i would've missed it...

This view... I never would've have seen it... never made it to this point... without the leadership of my husband...

The trail started off clear enough... a stairway from the parking lot of the dam... built by Boy Scouts... the sign said it was a 2 mile trail...

At the top of the stairs a gravel path was easy to follow... then we came to a y... to the left looked like an old road... to the right... more gravel overlooking a quarry... I thought following the gravel was the way... not long we came to a dead end... backtracking... my husband said we should go left... down the road... the way he thought first...

Back at the road-like trail... we walked... shortly it came to a real road... a locked gate separating trail from highway...

I was stumped... this is a stupid trail... there was no map at the beginning to show the way the 2 miles went... I stood at the gate... what a short adventure...

Husband... however... without hesitation... walked around the gate, loped across the highway, to investigate the woods on the other side...

Following his boldness, I ducked down and crawled through the gate... standing at the edge of the road I began to look... scanning across the highway for signs of the trail...

On a tree... to the right... was a small wooden plaque... painted brown... bearing a white arrow etched in the wood...

There it is...

We converged at the trail... me still unsure... because what type of people make woodsy-hiking trails without telling you they cross major roads...?  Apparently, Boy Scouts...

My spouse thoroughly confident and undaunted led the way through the woods... narrow trails... an ocassional arrow... faded red... on aluminum circles... nailed to trees, showed the way...

The Boy Scouts's directions left me wondering...

Without the leadership of my trailblazing husband... I never would have made it past the road... never seen the view... or walked along the bluff...

The Word made flesh... the leadership of husbands... their place at the head...

For the husband is the head of the wife...

Ephesians 5:22

ESV

At the head of my family... my husband... his leadership needed...

But my heartache... he remains an unbeliever... will not lead... cannot lead our family spiritually...

As I follow... on the trail... amazed at his undaunted spirit when the trail is unsure... a prayer...

Lord... what he could do as the spiritual head of our family...

capture his heart, Lord... capture his heart...

I wonder... what spiritual trails have I missed...? Where have I turned back instead of boldly moving forward...? I wonder... what would be... what could be... what will be...

But I want you to understand that

the head of every man is Christ,

the head of a wife is her husband,

and the head of Christ is God.

1Corinthians 11:3

ESV