Morning:
What’s a girl to do when she’s feeling weak, worn out, and the winding paths that seem to purposely take her off track have her frustrated but the day has just begun?
You take a pause, have a snack, sip your water, talk to a friend, say a prayer, decide to change your mindset, choose to see the beauty in the detours, and keep moving forward.
Afternoon:
What’s a girl to do when she’s feeling weak, worn out, and the miles she’s walked are taking a toll on her feet but there are still miles and miles to go?
You take a pause, stretch your legs, say a prayer, choose to see how far you’ve come not how far you have to go, and have an ongoing conversation with the father thanking Him for this: your health, strength, legs that can walk, feet that can handle the miles, ten toes that keep you balanced, and the opportunity to be on this adventure then you keep moving forward.
Evening:
What’s a girl to do when she’s almost in tears because she’s weak, worn out, and wholly drained from the day and Jesus asks her keep living life on a mission instead of going to bed early?
You clean yourself up, shedding tears in the shower while you ask Him again if He’s really telling you to go socialize and share the Good News when you’re 100% DONE. You eat your dinner and quietly pray for the strength to do what He’s asked, then venture out and have conversations with an eclectic group of fellow pilgrims about the World Race, religion, and faith for hours. You go to bed well past the time you originally wanted to crash but with more vitality than when you started the conversations two hours before.
Guys, yesterday was a tough one. I started out feeling low energy before we even began walking. My pack felt heavier even though it was actually lighter than the day before. I got lightheaded and had to stop after the first 30 minutes. My girl Kelly was very patient and encouraged me while I took a short break to recover and get strength for the hours ahead.
The path really didn’t make sense today. We would go up then across then down or down, across, and up when a straight line was shorter, quicker, easier, and made more sense. We were true to the trail, we followed it to a tee. I asked the Lord, “why does this have to be so hard today?” He reminded me that it’s in the hard places that we grow. When the path doesn’t make sense but we keep going anyway, following the way that is marked for us by The Way- that’s when our faith grows, we get to the places He has laid aside just for us. If you take a shortcut, you’ll miss the views along the scenic route and the lessons learned along the way.
For some reason, seeing so many groups of people pass us throughout the morning was really a jab at my pride. I know it’s not a race and I want to take my time to be able to enjoy the scenery and care for my body, but falling behind people we’d met along the way who actually started their day after us really stung. I had to check myself and ask the Lord for forgiveness. I’m doing this for Him not myself or anyone else so His timetable is what I will follow and His approval is all that I need.
In the afternoon, Kelly and I found our first grocery store in two days. Our emergency snacks were depleted, and we needed to stock up for dinner and our day off as well. After checking out, we split and loaded all of the groceries into our packs easily adding 10 pounds to our already heavy packs. What we thought would be a short 3k trip to our hostel, turned into a two hour expedition filled with poorly marked trails, wrong turns, lots of pauses to check the map, and shooting pains in my feet. The last mile I prayed the whole way after seeing an elderly man shuffle down the sidewalk with his cane. “Thank you God that I can walk. Thank you that my legs are strong. Thank you that me feet are supporting me. Thank you for 10 toes that keep me balanced and propel me forward. Thank you that you’ve given me a body that was able to walk 160k in 10 days. Thank you for choosing me for this journey and for the opportunity to walk the Camino. Please hold back the rain until we arrive at the hostel.”
We finally got there at 6pm and it started raining about 45 minutes later. Kelly and I settled into our little apartment- something we weren’t expecting. Because we had booked ahead for two nights, they set aside a sweet little suite that has a bedroom, full kitchen, and our own bathroom. God was sooooo good to give us this place to rest!
As I unpacked my things getting ready to take a shower, a lady that we met a few nights before knocked on our door. She and her friends invited us to share the chili they had made and hang out around the dinner table. I thanked her but explained that we had already started cooking our own meal. She kept the invitation open if we changed our minds. Kelly pointed out it would be a good opportunity to lead the conversation to spiritual things as all of our conversations with them previous days were pretty superficial. I nearly cried out of exhaustion. I hopped in the shower and knew that the Lord was telling me to move. Just then, another lady from the group came to tell Kelly the food was ready if we wanted to join them and brought us a big bowl of chili to share when she realized we weren’t ready to come out yet. I overheard this from the bathroom and knew what the Lord was asking. “But it’s been such a long and hard day! Why would you ask me to do this now?” I cried. “Because they are ready to hear it. They are literally begging you to talk to them. The door is open now,” He said. “You’re going to have to give me an energy boost. I can’t do this without you,” I replied. “I never expected you to. Now eat your dinner and go on out there,” He reassured. After dinner in our own little kitchen, Kelly and I washed our dishes and headed out to where the group was to return the bowl they brought us the chili in. That’s when the questions started. “What is the World Race? What kind of missionary work do you do? What is your faith and how has it changed this year?” The five of them interrogated the two of us in a genuinely curious and kind manner for over two hours. We were given an open mic to people who truly wanted to know the answers. Seeds were planted and watered. Miraculously this overly exhausted introvert who’d had one heck of a day ended more energized than when she’s started. God is good y’all, and He’s worth following the winding paths that don’t appear to make sense.
“Walk in the wisdom of God as you live before the unbelievers, and make it your duty to make him known. Let every word you speak be drenched with grace and tempered with truth and clarity. For then you will be prepared to give a respectful answer to anyone who asks about your faith.”
Colossians 4:5-6 TPT
