Our daughter, Kristin, and her husband, took this week off to travel to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They love it up there and usually stay near St. Ignace. Not that there is anything special up north but they love the land, the quiet and they love to explore the beautiful topography of the area.
Last week I took time to study a map and realized that they were going to be very close to Naubinway, MI. It’s about 40 minutes away from where they stay and Kristin has never been there. Interestingly, I spent part of a summer up there the year that I was 18. My best friend, Bob, and his family invited me to go up north with them to spend two weeks in the north woods. I have travelled up north in Wisconsin, but never all the way to the U.P. on the Michigan side.
We rented a cabin in Naubinway and had a fantastic time fishing, riding mini-bikes, driving through the north woods and creating memories that have lasted for 58 years. Unfortunately, Bob passed away when he was 50, so I have lived the last 23 years without my best friend. In fact, I presided over parts of his funeral service back in 2002.
As Kristin and Chip headed north on Sunday, the memories of northern Michigan came flooding back to me. The Hiawatha Club, the intensely remote area, the unparalleled beauty, the kindness of the people – all of these things were noteworthy to me. Even the night that we took his new 1971 Camaro down a straight highway, late at night, going 125 mph. As I look back on it, we were doing stupid things. A deer or even a bear could have come out of the woods and we would have been killed had we hit an animal at that speed in the middle of the night. God spared us that night. But I got scared straight in the process.
The only noteworthy place in Naubinway was a little combination diner/snow machine shop. We usually cooked at the cabin so I tried to warn Kristin that it could still be quite remote up there. They decided to take the drive anyway.
Yesterday, Kristin sent me the most beautiful pictures of the area. Not only did I learn that Naubinway is an Indian word meaning, “the place of echoes”, but it is also the northernmost point on Lake Michigan, the second largest of the Great Lakes (behind Lake Superior). According to Kristin, it is still rather remote, but it typically Kristin fashion, she and Chip adventured to places that I don’t know that Janet and I would have ever found.
Now my time there was far before I decided to get involved in ministry and long before it even entered my mind to attend seminary, but wonderful spiritual things have happened there. Naubinway now has a Prayer Park on the shore of Lake Michigan. They have also built the “Living Water Prayer Chapel” where all are welcome to come and sit in silence, or pray. It is a very small, quaint retreat where several people can commune with God in some of the most beautiful surroundings you can imagine. For those of us who grew up near Lake Michigan, there’s just something about that body of water that remains familiar throughout our lives. It’s different than Erie, Superior or Huron. I’ve never been to Lake Ontario so I can’t comment about that Great Lake.
There are piles of stones that people have built as monuments or markers, obvious signs of a devout Christian community and the entire area seems lovingly maintained. In fact, it has renewed my desire to head back north some day and witness this area once again for myself. Kristin and Chip clearly loved it – I’m so glad they took time to travel there.
As you may know from prior posts, Kristin has chosen a life in ministry, much the same as I did in my later years. She is a wonderful pastor of youth ministries and very definitely can speak with authority from the pulpit. So to have a short sabbatical up north this week is probably just what she needed after several mission trips and a packed schedule this year so far. Today is her birthday and I can’t think of a better way for her to celebrate than to be in her happy place.
Tonight’s verse highlights the fact that all God’s creation will rejoice at the redemption of humanity. Nature is one of the spiritual pathways that some people are drawn to in the worship of God. Certainly, members of our family are among those who are energized by witnessing God’s creation. Especially when it comes as a surprise like the Prayer Park in Naubinway did. The prophet Isaiah tells us, in Isaiah 55:12, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
What a wonderful picture of nature rejoicing when people worship! My encouragement this evening is that all nature – all of God’s creation – rejoices when we worship our Lord and Savior. My prayer is that we will be rejuvenated when we sit in peace and observe the creation that God has given us. Nature can be energizing and help us to connect more closely with our Heavenly Father. Happy Birthday, Kristin! Mom and I love you; and pray that this birthday is especially meaningful. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…