Not Quite as Planned (Pilgrimaging)

What I'm doing today is not what I'd planned for much of the last year to be doing today.

I was supposed to join a friend for the final leg of her pilgrimage journey, to join her in support and to pray for and with her. Due to a number of factors, practical and deeply personal, it's not going to be possible for me to join her.

Instead, I've chosen to make something of an annual "pilgrimage" of my own. I'm heading to a special spot on top of a mountain. A sort of hidden meadow. The plan is to hike up, and then simply sit for a while. There are, I think, tears that need to be shed (if they will only fall...). There is most definitely the need to pray. And there is a desperate longing and hope that in this place, which Jesus seems to call me to on an annual basis, I will be able to meet Jesus. That he will draw near, and if not speak, simply hold me, and my broken and exhausted heart.

And I'll be joining with my friend in spirit, praying for her as she makes the final leg of her journey, arrives at her destination, and also seeks to meet with Jesus and hear his heart for her. I'm grateful, at least, that God transcends time and distance, and that, at least in prayer, I can draw near to her today, when I can't join her physically.