The Cookie Lady

The steepest mountain in Virginia is Mount Afton. Unless it is not. I am relying on my memory, an unfaithful friend at best. the reason I know this (Or at least think I know this) is there was an old lady named June who lived at the top of Mount Afton, and when each tired cross country bicyclist reached her summit, she sat on her porch, handing out cookies.

I don't think hordes are cycling across the country now, but in 1976 and the few years after, many people including us biked the "Bikecentennial trail" and it went right through Afton, Va. where the cookie lady lived.

We started on the West coast, and already were hearing stories about the cookie lady and the delicious treat that awaited us 3,000 miles away. During some of the hard times, of which there were many, sometimes we would shore each other up with thoughts of the delicious cookie that awaited us at the top of Mt. Afton.

I just discovered 5 minutes ago while trying to find out if Mt. Afton is the tallest mountain in Virginia that it is not, but I guarantee that when you bike it, you feel like it is. I also found out there is an online book about the cookie lady. I will give that link at the end because if I give it now, you will all rush to read about the cookie lady and leave my blog dangling without even hanging up.

Anyway, we hit Mt. Afton on a blistering hot day, as the summer in Virginia tends to be and the mountain was every bit as steep as I had feared. But at the summit, I met June, with her plate of fresh cookies and water, and tales of the many many bicyclists that she had greeted over the years. The West to East riders were elated and exhausted, as they were nearing a long journey's end. The East- West riders were elated and enthused as they were embarking on the journey of a lifetime. June met them all, coming and going, with a cookie to bless them for the trials awaiting them, or reward them for the trail successfully traversed.

What a legacy! To greet strangers with this small offering reminding them of the sweetness of the journey. I often don't remember my own family's name, but I still remember June's name, 30 years later. It is such an inconsequential thing, offering a cookie to a weary traveler. It is something even I could do if I took the time. It reminds me of another faithful Presence, that encourages and equips me for the exhilarating new beginnings in life, those downhills that are effortless and glorious..... and comforts and nourishes me as the journey staggers uphill after endless uphill. The cookie He hands me is the bread of life.

As I was remembering the Cookie Lady, I was thinking about how sometimes it takes a very small thing to add up to make a very big thing. It might be carving out time for a family drive every Sunday, or making orange jello in the orange juice glass every April Fool's day, or kissing a child and telling them each day you love them, or holding the hand of a friend who has just learned devastating news. Those small offerings of sweetness may be all that is needed to have the courage to start a journey, or the grace to end it well.

http://majka.us/cookielady/default.htm

Proverbs 5:21
For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.