Hey everybody! Its been a while since my last communique to everyone, but here is a little bit of what has been going on these past several weeks.
The team and I “walked” (okay, a majority of) El Camino de Santiago from the French side and made it (almost) all the way from Saint-Jean-Pide-de-Port to León (around 215 miles) in 16 days. Despite its many challenges – all physical, mental, spiritual – it was without a doubt a fantastic experience, if you have a chance to train for it, of course. Hopping from albergue to albergue (means “refuge”) day after day got exhausting, but after a time it became a summation of my entire year of picking up and moving all my belongings (almost all of them) every. Single. Morning.
In the midst of the chaos, there is always certainty. Certainty that what was spoken will come to pass. Certainty that a promise is not a matter of wishful thinking and hoping something will happen, but a definitive expectation that it will.
The most enjoyable part of the Camino (and simultaneously the least enjoyable (because of the snoring)), was the community of people that formed around us, but it did not happen organically as we sometimes suppose, it took invitations and intentional pursuit. The people we met along the way by the end of it told us they slowed their walking pace so that they could travel with us, that they chose the same albergue’s so we could have dinner together (which was amazing)! Over time we all were able to share our life experiences as we walked. I met a couple from the Netherlands, several Aussies, several Irishmen, a Swede, an Argentine, a Brazilian, and many more.
“Certainty” is not something we talked about, but after some reflection I see that it was a motif. Everyone was searching for something, some being out there, some job, some family matter to get sorted, some love to realign.
And the entire time there were questions without answers. No certainty in the inconstancy. And I felt lucky. I have nothing more to attribute it to in my own life than I’ve been selected, but the innumerable permutations that needed to happen so that I could be positioned in such a way that I could hear, see, and know the Word. It is unfathomable.
But more on that later when I see you in person.
Now, the team and I are in our final weeks, our final month, in our final country. We are in MOROCCO!! Tangier is where I’ll spend the next couple weeks before heading out to Marrakech for debrief, then flying back home!!!
A part of me cannot WAIT to be home, but another part of me will sincerely miss the life that I got to live these past 11 months. While I continue to press into my final days here, I ask you all for prayer over my mind and heart as I prepare to come back, but also that I do not neglect my days here, but I give it my all.
Also, please message me in ways that I can pray for you! I’m excited to see everyone once again. My excitement is a certainty.
