When We Almost Died on Our Honeymoon…

It was 37 years ago, but I remember it as though it was yesterday. Tim and I were heading up to Mount Baldy, in Southern California, for a short ski trip before our honeymoon cruise that would begin a few days later.

In Southern California 37 years ago, four-wheel-drive SUVs were not as common as they are today. So we were in a rear wheel drive Honda, heading up the mountain. People in Southern California generally don’t know how to drive in snow and ice. (including us)

Mountain Cliff

There had been a storm a few days earlier so this snow was good for skiing. This was a nice day, but the roads were icy in a few areas. We were heading up the mountain, following another car when we came to a sharp turn. We were in the outside lane which hugged the cliff, which was over the valley that was about 1000 feet down.

It so happened that there was ice on the road right on the turn. The driver of the car in front of us stopped on the turn when he saw the ice, and therefore we had to stop also- right on the ice. We began to slide. It was a slow slide, sort of a slow-motion slide. With no guardrail on the road, we envisioned ourselves sliding right over the cliff.

 We were stopped, not able to move forward, yet unintentionally sliding backwards. But yet, God protected us. (I am here writing this, so you know we didn’t go over the cliff.) There was about 3 feet of gravel between the ice in the cliff and that stopped us.

 I learned several great lessons on that trip,most of which I will have to save for another time. But one in particular stands out at the moment. That is, it takes no effort to slide backwards. As we are learning and growing we need to keep making steps forward. If we stop, we may find ourselves going in the wrong direction.

 We don’t have to go fast or take big steps, but we need to keep moving in the right direction, even if it is in small steps. Everything we do should have purpose. Even our rest and relaxation has purpose. It is when we stop moving forward with purpose that we risk sliding backwards. I wrote a series on God’s purpose for us several months ago. You can read that here.

 There are several things that can cause us to stop moving forward. Here are a few of them.

• Unforeseen obstacles
• Exhaustion (build rest into your schedule)
• Not pacing yourself
• Unforeseen changes
• Not having the right tools
• Not having a plan

I will speak to each of these in upcoming blogs. So stay tuned. And don’t find yourself sliding back on the ice!

Do you have a story when you found yourself slipping backward because you weren’t moving forward? I would love to hear it so would you please share it below?