Marry the Man by Manndi DeBoef
Marry the man that stops to let you take pictures of the sunset.
I always get melancholy as the last vision of mountain peaks slowly disappears beyond the horizon. On this particular trip home from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, God supplied us with the most stunning sunset over the last remnants of mountain peaks I have ever witnessed. It made saying goodbye just a little easier. I felt as if God was looking down upon his child, and with loving assurance, saying: “This beauty awaits your next adventure….enjoy the brilliance of this moment.”.
My memory was flooded to years ago, summers spent traveling with my parents. I can still hear my Dad, look over, see me deep in the midst of a cheesy romance novel, with the beauty of God’s creation just outside our red Silverado window. “Get your nose out of that book! Look at this beautiful land!" I won’t lie, it annoyed me at the time. But now…
I cannot keep my eyes away from the window. My nose is no longer in a ridiculous romance novel, or on my phone, but rather plastered to the cold windowpane, mesmerized by the breathtaking sights surrounding me. Snow-capped mountains, the bobbing tail of an antelope running in the field, a sunset that knocks the socks of any painted portrait I have ever laid eyes upon.
My sweet dad, with hopes of passing his love of nature on to his only daughter, would patiently pull over to the side of the road when I showed the slightest interest in taking pictures of flowers, trees, churches, and old barns. This man would patiently pull to the side of the road, grab the binoculars, and scope out the wildlife no one else seemed to see, but him. Eagle Eye Duane, we called him.
It has been a few years since my last trip with my parents. I can only hope, by the pictures I post on social media and share with my family in person, that my Dad can see that out of the many genetics I inherited from him (love of nature, appreciation for God’s creation, excitement at a stunning landscape, wildlife spotting, weather changes, and random, grizzwald-y sights, such as the largest hand-dug well in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas), this is most definitely a trait that runs deep in this Maphies blood.
Thank you, Dad.
And now, a man, my new husband, shares my passion for nature and my love of adventure, as he sits beside me and patiently pulls over at my frequent whims to catch a slice of the beauty beyond our black Dodge RAM pickup. This rugged beauty cannot be tamed. The camera does little justice to the natural beauty that God’s hand lovingly paints on the canvas of this earthly landscape every single morning, afternoon, evening, and against the black diamond-studded sky at night.
Thank you, Justin, for indulging me in one of my absolute favorite pastimes, allowing all my senses to magically be at one with the nature my Lord created so many years ago.