I’m currently on day 15 of the Camino de Santiago and walking a 24 kilometer day…that’s about 15 miles. As I walked in silence next to Maddie, the song that states, ‘your love is like the wildest oceans, nothing else compares’ came on and I started thinking of all the people I love back home and how in just a few short WEEKS (yes, weeks), I’ll be back to hug them. I was brought to tears. I thought of my parents, my sisters (who I won’t see right away), my brother and sister-in-love, Chic, my aunts, uncles and cousins, my friends and my grandmas. As I thought about all these dear people in my life, the hard truth that I won’t see my 2 grandpas hit me. I began flashing back to memories I have with each of them and how deeply I cherish the time we had.
I thought about playing games, whether it was card games or words games with Grandpa W or sitting out in the yard with him as he scooped an ice cream cone for me. Or with Grandpa G, going over my budget spreadsheet or talking to him about hard things and him always listening to what I had to say as well as hearing so much of his story and what he’d walked through in his lifetime.
The Camino has been an INCREDIBLE time to reflect. And a lot of the reflecting I’ve done is on the past year, the ministries, the people, the places and so much more. But some of it has been reflecting on what I have at home that I’m going back to, as well as the people I don’t have anymore and the memories I will always cherish.
This is not an easy walk, and sometimes we have emotional outbursts. Sometimes we want to quit and just complain. But most of the time, I stand in awe of my creator. I stand in thankfulness for the things he’s blessed me with-family, friends, feet to walk, provision, grace. And sometimes, my standing turns to kneeling or laying on my bed with tears streaming down my face because the weight of his great love for me can never be matches by any love I could ever give or receive from anyone else.
The Camino has caused me to step into even more gratefulness for what I’ve been blessed with.
