So Rachel and I have been spending the past few days on a sneaky getaway to the beautiful Gippsland region of Victoria to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. So much has changed in the last 10 years. The things we are doing, our jobs, relationships that tend to come and go, children.... one, two then three (and we're done). And yet a couple of things haven't changed. Our commitment to each other and God, to see this thing we started a decade ago continue to lead us deeper in knowing, continuing to push one another onward into the places we know each of us will thrive.

Whatever the weather, whatever the struggle, it is always a forward trajectory. In our ten years Rachel and I, just like many other marriages, have faced tremendous hardship and trial. And yet whether the trial is emotional, financial, relational or spiritual there is always only one way forward.

Forward.

Rach and I wrote Hello Shadow as we sat in our home, after the kids were sound asleep, dreaming together in worship of what it means to truly continue to move forward in life. You see, I am coming to believe that it is only as we see things for what they truly have been - the good along with the bad - that we can then purposefully move forward. Just in the same way we recognise our mistakes and failures, can we then purposefully know what (and why) we want to become as we go into the future.

So as we celebrate ten years of marriage, along with the joys and victories we also remember what has been. The failures, the hurts, the trials and wars. We say 'hello shadow, and then we say goodbye'.

We pulled our car over in a picturesque spot this weekend and recorded a quick live version of Hello Shadow to share with you. We hope you enjoy.