Reliveit! Extreme! on so many levels

This weekend our adorable friend

Jamie McCloud 

got married to a fabulous vibrant woman,

Natalie.

I have dubbed their ceremony as

"Extreme Wedding".

It was Extreme

on so many levels!

Speaking of "levels"

let me start by saying that to get to the ceremony

you enjoyed a 10 minute

chairlift ride

up

June Mountain.

I sure wish I had pics to show you here.

I am afraid of heights.

My hands were were gripped on 

the very few bars to hold on to

and my eyes were closed

for most of the ride.

There was a moment

approaching the steepest part of the lift

that I snuck a quick peek

aND saw what really looked like

an ascension
in
to 

Heaven.

It was astounding

and 

my heart is pounding with 

awe

just remembering it!

 All dressed up,

whispering to my son

who had the "duty" of riding with me 

and keeping me calm,

I could see my daughters foot swinging

relaxed with my

TrueLove's arm around her

and I felt like

we were part of something

so special,

bigger than life,

and 

truly

Heavenly.

So I apologize that my paranoia 

prohibited

picture taking.

It was so amazing and romantic to watch

the whole wedding party

ascend by chair lift,

EVEN THE BRIDE,

the last one up,

in all her glory

cruised up the side of the mountain

while we listened 

to beautiful music

backdropped by the

 majestic Mammoth mountains.

A powerful red tailed hawk encircled
above

the exchanging of

vows,

a cross in the sky hovered 

(created by the crossing condensation

left by jets earlier),

and 

illustrious 

perfect

weather

marked the moment

permanently in history
as

simply

divine.

It was one of those moments

where I've experienced

the awesomeness

of 

what it feels like

when

HEAVEN 

MEETS 

EARTH!

So.

My fear of heights kicked in really good

on the drive up

to Mammoth.

Driving up to and through

Yosemite,

Tualome Meadows,

and 

through what looked like

Mars,

there were gnarly bends around the mountains,

with no guard rails,

and 

dramatically
intimidating
cliffs.

I will say that the views were astounding!

Glorious!

However, 

the tension from the fear,

really held me back from embracing the spectacular

sites

as one really ought to

when given the opportunity.

All of this happening,

with the notion of the chairlift 

looming above my head,

no pun intended.

I had made a statement to my son,

the day before,

while he was complaining about dressing up.

I told him,

"It is an honor to attend a wedding.

Someone thinks we are special enough

and loves us so much,

that on the happiest day

of their life,

they want to see us.

We honor them by being there.

We honor them by dressing up.

(I was trying to school him on why I'd heard enough complaining).

And that is why,

even though I am terrified of heights,

I will plant my fat butt 

on that chairlift

as a statement

that I honor Jamie's moment."

Yup!
Gulp!

It came out of my mouth,

in the presence of my son,

whom I have been trying to teach that doing hard things

is good for us---

so there I was 
with

 no possible way I to 

cheese out

at the last minute.

Fear takes a lot of energy.

Saturday morning as I laid in bed

thinking about Fear,

ugh-really?!

can you believe it?!

This is not how you should start your day.

This is a better idea:

I just prayed

God I need you to say something.

"Stand Up!

rrr! I was comfortable under the warm covers

thinking about how scary
everything was.

But I did it.

I stood up and went to the window where I could see

gorgeous mountains.

Here are some things that comforted me and I'm very sure it was

GOD
speaking them!

"You are not afraid of the chairlift. 

You're not afraid you'll fall to your death.

You're not afraid of the engineering.

You're not afraid that you won't make it.

You are not afraid of anything that is

rational.

You are afraid of a 

FEELING.

You are afraid of the feeling

that you tend to coddle.

That feeling you feel feels like Fear, but 

I want to walk you through that feeling so you can

experience it as Exhilaration!

As you drove here,

all of those turns that freaked you out,

led you to see secret beautiful things

hidden in natural wonders

that I prepared for you.

I want you to go up the chairlift because at the top

there is a GIFT.

I want to give you the gift of "AWE".

When God speaks that into your heart,

you know you've got to go with it.

The fear didn't instantly disappear but I was given

a promise

that there was a gift in it.

I want you to receive the gift of the part of my

character that takes your breath away

and 

leaves you with 

"AWE".

You are not the only one that gets freaked out

on the white knuckle passes.

However, 

you continue on the road,

freaked out because you know

the destination is 
worth it all.

I heard you marveling at the rock formations,

the purply alpine lakes,

the colors.

You knew that you had to endure the drive 

to experience the panoramic

glimpses

of Heaven in the 

character of nature.

I caught you thinking of the parallels of life

and the gnarly road.

The road is narrow and difficult to climb.

It has exceeding amounts of curves

that make you feel

so vulnerable, 
sometimes sick
and 
suprisingly

close to death.

But you don't stop 

and you can't go back.

You have to stay buckled up,

focused,

eyes on the road,

alert,

and aware that the destination is worth it.

Veering off road

would be 
perilous.

I know you thought about this.

I know you thought about how even though

it felt like you'd go over the cliff so many times

that you were listening 

to a still

small

voice

saying

that

' "You'll be ok." '

I wish I had spectacular pictures to put here.

I don't.
Just picture this:

at 40,

I'm still learning

how to walk through 

my 
fears.

Now I'm thinking

of the

first glimpse I caught 

of 

Natalie,

the bride,

coming up over the edge

of the horizon,

glamorously adorned in white silk,

relaxed in her beauty,

to the place

on the mountain

where her new life would begin.

WOW!

Marriage is a perfect

example

of 

fear,

unknown dangers,

and 

risk.

We say,

"I do"

because 

love 

in all it's 

purity and passion

is

WORTH

IT!

Natalie got to contemplate

on her 10 minute

lift

up

about how her single life

was being left

at the bottom of the mountain.

After taking that ride

she would plant her feet

on the rock

and make a love covenant

and come back down

with the gift 

of the

Love of her Life

Together,

Forever.

It was

Romantic.

Surreal.

Inspiring.

Magical.

Emotional.

Unparalleled.

Breathtaking.

and 

Extreme!

on so many levels