Life in the mountains of Cedar Mountain, NC, with the most awesome husband ever was, well, pretty much as good as it gets. David's extended family rented us a cabin for a steal of a deal for 6-wks in an extraordinary location. At the cabin, we enjoyed eating together at the picnic table on the screened-in porch with candles. We only had to go to the grocery store a few times, thanks to David's mom Anna stocking our fridge with delicious, healthy food before we arrived. The weather was completely unpredictable--weather reports in Brevard do you no good; it rains when the clouds feel like it, and it usually "feels like it" whenever you want to go outside to do something. When it was raining hard enough to discourage us from outdoor activities, we either read books or wrote thank you notes to all the people who blessed us so much and made our time of adventure and relaxation possible. Many nights, we slept on a matress on the porch, and while enjoying the night sounds and fresh mountain air, we talked about just how good God is and about how much He has blessed us.
Our 6-wk honeymoon in the mountains was actually more like a "corner" we got backed into. Our original plan was to live in the cabin all summer while working jobs in Brevard. We had traveled to Brevard over spring break to search for jobs, and David got an offer at a health food store, so we felt secure that at least he had employment, but a week before the wedding, we discovered that the job had been given to someone else, so both of us were jobless. Well, thanks to all the wonderful wedding gifts we received from friends and family, we were able to stay in the cabin without having to work! It was like living the dream of our lifetimes.
Every day was an adventure while in the mountains. The first night, we slept in my car during a stormy night because we couldn't find the key to the cabin. We had to climb in through a window the next morning. Some of our daily adventures consisted of mountain biking the trails of Dupont and Pisgah Forest, running nearby trails to look at waterfalls, road biking the Blue Ridge Parkway, and backpacking in Shining Rock Wilderness.
I took some intense falls while mountain biking. Every extreme downhill I practically turned blue in the face from holding my breath as I anticipated a wipeout to come at any moment. Our first trip lasted 3 hrs, which was definitely long enough for disaster to set in. David almost got swept away by a roaring river and my entire quad cramped up only a quarter mile from being finished. Our other trips were better, though. By the end of our stay, David had finally managed to teach me to shift my weight to maneuver the bike a little better. Alas, I still hit some trees and flipped over many rocks to gain some nasty bruises. I swear those trees bite; and I don’t remember doing them a single injustice. Still, I can honestly say I had fun, save for the one trip that I ripped my belly button ring out. We went to a sketchy tattoo parlor to get a new one, but the piercer happened to be a first-timer apprentice, and I becamse his lucky experiment. Not a pleasant experience.
Our road biking expedition turned out to be more of an adventure than we had expected. Our goal was to make it to the highest point of the Parkway. The ascent was absoluately gorgeous, but we ended up stopping short of our goal because I was too tired to go on. As if fatigue was not enough, we hit some serious fog, wind and cold rain on our descent. At one point, we had to pull off the road to huddle for warmth. I was completely numb and shivering so badly that I was having a difficult time keeping my bike on the road. I had never been so happy to see the car when we returned. The sickening part of it all was that we later discovered that we were only one look-off short of the highest point (we just didn't know it b/c of all the fog!).
Another adventure consisted of housing TJ the “train jumper” for a night. TJ's parents divorced when he was nine, and his alcoholic dad beat him bad enough that TJ left home for good and began his life of hitch-hiking and train-jumping. We took him up to the cabin, fed him spaghetti and watched "Into the Wild", which, besides the awkward nudity scenes, turned out to be a really great film. People like Tommy help me remember why the Gospel of Jesus is what life is all about. The grief he has experienced is so deep. I personally don’t think I would have come up with anything better to do with life than what he’s done with his if I had grown up in his circumstances. TJ told us that he does know Jesus as his personal Savior. I pray that he is doing well, wherever he may be.
We tried to make it out for the sunset every evening we could. There is a beautiful lake that sits right below the cabin, and it does a great job of embellishing the sun as it exits the sky. We swam the length of the lake for exercise and enjoyed taking the canoe out to chase beavers (although sometimes, I think they were chasing us).
Our last big adventure was our backpacking trip through the Shining Rock Wilderness. First, we drove up to the Blueridge Parkway, parked at Black Balsam Parking Area, and entered the Shining Rock Wilderness on the Art Loeb trail. Storms were lurking above us and thunder was rumbling across the seemingly endless mountain peaks, but we decided to trudge onward. We stopped hiking at the top of a peak near Mt. Tennet. We found a nice little cubby where we were safe from the wind and set up the tent. We watched the sunset and then hit the sack. The next day was a productive day of hiking, but on our trek back, the unpredictable weather had the last laugh. When we were only about one mile from the car, without any warning an intense storm blew through right as we were reaching the summit of Balsam. We got absolutely drenched. David pulled out the rain tarp from my tent and we shivered under it on top of our packs till the worst part was over, and then we made a break for it. Of course, by the time we reached the car, the skies were blue again. Not funny.
While in Brevard, David and I also made time for completing and sending in our primary med school applications by splitting time at a local coffee shop and the town library. Near the end of our "mountain bliss", we were blessed with an opportunity to shadow a family practice osteopathic physician named Dr. Rachel Brown, D.O. This was crucial for us because in order to apply to osteopathic school, you have to have a recommendation letter from a D.O., so without Dr. Brown, our applications would be incomplete. But God opened up that door for us at just the right time, and we really enjoyed following Dr. Brown around for a few days.
I really like being married. But more than being married, I just really like my husband. He brightens my life is ways I never knew someone could. I really can’t and don’t want to imagine my life without him. David describes marriage as “a satisfaction of lifelong desires.” While this is good, he says, it also puts us in danger of easily forgetting what it was like to have those desires unfulfilled. We both have to make a conscious effort not to take the gift of each other for granted.
Dear Father, I pray that you will do whatever it takes to keep us reminded of how blessed we are to have the friendship and oneness you've given to us.
Something cool I’ve learned about David is that he is really good at figuring out how things work, which is something I couldn’t honestly care less about. I am fascinated by his desire to work on and fix things. I would rather leave it to an expert and call it a day, but I love that he wants to do it himself. I admire him for it. It’s a strength I’ll never have.
I have to say I have the best husband in the whole world. He and my dad are the heroes of my life and the best men I know. David loves me so well, so selflessly. He has spent a large portion of our relationship patiently caring for me as I fight chronic migraines, digestive problems and other medical issues. He takes care of me beautifully. I praise God that we are like-minded in our passions, hobbies and priorities. I’m so glad that we can live simply and use our lives to bless others. I absolutely love life with him, and I look forward to being transformed into the image of Christ as I learn what it means to love him well.
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