A pilgrimage in Spain.

In just over three months I'll be setting off on a journey that is literally going to see me walking out of my forties. Yep, I said it. Or wrote it - either way I'm accepting and owning it!

I am fast approaching a new season of my life and I cannot for the life of me remember approaching a big ZERO birthday with a bigger spring in my step!

I will be walking 500 miles (yeah, I said walking..) to church - hopefully arriving there on the day of my big birthday!

I wish I could say that I coined that phrase, but many a pilgrim has used it before me! Feels good to write it down anyway and for some reason the thought doesn't scare me anymore!

From the minute I heard about the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain, I knew I had to do it. Spending more than a month on the road - just walking - with everything I need to survive on my back with the luxury of spending time with my Creator - how could I say no to such an opportunity!

500 miles to church. Hours to contemplate what my choice to follow the Lord with all my heart really means.

I still want to pinch myself at times when I think about what lies ahead and today I just feel like praising the Lord for:

Making this amazing journey possible.

Giving me a husband that supports this experience.

Good health - without which walking such a distance would not be possible.

For all the special people who have crossed my path since I started my planning.

The amazing people who are going to walk with me.

I have started walking in preparation and the beach above is where you'll find me most mornings. No morning is the same but slowly but surely I am getting to know a few of the regular faces. How nice to start greeting each other as old friends! Another Camino gift as far as I'm concerned!

Today I'd like to direct you to my other blog - the one dedicated to my Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. I hope that you will discover something that you were not familiar with before and who knows - we might meet on the road in Spain one day, for something tells me this won't be the last time I put on a pilgrim's hat!

http://caminosantiago2012.blogspot.com/2012/02/day-602-reflections-changes-and.html

 

I was drawn to this woman from the minute I saw her. She sat quietly in her little corner but her smile had a magnetic force that was irresistible. We were in Funchal, Madeira and she was taking part in one of the many Christmas events that they had all over town. I started chatting to her in my broken Portuguese and even though our exchange was basic, the warmth that emanated from her was tangible.

The thing that stayed with me most was the expression in her eyes. She truly smiled through those eyes. When she heard I was from Africa she handed me a handful of goats hair as a gift - little did she know that the real gift she gave me was so much more precious!

This morning, as I prayed about the Lord laying a message on my heart, I was led back to this picture and the following piece in the Bible:

'No-one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead he puts it on a stand, so that those who come may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad; your body also is full of darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you.' Luke 11:33-36

Powerful!

Today I'd like to direct you to this wonderful blog:

http://www.heartprintsofgod.com/

Also linking with:

One of the blessings in my life is the fact that every Thursday I can pack my bag and head out to the mountains. I started hiking at the beginning of 2010 in preparation for my big Kilimanjaro adventure in July of that year and it has since become a way of life for me.

I feel so incredibly close to the Lord when we are out there. Looking at the beauty and the LIFE that surrounds me on our walks just humbles me! At times I feel overwhelmed by the wonder of it all and today is one of those days that I wish I could take one or two people with me on a Thursday.

I just want them to experience creation the way I do. Because if  they can somehow manage to get to that place, I know they won't be able to question the fact that the Lord exists!

I guess the sad fact, and hence the tone of this post, is that I am realising that a number of the people that I know do not actually believe in the Lord Jesus Christ at all. In fact, a few actually feel so strongly about the issue that they sporadically post statements or quotes on their facebook profiles denouncing or making fun of the christian faith.

The latest quote on a friend's page has left me feeling so sad/offended/helpless that I have actually  blocked all her status updates. It just so sad to read it, I can't bear the words to even appear on my computer screen. This sounds so dramatic, but it really is how I feel. Just incredibly sad.

When I decided to live my life the way that I believe the Lord wants me to, I committed to having a teachable spirit. And I am fully committed to that. I asked the Lord to speak to me in ways that I can understand.

And he has not let me down. He speaks to me in a language that is clear and precise. I get confirmation after confirmation. I don't remember bible verses. I can't even always remember the sequence of events in the bible as I should. But time and time again, I have heard words come out of my mouth that I know did not come from me.

That is why I know the Lord speaks not only to me, but through me.

The discovery of all these people around me who deny the existence of God, frightened me at first. I really didn't understand it. In fact, I still don't. What I do know however, is that I have to trust that the Lord will guide me.

I pray that he will put the right words in my mouth when I interact with people who are far from him. Words that I know are not from me, but from the greatest teacher that exists. I also pray for teachable spirits.

Here are some of the verses that the Lord has already led me to. They were all new to me. How appropriate and how faithful. The Lord is never unclear.When he speaks it is precise - all we have to do is to ask, and to listen.

'Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.'  1 Peter 1:8-9

'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,and to the ends of the earth.'  Acts 1:8

'One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: "Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city." Acts 18:9-10

Note the numbers of the chapters and the verses - coincidence? I don't think so. THIS is how the Lord speaks to me and I know that I can't shy away from the challenge of being confronted by non-believers.

I found the rock in the picture above on a path in the mountains one Thursday. A heart shaped rock. What a contradiction - but what a challenge! Can hearts of stone actually become soft?

Today I'd like to direct you to a site that is very special to me:

http://findingheaventoday.blogspot.com/

Life is all about choices. Every single issue that you'll ever be presented with will also afford you the option of choosing different responses. Yes or no, up or down, stay or go, do something or let it be. Some options have pretty predictable endings, but some could go either way. 

You point your car at the edge of a cliff and accelerate, well.... no prize if you can guess how that's going to end. You eat a Big Mac a day for two months - guaranteed you'll have to go clothes shopping at some stage.

Certain risks are worth taking but there are some that simply aren't worth even considering.

It is a given fact that we are on this earth for only a short while. I can choose how I would like to live my own personal life while I'm here - I definitely can't complain about the range of choices available to me. I can throw all caution to the wind and do exactly what I please, the sky is the limit.

So why then, with all the thousands of options available to me, would I choose to base my life on the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ?

This would be my answer...

Since I have placed the Lord in the centre of my life, a gentle but very real peace has fallen over me. I have felt the amazing warmth of His love touch my heart and I know that every promise He makes in the Bible is real because He answers my prayers, one after the other. I will not risk a life without the Lord in it because that, without a doubt, will be the biggest risk I can ever take!

So I choose to live a life believing that God exists. Knowing that God exists.

I don't mind taking risks now and then, but my life is simply too important. I refuse to risk it by not giving it one hundred percent to the Lord.

I choose to enter through that narrow gate I read about in Matthew 7: 13-14. I choose to walk on the road that is mapped out for me in the scriptures provided. It very clearly states that it will be bumpy on occasion, but it also promises a destination that is beyond all destinations.

Welcome to this little blog. Nothing that is ever posted here will have been written without it having been prayed about. I take what the Lord lays on my heart seriously and I know that He, and He alone, will choose who He leads to these pages. I humbly accept the task that I feel He has given me in keeping this journal. A journal not just of my own journey with Him but a journal that could provide that one word, that one phrase or verse that you, or the next person reading it might need to hear at a specific time in their lives.

I continue to be inspired by the things I read on blogs of women that I have never met. Women who live continents away but who could very well have lived next door to me. Women who are faithful and walk the walk - examples that the Lord has sent me in order to find my own way. As a thank you I would like to share some of these blogs with you every now and again. Do take the time to visit them if you feel led to do so!

My very first link is to Shanda whom I hope to meet in real life before the end of the year!

http://www.shandaoakleyinspires.com/