Presence
Greetings from Boente, Spain! Well, I have to tell you, this has been an eventful week and one in which God has made His presence known to me in extraordinary ways.
Last time I blogged I was in Astorga. I didn’t think it wise to blog about this then, but shortly before my sudden and unexpected journey to Spain on June 1st (see my entry called “Holy Indifference”), I knew there would be a 5-day period when I would need to leave Cascade on the Camino and travel back to Atlanta to accompany Esther and Karis back to Spain as per our original (unchangeable) plane tickets. So my happy coincidence was that the doctor-ordered five days of rest (for my leg) happened to be the same five days I would be traveling back and forth across the Atlantic. God is so good to us all … it’s so obvious in this case that He worked out the timing so perfectly … I wonder how many of His tailor-made plans we miss? Anyway, today I want to share with you a few highlights of the wonderful ways in which God has showed us that He is indeed, true to His Word, an ever-present help in time of need.
Cascade-“alone”-on-the-Camino
As I said, it became apparent to us shortly before I embarked on the Camino that 18-yr-old-experienced-world-traveler-and-smart-and-discerning-but-still-only-18 Cascade would be “alone” on the Camino for five days. If any of you ever get the chance to walk a long way on the Camino and stay in albergues (hostels), then I am sure one of the first things you’ll notice is the beautiful camaraderie and community among this international band of pilgrims. In any case, Paul and I and Cascade, along with lovely praying family and friends, asked God to show us traveling companions for Cascade in my absence. Understand that every pilgrim walks at his or her own pace, and there are many options on how long to walk each day, where to stay, etc. Ideal traveling companions should have all the usual qualities of flexibility, integrity, and fun, but also walk at a similar pace. Happily, God gave both Cascade and me peace about who her companions were to be … Toby (German university student) and Andre (Brazilian doctor) had shared life with Cascade for the previous two weeks, and I’d gotten to know them, too. We talked to them about our situation, and they both showed kindness and understanding, even offering to me to defend her 🙂 They have become like brothers to Cascade and are my very favorite Camino bonus kids! (Plus I asked a few other friends to look out for her if and when their paths crossed, because that’s what mothers do!) God answered our prayers beautifully. What a gift these two special friends have become to us all. And we were able to stay in God’s perfect peace.
Karen-off-the-Camino
On Thursday I went to the doctor in Astorga and got my tendinitis diagnosis. For the next five days I tried to rest my leg, ice and elevate it, somewhat complicated by the following …
On Friday I left my trusty walking stick behind (inherited from Emily – thank you!) then traveled by bus to Madrid.
On Saturday I flew to Atlanta via Newark.
On Sunday the seven Sculley’s (all but Cascade-on-the-Camino) celebrated Father’s Day together at home (what a blessing!). Paul took Esther, Karis, and I to the airport around 8pm Atlanta time. We happily ran into Luane and Phil Thomson … Luane was our missions director at our church for years and has done many airport international send-offs with us over the years, so it was really special and encouraging seeing them that night!
In the wee hours of Monday morning, our flight took off 2-1/2 hours late, bound for Istanbul, Turkey. A huge blessing for me is that the plane was not full, so I got a bulkhead seat, meaning I could put both legs up high on the wall, elevating and stretching them out for hours (flying for 24 hours over the course of three days isn’t recommended for reducing swelling!). We landed 20 minutes before our flight to Madrid was due to take off, so had to run a very long way through the airport, making it to our gate three minutes before takeoff. I was so happy my leg rest made it possible for me to run … I had had to use a wheelchair in Newark airport just a few days earlier.
When we got to Madrid, we found out that although we had run to make our flight, the baggage handlers hadn’t (understandably)! So we filed a lost luggage claim late into the night and got to spend 4-1/2 hours in our hotel before getting up early to catch our trains to Ourense and Sarria.
Immediately upon arrival in Sarria, we started walking and made the 14km to Ferreiros where we were happy to see Cascade again!
Learning to be hardcore pilgrims
It was a new and unique experience for us losing our luggage while walking the Camino. For three days we had only the clothes on our backs and a few toiletries donated by the hotel. I think the normal thing to do when airlines lose your luggage is to go to the store to buy needed items, and charge that to the airline. But the interesting thing is that in two days of walking we didn’t see a single store or ATM. Many of the towns are tiny, remote places that exist largely because of the Camino. Also, dealing with the lost luggage department for an airline can leave much to be desired (“We don’t know if your luggage is still in Istanbul”) … their customer service was exemplary but information gathering sketchy at best. Thank God for Paul, who spent many hours following up for me, since we were tied up with walking! I spent two hours on the phone during a walking break, changing our temporary delivery address from one remote location to another, thinking there’s no way luggage could ever be delivered to a place so small they don’t even have street addresses, just a town and postcode. But incredibly, after three days of living as clothes-on-our-backs pilgrims, just hours after a Campus Crusade team heard about our plight and donated t-shirts, our luggage arrived intact! This experience gave me a tiny glimpse into the much more severe traumas that refugees around the world face daily. We, along with Andre and Toby, the Campus Crusade team, and a few others, enjoyed an evening of deep sharing about life, Christ, and spirituality. I have to tell you, there’s some humorous irony in all this … during my first few days on the Camino, Peter received a job offer for an electrical engineering position with an international company that specializes in baggage handling systems. I would not be surprised if he has an assignment in Istanbul in the near future!
(Cascade has now walked about 755km, I’ve walked about 360km, and Esther and Karis have each walked about 67km!)
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