I have been on a physical journey. Since December I have been making an effort to work out as much as possible. Some days are better than others. After our Spring Break trip up until a few weeks ago I was pretty lazy. I’d fallen back into bad habits. I’m not beating myself up about it, but I know I feel better when I’m working out.

I have a friend, Anne, who is on a journey. In several weeks she will travel to Spain with a group of people and will walk portions of the Camino de Santiago. It’s a once in a lifetime type of trip, and so I am so very excited for her. By chance, one of the movies my youth watched at their January Retreat this year told the story of a father walking the Camino. The movie was an easy recommendation in preparation of her own time on the trail.

Anne and I had dinner this week, caught up, laughed, shared good news, planned for a retreat and were present for one another. Part of this included an update of her prep for her trek. I have a huge goal of one day hiking the AT. I know it is lofty, but even hiking part of the AT would be an accomplishment for me. So, as I was driving home from dinner I felt myself beginning to live vicariously through Anne. So why not journey with her? I’m a strong believer in the power of prayer. When I was in high school we used to have prayer partners for our mission trip and other retreats. I do similar things for my youth now.

When Anne is traveling the trail, I am going to travel with and pray for her. I have a copy of her itinerary, and an approximation of how many miles she will be walking each day. And I am going to try my hardest to walk just as many miles. This may not always happen, but I think I may just have an end goal of walking the same total miles she walks for the entire time she is gone. For example, I can walk on the days she is in flight. She has been present for me. And so I will be present for her. Each day of her trip I will walk with her. Each day of her trip I will pray for her. Each day I will say a special blessing, “May your feet be sure and your heart be strong. Bless this road and all the roads ahead. Amen.”