Rescue Me
Page 13
Ronnie struggled to turn and keep from scraping her back again while still protecting the victim.
The young man’s flailing movements finally stopped.
She steadied the two of them, holding the back of the young man’s belt with one hand, and touching the rock wall with the other.
“Ronnie,” Steve called up to her. “Are you set? I’ll start lowering you both. Just hang on.”
“Lower away,” she called down.
He slowly let the rope loosen through the carabineer.
She kept a hand moving down the rock to keep them steady.
As they neared the bottom, Steve could see her other hand held firm on the back of the victim’s harness. Once he had them safely on the ground, he noticed the young man’s forehead beaded with sweat even though the temperature had fallen below forty degrees.
The rest of the crew assisted in righting Ronnie and the victim, unhooking the two belts. They helped the victim to sit down and assessed him for any injuries.
The young man’s friends gathered around.
Steve stepped back, pulling the rope the rest of the way out of the metal rings. He walked over to Ronnie as she slipped out of the harness. “You OK?” He held out an arm for her to lean on as she stepped out of the straps.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Poor kid. That had to be tough for him.”
“Man, he was scared. Glad you were on belay. Thanks.”
“Anytime. You did a great job as usual.”
~*~
She felt the heat rise in her face. “Thanks. I think that one had a bit of Divine Intervention when he flew into me.” She got caught up on those last words.
Steve helped gather up the gear and then went towards the crowd around Joe, probably to check on the victim. He was always good about that, making sure rescued people were aware that he was concerned about their well-being.
Ronnie looked away and stood stock still, staring up at the cliff she had just come down.
I am with you always.
The thought startled her.
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.
“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid,” she whispered. How many rescues had she been on that put her safety or her life in jeopardy? Too many to count. Yet, here she was, able to help again. Ronnie walked closer to the rock wall and reached out to touch it. She stood there in the cold shadows of the forest that crawled up against the granite boulders. The rock. The Rock. A foundation to build on. It’s unmovable. The Solid Rock where she could stand, if she allowed herself to. Just as she relied on that rope, her footing against the cliff, Christ was where her hope, her comfort, her trust, her everything should rest.
She might never understand why her dad was taken away, but he always trusted Jesus with his life. Each thought brought new delight to her mind, as if heaven opened up and poured the love and realizations into her. Truth. Why should she not trust Jesus in the loss of her father? Her dad was with Jesus right now, from the moment life left his body. He may have had a tragic end to life, but he knew where he’d spend eternity. Wasn’t that eternal life better than her selfishness of holding him here? Holding his memory in her tight grip, rather than releasing it and living her life. On the Rock. What had she been doing?
She felt the sun peek through the trees pouring light on her shoulders; she was enlightened in God’s truth and the warmth of the sun. His Son.
“Coming Ronnie?” She jumped when Steve spoke behind her.
“Yeah…on my way.” She gathered her share of the gear and followed behind everyone down the shady, snow-tromped path. Her thoughts again went to her father.
Would he have gone in after John had he known the outcome? Would he have willingly given up his life for his partner? His friend?
She knew the answer, because she knew the man. The man who raised her and taught her the importance of life. The importance of serving. So many lessons she had forgotten in her grief. He wouldn’t have wanted her living like this, avoiding love in the fear of grief.
What was wrong with her? Why had she allowed her life to go like this?
Her mother had moved on. Her brother didn’t wallow in grief.
Steve had tried so hard to help her find her way out of it.
Kelly was teaching her.
And she knew, now, deep down in her heart, God was truly in control. And if He was in control, then her future in Him wasn’t an ambiguous feeling to experiment with, but to find confidence of certain victory in this life and beyond. She had a lot more thinking to do. And praying.
Her dad died for a friend.
Ronnie had a Savior who died for her.
25
Ronnie accepted when Steve called for a day of snowshoeing in the nearby wilderness area. She looked forward to it, more than she dreamed possible. She watched from her patio doors for him to pull into the parking lot. With the sun shining, it would be a spectacular day. Colorado winters got cold, but with the sun shining at altitude, it made a huge difference in the temperature and the attitude.
When his vehicle turned in, she grabbed her snowshoes and headed out.
“Hi, Ronnie.” Steve opened the car door for her.
“Hi.” She tossed her snowshoes behind the seat and felt a longing she couldn’t resist. She reached up and hugged him tight.
His look was cautious as his arms came around her.
She chuckled, not saying a word. She got in the SUV without missing a glance at his surprised face.
Steve got in and buckled up. “You’re in a good mood today.”
“Yep.”
“Not going to tell me why?”
“Nope.”
“Alrighty, then. Guess we’ll head out.”
Ronnie couldn’t help but giggle. “I’ve done a lot of thinking and praying lately.”
“Yeah?” Steve turned onto the main road.
“Yeah. I think I’m beginning to understand what you’ve been saying.”
“And that is…”
“About God being in control. I realized on the climbing rescue that Dad would have gone in after John even if he knew he wouldn’t survive. That’s the way Dad was. He would never stand idly by when someone was in trouble.”
“It was a great profession for him to be in.”
“So, I’ve decided it’s time to let go and let God take care of all my fears. When I found that verse in 1 Peter, I decided to pray it into my life. Every day I’ve prayed. ‘I cast all my anxiety on You Lord, for You care for me.’ It’s really helped.”
Steve’s eyes went wide as he turned to stare at her, then he looked back at the road. His expression of shock was priceless. He pulled off in a wide spot off the highway and stopped.
“What’s wrong?” She looked behind them to see if he was getting out of the way of another vehicle.
He got out of the car without saying a word, walked around the SUV in the sloppy snow and open her door. He held out his hand to her and motioned her to stand.
Ronnie unbuckled her seat belt and took his hand. “Steve, what are you doing? Are you throwing me out?”
He pulled her out of the car and hugged her. One hand held the back of her head, fingers entwining in her hair, the other held her lower back. He whispered into her ear, “I’ve waited a long time to hear those words. You’ve found peace once again, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, I guess I have.”
They stood there holding each other.
Ronnie didn’t want the moment to end.
He pulled back just a bit. “I don’t really want to leave, but we’re almost to the trail head. Shall we go?”
“Sure.” Ronnie took a step to get back in the car, and then turned back to him. “Steve?”
He stopped at the front of the car hood. “Yeah, Ronnie?”
“I love you.”
He stared. A smile rose up. He rushed back and grabbed her again, embracing tighter this time. “I love you, too, Ronnie.”
Tears fell o
ut of her eyes. This felt right. Natural. She belonged with this man.
~*~
How long Steve had waited, praying she would find peace about her father and learn to love him. He never gave up the hope. Now here they were, his prayers answered. Like a kid at Christmas, he’d received the second best gift of all. Without God’s gift of Jesus, none of this could have happened. His faith led to her love. The elation inside bubbled up, waiting to explode out of him. He kept it at bay, reluctantly.
He pulled into the muddy parking lot of the trail head grinning like a fool. Sunshine had softened the recent snowfall. She is so beautiful. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she donned her winter hat and got her snowshoes out from behind her seat.
They strapped the shoes on, slipped the small backpacks on, and headed into the trees. The shadows prevented the snow from melting. The trail meandered up into the forest with a fair climb in elevation. The necessary wide gait winded them, but they kept trudging through. The path switch-backed a few times until they reached a rocky area.
Steve stopped and let her catch up to him. He took a swig of water. “Look at that view.” He pointed behind them.
They had gotten high enough to be able to look over the tree tops.
The top of Mt. Evans glistened with white diamonds against the clear blue sky in the distance.
He handed her a water bottle.
“Wow,” Ronnie whispered. “It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful Colorado is.”
Steve reached his arm around her shoulders and they stood there in awe of their quiet, snowy surroundings. He looked toward the towering rocks ahead of them. “Bet I can beat you to the rocks.”
~*~
Ronnie turned and saw that boyish gleam in his eyes. “Are you really going to try that again?”
He took off at a sprint.
Not about to miss the challenge, she slapped her lead snowshoe onto the trail to take off after him. Once again, he had gotten a good head start. She watched her footing as well as where he headed. The snow depth was deeper off to the side of the trail as evident by the tips of bushes peeking through the powder.
Steve made it to the rocks and worked his way up between two large boulders, taunting and laughing all the way.
“You cheated again,” she hollered up to him.
“Aw, you just can’t keep up.” In a split second, he disappeared.
She stopped, stared and called out to him. “Steve?” She ran as best she could in the awkward shoes. “Steve? Where’d you go?” Making her way around the rock was difficult with the snow depth and bushes surrounding the area. She got around one of the boulders.
Steve was kneeling in the snow, waiting. In one hand he extended a red rose, the other held a small velvet box with the lid open and the most beautiful diamond ring, reflecting rainbows from the sunlight bouncing it off the surrounding rocks.
Ronnie tried to say something, anything, but no words could form on her lips.
~*~
Steve hoped the red rose didn’t look too shabby after hiding under his jacket all morning. He had put it into one of those little water tubes in an attempt to keep it somewhat fresh. It was a bit flattened, but he had been able to plump it up while he hid behind the rock waiting for her. Was his assumption premature? Was she ready for this? Despite his nerves, he was determined to be ready just in case.
He swallowed hard. “Ronnie, I love you. I want to fill your life with fun surprises. I want us to experience adventures together as husband and wife. I pray you will accept. Will you marry me?”
Her face showed no sign of acceptance.
Had he blown it again? Was she not ready for a life with him?
Quick wisps of fog escaped between her lips, but her expression held…what was it? He couldn’t decipher it.
Then a small tear formed in the corner of her eye and spilled over the edge, causing a rivulet to run down her cheek. Her lips curled up on each side.
“Steve…”
He gulped.
“You’ve rescued me off mountains and now you’ve rescued my heart from pain. Now that I can love God again, loving you will be easy. I would love to spend the rest of my life with you. Yes! Rescue me.” She flung herself into his arms.
He slammed his fist over the box as she knocked him backwards into the snow. Her hands framed his face and she bent her head until her lips brushed his. He kissed her with the deep passion that welled up inside from being held back so long.
She kissed him back with an equal amount of love.
Shoving upward, he righted both of them, and then stood. He pulled her up, opened his fist and the box, took the ring out and placed it on her finger. He kissed her hand and fingers, and then wrapped his arms around her. He held her back just a little and looked deep into her eyes. “No, Ronnie, you’ve just rescued me!”
“Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.”
Thank you…
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