Camino Memory 2013 Day 5 Reflection Sometimes The Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ , breaks the legs of His sheep so they cant support themselves and wander off. He does it not in punishment leaving them crippled and maimed, but in carrying them on His shoulders Does Jesus restore them to new life again. Psalm. 23 Cauteret, France to Lac dllheau ou Lac Bleu It Begins They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Well, where I started my trip Camino was not the original start off point. I wanted to start my journey about 250 miles east in the town of Cauteret, France, a little resort town in the Pyerenees. My goal was to camp out in the Pyerenees and catch the official Camino route at Pamplona a week later. The Pyrenees Mountains are one of the most beautiful and walkable in the world. To get prepared I was helped and counseled by friends, such as Chris Bramucci and Lisa Gallagher. These friends and others helped this city boy get ready for this jaunt. As i meandered through the mountains on the bus down to my heart was both excited and full of anxiety. They were high, and frankly I had never done anything like this before. As I got off the bus in the town it was foggy cold at 50 F . Thank God for Under Armour, really keeps you warm. My goal was to camp at a Mountain Lake about 7 miles away for the first night. So I took my before selfie; then with map in hand; my GPS, iPhone and my ear buds in listening to Hallelujah Chorus I headed out of Cauteret me and my 40 lb papoose ( backpack). Getting out of Cauteret proved more difficult than I could have imagined. I made so many mistakes and I had to backtrack, so many times I was frankly frustrated and tired. By the time I got out it had started to rain, and guess what I had no rain gear whatsoever. So the rains came and I was soaked. Im in pretty good shape but I had no idea of the difficulty I would encounter with the carrying so much weight up mountains. As I was walking I felt like I was in the film the Sound of Music singing --- Climb Every Mountain ford every stream till you find your rainbow till find your dream. . Let me say there is nothing like waking in nature listening to praise and worship music singing and praying. To all believers out there If you want to ramp up your connection and devotion time with The Lord get alone in nature with some great music and go for a walk. As I got higher up in the mountains I heard constant echoing of clanging bells. As I rounded one of the streams, I looked up and I saw sheep grazing on the mountain heights and I thought of the 23rd Psalm and God reminded me so many times why Im there . 23rd Psalm .. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makerh me lie down in green pastures He leadeth me beside still waters He restoreth my soul He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I will fear no evil for thou art with me. Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies Thou anointest my head with oil My cup runneth over Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of The Lord ever. This beautiful passage and promise from Gods word became my Theme for me this day, because with every step this scripture became for real to me. One cool fact about shepherds; when shepherd sees a sheep that struggles with wandering off; He breaks his legs and carries him on his shoulders until the sheep learns to hear his voice better and follow Him. During this time the sheep is totally dependent on the shepherd and leans on him for everything. For myself I knew and discovered that this was my story for my Camino, and it was being shown to me like never before in the beautiful mountains of southern France. God for the past 7 months has been removing my supports. , my legs do to speak , so I can be near Him. In face He gave these 40 days with Him alone to draw me close to Himself. As I was pushing up the final mountain for todays climb with heart pounding in my chest and with be labored breathing. I wondered how much longer? Will I or can I even make this journey? Am I able? Finally, now above the clouds and no longer obscured by the mountains I saw it my destinations end for today, Lac dllheau ou Lac Bleu. In the beauty of it all my purpose for the next 40 days became a little clearer. Thank you Jesus! To all my Facebook friends sorry for being a bit inconsistent and being timely on my reflections. I have a real difficult work schedule and writing takes time for me. I will try to better Chad Laywell Hampton Taken on the trail
Posted on: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 22:53:57 +0000
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