“But, if we made it to here, maybe we have everything it takes to make it to there?”

While taking in the beauty of the Ligurian coastline over recent days, the words of Will Small’s wonderful, pandemic-season poem “We Made it to Here” have been on my mind. The line above came into my head as I walked from Riomaggiore to Manarola on the weekend. This section of the 531 track is only 2kms. It sounds like a walk in the park. But far from it – it’s punishing. Most of the track is made up of rugged, rough stone steps. More than 600 up and almost the same down. I had to stop several times on the way up. I got to a point of taking ten steps at a time, with Will’s words echoing in mind. I’ve got this far, I can go a bit more, and then some more, and more again. Finally I got to the top and the views were amazing and the swim at the end will be long remembered. 

Now Will’s words were not written for hikers, nor specifically for marriages, but his encouraging words have spoken into both contexts for me this week. 

In August 2008, Megan and I spent a day in Cinque Terre as part of our European honeymoon. It was a quick but memorable visit, including a hike in 41-degree heat. As a sign of the times, photos show me wearing my “Kevin07” cap. Megan looked much better in her striped bikini and I’m sure some passers-by commented: “He’s punching above his weight” in beautiful Italian! Fifteen years on, so much has changed in our lives and the world and yet the natural, captivating beauty of the Ligurian coast never tires on me. It was on my bucket list to come back here and hike the five villages and I was able to do that in 2109. But it’s even better to be back with Megan, celebrating an early fifteenth anniversary and just for a short time, slowing together, amid our full and busy lives.

On one hand this is just another holiday – but on the other it’s a marker point. In the earliest days of our marriage – the easy honeymoon days – we were here. Fifteen years later we’re back – with much more water under the bridge – and it’s good to celebrate “we’ve made it to here”! 

As I sit and write from the beach today, there is so much to be thankful for. We have much to celebrate – wonderful memories, moments to cherish, our precious tribe, and important things we hold tightly; most of all the goodness and faithfulness of God. But there have also been some very tough seasons over the past 15 years and some new unexpected challenges in the past few years, including my health issues and the the pain of a hurtful ministry finish. Honestly, there have been many times when I have wondered, would I make it to “here”?   And I know, without doubt, that it’s only with God’s robust, persistent and loving grace, Megan’s enduring support and valuable loved ones in my corner that I have. 

When Megan and I came here in 2008 we had five children between us. We had just stepped into a whole new ball game – as we took on the challenge of navigating a blended family journey. There’s many a blog in that journey, but I’m so thankful that we’re still on the journey. I know I have made many mistakes, learnt some painful lessons, but I’ve also been blessed with an accepting, loving and forgiving clan. 

Into our “Brady Bunch” would soon come three more precious gifts from God and it’s a delight to see how our older and younger children have forged such deep relationships across Victoria, NSW and now the Northern Territory. Megan and I can only be here because Conrad bravely agreed to look after our Melbourne trio. I think we told him we would be home in eleven days … or was that eleven months! 

When I first came to Cinque Terre in 2008, I was travelling with my first work Blackberry. I remember a few weeks earlier being at kids sport on a Saturday afternoon and I got an email from my boss. That seemed so cool at the time. I could be reached anywhere, anytime. Fast forward and a break like this reminds me of my absolute need to slow down and switch on “out of office”. It’s so much easier to do that given the calibre of the leaders I serve with.

It’s hard to fathom that the iPhone was only a year old in 2008 and in the same year Apple opened the App Store and its iPod Touch. My Blackberry is long gone and the pace of life and technological change advance on overdrive! We live in a 24-7-365 world with the bombardment of more and more information and digital options. As a work in progress, I still need to establish more consistent, soulful, life-giving, grace rhythms in my life. We all do, to survive in the craziness of our time.

When Megan and I first ventured to the Ligurian coast, Prime Minster Kevin Rudd was flying high in the polls. In the US, an African-American senator from Chicago was inspiring hope and the possibility of change. Barack Obama would soon become President and in response, a poisonous, ultra-right movement would galvanise, leading us to the horror of the Trumpian politic.

In February 2008 Prime Minister Rudd delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generations and the possibility of significant steps forward in national reconciliation seemed possible. Fifteen years later we haven’t realised what so many have hoped for, making this year’s referendum an important opportunity not to be missed. I yearn that we would embrace the invitation of First Nations people to walk with them into a better and more just future for our nation. 

Many were listening to “Low” by Flo Rida on their iPods and MP3s, with the song topping the charts in Australia and across the world in 2008. [I just had to Google the song, as I had no memory of it.] American neo-western crime thriller No Country for Old Men won the Best Film Oscar. Kath and Kim, Summer Heights High and Home and Away won Logies and Heath Ledger won several acting awards posthumously. 

In August 2008, the Olympics opened in Beijing and we cheered on our Aussies to 14 gold medals, including some sensational performances in the pool. Hawthorn won the AFL flag and Manly thrashed Melbourne in the NRL, setting a new Grand Final winning margin.The Sydney Morning Herald reported the arrival of probiotics, Fair Trade products and fancy salts as three food trends of 2008. And put your hand up like me if you gifted one of the hot items of 08 – a digital photo frame! 08 is claimed to be the year DVD players died and Blu Ray arrived. [Did it ever arrive?] And Netflix was still seven years away in Australia. 

Like any year, it’s easy to miss many of the tragedies that struck in places across the world that don’t make headlines here. But it was hard to miss the Sichuan earthquake that killed more than 87,000 and even worse, Cyclone Nargis that left more than 138,000 dead or missing in Myanmar. Tragically – here and now – the people of Myanmar continue to live with much pain and heartache, like too many across the globe experiencing injustice and oppression. And in such a world, we’re all challenged to consider how we can play our part in pursuing shalom – in playing our part as people who stand with the hurting and the voiceless.

Contemplating the messiness of our world, we can all be prone at times to think it all seems too hard, or what difference can we make. And then I meet people who inspire me to keep at it – to keep pursuing the ways of Jesus. Like the Lebanese pastor I met in Norway a few weeks back. He leads a church close to overflowing Syrian refugee camps. An identified need was laundromat services for these highly vulnerable people, and so the church set up a laundry for their new neighbours. It’s not only meeting a physical need. The laundry has become a safe, accepting haven, inspiring hope and empowering change. 

It’s easy to sit this week and sip a spritz on the beach. Very easy! But the real world always awaits. I’m loving my much-needed time out, but this is a time for re-energising and dreaming. The world desperately needs to see more of the love of Jesus being demonstrated in a myriad of practical ways and I am thankful that Jesus still chooses ordinary, broken people like me to be his hands and feet. 

Life, marriage, family, relationships, vocation, work, leadership are all at times like the Riomaggorie climb – long, hard, painful, gruelling at times. And I know I wouldn’t have made it to the top on Saturday without other the encouragement of other tired step climbers. We cheered each other on. We rested together. We kept going together, step by step.  Today, as I catch my breath, I’m so thankful for those who have journeyed with me over the past 15 years – and well beyond. Those who have stood in my corner. Those who have cheered me on, held me up, kept me going. You’ve helped me make it to here! 

And Megan Anderson we’ve made it to here! I am so deeply thankful for you journeying alongside me in all seasons of life. At our wedding reception I spoke of how when you came into my life, “it was like happiness unexpectedly landed on my shoulders”. And that happiness – or better, deeper joy, continues to land upon me. It’s there in the rawness, sadness and messiness of real life, as well in the experiences we savour, and in all the in-between. 

Fifteen years has flown by! And this year also marks ten years cancer-free for Megan. There is much to be thankful for! Most of all, I am thankful to a God who never gives up on us – a God of deep love, a God of rich compassion, a God who has got us to here, and a God who can get us to there! A God with us when life seems like a gruelling climb and a God with us when we catch our breath and take in the beauty of life, relationships, creation, justice and vocation.