed the rest.

Instead of conquering new peaks, we headed out in the rain and made our way up to the Heliotrope trail. It didn't take long before we started running into quite a few hikers who let us know that the creeks were looking more like rivers in the miles ahead and everyone was turning around because they couldn't cross them. We continued in order to see exactly what these creeks were like on an extra wet day.

At one point, we removed our already wet hiking boots, tied them to our backpack and prepared ourselves mentally to cross a raging and frigid creek. John crossed first and I planned on going through right after him...but I freaked out. So there we were. Standing twelve feet away from each other, yelling as loud as we could because the creek was so loud we could hardly hear each other's voice. Our feet ached in the cold cataracts that continued to flow down as John encouraged me to take this route and then this other route. He told me he knew I could do it and that it looked scary, but the water was not deep and I could just hold on to these rocks on my right and run as fast as I could. He encouraged me and I loved him as I watched his hands move as he described each step to take at the top of his lungs. I didn't want to cross because I was scared. I didn't want to cross because I knew that if I crossed that creek I was going to have to cross it back. I didn't want to cross because my feet were totally numb. But I crossed because I was with him.

That moment in our hike reminded me of hundreds of moments throughout our 6 years of marriage.

Figuratively speaking, we have hiked many mountains and we have crossed frigid and raging creeks. We have seen beauty like never before and we have been cold, nervous, scared, but also excited. We have encouraged each other and we have been to places we would not want to go alone.

Our anniversary weekend was so different from what we planned, but I know everything happened exactly the way God intended it to be - and I am glad He directs our paths.