Sign up for our free newsletter:

 1 of 3

Bright spring sunshine creeps through the lace curtains, throwing a filigree of shadows across the wood floor and spilling over the rose comforter of our canopy bed. I wake to the aroma of fresh coffee wafting beneath the French doors of our suite, and stretch luxuriantly across the deep, soft mattress, anticipating the morning banquet that will soon be delivered to our room.

Victoria, my wife of seven years this very morning, slips out of bed, returning a moment later with a tray laden with sugar, fresh cream, and a tall, steaming carafe of coffee. Life is good.

Vic sets the tray on the small breakfast table and murmurs, "Don't forget to wear your hiking boots."

Ah, yes, today we're going hiking.

Life isn't quite so good as I'd supposed.

Our annual state-of-the-Perkins hike began on our second anniversary as we were strolling along the beach in southern Oregon, holding hands as we remembered aloud the highlights of our first year together. Both of us come from a ministry background and are firm believers that our marriage is a house of ministry. The better we maintain the house, the better it can withstand the occasional storm.

Now it's an entrenched activity of our annual getaway, complete with notepads, pens, and PDAs (that's Personal Digital Assistants, though Public Displays of Affection are often involved, as well). It's our opportunity to sum up the events of the last 12 months and set goals for the coming year.

Example:

Vic: "What do you think about focusing on paying off our credit cards and then splitting those finances between our car payment and saving to have a baby?"

Me: Gasp … Wheeze … Gasp.

It's a very productive time.

Did I mention it also tends to include a grueling, sweating march up some nearly non-existent goat-trail to look at a long, gray stretch of ocean, a cascading waterfall or, heaven help us, another lighthouse?

Each year we swear that we've learned our lesson, that next year we'll find a nice spot with an ocean view to sit and compare notes from our marital ledgers, sipping take-out cappuccinos, and enjoying the beauty of God's creation as it was intended, from the padded comfort of bucket seats. Apparently a year is too long to remember such things.

Apparently we're morons.

Within five minutes of dropping our bags at the bed and breakfast, we're looking at maps and grilling our innkeepers on the local hiking scene.

Now to some, this behavior might indicate that we're avid hikers, or at least that our average weekly walk is farther than from our driveway to the living room couch. Given the eagerness with which we research, some would think that hiking was our thing.

next page... |  1 of 3

				Try an Issue of Today's Christian Woman Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Today's Christian Woman coming, honor your invoice for just $17.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Today's Christian Woman as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

RSS Feed   RSS Help