I'm Marching with my Commander's Cadence

It’s another glorious morning. I’m owning it. With one air-bud in and the other ear listening to God’s creation greet me with a cheerful “Good morning”, I know I’m on point. With that one ear open to the sounds around me, I hear the cadence of my walking. It was almost like I was marching – 1-2-3-4.

A memory flashed through my mind of my oldest grandson at the Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, TX and our visit down to see him. It was during such a painful time for my husband who, in the next month, would be diagnosed with kidney cancer, and a few months later, pass on. But oh the pride and joy Papa had this day when he saw his oldest grandson in his regal march and cadence with his fellow cadets.

I know there’s something to be said for a great military cadence! I read that besides physiological effects, cadences produce significant physical effects. Singing a cadence while running or marching helps soldiers keep their heads up, take deeper breaths and exhale more forcefully. All that increases oxygen to the lungs and gives the body more energy, which makes their unit healthier and better prepared for the physical feats and tests they had to take. Maybe, I'm feeling some of that today!

To even compare my little walking steps to a military cadence is ridiculous, but on the other hand – in the light of my purposeful listening for my Commander’s voice, maybe not so much. The military listens for their Commander’s voice and so do I. They are “at ease” or are “forward marching” and so am I. I’m either in a “be still and know” stance or I’m moving on with the next task my Commander gives me.

This morning I hear the words “march on”. Usually, I’m power-walking, but this day my march becomes a stroll as I see this dear lady, using her walker, coming toward me as she has many times. In my community, social distancing is a really big deal. We are supposed to stay 6-feet away from each other on our walking paths, so, we always kept our distance.

Typically, Helen (I ask her name this morning), and I just nod at each other with a “Good morning” greeting. But this morning I know I must stop and intentionally speak to her. I ask if she has had surgery and she says: “No, I’ve had a form of muscular dystrophy and couldn’t walk at all, but I’ve purposed to not settle for that, so I walk. Before I could just barely walk in my home with my walker but I didn’t want to stop there. Now I do what I can outside." I tell Helen she blessed me with her courage.

I’m so glad I listened to my Commander when He said to me “At ease”! I get it. Sometimes He wants me to slow down to speak a good word to a neighbor and sometimes He wants me to get on with my day. Oh, how I desire to ebb and flow with Him – in q cadence of the stillness, the easy-does-it times of a slow pace and the forward march times.

A Little Band of Women Who Are Still Here and Not Done

Up until this weekend, I was in the throes of ramrodding a retreat in Tulsa for my beloved Sister Marie Pierre – now age 90. In this case, “ramrodding” meant connecting with many women who had attended one of her 40 years of retreats. Obviously, while I was going through the list, I found many who had gone on to be with the Lord, others who are dealing with a debilitating illness or have had recent surgeries, and others who are caring for very ill loved ones. My, oh my, how time changes the complexion of “The Way We Were and The Way We Are” today!

For as long as I can remember, this group of women is likened to the Bible sisters, Martha and Mary. We have been “doers AND lovers”. We DO love Jesus and others with all our hearts (they sure loved me in some of my toughest times) and we are women who are relentless in our faith AND faithfulness (serving in word and deed). But, this retreat reunion weekend was about being “Marys at the feet of Jesus and Sister Pierre.” Unquestionably, the expectations for our hearts and souls to be touched went way beyond what we had expected.

Sister Pierre, a living saint in our eyes, is a mentor, a brilliant Bible scholar, a stand-up comedian (she won’t admit to that one, but those of us in her realm of influence would tell you most comedians couldn’t hold a candle to her wit) and held an annual retreat in an off-the-beaten-path location for 40 years. She retired in 2013 which meant the retirement of our annual retreats. Just a little chat about our retreats sparked her to say: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a retreat reunion?” That was all we needed to say “GAME ON!” We needed this refreshing. We needed the rekindling of who we are and who God intended us to be. We needed a “refresher” of God’s goodness and mercy and to remember how much we are loved, and in Sister Pierre’s words – how “unique and irreplaceable” we are.

This sweet, precious woman is hunched over as she pushes her walker up and down the halls of St. Joseph’s Monastery. Though her precious body bears the marks of age and osteoporosis, her mind is so sharp. I am always taken back in her presence – back to what an ultimate sacrifice, devotion, and commitment to Christ look like. How can anyone give up family, marriage, having children, enjoying the excitement of the world and all it affords to be such a fully committed, devoted follower of Christ? She did just that – as a young girl to this day. She incredibly models what sitting at the feet of Jesus looks like, but then getting up and going about telling others about Jesus as Mary Magdalene did.

We had the opportunity to share “retreat” memories. We remembered her “talks” that always encouraged and challenged us and then she’d send us outdoors by the lake and God’s creation to reflect on what she had spoken to us about. Of course, God met us in his creation and we’d come back in and share what we heard Him say to us. Being away from the hustle and bustle at home – to BEING present with God and each other. We felt loved and secure in our Father’s love.

I'm sure the women who followed Jesus felt the same way. If only our world used the example of Jesus and how He loved and respected women. In Luke 8 we see there was a band of women followers who traveled with Him and His disciples. Those women came from all walks of life and some had questionable backgrounds, but here’s the common thread – each of them experienced healing through their encounter with Christ.

The women that Jesus touched and loved is a mighty indicator of His love for us. The women at the foot of the cross and at the tomb held a tiny flame of faith. That flame of faith may have burned high, and it may have burned low, but the flame never went out, and their faith was rewarded. Our little band of retreat women celebrated that love He has for us. Our flame of faith, too, may burn high and it may burn low, but our flame never goes out because we have faith in His Word that “nothing is impossible with Him".

What BAND do you belong to? If you don’t have a group that lifts you higher, that is willing to run to the finish line with you, that encourages you to go the distance, that makes you better and gives you a good kick-in-the-place-you-sit-on every now and again, I urge you to find a BAND too. Being a little band of women or men….can certainly keep you going….especially when the going gets tough.