We have been on the Camino now for about two weeks and I have heard one phrase more times than I can count. That phrase is “the Camino gives you want you need, not always what you want.” I have been sitting on this thought a lot and trying to figure out what it means to me. I think I have finally received my answer.
I have wanted to do the Camino for about 10 years. I wanted to come out and walk this Camino since the day I heard it existed. My dream was to walk this journey alone and meet people from all over the world along the way. I wanted to have time with just the Lord but to still be interruptible for the people around me. I wanted to see and experience this journey for myself, with no one and for no one else.
When our squad said yes to the Camino it meant a route change and I was selfishly not excited to walk this journey with 23other people. These people are my community, I know and love them, yet I didn’t want to share this experience with them. My dream was to go about it alone and now I was not going to get to do that. This was what I wanted.
What I have received instead, is what I needed. I have been given the opportunity to walk this Camino with my community. I didn’t know that I needed these people as much as did until we were scattered all over this path. One of the things I have loved is getting to meet people who have met my community along the way. They usually say something like, “Oh I think I met some guys from your group a couple days ago. They had this joy about them that drew me in.” Or, “Oh last night I stayed at the same albergue as some of the girls from your group and they made me feel really welcomed and seen.” I have not met one person along this way that has been off put by our “loud group of Americans” (or so I thought we would be perceived as). We might be loud Americans but we see people, we spread the joy of Jesus, and we want to know people deeply. That is who my community is. Those are the people I get to be a part of.
Thank you Camino De Santiago for showing me the importance of this community in my life. Thank you God for revealing this truth to me again and again. I am made for community and I not only need it, but I want it too! Thank you Jesus for giving me these people for the last year and for the years to come. Thank you again Camino De Santiago for giving me what I needed by showing me the value of being a part of this community and the impact we have on the world around us. Love you all N Squad! FOREVER!
