By Sharon (SD) Mac
There comes a point in grief
when you’re not better,
you’re not healed,
you’re not whole…
but you’re awake.
Something inside you opens…
not fully, not loudly,
but enough for you to sense that the season of only surviving
is coming to an end.
That’s what happened to me.
One quiet morning, no different from the others,
I sat with my coffee…
the same coffee I used to drink with Steve while we talked about business ideas and theology and whatever dream God dropped on us that day.
But this time, instead of crying into my cup,
I felt something I hadn’t felt in months.
Not joy.
Not strength.
Not excitement.
Just… readiness.
A tiny, trembling readiness.
Like my spirit finally exhaled.
Like God whispered,
“Daughter, it’s time to get up.”
It wasn’t dramatic.
It wasn’t emotional.
It wasn’t even comfortable.
But it was clear.
The calling wasn’t a shout.
It was a steady, gentle push:
Go.
Move.
Walk.
Begin.
Not away from Steve’s memory, but with it.
Not to start a new life, but to continue the mission that began with him.
For months, I felt like I couldn’t leave the house
because leaving meant admitting he was gone.
Leaving meant stepping into a reality I didn’t want to face.
Leaving meant moving forward without him beside me.
But God reminded me…
Steve may not be here physically,
but the ministry God placed in his heart didn’t die with him.
It was entrusted to me.
The Pilgrim Sojourner journey wasn’t just an idea.
It was a mandate.
A calling to travel.
To walk.
To drive through states and cities, countries…
To visit places Steve and I once dreamed of revisiting or going for the first time.
To meet people who needed the same hope God gave me.
To introduce the Stratiotology Foundation, not as a charity, but as a mission.
A mission built on two truths:
God carried me,
and
I must carry others.
I realized the road wasn’t just a road.
It was the classroom where God would teach me how to serve again.
The highway would become my sanctuary.
The miles would become my instrument…
The journey would become my worship…
And the calling wasn’t just “go.”
It was:
“Go — and help others get back up too.”
So the idea formed:
Drive from Texas to California and beyond…Travel to other countries…
Stop at Toyota and Chevrolet dealerships — the brands Steve loved.
Stop at Harley-Davidsons — the places we once rode to.
Stop at Arch Motorcycle, where Steve and I once talked about visiting and checking out.
Stop at hotels, churches, small towns, big cities, parks, beaches, water, anywhere God opened a door.
I wasn’t just traveling.
I was rebuilding.
I was obeying.
I was stepping into the work God prepared for me long before the grief ever came.
This wasn’t a trip.
This was the beginning of my calling.
The beginning of serving again.
The beginning of the Pilgrim Sojourner chapter.
The beginning of carrying the torch
that Steve once held in his hands.
And deep in my spirit,
I knew…
this is where God is sending me to do and go…on the road…
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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