Then there were the creepers. Slugs and snails, truly thousands of them, have littered the trail from the very beginning of our trek in France, causing us to work even harder to plant our feet safely where none of God´s creatures would be harmed unnecessarily. This trip clearly has more hazards than I imagined. With so much time on the trail to contemplate and imagine a perspective other than my own, I again heard a voice, the voice of the snail as it steadily moved toward its goal: "Keep going! Ignore the pace of others, the ability of others, and do your walk your way." It´s been a struggle. Between my somewhat goal-oriented nature, the desire to push quickly ahead for my husband, and the hikers who obviously have other pressing things to do next week, I want to do more than my wobbly knees and tight hamstrings will do willingly. My husband has been a dear, unceasingly patient, encouraging spouse. He catches himself getting ahead of me, then nonchalantly falls behind, as if that´s where he wants to be. He even tried to comfort me with a snail analogy. "That snail may spend his whole life just trying to cross this trail. He just keeps going. This is his Maseta! (The Spanish Maseta is the hot, dry hundreds of miles of plains yet in our future.) Ah, just what I needed to keep persisting up the mountain. If the snail can persist so can I. Trudge on! Put on a happy face! Unfortunately for the snail, a cycling pilgrim (total gluttons for punishment in my opinion) came up from behind and crushed the poor darling. And that´s where the analogy ended for me. Tomorrow I´ll look for a less vulnerable one. But I will persist.
A long day, 15 miles in all, including a "bargain" 3 km side trip to a Knights Templar Church. My rising muscle fatigue, combined with a touch of nervous energy for the climb ahead, were both happily countered by the gorgeous beauty surrounding us this day, including golden wheat fields in the valley, towering wind turbines on the mountainsides, and countless wildflower species speckling the trail. What amazed me most about these flowers was that they bloomed in all their glory whether or not anyone was there to appreciate their efforts. They seemed to be calling out to me as well, to do likewise no matter the circumstances. "Bloom where you are planted!" they urged. That indeed is what we have been called to do: use the gifts we have been given, ignoring the world´s demands to seek notice. There´s a great little novel that speaks to this and which I highly recommend, called Hinds Feet on High Places, which not only speaks to this, but also goes into great depth about the journey of going from fearful to fearless, all by journeying outside our comfort zones. Sounds somewhat familiar to me.
Then there were the creepers. Slugs and snails, truly thousands of them, have littered the trail from the very beginning of our trek in France, causing us to work even harder to plant our feet safely where none of God´s creatures would be harmed unnecessarily. This trip clearly has more hazards than I imagined. With so much time on the trail to contemplate and imagine a perspective other than my own, I again heard a voice, the voice of the snail as it steadily moved toward its goal: "Keep going! Ignore the pace of others, the ability of others, and do your walk your way." It´s been a struggle. Between my somewhat goal-oriented nature, the desire to push quickly ahead for my husband, and the hikers who obviously have other pressing things to do next week, I want to do more than my wobbly knees and tight hamstrings will do willingly. My husband has been a dear, unceasingly patient, encouraging spouse. He catches himself getting ahead of me, then nonchalantly falls behind, as if that´s where he wants to be. He even tried to comfort me with a snail analogy. "That snail may spend his whole life just trying to cross this trail. He just keeps going. This is his Maseta! (The Spanish Maseta is the hot, dry hundreds of miles of plains yet in our future.) Ah, just what I needed to keep persisting up the mountain. If the snail can persist so can I. Trudge on! Put on a happy face! Unfortunately for the snail, a cycling pilgrim (total gluttons for punishment in my opinion) came up from behind and crushed the poor darling. And that´s where the analogy ended for me. Tomorrow I´ll look for a less vulnerable one. But I will persist.
4 Comments
David Barrett
6/21/2015 11:49:26 am
Push on. You have a team cheering and praying for you back home.
Reply
Linda
6/22/2015 01:35:12 am
Thanks David. That means a great deal to us.
Reply
Wilma West
6/22/2015 01:53:31 am
Habakkuk 3:19--the sovereign lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights. For the director of the music. On my stringed instrument.
Reply
Patty
7/2/2015 02:05:00 pm
Wish life would slow down without getting run over
Reply
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AuthorLinda Barrett, high school English teacher and Christian counselor, loves to get out of town on adventures at each opportunity, while meeting people at every turn. Archives
August 2015
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