On Angels’ Wings

A few nights ago I had a dream. I was walking in a big city, bustling with people, cars, etc. My children were with me, but they were younger, requiring that they hold my hands. I had on one of those gigantic hiker backpacks, stuffed to the gills and weighing me down. The GPS on my phone was telling me where to go and I was following it, but couldn’t make any progress toward my destination. People would walk by and I’d ask; they would confirm I was heading the right way. But somehow it was like I was walking the wrong direction on a conveyer, never making progress all the while exhausted under the weight of my pack and the burden of keeping my kids safe.

As I pondered what this all meant, I realized that, while my direction and destination for my goals is correct, the weight of responsibility and all the things that need to be done to get there are so heavy it feels like I’m going nowhere.

The ministry I founded, On Angels’ Wings, seeks to improve the mental health and wellness of families with medically fragile children through free therapeutic photography and grief recovery services. While I’ve hit about 50% of my salary support raising goal, the organization needs a lot more time from me in order to continue meeting goals for our vision and I’m anxious to have the salary support in place so I can work for the organization full time. That said, we’re definitely making progress as an organization; Celebrating our eighth year of service in 2021, OAW saw these milestones: 

• The opening of our first-ever location in September will provide a meeting space for our grief recovery groups and smaller events. Additionally, there are two studios available within the facility to amplify the safe options available to volunteer photographers when providing one of our free sessions to the families we serve.
• Ten OAW recipients completed the organization’s first 8-week group recovery program utilizing the Grief Recovery Method (our Support Coordinator and I became Advanced Certified Grief Recovery Method Specialists in June 2020 and led them through this process).
• OAW’s newly formed alliance with Lost & Found Grief Center to further expand grief recovery services to the Springfield community.
• The award of a generous grant from Hospice Foundation of the Ozarks, earmarked to maintain the SNAP Project (Supporting our Network of Area Photographers), providing for the growth, mentorship, and incentivizing of OAW’s volunteer photographer pool.

I’m reminded of this summer on vacation in the Smoky Mountains when my husband, his brother, our teenage son, and I climbed a mountain: 4.7 miles up, 4.7 miles down, 9 hours total (it was the Alum Cave trail on Mount LeConte and it’s rated as one of the hardest in the area). This picture is actually from our trek back down the mountain. That journey was arduous. It was simultaneously one of the biggest mental and physical accomplishments of my life, and one of the hardest days of my life. We had a goal to reach the summit and many, MANY TIMES it felt like we would NEVER get there. We wanted to quit. But we made it. And then the journey down was just as bad, feeling like it would never end — I couldn’t put weight on my left leg the last mile down. We were sore for WEEKS (not days).

But that mountain climb taught me that I’m capable of, well, anything if I TRAVERSE through the difficulty and the obstacles and press forward. So that’s my word for 2022. I’m on the right trajectory, but the path is not smooth and easy. It’s like that incredibly difficult mountain — there are things to pass or move over, along with and through as you climb to your destination. But God has made my path clear and I’m going to press on.

I will TRAVERSE with resolve in 2022.

Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
~ Isaiah 40: 4-5

The Lord makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
~ Psalm 37: 23-24

Michelle L. Cramer
Founder & Executive Director

 Find out more about ON ANGEL’S WINGS at  oawphoto.org