The intention with this month was to spend 21 days hiking the Camino as a team. Before we left Paris, we had a solid plan in place. Our plan was to hike a significant amount of the Camino and skip the boring, Kansas-like part in the middle. On day one, we hiked 17 miles up the Pyrenees mountains and crossed over into Spain on foot. It was beautiful, cold, wet, and challenging, but so worth it. However, by the end of the day I started getting unrelenting pain on the side of my left foot. Once we reached our hostel, I laid in bed and put my foot up hoping that the pain would be gone by morning.
Morning came and the pain was still there, but I continued to walk that day and the next day. By the end of the third day, I reached Pamplona and couldn’t walk anymore–the pain was so bad. I actually sat down at a church a couple kilometers away from Pamplona and a nun felt sorry for me and gave me a free ride into the city. I hit my lowest point emotionally, physically, and spiritually there. Once at my hostel, I couldn’t even get out of bed to go to the bathroom. That day, my squad came around me and prayed for me, sat with me, got me crutches to use, and gave me piggyback rides. While I hated being in need, it was beautiful to see my squad love me so well.
The next day we took a train to Leon and the squad continued on, but I stayed behind and rested for a few days. I did go to the doctor, where I found out that I didn’t have a break or fracture in my foot, which was good news. Still, the pain was unrelenting. After a few days of rest, I got to where I could walk and put pressure on my foot again. Those few days in Leon were very good for my soul. It was the most alone time I’d had since leaving home the end of July. I was able to sit with the Lord for hours on end, which was very uplifting.
Once I started feeling better, I then took another train to Ponferrada where I caught up with my team again. Since I felt like I was doing a bit better, I decided to try to walk with my team the next day. By the end of that day, I was back in the place where I couldn’t walk again. Feeling discouraged and frustrated, I realized that my time hiking the Camino was done.
At this point, there were several others who were injured and one who felt led to stay back, so we formed our own injured team. Our original goal was to try to catch up with our teams by bus, but that wasn’t feasible. So, we sat with the Lord and asked what He wanted us to do for the remaining time on the Camino.
We decided to take a bus to A Coruña (northwest Spain) because that was the only location we could go forward to. Funny story about that–we missed our original bus to A Coruña because we were told the wrong bus stop to go to. There was a later bus leaving that day, but we were told we would have to repurchase tickets since we missed the earlier bus. We decided to pray and ask the Lord to allow the bus driver to honor our tickets. Once the bus arrived, I attempted to explain the situation to the driver, but he didn’t listen. Instead, he just grabbed our bags and told us to board the bus. No questions asked. So then we all boarded this miracle bus going to a random place we knew nothing about.
A Coruña was off the beaten path of the Camino, but it was right next to the ocean and that is exactly where God met me. Up to this point, I had been feeling frustrated for getting left behind, discouraged because my foot was still in so much pain, and mad at myself for getting hurt on the very first day. Of course that would happen to me. So I sat there on a rock next to the ocean and just asked the Lord what He was doing though this. He brought me back to those early mornings in Paris where I would sit in the hallway and get in the Word. As I would sit with the Lord, I continually asked God to go deeper. I wanted to know Him more, know His heart more, and just go deeper in my relationship with Him. I then thought back to those first three days that I hiked the Camino–I was so exhausted by the end of the day that my quality time with the Lord suffered. So as I was sitting on that rock, the Lord reminded me that I was not going to go deeper with Him by hiking the Camino. Knowing that was part of what the Lord was doing through this brought so much relief and joy to my heart. I knew deep down that God had a purpose for this and I was glad to at least gain a better understanding for why it happened. I was grateful that the Lord wasn’t going to just let me coast through this month and that even though it was painful, He took me deeper.
It reminds me of a sermon I heard by Levi Lusko–he once talked about how we are the fragrance of Christ. But then you have to ask the question–what does that mean and how do we become the fragrance of Christ? Well, to make an actual fragrance, you have to take something precious, like a flower, and crush it. So if I am to be the fragrance of Christ, I have to remember that growth doesn’t come through comfort. It comes through painful, hard circumstances where I feel pressed and crushed. These trials allow the refining of our faith and the opportunity to become more like Jesus. But only if we choose to press in to what He is teaching us through it.
After spending a day in A Coruña, we decided to take a bus to Fisterra, also known as the end of the world. (Literally, in the old world, this place was thought of as the end of the world.) Fisterra is a quaint little town that sits on the beach. We stayed there for five days and I continued to go deeper with the Lord. One of my favorite memories was sitting in the sand singing worship songs all by myself as I watched the giant waves crash against the shore.
I am currently in Santiago and I met up with my team
this morning. In two days, we head to Mijas for debrief and then on to Morocco! As for me, I am still in pain. My foot still hurts, but I am able to walk, just very slowly. Spiritually though, I feel rejuvenated. Though this month did not turn out as I expected, I can now say that I am grateful for the foot injury. The Lord did something in me that otherwise would not have happened.I would love continued prayers for full healing and the ability to walk normally soon. Thank you all for being part of the journey!
