Beauty in the Hidden ..... Part 4 ..... More of Our Story.....

So let's keep going..... =)
Well we climbed up the side of that mountain and got on the right trail, finally.

We hiked for quite a while, up very tough terrain, so thirsty, so tired, my hips hurt SO bad, Dick's heart had started giving him problems (he has problems with arthymia), so we kept having to stop, but we were making progress.

I kept saying my memory verses and Dick kept reminding me Spirit over flesh, Spirit over flesh.  I knew the finish line was in sight somehow and we'd be thirsty and tired, but make it out fine. 

Well, we finally got to the .8 mile marker at about 8:00 PM.  We were so excited.  Mr. Winslow told me we'd made it.  We were only .8 miles to the car and we could do this.  Well, I knew it was a tough .8 miles, but I also knew that by 9:00 PM or so, we'd be to the car and headed to the first station we could find with water!! 

So we started down the trail and we went up for a while, through a lot of brush and more thorns and stickers and lots of unevenness with all the rocks.  I kept twisting my ankle and stumping my toe.  It was SO dark, because we were now back in pretty much total tree cover.  We would see the moon when there would be an opening in the trees, but for the most part it was totally dark.  We only had our cell phones for lights.  Ridiculous on our part.  Crazy. 

Well, we walked.....

and walked.....

and walked some more.....

Until we started wondering if this was the right trail.  But we couldn't be on the wrong trail, again, because there were only two choices.  The one that lead back where we had made the wrong turn at the very beginning of the day, and it wasn't that one, and the other one that lead to the Compton Trail Head and our car.  It HAD to be that one!!!

So we kept moving.....  Ever so slowly.....

We hurt SO BAD!!  And I mean we were SO thirsty, I can't even explain how thirsty we were.  I will try to put this dehydration thing into a little bit of perspective.  I went to the bathroom when we left the house that morning at about 10:00 AM and here it was well after 9:00 PM and I still had not and didn't need to go.  We were so very thirsty and thankfully my dear man realized we were in real trouble. 

After we had walked and walked down this trail and it appeared that we were not getting to the car, suddenly Dick said, "Honey, right up there.  We've made it."  I was SO happy!!!  And then we got "right up there" and it was just the moon shining on that spot looking like it would open into the parking lot.  We walked a little more and then I had to stop again.

So we stopped and Mr. Winslow sat with me and said, "Can we call 911 out here?"  I knew when he said that, we were really in trouble.  You have to understand, there is no way my man would have even suggested such a thing if we could have gotten out of there by ourselves.

He knew I was NOT doing well and he felt so bad.  He kept apologizing to me.  Let me make this very clear, it was NOT necessary!!  I trust this man explicity.  I would follow him anywhere.  I know that he loves me like Christ loves the church, and when you are loved this way you gladly and completely commit and submit to your husband.  I did not one time get upset with him, nor did he with me.  We strode hand in hand knowing that we were in this thing together.  NO matter the outcome, we were together and would have it no other way.

Neither one of us were scared at all, but we sure were tired and thirsty and hurting.  But there was peace.  As we set hidden deep in the woods, I had this beautiful sense of peace and knowing that God could see us.  He knew EXACTLY where we were.  We were hidden, but we were hidden in Him.  No better place to be.

I asked my husband if we could just curl up and go to sleep for the night.  He said if we had water, we would have, but we didn't have and he said we couldn't stay there for the night without it.  So we were back to the 911 option.

To be cont'd..... =)