Walking Home

I recently purchased a handmade sign and I love it because WORDS are my favourite. 
When I first learned that people were hanging WORDS on their walls, I was all like, "What?!  That is bloody Brilliant!!"  Because it is. 
WORDS on WALLS, people! 
Sigh.
A friend of mine designs these WORD art messages and when I saw this one, I needed to get my grubby grabbers on it.

Behold, the sign:

Gorgeous, isn't it?
It's now adorning a wall in my house and giving that wall all sorts of meaning and depth and such.

And I love this sign because it delivers a beautiful message about our life's journey.
Cuz we're all travelling on this road called Life. 
We are all traipsing, hiking, walking, careening, sailing, running, stumbling, marching, parading, or rambling along on our journey.
Travelling from the cradle to the grave and aren't we are all just walking each other Home? Accompanying each other to our heavenly destination?

Who are you walking with?

I hope you're not travelling alone. 
I drove alone to an unfamiliar destination last week and, let me tell you, it wasn't pretty! 
I got lost.  I had to circle back.  I was almost clipped by a grey pick-up truck whose driver voiced his irritated feelings with a staccato-ed "BEEP BEEP BEEP".  I stopped for directions at a gas station, though, and was assisted by two helpful men.  We worked together, sharing information (Where are you going?  Can I borrow a pen?  How do I get there?) and soon we were all on our way again. 

Travelling is almost always better when done together, isn't it?  I had been so lost and had felt so alone before I stopped for directions.
Travelling together allows you to help one another, to reassure, relocate, regroup, reassess.

This past weekend, I spoke at a women's retreat in Brantford.  There were about 35 women present ranging in age from the late teens to the early 60s and I witnessed some marvellous things there.

I witnessed women travelling through life. 
Mothers with daughters, daughters with mothers.
Sisters and cousins.
Best friends and daughters of best friends.
Grandmothers, aunts, wives, mothers, sisters, nieces.
Teachers, daycare operators, art therapy instructors, social workers, jewelry designers, presenters, musicians, and university students studying statistics or working on their Master's degree. 

I witnessed women howling with laughter, women holding each other in prayer, women crying over and on each other.  Hanging out.  Chatting it out.  Colouring and crafting it out.  Walking, horse-riding, snow-ball fighting, and tobogganing it out.  Laughing it out.  Praying it out. 

I witnessed these women sharing the delights of their days, the devastations of their hearts, the dreams of their futures, and the doldrums that hold them hostage. 

I heard stories of grief and loss, stories of worry and anxiety, stories of illness and divorce.  The setting for these ladies' stories is, after all, This World and This World is a place broken by sin and characterized by suffering. 
Have you noticed that yet?
These ladies have and so have I.  I have stories of grief and worry. 
I'm sure you do too.
And these stories can make us feel pretty lost and pretty alone, can't they?

But listen up; because I'm not done telling you about all that I witnessed last weekend.

Because I didn't just see a room full of women travelling through life.  (Lost and alone).
I witnessed a room full of women travelling through life TOGETHER.

Women holding on to each other to physically support one another as they shared worries about their children.  Women sharing strategies, offering advice, and solidarity.
Women who went along on Every Single Chemo appointment of a friend.  To support and help and to spend every possible moment together.
Women who fiercely stood strong for each other.
Women raising up the next generation of Godly women and coming alongside them in their life and faith journey.
Women encouraging, challenging, supporting, mentoring, reassuring, inspiring, and helping each other.

Women walking through life together.
Women walking each other Home.


It was a beautiful sight to behold.




- BvH

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact 

you are doing."  - 1 Thessalonians 5: 11