A Winter Rambling with Jennifer
Mile marker 8. To anyone who has climbed Pikes Peak in Colorado, this mile marker stands out. It is the spot that, if you are a normal human being, climbing a mountain, not an uber athlete, you want to quit. The climb is hard and long. By this mile marker, you wonder if you can make it, and yet you look back and realize the bottom of the mountain is too far away to consider hiking back down. So, you look up.
It is the part of the hike that seems mundane. You recite to yourself, “Just take the next step.” You begin to lose your motivation, and sitting down seems like the best pathway forward.
And yet, there is still so much climbing to be done. There is still a summit view at the top that you cannot even imagine.
Months after our climb to the top, I sat in a room with a fellow climber and shared tears as she mourned an unexpected and severe loss in her and her children’s lives. In every way, it was one of those moments where life seemed too heavy and quitting seemed so inviting.
And yet, she said, “Do you know what is getting me through? A picture of me hugging mile marker eight.” On the mountain, it was the point at which she wanted to quit. Instead, others around her voiced words of encouragement, they took the next steps with her, and they took the picture of her hugging the point she didn’t think she could get past. That picture has become her life mile marker. It speaks the words, “You can do this, one step at a time.”
Steps are a funny thing. We can look at them as individual steps, and we can look at them as a collection of steps. Multiple steps in the same direction for a long time can be called a pilgrimage. A step requires us to be fully present in the moment. Not up ahead of what is to come and not behind us.
February, for me, many times feels like a climb. It seems to be a bit mundane, and I lose sight of the momentum I had coming off the New Year and the hopes I held for the months ahead. I have a hard time embracing the present. Sickness seems to abound, and life seems to be a bit more sluggish. During this time, I need to see a picture of mile marker eight, I need to remember words of encouragement spoken to me, I need to re-read a card or letter I received, and I need to remember who God says I am.
Will you join me this week in taking one step towards encouragement?
Is there a moment where you found yourself at a mile marker eight in your life? A time when you wanted to quit and yet continued? Do you have a picture of this moment, or an object that reminds you of this moment? If so, grab it and put it in front of you as we journey through the last half of February. If you don’t have something of remembrance, what could you acquire, write, or draw that would be a marker to remind you of what you have overcome? Let’s put these markers in front of us, as focal points, to encourage us to take the next step, and to keep climbing our mountains at a slow and steady pace.
Then, consider sharing your mile marker moment or story with someone else. When we share our stories with others, it encourages them to keep stepping forward and re-ignites our motivation.
A Shared Kitchen
It’s the middle of February, and a lot of us feel a bit sluggish. This week, consider the joy of grazing. Food grazing consists of taking little snack breaks throughout the day. Consider filling your cupboards and fridge this week with healthy treats. Instead of trying to make full meals, give yourself the week off and graze. My favorite way to embrace a week of grazing is to fill canning jars and small containers with different foods that make me smile: blueberries, nuts, and dried cereal. I also fill a basket inside my refrigerator with food I can grab and go or grab and sit on the couch with: cheese sticks, yogurt cups, and Go Go Squeeze.
DELICIOUS GRAZING FOODS:
Blueberries
Strawberries
Grapes
Banana Chips
Carrot & Celery Sticks with Ranch
Nuts
Cereal
Popcorn
Cheese Sticks
Yogurt Cups
Pita and Hummus
Chips and Salsa
Pretzel Sticks
Cheese and Crackers
Peanut Butter and Apples
Bread and jam
An At-Home Pilgrimage
Going on a Pilgrimage doesn’t have to be in a country far away or on a secluded trail somewhere. It can be in your own home, through your neighborhood, or at a favorite hiking spot. This week, create a mini-pilgrimage for yourself.
Step 1: Center your pilgrimage on the answer to one of these questions: What do I want to walk towards? Or what am I ready to leave behind? Take time to consider which of these questions you want to journey with throughout the week. Once you have decided, take a piece of paper, write out the question, and put it in your pocket. Carry it with you this week. As you carry the question on your at-home pilgrimage, write down the answers that come to mind, either on paper or in a separate journal.
Step 2: Choose the terrain you are going to travel on. Walk your neighborhood, becoming more present with the sights around you. Pick a neighborhood loop that you can repeat throughout the week. Or, choose a nature path close-by. Consider a path that is circular, or one that holds uphill challenges that resemble life.
Step 3: Design the structure of your pilgrimage. A pilgrimage always starts with a clear opening, or a symbolic start line to cross. Choose a way to start each walk, a start line that symbolizes the start of pilgrimaging (the start of walking fully present while reflecting on your chosen question). A start line could be the opening of your car door, stepping out, and the closing of your door. It could be a line drawn in the snow, the passing of a specific tree or structure on the path. The opening to your pilgrimage can be anything you choose to mark, the start of quiet reflection (make sure your cell phone is on do not disturb). Design specific pause points on your journey. This could be a bench or log you will sit on, a view you will pause and absorb, a bend in the road you will take a break at, or a personal place of memory. At each point, pause and breathe in deeply. This reminds us that our journey in life is full of steps forward and intentional moments of rest and renewal.
Step 4: Carry with you something to leave behind: a rock, a prayer, a note, a word, or even a funny memory. On your pilgrimage around your neighborhood or on a nature trail, consider the answer to your question you are carrying and leave a thought of it behind. Through a prayer said on the trail or a rock placed along the way, you are grounding yourself in the present, making a memory of what is going on around you or inside you as you journey. As you have thoughts, see sights, and feel feelings, capture them in your journal.
Step 5: When your journey ends, don’t just stop - close it. Step back across the threshold. Write. Cry. Take a bath. Make a good meal. Read a Bible verse. Light a candle. Do something to mark the return.
Step 6: Consider taking your pilgrimage a few times in the next couple of weeks, considering the question you are carrying and the answers that come forth. And then share. Who is trustworthy to share your reflections with? This does not have to be a deep conversation; it could be just a simple reflection.
We would love to hear your reflections from your at-home pilgrimage.
Grand Traverse
Location: 1240 E. Eighth Street, Traverse City
Phone: 231-944-1710
Email: grandtraverse@singlemomm.org
Benzie Leelanau
Location: 901 Barber St, Benzonia, MI 49616
(Our Mobile Office is located in the parking lot of the First Congregational Church)
Phone: 231-499-5817
Email: benzieleelanau@singlemomm.org
Holland Zeeland
Location: 100 Pine Street, Zeeland, MI 49464
(The SMHZ Office is located inside City on a Hill)
Phone: 616-373-1499
Email: hollandzeeland@singlemomm.org
Wexford Missaukee
NEW Location: 118 Stimson Street, Cadillac, MI 49601
Phone: 231-463-0820
Email: wexfordmissaukee@singlemomm.org