Loving The Fight Marriage Podcast

Episode 148 | Conquering Your Mountains: Family, Perseverance and Unwavering Goals

• Travis Rosinger and Dawn Rosinger

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 23:49

Send us Fan Mail

Think about your most memorable family vacation. Now let me tell you about one of ours that solidified our belief in the power of family, perseverance, and unified goals. We embarked on a road trip to Colorado Springs, a family adventure that connected four generations through God's magnificent creation. Our experiences ranged from marveling at the natural beauty of Red Rocks and Garden of the Gods to exploring the historic Manitou Cliff Dwellings. On a lighter note, we couldn't resist the charm of the Penny Arcade and indulged in some guilty pleasure at In-N-Out Burger.

Now, imagine climbing a mountain, not just physically, but metaphorically. In our journey, we found that whether it's life, marriage, or parenthood, having a robust support system is crucial. This episode unpacks the significance of forming a team and drawing on the power of encouragement. Just as we relied on each other while ascending the mountain, we need to invest in those around us using God's words to ensure we can all reach our life goals.

So here's the deal, we've all been tempted to take the easy way out when faced with challenges. But we firmly advocate for perseverance! We talk about the importance of setting goals, not taking the bailout and sticking to them, inspired by Dawn's recent experience of unwavering determination to climb a mountain of stairs, 2767 of them. We want to inspire you to keep moving forward, no matter how tempting it is to bail out. Because with a strong support system and an encouraging team, you can indeed make it to the finish line. So, are you ready to conquer your mountains?

Travis and Dawn Rosinger are the Loving The Fight Marriage Podcast Hosts and Authors of the books, Verbalosity - 7 Steps to a Verbally Generous and More Fulfilling Marriage and their newest book, Gripping -  What Matters Most | A Life and Relationships That Hold on to You

For more information about Travis and Dawn Rosinger go to Loving The Fight

Speaker 1

Welcome to the loving the fight marriage podcast. My name is Don and I'm sitting here with my husband and also my co-host, travis.

Speaker 2

Yes, we're here. I'm sitting right next to you, don, and we are so pumped to be hanging out with you guys. We're going to have an awesome episode. Looking forward to it.

Speaker 1

Just a reminder if this is your first time listening to our podcast. We are just two pastors living life. We've been married for over 30 years and honestly, we just want to encourage people in their marriages and in their life. Every week we experience things. God shows up in many ways, and so we just want to share those things week to week with you guys and encourage you in life and in your marriage along the way.

Speaker 2

Yeah, we're just two regular people when you're saying that happen to love Jesus, love the church, but we're lovers, friends, we're married, we've been doing this thing for a long time together and it's just really cool to be talking about loving the fight, fighting for love is really what we're trying to say and it's cool because we're fighting for love in our marriage.

Speaker 1

We're fighting for love just in our relationships around, just with our kids and our neighbors and our coworkers, and honestly, we're fighting for that relationship with Jesus. We want to make sure that he is at the center and the focus of our life. So everything that we do, that's our goal and so we're excited to be here with you guys today. Well, we just got back just two days ago from a family vacation to Colorado Springs, colorado.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and not just any vacation, guys, we were road warriors. This was a road trip.

Speaker 1

It was a road.

Speaker 2

I love to fly. We fly everywhere but, man, road trips are high high on my list of fun things to do. A road trip is a chance to grab ahold of the steering wheel and just like check out, connect with God, connect with the creation that he has made, and then just kick back and relax. You know what I love? That?

Speaker 1

we're so different because, to be honest with our you know the people that are listening today I'm not that big of a road trip fan, am I Like? I love getting to places, I love traveling, but to be in the car and driving that 12, 14 hours isn't my favorite thing to do. So this time, instead of flying, I felt like I gave a little bit, because you actually do love to drive, yes, like to you it's amazing.

Speaker 1

to me it's not quite as fun, but we made the best of it and we knew when we got there our kids and our grandkids and your parents actually came with us, oh, my four generations, four generations four, seven, eight days together all those meals.

Speaker 2

Oh man, was that fun. It was great.

Speaker 1

A lot of chaos, a lot of energy, but a lot of different personalities, a lot of different opinions, a lot of different just circumstances that happen within the house within those days, and it was all just fun.

Speaker 2

Memorable. Yeah, and you need a longer arm to reach around on and pat yourself on the back, because you were a great road tripper. Oh well, thank you I mean I just kicked back relaxed. You know I love to drive, it's so much fun for me and you stayed busy and we had a good time together.

Speaker 1

You know what? I think it had to do something with that. I think was it a three pound bag of dill pickle sunflower seeds and a 44 ounce diet Mountain Dew. So that's how I started my road trip.

Speaker 2

That could be it.

Speaker 1

It could be it, you guys, I love sunflower seeds and plus then I just don't eat the whole time.

Speaker 2

Maybe, maybe we're part rodents because I love sunflower seeds too. They're so good. But to have a diet.

Speaker 1

Mountain Dew with it, just definitely made the trip, so for me that made it extra bearable. But again, we just got home. We're sitting here now in our home, in our studio, and it's quiet. I mean it's kind of quiet here compared to what we just experienced, but so thankful for the memories.

Speaker 2

Yeah, much quieter than hanging out with what 11, 12, 13 of us in a room, a house, for a week straight. But so nice to be back home, nice to be just hanging out. We went for what a seven, eight mile walk today around two days.

Speaker 1

Yeah, we did. Yeah, it was beautiful, that was spectacular. We worked this morning at church. We were at church all morning and then we came home and took a 20 minute nap. We went to the power nap and got up and we went for a seven eight mile hike around two different lakes, loved it.

Speaker 2

And we kind of cheated because we juiced ourselves up with some iced coffee. Yes, like a 44 ounces, but we split it. Yeah, we split it.

Speaker 1

So it was like 20 ounces. Well, going back to our Colorado trip, you know we went there and we just did a lot of the touristy things in the beginning. We went to the Garden of the Gods, we went to the Manitou Cliff dwellings, went to Red Rocks, we also went to the Penny Arcade, which was fun in downtown.

Speaker 1

Colorado or just tons of games and little rides for the kids and of course we went to In-N-Out Burger. We didn't eat out a lot. We actually brought food. We cooked all the time, but In-N-Out Burger twice Actually two and a half times, because the night we left we got large shakes to go, and so that was awesome.

Speaker 2

I think we overdosed, but man, was that a good?

Speaker 1

it was a good fix.

Speaker 2

It was so good. All that grease. Those fries are epic, by the way. If you're having it in and out burger. And the shakes, the chocolate shakes, they just blow my mind. Yeah, they give me a brain freeze, but they blow my mind. But here's the thing I mean, it is just the best shot of grease and sugar and salt. They're great burgers, oh my yeah, incredible, and you know what?

Speaker 1

honestly, they have verses on the bottom of their cups and on their fry. It's like so this food's got to be holy, I think it's got to pass through.

Speaker 2

There's verses who?

Speaker 1

put verses on the bottom, like that and it helps you in?

Speaker 2

Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 1

Well, there's a particular reason that we went and picked Colorado for our family vacation this time, and it was because of the mountains. Right, that's what draws us to Colorado. We are a very active family. We love to hike. This time that we went, though, we had to be a little bit more particular with our hikes, because we had little people with us, like little as in three months old, two two year olds and a three year old with us, and so we had to find some family friendly hikes, or we had to pick and choose, and some of us could go on certain hikes and some of us couldn't. Our big hike that we want to do, or not even hike, I guess it was more of a site scene we wanted to go to the top of Pike's Peak as a family all of us, even your parents.

Speaker 1

Everybody wanted to go.

Speaker 2

Which to clarify, that's 14,000 feet up A lot of the mountains there eight nine, but a lot of 12,000 foot, but that's 14,000. It is 14,000 feet. It's insane.

Speaker 1

So we thought this would be a great thing. Obviously, we weren't going to hike it, there was just too many. We were not in shape enough, obviously, but even with the kids and, in your parents, the age that they're at. So we decided we're going to all drive up there. Well, the night before we were getting ready and we jumped on the website and we quickly found out that there is a state law for the Pike's Peak Highway that you cannot go up to a certain point if you're under four months old, and our granddaughter is like just barely three months old.

Speaker 2

So close.

Speaker 1

And so right there we knew that our whole entire day would change. My daughter and I don't blame them they were kind of disappointed, and so we thought about it more in the next day. I'm like you know what, you guys go up, we will take the kids. We took all the kids and then they drove up to Pike's Peak. They had a great time.

Speaker 2

We had a great time too, though oh, it was a blast. But we took one for the team, which wasn't hard because they were so much fun to hang out within spoil.

Speaker 1

And I know one day we will go to Pike's Peak again and go to the top. But there was one climb, travis, one thing that I wanted to do and I didn't want to pass it up, and it was called the Manitou Incline.

Speaker 1

So, I don't know if you guys have been to Colorado Springs or not, but the Manitou Incline is actually a crazy hike. The difficulty level is extreme. And what the Manitou Incline is, it's a hiking trail that ascends on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and the hike starts so at the base of the hike. It starts with you going up 2,767 stairs that are made out of railroad ties.

Speaker 2

Then once you get to the top, once you do all those stairs.

Speaker 1

Then you hike 3.7 miles back down to your car. While you're hiking up all those steps, again 2,767 steps. So there's over a 2,000 foot elevation incline, with a summit elevation of 8,550 feet, which you guys we're from Minnesota.

Speaker 2

What is our elevation? I don't know. 300 feet above sea level.

Speaker 1

So 8,500 is a big difference for us from being from Minnesota, but the steepest grade on the stairs is 68 percent, so it's pretty steep.

Speaker 2

It's like a ladder right. Yes, we leaned up against the house.

Speaker 1

It's horrible, but it's just a crazy hike, so let me just give you an example of how high it is.

Speaker 2

Well, let me ask you, Don, why would anybody want? To hike that, like I didn't go. I was like nope, I'm good. Like why did you decide to hike that and you took one for? The team and watched the kids that day I did, I was happy to I don't know.

Speaker 1

There was just something about that. I'm like man that I know it's gonna take a lot of work, a lot of determination. I honestly you know my personality, I'm kind of a fighter on the inside. I'm determined. If I say I'm going to do something, it's going to get done. And I'm like you know what? I know this is going to push me to my max and I want to go. And my son and my daughter and my daughter and I all wanted to do this together. So I didn't do it alone and so we decided, oh, we're going to go ahead and do it.

Speaker 1

So we woke up Wednesday morning, we jumped on the bus to get us to the bottom of the trail and at that point I was getting a little bit nervous. I have to admit that there was some nerves there, because I was like, was I going to be able to make it? So I started sizing up people in the bus and I know, like comparing myself, I'm like, well, if they can do it, then I probably can. Or, oh no, like I'm going to be like this guy came on and he was jacked. I'm like, oh no, like I will never make it to the top. But again, I was just comparing myself to these people, wondering if I was going to make it.

Speaker 1

We get to the bottom of the incline. We take a picture, of course, us four. And I was just like, please, god, let me get to the top. So we began to climb and I looked up these stairs. I was like there was quite a bit of people I looked up these stairs. I was like, wow, are we actually going to make it to the top? So we started climbing and, honestly, at 50 stairs, I was like, oh, this isn't too bad 100, 150, 200. And it was about the 250th stair point. I'm like, oh, I'm starting to breathe a little bit heavy.

Speaker 2

Which is crazy, because you're a runner, I'm a runner, we run all the time, we're exercise a lot, but that air is so thin.

Speaker 1

Yes, it is.

Speaker 2

And then you've just climbed 200 stairs 250.

Speaker 1

And then so by the time I actually got to 300, and you guys, they mark the stairs so you know which increment you're at At 300, I had to stop because my breathing was, my respirations were really fast and I took about a 30 second break and in my mind I was like how in the world am I going to do this 2467 more times? That's how many more stairs I had left to go. Well, one thing that everybody knows about the Manitou Incline before you go up is that there is a bailout point so you can get off the stairs and bail out, but it's-.

Speaker 2

Which is what I would have done.

Speaker 1

No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

Speaker 1

But, you all know this. So it's kind of like this mind game. You're like, well, I don't have to finish. If I don't want to, like I can bail out. The bailout point is two thirds of the way up. It's about 1800 stairs up and you can go to the right, just step off the railroad ties and then climb down the mountain back to your car. So as we were getting closer to the bailout point, and again you guys, I was going like 300 steps, I would stop. I'd go another 100 step, I'd stop. I'd have to keep stopping just to breathe. My legs didn't hurt, my heart wasn't going too fast, my respirations were just, I was gasping for air. So we get closer to that bailout point and, sure enough, as I'm looking at the bailout point, you could see people deciding to go to the right and they just, and they would leave the trail and I was like, no, don't do it.

The Importance of Support and Encouragement

Speaker 1

Don't leave you made it up to 1800. I know we have like another 900 steps, but don't leave. But they did. And I mean honestly, at that point there was a lady that she got to the bailout point. She turned around and looked down and she had a panic attack and she started breathing even heavier and she had to leave the trail because she was kind of freaking out. But so at the 1800 step point, that bailout point, I was determined in my heart and my daughter was next to me and my son and my daughter, I were already further past that point and I'm like I'm going to keep going, I'm going to finish this.

Speaker 1

And it was at that point, that bailout point, that everybody else that stayed on the trail. We kind of formed this team and it was a really cool camaraderie between us and all of a sudden we're like you can do it, you got this, we're going to high five at the top of the trail. And this one gal we were probably at maybe 2000 steps at that point and she's like, hey, I think she was from the thought I'm going to join your team y'all. And she's like I left my friend down there, she bailed out, but I'm going to join y'all. And we're like sure, come on with us.

Speaker 1

And she was bare crawling and she cussed every single step To a point of it actually was entertaining to us. Me and my daughter were kind of laughing a little bit Because she was. I understand why she was cussing, because we were kind of in pain and breathing heavy, but we all, every single one of us at that point made it to the top. But it was that encouragement, that camaraderie, that team Like you can do it. You're in a high five, you and we crossed that finish line. We made it to the top.

Speaker 1

I high-fived my kids. You know, once I caught my breath we took a picture. And then I found that girl, that 25-year-old that I went up there and I just said, hey, you did it, you made it, and I gave her a high five and it was just like walking on clouds, it was like that figure to you know.

Speaker 2

I mean, obviously we were up high but we was just in an amazing app 8000 something feet up, and yeah, you're with the clouds, but it's such a cool experience and I learned a lot and I feel like God is constantly showing us stuff.

Speaker 1

Every week, every day, there's something that God is showing us, but in that moment, I just understood and realized the importance of making sure that you have a good team around you, that you're encouraging each other, that you're using your words, that you're cheering people on and you're helping them get past that bailout point, because there's times in life, travis, honestly, we know couples. They get to a point where marriage gets hard and they, they bail.

Speaker 2

Yeah, they don't have a team.

Speaker 1

No, they don't have a good team around them supporting them, loving on them, encouraging them, high fiving them. So they get to that two thirds point, that 1800 steps, and they decide to take a right and go back down the mountain and they bail. Or with their kids, they get to a point where the kids get hard, the relationships kind of wither and they bail. Or just with jobs, or there's so many times you see people just bail, they leave. But if they had the support around them, like we did going up those stairs.

Speaker 1

How many people could make it to the top?

Speaker 2

Makes all the difference. Yeah, you know, it's so cool You're talking about a team and that team is just powerful to know that you're not alone. And I think of all the people that might have tried to do that alone, alone, and then they took the bail out and gave up because they never had a team to start with.

Speaker 1

Yeah, no, from the very beginning they were alone and there was some people that start, you know, went all by themselves.

Speaker 2

Yeah, and you, you, you just that's a lot like life. You can't survive in isolation, or I should say you won't thrive in isolation. You have to have people around you, you have to have the encouragement that only people can give. That's so important. But then to know that you have that goal and that you're not going to give up, um man, that is less like priceless. You got to hang on to it.

Speaker 1

You do, and I honestly think that there is a responsibility that each and every single one of us have when we meet people. There's people all around us. There's neighbors, coworkers, just people in their store who are nervous, they're hesitant, they're full of anxiety. They feel like they're not good enough and they maybe they have too much baggage from their past to continue on and they want to bail. They want to either quit on life, quit on marriage, quit on everything. And it's our responsibility. Honestly, I feel like God has given us, he's equipped us with what we need to help them make it through. I'm wondering, like, how can we do this?

Speaker 1

And I found this verse in the Bible and I feel like it's the perfect verse, like how can we do this? In 1 Peter 411, it says if anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. And I feel like that verse, like it says like God will give us the words to speak the very words we need to speak, the very words of God. We need to serve with the strength that God gives us. Travis, can you imagine if we actually spoke the very words of God?

Speaker 2

Yeah, the power that are in those words. Well, what's cool is the Bible says that we've been given the mind of Christ and so, having that mind, having that heart of God, as followers of Jesus, to be able to speak and go. Wait, I'm not going to speak narcissism or selfishness or what I want. Instead, I'm going to speak to you, don, or speak to the people around me on behalf of God. Words that are powerful, words that are encouraging. And I think that's tough because, if you look at it, most of our communication throughout our day is about us, or maybe about our interests or things that we want to focus on, but how often do we stop and really invest in others?

Speaker 1

I agree with that, travis. I think there's so many times that we are very self-focused in our day and obviously because there's so many distractions in our life with our jobs and with our kids and with just sports hobbies there's a lot of distractions but if we just take a moment and take our eyes off of ourselves, we can use what God has given us within our words and then just in our hands, in our feet, to serve others and help them make it through that bailout point. It's just crazy to think honestly about life and bailing and I love that there was a physical picture that I got on this mountain, on this incline, that I could bail, because it just really provided a lot of clarity about life and how we have. At any moment, any of us can bail on certain things, but if there's people around us pushing us, we can make it to the top. We can get to the top of the mountain.

Speaker 1

You know, what's funny is we got to the top of the mountain so it took us 90 minutes to get from the bottom to the top. My son and his wife they did in 80 minutes, but we still had to hike 3.7 miles downhill, and that going downhill even though it was 3.7 miles, man did that feel so easy compared to each and every step that was going up? When we got to the bottom of the hill at the 3.7 miles, our bus was late, so we ended up walking an extra mile and a half to our car. So overall we hiked 6.5 miles and I'm just so grateful for the opportunity that I got to spend with my kids, for what God showed me along the way, along the path, along that trail, and honestly I'm just thankful that my body held out too I made it to the top and I'm looking forward to more hikes like that, that kind of pushed me to my limit but then allows God to teach me something in the process.

Don't Give Up, Keep Moving Forward

Speaker 2

Yeah, that's so good and I love that you're challenging yourself, me, everybody that's listening. Don just this idea that you had a goal and it was the top. It was the end of the 2,800, whatever steps.

Speaker 1

Yeah 2,767 steps.

Speaker 2

Which by the way, I don't know if you said this already, but how many times is that climbing the?

Speaker 1

Oh, the trade center, real trade center.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I honestly, I can't remember that but it's like three times climbing that, four Climbing and going down.

Speaker 1

Or it's 500 feet taller than the Empire State Building Crazy. So it's again a 68% great or steep.

Speaker 2

So you're like it's, yeah, it's a big climb, but I love that you had that as a goal. I mean because and then that picture of the bailout, because that goal is so much about our lives and so many of us just want to give up just want to take the easy route.

Speaker 1

It's easy to give up. Honestly it is.

Speaker 2

It's so tempting, it's so easy, especially when the bailouts right there in front of you.

Speaker 2

Just take it right and the reality is we guys, we have to get up off our, our rear ends off, you know, on our feet and we got to get moving in life. And there are some of you that are listening. You're discouraged, you're bummed out. Things aren't going well. Maybe your relationships are deteriorating, falling apart, maybe you're not succeeding at work. I don't know. You could be in an argument of fight with your, your neighbors, your coworkers, whatever that is. But I want to encourage you. Don't give up, keep moving forward.

Speaker 1

Don't take the bailout.

Speaker 2

Yes, don't take it Don't, take it, don't go to the right.

Speaker 2

And so your goal down was the top. And here's what it says in the book of Philippians. I believe it's chapter three and it's verse 14. It says I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. And that is. That is what we need to be doing, Just what you did, Don, heading up to the top of those stairs I press on toward the goal. I'm not going to give up. I'm not going to let my team give up. You know, even if they are from another part of the country with the Southern accent and they swear a lot, I'm going to encourage them, I'm going to high five them at the top, but I'm going to press on and I'm not going to make excuses, I'm not going to take the bailout.

Speaker 1

Absolutely.

"Don't Take the Bailout

Speaker 1

That's what we need to tell ourselves, and we need to tell ourselves that in our marriage, in our relationships, in our jobs, everywhere we go, every person that we encounter, we will not bail. We're going to be the ones that are going to be encouraging others to stay on that track, to stay on the stairs, to make it to the top, to not only make it to the top, but be able to go all the way down the trail and make it to the bottom, back to the car. I mean, how cool is that? And that's the type of person that I just want to be. Do I succeed at that every single day? No, but that's my goal, like I really want to encourage and love on people and make sure that they know that God is a plan and a purpose for their life, for their marriage and, honestly, he can do amazing things. He can turn bad things around quickly.

Speaker 2

So don't take the bailout on your marriage. Don't take the bailout on your kids, your relationships, your job, your future, the calling that God has on each and every one of your lives. Don't take the easy route. Don't take the bailout. Go to the top, press on, do what you need to do.

Speaker 1

Yep, I totally agree with that. Well, with that, we just want to thank you for listening to this episode of the Loving the Fight Marriage Podcast. Remember, guys, you can do it. You got this. Keep loving the fight.

Speaker 2

We'll see you next time, yeah.