The Man by the Side of the Road

There lies a man beaten by the side of the road. Sometimes we don’t know him and sometimes he is us.











But in every case, that beaten man is Christ.




Let us hurry up to love one another!




Thank you to each and every one who is helping me to get back home.




❤️ Ronda

Location:Avenida de la Hispanidad,Madrid,Spain

Camino Job Advice

In business they say to find the problem and fulfill the need.  On the Camino I’ve learned that the true secret is to find the suffering and fulfill the need with allof your heart.    Can I come home now???

Camino del Perdon

Renewed Once Again

On the Camino we are stripped of so much, and yesterday morning for me, of everything.  But by evening we find a place to rest, and by morning are miraculously restored.














...At del Pardon Ana Calvo in the town of Uterga

Location:Calle de Frontón,Uterga,Spain

Leaving Pamplona

The streets were deserted as walked out of Pamplona at 5:30 this morning...





Passing by a shop selling toilet seats, I thought how nice it would be to strap one on my back and use it in the albergues that seem to deem them unnecessary.




Walking through a park on the outskirts of town, I admired the organization of the hikers in front of us as well as the surfaces below our feet.




As we quickened our pace on an up hill section further along, I hit the wall and crashed. Asking the first man we saw where we could find breakfast, he pointed and we followed his direction as fast as we could.

When we entered inside, my language was reduced to taking my four fingers and shoving them into my mouth..




And the proprietor graciously complied by quickly bringing a grande cafe con leche and tortilla omelet to my side.




It was yet another tremendous blessing along the way...

❤️ Ronda

Location:Calle Mayor,Uterga,Spain

Resting at Last

Six days after boarding our replacement flight to France 🇫🇷 (our first one was cancelled as we were enroute to the airport to catch it,) Laura, Paula, and I are sitting in the shady, breezy, sun dappled grassy yard of a thirteenth century monastery populated by a few nuns and volunteers who have offered us something to eat, a place to wash our clothes, a midday snack, a home cooked meal later this evening, Mass in the ancient Church, a Pilgrim’s blessing, and a bed for the night—all for a goodwill donation.

Laura said she is going to mail them $4,000 when she gets home to the USA. Paula and I wearily smile and nod our heads.

Walking in the Clouds

Dear Friends,

Laura, Paula, and I climbed 4000 feet in two days of walking to cross the Pyrenees mountains and make our way into Spain.  The last hour was trecherous as we approached the monastery in Roncevalles, however we recovered a bit after getting our bed assignments, a warm shower, some dinner, and a Pilgrim’s Blessing from the resident monks.

Now, it is time to turn in for the night.  We hope to wake up refreshed!

Bien Camino!

Arriving in SJPP and stepping off on the Camino

Music fills the Beilari guest house this morning as we wake to a monastic song consisting of one word “Alleluia”. Paula crept downstairs as reported that candles were illuminating our already set breakfast table and our housemates began to rise.

We have been in the tiny Basque town called St. Jean Pied de Port for two days and nights, and on this the third day we are preparing to take our first steps on the Camino de Santiago.

We have been met with an embrace of friendship, support, and love. Paula, Laura, and I are refreshed and eager to begin.

May the Peace of Christ accompany us all along The Way.

❤️ Ronda

Location:Rue de la Citadelle,St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port,France

It was January 7, 2018 on the Feast of the Epiphany that I gave my "Yes!" to God, to walk the Camino Frances to Santiago with two friends from St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church who have become so dear in this time of our preparation.  

We met last August as we gathered on Thursday nights as part of a larger group to learn about the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives through a teaching series by Franciscan Father Dave Pivonka.  

You can view them here at no charge:  

https://thewildgooseisloose.com/series-segments

Fr. Dave hiked the Camino, wrote a book about it, and preached retreats on it too.  This could have had a subliminal effect on us :D

And then there are our family members, neighbors, American Pilgrims on the Camino mentors meeting at the REI in Cary, and many many friends who have supported us with their knowledge, their prayers, their travel experiences, their hiking expertise, and their encouragement as we draw closer and closer to our departure date of June 17...Father's Day!

I took my pup Evie with me to camp and walk miles along the beach in February... and had so many wonderful experiences of beauty and goodness and joy... 

That I just can't help believing that God will be with us....all along the Way!

And because God is in the details, He watched when we were marking out our route to St. Jean Pied de Port, France where our Camino is to begin...and saw that due to timing constraints we could not begin with a visit to Our Lady of Lourdes in southern France or end with a trip to Fatima to visit Our Lady there....and so what did He do?

Through the generosity of the McKee family at our church, he arranged to have the traveling/pilgrim statue of Our Lady of Fatima come to stay with us in Apex before we go!

May you too, be aware of all of "the way[s]" that God is blessing you!

In His Joy!

Ronda

My "Virtual Camino" is about to become a Reality!

Dear Friends,

Thanks to this group of people from the Raleigh Chapter of American Pilgrims on the Camino ... and our families and friends who have encouraged us...

...Laura Chism (far right in jeans), Paula Hagner (second from left in back row) and I (front left) will  be "stepping off" from our homes in Apex 

...to walk from St Jean Pied de Port, France (right side of the map) toward Santiago de Compostella, Spain (left side of the map) along the Pilgrim Route to the tomb of St. James.

 

 I hope to be blogging about our adventure here...so feel free to join us back here in two weeks when we begin!

In JOY,
Ronda