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By Guest Contributor Amber Ambrose
I was miserable in Houston. Living through two house floods within the span of a year and a half, multiple droughts, intense heat and the overwhelming nature of living in the fourth-largest city in the nation, I was toast. But circumstances weren’t favorable for a move, and I had to do something to find a way through.
Swimming in feelings of powerlessness and frustration, I was ready for a breakthrough. I started pondering how to reconnect with the optimistic, enthusiastic person I knew myself to be. Nature, hiking and being in the mountains were a luxury, but also had become a portal for my soul to drop the worries of daily life and enter into the wonder of existence time and time again. But how could I find that “mountaintop” feeling here in Houston? Traveling was an option, but between budgets, kids in school, and life in general, it was not a sustainable plan. Something had to give.
Enter Google. “Spirituality AND Nature” was the search that brought me to the Center For Spirituality in Nature. I immediately checked the website to see if there was a Houston Spirituality in Nature Group (SING), and was supremely disappointed by its absence. At the time, I was recovering from burnout after founding and eventually, selling a business. I wasn’t ready to start a SING. Before I left the site, I signed up for the newsletter.
Four months later, I received an email from the Center For Spirituality in Nature announcing an all-women’s camping and forest bathing trip in the forest of Pennsylvania, all equipment provided. I’d literally just written in my journal: “Want to find an all-women’s camping trip where all equipment is provided.” The fact that it included the spiritual lens of forest bathing was an absolute cherry on top. I took a deep breath, talked to my husband, crunched the numbers, and took a huge leap of faith.
Fast forward to the trip: I flew into Baltimore knowing no one, stayed in a then-stranger’s home for an evening, and carpooled with fellow campers to the site. Far outside of my comfort zone, I had never even tent camped before the first night. By day two, I was hooked. Not just on the backpacking and camping part, but on the contemplative practices known as “invitations” in the world of forest bathing. My life was forever changed.
How could I bring this type of experience into Houston? It was time I stepped up and founded a SING, if for no one else than myself. Fortunately, I had a willing and enthusiastic partner. Longtime friend Mary Kathryn LeMaster and I met in the summer of 2023 to discuss where we could hold such a group, what themes would we want to explore, who would we invite, and how. What would we name the group?
Thankfully, we also had plenty of support from the Center for Spirituality in Nature starting with the Start SINGing book, which had everything laid out in detail on how to form, launch, maintain, and lead a Spirituality in Nature Group (complete with seasonal questions, practices and more). Also, Mary Kathryn and I had the opportunity to meet with Payton Hoegh, the Center’s Program Director, who essentially encouraged us to launch our group on a weekday, not because it would be the most well-attended, but because it was the best for our personal schedules. That permission has been a huge help in creating something sustainable.
The plan was to launch in September near the equinox. When that came and went, we ended up with our first date in October. (Don’t give up, even if your ideal timeline comes and goes!) Between personal emails, texts, and plenty of social media posts, we had developed enough confidence to feel as if perhaps, maybe a few people might show up. And show up they did. Thus, the Wild Ministry was born.
As we gathered in Memorial Park—a well known public space in Houston—we could feel the power of this small group convening with a purpose. Honoring ourselves and this beautiful space we all call home with our presence, intention, contemplation and joy, we kicked things off with a grounding meditation and sound bowls (thanks to Mary Kathryn and the generous offerings of her gifts) before wandering the trails with specific invitations to ponder.
We left that first gathering almost exactly a year ago with so much hope in our hearts, knowing what was possible. After a few months of trial and error, we decided to make it even more convenient and predictable (again, sustainability is the first ingredient when leading a volunteer effort—it has to work for those leading or it works for no one), deciding to meet at the same labyrinth at the same park each month. That was a huge turning point in our journey. We had a home. We had a predictable schedule. We had a core group committed to the gatherings. We had a flow.
And then—as life tends to do in the age of climate change and extreme weather events—as fast as we had found a rhythm, a series of events like a derecho (a storm with prolonged and intense straight-line winds), random illnesses and Hurricane Beryl blew everything into chaos.
Nevertheless, we persisted. Wild Ministry was not something we brought to the community, Wild Ministry was something the community brought to us, and we wanted to find the will to keep going. Complicating things further was the fortunate situation in which Mary Kathryn and I had found ourselves: Our careers had grown over the year we’d launched Wild Ministry, and our free time had shrunk. How to proceed? By meeting every other month.
This is the current schedule we’ve landed on, and it works for us, and our community. As we move forward, we’re leaving things flexible, open to the possibilities of what Wild Ministry may look like a month from now, six months from now, and even a year from now. What’s important is that we remember why we did it in the first place: To bloom where we are planted, and to help others do the same. Houston has so much more to offer than I ever noticed before. There’s no greater gift than falling back in love with the wonder and beauty of your own backyard.
Learn about starting a local Spirituality in Nature Group during our online
SING Leadership Training next month!
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