She checked her harness one last time. She turned and looked at him, starting to feel the nervous knot in her stomach.
“Belay team ready?” she yelled, ready to start her climb.
“Ready!” came the response. And with that she climbed the pole.
When she reached the top and sat down on the platform, she looked down at him and waited. Now it was his turn. He climbed quickly and well, coming to the platform and immediately standing up and then waiting for her to stand.
As the pole swayed back and forth they were checking with one another to make sure they were ready.
She asked him to count it down. He let their belay teams know, and he counted it down.
Three.
Two.
One.
JUMP.
———-
Have you ever done a high ropes course? Have you ever secured the harness and climbed up, over, or through something? Something way too big to just be climbing without any kind of safety equipment? Like climbing a Giant’s Ladder (a rope ladder where the steps get increasingly farther apart?) Or climbed a 30 foot poll and stood on a 1’x2′ plank before jumping off and grabbing a trapeze?
Imagine the rush, the feeling of mustering up your courage, and giving it your all, and then succeeding? Making it to the top. Catching that trapeze?
Can you imagine?
Now imagine doing that with someone else.
Taking this amazing adventure, this amazing leap of faith with your husband. Having to talk through each step and each move. And then taking the amazing leap together as you move onto the next thing.
Sounds like marriage, right?
Imagine putting on a harness that lets everyone you know see that you ready for an adventure. And you are ready to climb something that’s way too big for a normal climb. And then after a tough or easy climb depending on your course, you get to the end only to have a new challenge – like a jump.
The harness? Your wedding ring.
And your “too big for normal”? Your married life.
The next challenge? Who knows! But God does! And He has a plan.
———-
So why did I use this analogy?
Recently my husband and I visited Winshape Retreat in Rome, GA as our weekend away for this year. (yes, we take one every year! even with little kiddos!)
And they have amazing marriage retreats all throughout year (three categories: prepare, strengthen, and save) with some of the best speakers on marriages that are God-pleasing, from Rob Rienow to Gary Thomas, and more.
The coolest part is that during their marriage retreats, one of the sessions is their Winshape Wilderness program, which includes different high-ropes courses.
What better way to start working on and through what you’re learning than to get put on a harness and do something you’ve never done before where you have to fully rely on open communication with your spouse?!
—————-
How many of you are afraid of heights? Or rather afraid of gravity – so falling from the heights?
Or what if the height is a metaphor for other anxieties or fears – anxiety over the future, about finances, career paths, illness, or any other “thing” that we have to look in the eyes during our marriage?
We had one guy in our group who is deathly afraid of heights. He climbed anyways. His wife cheered him on every step of the way. When it came time to go from sitting to standing, he was breathing hard, taking huge puffed-cheek breaths to calm himself down. Yes, we shouted encouragement from the ground to him. But I have no doubt that the voice that got him through his fear was the voice of his wife, speaking to him from right next to him up on that platform.
And then they jumped together.
We all have fears, anxieties, and insecurities. And they will come out and affect how we do marriage and how our marriage journey goes.
And I think it’s really great and really important to have a community of people rallying around us to shout encouragements to us at the tough spots along the way, but how much better to be right there with our spouses, being that voice from right next to us on the platform, helping us get through the tough spot, then deciding to jump, together into the next thing that God has for us?
———–
We, as wives, sometimes aren’t sure what to do to help. What to say as we climb that pole, walk that path, and even get ready to jump?
When we don’t know what to get to the next place, we can be an encourager, whether that’s loud and spirited like a cheerleader, or strong whispers from on top of the platform, or a combination of both.
Now it’s your turn – how can you help your husband even when you’re scared? Even when it’s unknown? And how does he help you?
P.S. Be sure to get in on this #thankshubs Challenge and being thankful for our husbands. Check it out here.
P.S.S. Check out the sidebar where you can check out the upcoming Ultimate Christian Living Bundle, featuring my book along with over 80 others! Available starting next week!
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