Day #1
Leon —>Villar de Mazarife
13 miles
Start: 7:20am End: 12:30pm
Today was absolutely amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better first day. Although it was extremely cold and rainy, I was able to have a 5 hour conversation with this amazing woman named Lisa who actually reminded me a lot of my Dad. At some points I felt like I was talking to a parent and other times it was like I was talking to one of my girlfriends. She was extremely open-minded and actually asked a lot of questions about me. I ended up sharing my life story with her, including things that I wouldn’t normally share with just anybody. She was so encouraging. It’s funny how we (or at least I) can open up to a stranger easier than someone I’ve been really close to. But I know meeting Lisa was no coincidence. As I was sitting on my bed this morning, I prayed for a divine encounter with an individual that I could share the love of Jesus with. Lisa was my answer. We may not have agreed on everything we discussed or even our faiths, but that didn’t matter nor was it the point. The point was that we were both able to come together with different beliefs and listen to each other without judgment. We were able to both love each other where we were at. At the end of the day, Jesus isn’t calling me to convert anybody; He’s calling me to love people where they’re at in the hopes of sharing His name, whether through my actions or my words. Like Jesus has patiently pursued me my whole life and always gave me the choice to accept Him or not, in turn I want to pursue others, never making them feel like they are part of an ‘agenda,’ but recognizing them as the Lord’s beautiful creation that’s worth pursuing regardless of their circumstances. Today, my prayer is that I was able to speak into Lisa’s life, encouraging her to find what she’s searching for or for better terminology, Who she’s searching for.
