Paris Ponderings

UPDATE

Right now we are at a pit stop in Paris. My team and I are one our way to walk the Camino de Santiago (James’ Way); which is the route to believe to have been taken by the apostle James as he shared the gospel.

When we were in Turkey, hanging out where the Apostle Paul and John were a one time, we were having a heck of a time trying to find a place to stay in Paris. As you can imagine, it is not easy to find a place in budget for $5 per person a night in most places and Paris is no exception. Through some contacts we made along the way we were able to find a place to stay. Not in budget, but at least we’re not sleeping in the train stations this time.

My friends on the squad keep asking me if I am excited for the Camino. I’ve been hesitant to answer that question. Although I do enjoy long walks, the high mileage everyday with the pack made me worry about the risk of injury. I’ve been too busy trying to steel myself mentally that I forgot to actually enjoy the idea of it.

I’m going to be walking on average fifteen miles a day most likely by myself because my team is a bunch of gym junkies with the exception of Ashley. (She’s the one with toothpick arms). We will meet up in predetermined towns and have scheduled rest days so we are being smart about it. I’m really looking forward to having some quiet time with God. Sometimes I just want to pray loud prayers to God, but I can’t because I’m sharing a room with ten other people. However, walking around the Pyrenees of France to the grasslands of Spain, it’ll be nice to have nothing but the wind as my companion.

I have a lot to think about for the next few months. I’m considering what to do next. I know a lot of you are probably curious. Many of you have been asking me, “What are you going to do after the Race?” as soon as you heard I was accepted to go.

Even though I offered myself, I will not be going back out with Adventures in Missions at this time (although they have been great), but I’m considering a long term option somewhere else. I’m not going to share any details yet because I don’t have answers, but with your prayers, I hope to find more clarity.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• Ask God to give me clarity for the next step. That this is what He wants.
• Boldness in sharing His story with people on the Camino.
• To love people better.
• For healing (I’m battling a cold right now)

REMEMBER

Remember you are loved, you are beautiful (men too), and God sees your pain.

Whenever I start to believe the lies, my little black cloud forms over my head, and my mental anguish gets the better of me, I look right into the bathroom mirror and speak life into myself.

Maybe you don’t struggle with that, but I do. My prayers mostly look like the Psalms. Sometimes we joke about the dark and gloomy ones like, “Whoa, David, what’s the matter with you? Did you not get enough sleep that night or something?” But if you let God into those dark places, He’ll hold your hand through it. He doesn’t always take the pain away, but you won’t suffer alone.

Speak life over yourself. Speak truth to yourself in the mirror.

TRUTH

• God loves you.
• He will never leave you or give up on you.
• Your feelings are not too big for God.
• The darkness doesn’t scare Him.

Have a blessed day.