Pilgrims

Today it is official. We are now pilgrims or as the Spanish say peregrinos. According to local definition a pilgrim is a believer who travels to a holy place where God may seem especially close, to ask for pardon, or beg a favor, or, as in our case, to give thanks for blessings received. We are in St Jean de Pied Port and we are enjoying this beautiful French village. We are staying at a little bed and breakfast called Tartasenia and it is run by Arnaud and his wife Alice. When we arrived last night close to midnight, Arnaud was at the door waiting for us to welcome us home. We are happy to be here.

St Jean is the meeting place for pilgrims from all over the world. It is the official beginning point for the Chemin de France aka The French Way. While their are many roads that lead to Santiago de Compostela, most of them from Europe will pass this way.

We walked into town this morning where we officially signed in as pilgrims. Here we had our credential filled out and stamped with the official stamp of St Jean de Pied Port. We also picked up a conch shell which we will display upon our backpacks. Having the credential and the shell will allow us pilgrim status. We can stay at alburgues (hostels) and we are entitled to peregrino status which gives us a small discount on meals. In this area the pilgrim is well known and the pilgrimage is respected. In fact, we met a man at the bus station last night who drove us to our lodging because we were pilgrims. He took no payment for his troubles. Only wished us Buen Camino...

The Walk

The Walk

We are aboard the high-speed train heading south to Paris. We will disembark in Paris, have lunch and then reboard another train as we continue to head south towards St Jean de Pied Port. We are traveling at about 184 km/hr and even at that speed the scenery is beautiful as we leave the German countryside.

While I appreciate the ease and comfort of this travel and even the speed at which we are doing this, I find myself longing for a slower pace.

There have been so many changes this year for both Tom and I. Some new health developments for Tom, relinquishing the helm of MMI, some career considerations for me, that walking through them just seems the best way to get them into perspective. For me, walking has always been prayer. From my early days of motherhood when the only free moments I ever had were the ones between 4:00-5:00 am, I have always found great solace and strength in my early morning walks.

If you think about it, walking really is a step of faith. It is the perpetual motion of falling forward. Each step is a halted plunge, a fall averted, an impact stopped. We tend to take it for granted but this act of faith is really a two-beat rhythmic miracle. A melodic motion which embodies a moving forward and a letting go. A moving forward and a letting go...

So, as we walk toward unencumbering our lives, what better way really than doing it a step at a time. Approximately 40,000 steps a day to practice trust and faith in He who guides and knows our each and every step and the way He would have for us. We are excited to see who we are in this new season. I think the 542 miles will be a great start.

Will catch you when we can. Buen Camino.

Exquisite Favor

We are aboard a C-5 as we speak heading to Ramstein, Germany. For those who have done Space A traveling, our fight connections have been exquisite. Rarely do things go as smooth as they have on this trip.
When we left our home Monday morning we were, to say the least, a bit weary. Our return from our South Pacific travels and then all the work with MMI, our other commitments, and getting our house travel ready began to take a toll on us. When people asked where we were going, walking 542 miles of the Camino de Santiago seemed like the easiest thing we had going. Just putting one foot in front of the other for 15-20 miles a day seemed easier in comparison to the busyness of the proceeding four weeks. When we arrived at Travis AFB on Monday we were secretly hoping for some time before we began our travels east and then exquisite favor when we did move. We got exactly what we asked for.
We spent Monday evening with our daughter and her two children. We ate dinner and played games with the kids and talked about our travels. It was the beginning of our unwinding.
Tuesday there were few flights available and none going our way. We marked ourselves present at the air terminal and spent the day resting and looking at potential flights. We noted that Wednesday might offer a ride to the east coast and then, miraculously, at the same terminal, there were two flights going to Germany the very same evening. Rarely does it work out that way. There are so many variables that we didn't really think we could make the flight.

We were accepted on the KC-10 which is a refueled. There, we were blessed with the opportunity to sit in the cock-pit with the pilots and get some photos of the KC refueling mid-air. This was quite a honor for us.
As soon as we arrived at McGuire, we indicated our desire to fly to Germany and we were immediately accepted. The rest is history...and we are now in Ramstein.

Ramstein is an immense Air Force Base (AFB). It is approximately 5,000 acres and is very modern. We took care of some travel business and then decided to walk the four miles into to Ramstein village. It was a beautiful wooded walk and a quaint little village. We enjoyed a traditional German meal of weinerschnitzel, sauerkraut, soup, and a cold beer. We ate in an old Inn which had been built in the 1700's.
We will head to Paris tomorrow aboard the high-speed train. From there we will head to Biarrietz which is in the south of France. We hope to be in St Jean de Pied Port by 5:45 in the evening. We will stay at a bed and breakfast that a friend of ours recommended to us. Here we will rest and acclimate to the time changes and travel before we begin our trek.
It is hard to believe that it has been less than a week since we have left home. We have begun the process of unwinding and look forward to what is next for us. Will write when we can!
Buen Camino.

The Way...

The Way...

This morning I woke up to the roar of a C-5 as it took off from Travis AFB. While most mornings I might consider this unpleasant, this morning it was music to my ears. I felt sheer delight and excitement as I begin to think of all the ramifications of that sound. It is official, we have started our 2014 sabbatical! We are at Travis AFB waiting to fly...East... to Europe. Our ultimate goal is the south of France. For those of you who don't know, Tom and I are walking the Camino de Santiago from the south of France to the northwest coast of Spain. We will end up in Finesterre (The End of the World) for a total of about 542 miles. Our walk is called the Camino Frances and it is considered the traditional way.

The Camino de Santiago translates to The Way of Saint James. Historically, Santiago de Compostela is believed to be the final resting place of St James the apostle. The Iberian pennisula was considered his territory when he set out to preach Christianity. It is a pilgrimage that has been walked for about fifteen hundred years. A friend and colleague of mine who had walked the Camino told us the Camino calls you, you don't call the Camino. We have had several months to ponder this and feel this is true for us. It is the spiritual component that compels us.

While we certainly needed to prepare physically for this journey, the beauty has been contemplating the spiritual aspects. We talked about why we wanted to do this walk and God put the word unencumber on both of our hearts. We want to unencumber our lives...There seems no better way to do this than with only a pack on our backs as we walk through the countryside of France and Spain for the next couple of months. I will be reminded that I have always had everything I have ever needed with me. My God (with me), my husband (alongside me) and daily provision (eighteen pounds of it on my back). I am excited to see all that He has in store for us.

So we are off, here at Travis AFB with the hopes of catching a flight out early tomorrow morning. Looks like there might be a flight to McGuire AFB (NJ) and then on to Ramstein, Germany. From there, we only need to get to the south of France. Pretty simple...Buen Camino!

Knocking On Heavens Door...

When Tom and I travel we rarely go to the same place twice. There are myriads of places we want to see in our lifetime and so we take every opportunity we have to visit those places unknown to us. There are a few exceptions to this and one place we do return to year after year is the small Island, Sonasali off Viti Levu, Fiji.
Sonasali literally translates to Resting Place. It is a small Island near a bigger Island and in days gone by travellers from faraway places would stop here and rest before travelling onward. It is the same for us. We stop and rest here before travelling onward. The only planned event we have is sitting on the deck at sunset and watching as the brillant red-orange sun slips into the ocean. We will even set our alarms for that.

There is one other event that we enjoy as returning guests. The general manager hosts a cocktail party on the beach and we have been invited for the last several years. We know most of the staff and management so this is like a party with friends we only see once a year. We watch as the sun sets and sing along with the staff and other guests. We try food we have not had before and meet people from all over the world. We struck up a conversation with a Chinese family and then the father sang O Sole O Mio in Chinese with the Fijian Quartet. It was awesome! We had a great time.
When they started to sing Knocking on Heavens Door I looked up and thought it was so very fitting. These moments of sheer beauty are like a tonic to my heart and soul. I could think of no better words to describe the moment.

Where One or More are Gathered

Several years ago I attended a cultural sensitivity training inservice where I was to learn about all the differences in the many cultures within Fresno, California. I was working as a Public Health Nurse at the time and had spent several years caring for families in their homes and felt I had learned quite a bit from these 'up close and personal' encounters. I sat for hours and listened to the instructor as she worked so hard to point out all the differences. I have never forgotten this inservice. Not for all the differences I would learn about or remember but for this simple fact: I am able to relate to others based on our similarities rather than our differences no matter where I am.

I had the lovely opportunity to connect with some wonderful women while in the village of Nawaido. I am not sure how this came about exactly but before I knew it we were sitting together on the floor enjoying a lively conversation! We talked about what most women talk about...our families, our day to day lives, our dreams. We laughed so hard, I cannot remember when I had so much fun with a group of ladies.

Gone were the differences of culture. These women from this very remote village had just caught buckets of fish with spears earlier in the morning. They picked vegetables and fruit from their collective gardens and worked together on the floor of the Chiefs house to prepare our meal.They cooked for thirty five us over an open fire. Life and culture were certainly worlds apart but when we came together...it was awesome.

I will not forget these ladies. They reminded me that life is for enjoying and being open to new opportunities. I can do this anywhere. I want to do it more often. While I am fascinated with culture I love the universal connection we made even more. Thank you for the afternoon girlfriends...

Oceans

You call me out upon the waters

The great unknown, where my feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep, my faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves

When oceans rise

My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours, and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed, and You won't start now

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

This is the prayer I have spoken every day for the last several months knowing of our time across the oceans and to the places He would take me...deeper than my feet could ever wander. It has taken a while for me to sort the feelings associated with our change in plans. My human side wanting a clear understanding and wanting it immediately. Feeling the need to be able to explain to the thirty-one people who were traveling with us and our beloved friends in the Solomon Islands who were waiting for us exactly what happened and why. I do not have the answer yet.

What I do have is the beginnings of peace. His Peace. I am finding it in the stillness of my days here. I listen to the breeze rustle through the trees and I feel His breath. I watch the flowers as they reach towards the sun and I can see His light. I hear the waves crash on the rocks and I can feel His power. I watch the beauty in a sunset and I see His majesty. And my faith is being made stronger in the presence of my Savior.
I feel the stirrings of change within me. I am ready. My prayer, to go deeper than my feet would ever wander. While this has a somewhat symbolic meaning with our upcoming pilgrimage I am beginning to realize that what I really want is to go deeper. I have become comfortable in my familiar. Even my 'unexpected' is comfortable and I know there is more for me. A season of change...

As I look back I can see that this process has been a while in coming. Retrospect is always so much clearer and easier. A word that had once caused me pain now brings me the most profound comfort and peace. Relinquishment. I am free...to just be...and that's the beauty here. I don't know what it looks like yet. My season of fullness is about to change and I am not in a hurry to fill it up. I just want to be...somebody's wife, somebody's mother/grandmother, somebody's friend. Most of all to be taken deeper than my feet could ever wander, my faith made stronger, and to be in the presence of my Savior.