The air on my face is moist, scented with fresh fallen snow.  I close my eyes and remind myself to feel this experience.  I want to take in every note, every hue.

I breathe in deeply.  The cool air in my lungs wakens me from the restful moment and reminds me why I’m here;  I have an appointment today.

No one ever knows the day or time of their next encounter.  The journey just…takes you there.

For a long time now, I’ve been climbing up this mountainside behind me.  There are always a few bumps and scrapes on the way.

Sometimes, if I would forgot to refresh myself, the constant work would overtake me.  I might stumble from exhaustion or cry from weariness.  Once, I sat in the same place for a whole day, because I felt like giving up.

Companions are rare on journeys such as this.  But sometimes paths cross and there’s a hand to hold – if only for a moment.  I treasure those moments.  They remind me that I’m not alone.

I breathe deeply again, looking around me now.  I don’t want to miss a single thing…

…I remember the journey – the obstacles and challenges – I don’t want it to have been for nothing.

Everything I questioned along the way, I  can finally allow myself to find a purpose in.  I can even appreciate the pain I endured, because I know that the struggles I faced, got me here.  To this moment.  Standing exactly where I am standing, right now.

I wonder if maybe someone will take the path I forged and have a slightly easier journey than I did.  In my wondering, I hear the snap of a twig and instantly I’m enveloped in the presence I’ve been desperate for.

The gentle interruption reminds me why I love Jehovah Shammah the way I do.

Our familiar embrace brings me home and reminds me of who I am.  I retell of how far I’ve come and what I was willing to sacrifice to get here.  And as I look into the eyes of the one I love, I realize what an honor it is, knowing that I’ve honored Adonai.

We share this time.  There are words for me.  Words that are meant especially for me, and I am brought to my knees.  I confess that I am broken.  But an outstretched hand welcomes me back to our embrace.  Holding me even tighter now.   There is no fear.  No condemnation.  Only love.

“It’s okay, Becky.  You and I?  We’ve never left each other – not for one second.”

I point down the mountain to the trails I took, leading me off course.  “Those choices I made – they took me farther from this place.”

“Ahh, look at those straight paths though!  You didn’t realize it, but I was with you.  I brought you here, to be with me.  And I felt this love the entire time!”

We dance, and laugh, and cry together….

Endurance.  Perseverance.  Searching.  They all brought me to a place unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

The uneven ground, I had grown used to navigating, has given way to a pristine beach along a great body of water.  It is peaceful.

I know that people who would wish me harm are watching.  I can see their ship out on the horizon.  But they can’t come any closer.  They don’t even try.  The distance between us is reassuring and I can just enjoy myself.

There are others like me here too.  Fellow sojourners.  They are joyfully sharing in each others’ company.

As I continue to take in my surroundings, I turn to realize that there is a great wall of sand behind me.  Tall and wide enough that I can not see the beginning or the end.  I stand looking in wonder.  Embedded in the wall, are the largest seashells I’ve ever seen; at least a foot and a half long!  I sense the open invitation to select my favorite ones.

There is an iridescent one that catches my eye.  I carefully begin to free it with my hands.  Dusting around the outside of the shell at first, until  I can reach behind and loosen it from the wall.  I cradle it gently in my arms.

While I’m aware that there are those who would love nothing more than to forcibly take this joy away from me; I couldn’t care less.  I sought beauty, and found it.

I wonder… That mountain I fought against… Could it be that it has turned to sand?  Have the struggles and strongholds it once held, been transformed into treasures?

The former obstacle stands before me now as a memorial.  A welcome source of everything it used to try to take away from me.  Greater than I could ever think, ask or imagine.