I had planned on taking advantage of the clear still skies by hiking in the afternoon when temperatures were expected to be a crisp 17 degrees F, a significant improvement over the weekend’s arctic-like high of 3. Earlier in the day I had received an email from our founder, Russ Wilkinson, who had shared a podcast focused on the winning ways of Kobe Bryant from one of his favorite podcasts, Founders. This year I committed to increasing my daily mileage by a mile or more and had intended to listen to the podcast while the sun was still out, catching up on work later in the evening.

As the steady flow of requests and responses churned, so to did the afternoon give way to evening, and if I were to achieve my daily goals, I would need to press on past sunset, wrapping up with thicker gloves and a quickened pace. 

We are often treated to impressive sunsets in central Washington state with over 300 days of sunshine, but the wait that night was worth it. Enduring the 13 degrees when I set out at 4:45pm gave way to a special treat and a reminder that while we may not get what we want, waiting can prove to be better in many ways. Had I completed my routine while the sun was shining and the weather was warmer, I would not have had the opportunity to experience tonight’s sunset in the way I did nor the time to mediate on God’s perfect plan.