By Sharon (SD) Mac
February 24
The day I said “I do” to my best friend, my teacher, my mentor, leader (my prophet, priest and king as Jesus is to the church, his bride) and my answered prayer.
Our wedding wasn’t extravagant, but it was intimate and with intention. We promised not just to love each other, but to serve God together through every joy, trial, and mission He would send our way and each other. And for a time, life felt like a prayer come true.
We worked side by side…in faith, in business, in ministry. Steve and I were both visionaries and he was the innovator and strategist, the one who saw things ten steps ahead. Both he and I were the heart, I was the storyteller, the bridge between his ideas and the people he wanted to reach and vice versa. It was so easy to work alongside someone like him, and he wasn’t hard to serve as a husband. He was the head of our household as I was his helper, by serving God through him as God intended. He loved me and was patient with me. He rebuked me and helped correct me as Christ does to His church. He would always remind me that he was responsible for me but I am still responsible for my actions, and all he can do is lead me, teach and guide me, I still am responsible for my own salvation. Together, we were a perfect balance grace and grit, purpose and perseverance.
But marriage, even one built on faith, isn’t without its storms.
From the very beginning, we faced health challenges, financial struggles, and the weight of building something from the ground up. There were days when the bills stacked higher than the hope, and nights when fear whispered louder than faith.
And yet…every single time…God provided. Sometimes through friends, sometimes through family, sometimes through complete strangers who became instruments of grace.
We learned that miracles don’t always look like sudden breakthroughs; sometimes they look like endurance.
Steve used to tell me, “We don’t serve for recognition. We serve because it’s who we are in Christ and what we are called to do.” That became our family creed. And even as things got harder…financially…as his health began to waver…he never stopped leading, never stopped believing.
When he passed, it felt like the air was taken out of the room, the foundation cracked beneath me. But what remained… was the faith he helped strengthen in me.
In those silent nights after he was gone, I realized, God hadn’t taken my purpose with him. He had simply transformed it.
What Steve started, I was meant to continue.
Not for legacy.
Not for name.
But for God’s glory.
That’s when Stratiotology was born…the study of enduring as a soldier for Christ.
And that’s when Pilgrim Sojourner began…a traveler on the road of faith, carrying both grief and grace, learning that we never truly walk alone.
The road ahead hasn’t been easy, but I’ve never walked it without help. Through the generosity of others, through the quiet kindness of strangers, I’ve seen how God’s mercy moves through people.
I’m still learning, still walking, still serving…one mile, one story, one act of grace at a time.
Soli Deo Gloria!
To God Alone be the Glory!
“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” -2Timothy 2:3
“Resolved, never to give over, nor in the least to slacken, my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be.” -Jonathan Edwards, Resolution, 56
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