Day Thirty - Jan 30, 2019

Thirty days ago, I followed a nudge to write daily and publicly.  I committed to one month. Some days the words came almost effortlessly and other days not. 

Today is Day Thirty of this journey. It began like most - at the park… It was astoundingly beautiful this morning… all covered in white and absolutely frigid!

There is something mysterious and majestic about snow-covered fields that haven't been touched by the township plows or anyone else brave (or crazy) enough to weather the elements. 

We were there first... The first footprints… The first tire tracks… The first visible sign of life!

But underneath that beautiful blanket of snow, there are thousands of footprints... tracks from the lacrosse kids, the football teams, the parents, the dogs, deer, foxes and other wild critters that run back and forth across those fields... 

Sometimes I walked beside Kat and when the snow became too deep, she walked behind in my footprints. 

It reminded me of friendships and this beautiful journey called life! No matter the journey, no matter the season - the weather, storm or calm... walking through this life with sweet and dear friends is a most treasured gift. 

Sometimes we plod along side-by-side... in tandem and in sync. We do the sports runs, school days and community events side by side... we laugh, grumble, mumble. We plod along finding joy and bringing it to our daily routines. 

But sometimes, we have to walk behind… walking in another’s footsteps. Learning lessons from their leadership. We walk in humility, grace and gratefulness. 

Sometimes our hearts feel heavy and we may find it hard to trust the path. At best, we lift our heads to find the path marked by others gone ahead.

And sometimes it’s just our turn to take the lead... to walk and forge a path for those who come behind us. We follow a call... we accept a nudge, we obey, in faith, the role of taking the lead. 

We put our feet, one in front of another... first. Where there seemingly are no tracks to follow... we take the lead. We walk in faith - because we must. We’ve been called to lead. And if we bravely turn around... we may never see any other soul trudging in our footsteps. And perhaps, then, it’s best to just keep our eyes fixed on the High Calling and tune in to hear the great cloud of witnesses cheering us on from up ahead. Walking, not by sight... but by faith. 

No one role is anymore difficult than the next... side-by-side, behind or in the lead. All take courage and a disciplined life of humility, trust and faithfulness. All develop us... all bring us closer to our North Star. 

And so I end these thirty days of writing with thankfulness... for friendships and the grace offered in them. 

Gratefulness. For people of faith who have plowed a way through the wilderness - that I may follow in the tracks of their tenacious obedience. 

Mercy, compassion, humility and grace for anyone I lead... knowingly or unknowingly. May I never forget that I always have someone looking at my life. How I make decisions... How I live behind closed doors and in public...

And so it is time to close this chapter of writing, climb under a little rock for some time and discover what other miraculous things are cultivated in the mundane.