DAY SIX (d), Saturday, September 10th! of Trey's Trek cont..... 

The look on his face tells it all!

After sitting down in Tony's Restaurant at Birch Run, for lunch and having ordered our meal.  David looked at me with awestruck wonder trying to figure out how in the world he was supposed to actually eat "this THANG!"

We had already walked right at 10 miles this morning and we did need something to eat that would replenish our energy but when the sandwiches were brought out... David looked a bit worried!

So you gotta ask yourself in a situation like this... 'how do you eat an elephant?' And the answer is... "one bit at a time!"  This was going to be an adventure!  Not only was the day's longest trek 'something else' this place where people actually wait in line outside the door to get in and eat was 'something else' too!

Who would of 'thunk it?

I can remember the first time I came in here with a bunch of men from Brightmoor Tabernacle who were going up "North" to work on a church in St. Helens, MI almost 25 years ago.  

We all stopped here to eat on the way up.  Robin Dubuc said that I needed to have just a 'single BLT' for supper.  So I agreed, thinking that I could order something else later but when they brought it to the table, I just busted out laughing!  They knew how big the sandwich was but no one told me!  The joke was on me!  It was funny!

  

So David and I  spent almost an hour eating and resting and eating and eating and eating!  LOL!   It was good to rest a bit to let our legs recharge!  

So after paying the bill, we went back outside and headed West past McDonald's and straight out to Maple walking on Main Street into downtown Birch Run.  Just before we crossed the Rail Road Tracks there in the center of town we turned right and headed North up Maple.  We walked passed a big mill on the right where there are grain silos.  The road wound around the mill and between the Rail Road tracks and the road took a Northerly direction as we walked toward Saginaw! 

My view as David led

 I didn't know it at the time but this stretch of the trek for this first week for me was to be the most challenging!  The roads here were straight and flat and from our perspective at times... just disappeared off into infinity where you felt like 'this will never end!'   Without a purpose in your 'walk' and a goal in 'getting there', you will quit!  You will say to yourself, 'why am I doing this?  This is useless!  I am getting no where!'  

It is very much like life itself!  In our daily lives, if we do not have a goal to reach for, or a purpose for which to work... we will consider it but 'useless' and of 'no value' and just stop...!  We will usually end up telling ourselves that "...life is actually going nowhere," and we just end up trying to create something that will 'entertain' us or make us 'feel' like we have some elusive 'purpose'!  Purpose is not something that you create, it is what you dedicate your life to, that makes for meaningful existence.  

Now , just a thought here... Life can become a drudgery, like a long flat road!  And so many times we allow the 'straightness of the road' to dictate what we 'feel' instead of using the road to take us where we want to go!   

From my perspective without 'a purpose' and 'a goal' and 'sacrificing your time and efforts for others...",  life (like this long flat road) will waste away who you are, simply by living for yourself which in, 'car talk'...is understood as being shifted into 'neutral.'  Yah, you got gas in your tank!  You got power under your hood! You are shiny!  You got great tires!  You sound good when you get revved up!  But if the 'trans' is in "N" you ain't going no where!  

For all of the energy you expend and all the time you take making yourself look good and you just end up 'doing it' all for yourself so you can get noticed... your life is in 'Neutral!'  Practically useless!  Motionless, going no where... of no use to anyone but... yourself!   

That is why folks get board!  They are board with themselves!  There is no challenge!  Why challenge yourself when you see your self as complete and you need no one else because 'you are the best?'  You know what you can do!  Your self confidence is up there!   Besides that... do you really think that you will push yourself to do better than you are presently doing since you are already 'there'?   

Don't be kidding yourself!   There is no variety in selfishness!  There is no freshness in selfishness!  There is no freedom to converse and or exchange any ideas if you are more concerned with yourself than others!  

The selfish don't want to hear anything different other than what they already "know" or "feel" or "are doing!"  But if you are all by your 'lonesome,' it won't be long when you will start to think... 'oh man, I need some stimulation, some excitement!  Living like that, causes you to get board with yourself!  Selfishness is a sterile breeder!  It creates cotton candy existence and on the surface it lures you along into something that has no substance or reality that undures!  

So, saying all of that, just reminds me that I have to know where I want to end up!  I want to have purpose!   I want to know the meaning of what has been sacrificed for me!  I want to know as a response, that my sacrifice for others makes a difference!  I need to count the costs of getting there!  I have to know the way to go and the One to follow... in word and deed, in getting to where I need to end up!   I need to remember that there are 'pot holes' along the way and obstacles that will block my path at times.  I need to understand that 'persistence' is a quality that doesn't actually fit well with my being but that if I want to make it to the 'finish line,' I must wear that garment!  Putting on 'persistence' will bring a motivation that will energize my being and keep my gaze focused in the right direction and fixed on the right point toward the goal!  That goal is my High Calling! 

In the old English It says.... "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."

With my feet on the Ground!

Simply Trey

DAY SIX (c), Saturday, September 10th! of Trey's Trek cont..... 

While walking up Linden Road, David and I were 'getting our feet under us', meaning that we were working out the kinks in our sox and getting our shoes adjusted just right... not too tight or not too loose.  That is important while walking, especially on extended treks!  


Today the first leg of our trek would be right at 10 miles so understanding the distance and preparing yourself mentally is essential to actually reaching your goal at the end of the day.   You 'prep' yourself mentally so that discouragement doesn't set in especially when the road is just flat and straight!  You can become mentally tired just walking along without the sense of accomplishing anything because you "feel" that you are not moving!  


There would be some times when I would have to look to the left or to the right so as to judge myself in that I was really going forward!  I would focus on a fence post and then on an object like a tree or a cow or a bush or something that was 'out a ways' and actually see that I was moving along.  I would purposefully encourage myself that progress was being made in spite of what I felt by looking down the road where from my perspective the road and the trees and the sky would all come into a pinpoint and disappear into a spot so tight that I could not focus anymore!   With that view I would find myself just moving along slower and slower like an old steam engine coming into a train station and eventually stopping!  


Linden Road that we were walking on, paralleled I-75 going North and as we walked along we could hear the car tires on the pavement humming by but yet we were in the country side where there were beautiful farms.  Where there were no houses, there were rich, luscious corn fields with   the ears of corn still on the stalks!  It was a sight of abundance... a real blessing of God!


Right as we were walking into Linden, there was a Farm Store that we stopped at for about 15 minutes.  The 'stick' that I had for the flag that I purchased in the Flint area was not really strong enough to hold up the U.S. Flag that I had attached to my back pack.  The photo above shows the new 'rod' that I found in that farm store.  It was actually a fiberglass rod that was one yard long that people use to drive down into the ground at corners and places along their drive ways so people who are pushing snow will stay in the road.  It was only a couple of bucks and was strong enough to hold up the new flag that I purchased and held up the flag quite nicely!   That purchase gave us a few minute's rest and then we trekked on!


If I remember right, it was in Linden where we ran into our first stop light after leaving the church at Mt Morris.  That gave us a minute to catch our breath too!  Then just North of that intersection in Linden, the terrain turned into more woods than fields with small houses along the way.  Then past Willard Road the farming resumed with fields that seemed to have already been harvested.  


But by this time we were getting close to Burt Road which is just South of Birch Run!  At the intersection of Burt Road and Linden the road expanded into a 4 lane with an area to the right that used to be a golf course.  When we saw that we knew that we were really close!  That felt really good!  It was in Birch Run that we were going to stop and eat at the WORLD FAMOUS Tony's Restaurant.  

Then as we approached Birch Run there was a nice sign on the right side of the road...

Both David and me posed by the sign like we were world travelers!  Actually, as I stood there, I was pondering the distance that I had come since leaving Dearborn and not an inch of it had been in any motorized vehicle on this trek North.  I could hardly believe that I was standing here on my own feet knowing that those feet, one step at a time, brought me here!  Of course I had been here many times before in my car but now I was here and I got there by walking and not riding!  Amazing!  

After taking these photos, walking to the restaurant seemed like another trek from there!  At least I was excited because I was hungry and knew that shortly we were going to be eating!  I know David was hungry too but what he was to encounter there was something that he will never forget!  The size of the sandwiches that Tony's Restaurant serves is massive and David could not believe what he saw when they brought out our food to us.  We took about an hour there before we continued on!  It was midday and still another 8 to 9 hours were still in front of us!


With my feet on the Ground!
(and my heart in the air!)


Simply Trey

DAY SIX (b), Saturday, September 10th! of Trey's Trek cont..... 

Along the way there is beauty!

While walking, you see all kinds of things that get your attention!  Some things like 'road kill,' let you know that somehow that critter didn't make it and the results were... well, not pleasant!

But there are times when a creature is struck or wounded and in the process does not loose it's beauty!

In thinking this through as in the case with the Monarch Butterfly shown above, evidently it was probably struck by a passing car or truck but did not loose it's beauty in 'the encounter!'  As I thought about what David and I saw... I began to wonder how we as people turn out to be... after being struck by some tragedy or an offense or just being 'run over' by life?

What do people see when they view our life?  'Road Kill' with all of your insides scattered about or like the butterfly... with a pleasantness that reflects the character and stability of Jesus Himself?  It is a thought worth pondering!

Alive, vibrant and reaching for the sky!

As we walked along I noticed this one tree that seemed to just 'jump'!  Now I know that Trees don't really do that but this one tree seemed excited about being where it was and while all of the other trees were green and lush, their limbs were just kind of 'hanging there' soaking up the Sun and doing their thing and just taking up space along the side of the road.  This one 'Evergreen' seemed to explode with life!  It seemed to me to just want to 'jump up!'  There was something different about this tree that was surrounded by all kinds of other trees that lined the road.  I know looks are not everything but there is a lesson here that I need to listen to!

With my feet on the Ground...

Simply Trey

DAY SIX (a), Saturday, September 10th! of Trey's Trek cont..... 

David and I prayed with Pastor Alverson and started out right at 8:00 a.m.!  The driveway out of the church is about a quarter of a mile long, so it took us a bit to get to W. Mt. Morris Road which would lead us West to  Linden Road where we would turn North and walk toward Birch Run and all the outlet malls at that exit on I-75.

Getting started at 8:00am 

As we walked along the South side of the road on W. Mt Morris going West our shadow was long but when we turned North and Trekked up Linden the photo above was what you saw!  I thought that it was an interesting image so I took out my phone and took this photo!

Most of what we saw on this first part of the trek today was farmland.  Fields and woods and cattle and sheep and sometimes other farm animals.

"The view"... walking up Linden toward Birch Run

Linden Road itself offered us plenty of 'walking room' with it's wide shoulders!  This was really a 'plus' as we walked along and waved at folks as they would drive by!

David trekking up Linden Road ahead of me!

Having a partner to walk with you really helps pass the time!  It helps you get your mind off or yourself!  It is an interesting thought but spiritually that applies also!  Walking with someone who agrees with you, makes 'the journey' so much more bearable!  The Scripture says, "how can two walk together unless they agree?"  There are a lot of applications here, simply "by walking" 'in the Spirit' and following Jesus!  Man, can this thought run on into some rich content!  Awesome!

I think back on the folks who started out this week with me from our office building on Michigan Avenue in Dearborn through every town and hamlet where we stayed and how their endurance helped encourage me to 'stay the course' and not give up before we reached our destination!   'Going it alone' is not a good option when you are walking the course of life either.  Taking someone with you is better by far and even having someone to join you along the way is a 'hoot' too!  It is something to think about!

Trey on his way to Saginaw, today!

With my feet still on the Ground!

Simply Trey

DAY SIX, Saturday, September 10th! of Trey's Trek cont.....

David Parvu arrived this morning to assist me in walking this last day of the first week of Trey's Trek.
 It would be the most challenging leg of the walk thus far...

Last night after arriving at the Church in Mt. Morris, we met with Pastor Alverson and some other brothers who spent some time praying with us about Dearborn and the Church.  The weariness in my body was evident but my spirit was very encouraged by the reception that we received when we arrived!  

When we arrived at the church Tony's wife came and 'fetched' him and he headed home!  I have to tell you that the two days he walked with me would have been a real 'bear' to handle, without Tony being there.  Brother you are to be commended!  Huah!

Pastor Alverson took me home and I cleaned up.  Then Sister Alverson managed a wonderful meal at their place for supper.  I got to bed but again did not sleep so well.  I think that the weariness of my body and the anticipation of what was before me the next morning made for a fitful rest.  Anyway when the Sun began coming up, the alarm on my Black Berry sounded and I wrestled myself up and showered again to help get my old frame mobile enough to move downstairs for a wonderful breakfast that Sister Alverson prepared again.   It was better than a grand breakfast at the Weston!  Anyway... we ate and I packed what I had in my backpack and off to the Church we went to be able to commence the last day of the first week of the Trey's Trek to Mackinaw.  

When we arrived at the church, David Parvu, an awesome young man who I have known for a long time, who lives in Dearborn, drove up to make the leg of the trek from Mt. Morris, MI to Saginaw Township, MI.  This leg would be the most arduous of the whole 17 days of walking from Dearborn to Mackinaw City!  If anyone, David was certainly the person who I would have picked to make this particular leg with me.  

I have to tell you, that in my life...I have never walked this far in a single day, ever!  Not even in getting in shape for this whole event did I have any point of reference for what this day would hold!  I did not even know what it would take from me, in the form of energy and my endurance and even in my mental capacity to complete what was set out before us!  But I did know this... I could not quit!  That was not even an option!   

You see, in High School... the very first varsity Wrestling match that I ever wrestled which I was a Sophomore, we were to take on Carver High School from across town.  In those days the 'Black / White' issue was tense!  Carver was for the most part a 'Black School' and 'E. B. Erwin' High School in Center Point was going through a desegregation process because we were mainly 'White.'  From my memory it was the first time a 'Black School' had come to compete against us at Erwin at least for wrestling.  Times were tense... in the early 70's.   There were certain things you did not say or mention in those days but you could cut the tension with a knife!  

So when the Carver Athletes arrived, we all met in the hallway between the wrestling room and the training room near the huge Coke machine that Coach Armstrong always kept full of Dr. Peppers and waited our turn... when called for, to weigh in!  First there was "Tuffy" then maybe two others who stepped up on the scale before me.  Then it was time for me to weigh in at 125 lbs.  

Coach Jeffery called... well saying that he 'called' is a bit mild.  He grawled my last name and said "Hancock, get in here and step up on this scale..."  I obeyed... and to my amazement that long arm on that huge round face that starred back at me as it swung up and then back and then back again the other direction, did not stop at the 125 mark!  It ever so slightly went past the 125 on the face of the scale and showed that I needed to loose another quarter of a pound before I would be allowed to compete at that weight.  

From what I remember... Coach Jeffery said...."get off, I'll fix you!"  I have to tell you that what ever "fix" meant, that my stomach was not feeling like it was going to be something very good!  Hmm... was something broke!  Yah, it was me!  I had not cut sufficient weight to make the grade at 125 lbs.  So several more young men came into the tiny room and weighed in and at the 155 lb weight class he grawled at me again to get back up there and weigh!  Of course at this weight I clearly..."made weight"!  But what I saw there made my heart sink!

Standing next to the scale, I watched as a Carver Wrestler at the 155 lbs weight class who had to have been at least 6' 3" tall stepped up on the scale and made weight.  He came in at or under 155 lbs.    For him that was good but what made my heart sink was... from my perspective (which was about 5' 7") in those days... his huge 'afro' hair style which seemed to me to be another 6" on top of the 6' 3" height and went out in every direction almost looked like it touched the ceiling!  I have to tell you that Fear gripped me!  I melted like butter in my heart!  I felt like I was facing a death penalty and Coach Jeffery was the Judge!  The photo below is what he looked like 'exactly' in the early 70's at Erwin High School.  His image will for ever be branded into my brain!

Coach Jim Jeffery 

He further said, "I will teach you not do to this again!"  I thought... 'Oh great!'  I didn't like  wrestling anyway!  But right now... there was more to be concerned about because that guy whose head seemed to touch the ceiling was going to walk out on the mat for my very first varsity match and pulverize me!  

What had I done?  how could I fix this?  Well to make a long story, short... We had been handling Carver High pretty good for this match and now it was my time for me to step out onto the mat with that giant that I weighed in with downstairs!  But as I looked across the mat... what did I see?!  The fear in my heart rose to a new level!  When that Carver Wrestler put on his head gear, the hair on his head conformed to the head gear and in huge 'afro' 'blocks of hair' that stuck out everywhere, at least from what I could tell!  (I was so scared that I was probably seeing things)  I thought to my self... how was I going to handle this?  How do you wrestle a black guy with hair coming out 'everwhere' which made him look huge!  It scared the living daylights out of me!  What was I to do!  Run?  Are you kidding!  Coach Jeffery was sitting over there and I would have had to run through him to get away... so facing this huge wrestler would be easier!  So I stayed!  But in reality, it didn't make it any easier!  He was still there when the whistle blew to start the match!  I had to engage or be called for stalling! 

When we came to the middle of the mat and shook hands, his manly hand seemed to wrap around mine as he peered down at me like a fish in an aquarium!  To say the least, he mopped the mat with me!  He had me 8 to ZERO at the end of the first two minutes of the match which is the first round!  He had me so intimidated that I literally let him have his way with me and he beat me like a 'Government Mule'!  At that point my heart said that there was nothing that I could do about this but survive!  

At the last few seconds of round 1 he had turned me to my back over on our side of the mat.  So to forgo the embarrassment of getting pinned at home by this monster, I bridged up on my neck and to my amazement there was Coach Jeffery sitting in his chair like he always did.  Except for this time he was sitting up on the edge of his chair with his hands cupped around his mouth and saying to me...."just submit, go ahead and just submit..."  I have to tell you that those words which I could hear him say, actually made me mad!   Yep!  I got angry!  I couldn't believe what he was saying to me!  He was telling me to 'quit!"  What, quit?!  How in the world...?  Is he serious?  QUIT!  What?  Then the whistle blew... the round was over and thankfully I was not pinned!  The Carver Wrestler had 'wiped the mat' with me!  

What took place next was quite amazing!  I don't remember much about the particulars of  the match but I do remember taking the "up" position at the beginning of the 2nd round and I ended up riding my opponent for two solid minutes!  (those were the days of Riding Time in High School) Then at the beginning of the 3rd round I was on bottom.  Immediately 'on the whistle', like lightning, I switched him and got back on top and rode him out until the end!  When the horn sounded at the end of the match, I had won by a score of 9 to 8!  

I can still remember what my arms and legs felt like.   They were on fire along with my lungs!  Not only that, I could hardly even move my fingers, I was so spent!  Everything that I had, had gone into winning that match and after the Ref raised my hand and I started off the mat toward our bench, I remember my team mats coming to meet me with cheers and well wishings.  And as I passed Coach Jeffery, he said!  "Serves you right! Now go sit down!"  Now I Laugh out Loud!!!  It did serve me right!  It serves me right; right up until right now!  

Whether the challenge is 31.9 miles or a huge wrestling opponent with a massive afro that 'sticks out' on all sides of his wrestling head gear; quitting is not an option...at all!  And if we hang in there until the end... we end up wrestling with the best and winning!  And to learn our lessons well...we need to let the lessons "Serve us right!"  So take it from me!  Coach Jeffery was right!  Don't quit what you start!  You will end up kicking yourself for the rest of your life!  

Jesus said... "No man who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of Heaven"   Who wants a crooked forough anyway?

Coach Jeffery at the last Erwin Wrestling Match at the School (ever)
Us old wrestlers came last year to honor him for his
contribution into our lives as a Coach and an awesome Mentor
He passed away not many months after this photo was taken

With my feet on the Ground!

Simply Trey