Peaks and Valleys

I once read that marriage is full of Peaks and Valleys.

We started this trail together. Packed with a few essentials, a compass, some guides, and the guts.

Two souls, filled with passion, dreams and potential. Waking to unblemished days, uncomplicated decisions. Learning to trust and walk hand in hand. Oh sweet ignorance and youth! The climb was easy in the beginning. We had endurance and our burdens were light.

Days became long and nights even longer with the miracle of creation. Double duty rested on our weak shoulders. We attempted to rise to the occasion. Only to stumble at times. HE secured feeble knees and shouldered what we could not. HE carried us all through the basins and gorges of human nature. All were blessed. All were loved. All thrived. We began again, as we must daily, and attempted the ascent.

Blessed beyond measure, miracles were given. Manna fell from the heavens and gave us more sustenance. We learn little by little. Challenge by challenge. Progress comes by faith and obedience. Love comes by work and service. Commitment comes from choice.

It is all around us now. The ripples of good choices. The echos of those who testified of true happiness.

Sometimes, when we listen hard enough, we can hear them. Calling down from the mount. Calling us to remembrance. Encouraging us to continue to climb.

Smiles, tears, laughter, screams, smelly diapers, colored markers, Johnson and Johnson, peanut butter, little shoes, smoking trains, smudgy fingerprints, crayoned sick figures, Disney songs, scary monsters, McDonald's toys, hugs and kisses.

It is all around us now.

Can the climb be both easy and hard. Sad and Happy. Good and Bad?

Can the low Valley's last for years and peaks rise from unstable ground?

Can Eight short years change your life forever?

Yes, yes it can.

Here is to you my love, my life, my friend.-Eight years has flown by.

They haven't been without some trials. Like every marriage, the peaks and valleys have been present. Sometimes we were in different places. You on a peak, me in a valley. The trick is helping eachother to the summit and finishing together. Our journey continues. I'm grateful for your companionship on the trek of life. It makes the valleys easier to cross and rise from. It sweetens the peaks and enhances the views. Here's to the journey. Oh, the joy in the journey. Here is to our Peaks and Valleys. What endurance they have built. What muscles, what lessons, what faith.

Happy Anniversary Babe!