The Blessing Stone

As told by Maria Gina Bacalsco.

A meaningful visit with staff and newly arrived refugees at Casa El Norte.

I went on a one-day prayer pilgrimage at the Fort Erie border in October.  It was truly a meaningful and glorious day.

There were a few things we were to do to prepare for this pilgrimage, and one included bringing along a stone to leave behind at the end of our day. The stone we were bringing from home was supposed to symbolize a commitment to let go of an aspect of our life that hinders us from living out what God has taught us on this journey.

Nineteen years ago, I lost a baby.  A dear friend sent me a beautiful agate stone to comfort me.  The night before our pilgrimage, I remembered this stone and dug it out of my closet. 

Our day in Fort Erie included listening to refugees at a shelter share their story, and I really connected with one of the incredibly strong, courageous mothers.  She had recently given birth prematurely, and having to be separated from her son who was in an incubator at a hospital 50 KM away was a heart-wrenching trauma added to the many she had experienced to this point.  

After we prayed for the refugees that afternoon, I was so glad that Alison suggested I might want to leave my stone with this new mom.  I did leave behind the stone as a prayer that the strength and stability I have experienced for the last nineteen years will be God’s gift to a new mother and new refugee in Canada.