Walking

         One of the perks of being in Europe, is that there is the opportunity to travel fairly easily to other places and countries. Being the case, I went to Italy this past weekend to meet up with one of my friends and mentors from the States, Aubren. We met up in Rome! It was incredible. It ended up being a trip of traveling for two days and being in Rome for two days, the traveling process being longer with buses, trains, and planes, but it was completely worth it! Each morning I turned over hugged Aubren and said, “We’re in Italy! I can’t believe it, we’re in Rome!” My mouth was open in awe nearly every moment as we walked among the best art I ever have or will experience and among pieces of history from before Christ. What beauty I experienced while walking through the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica, and the narrow streets with vines, flowers and bicycles everywhere! What a blessing to be able to connect with Aubren, it was a good break to see someone from home who knows me well at the 1/3 of my time in Spain mark.

            I returned home to Spain and it was as if fall had hit the city since I left three days earlier. The air was fresh, crisp, and held a chill, yet the sun was full, shining, and warm. I breathed deeply in, “Yes! A new season! So good!” I’ve been thinking about seasons, how they change frequently in the natural world as well as my life. In a sense, being here in Spain, I’ve already seen two different seasons for me, one when I was alone here for a month and it’s been another since having Robin. I have grown and changed in each one, and now I’m realizing another season I might be in…that of walking. In Rome we walked throughout the whole city. In Spain too, I walk everywhere, more than two hours a day and between 5 to 7 miles on average. This theme has translated to be internal as well; a season of walking, of waiting, of being patient, of waiting on God. I’ve had aspects of “waiting seasons” in my life before where I’ve expected, hoped, waited, but I’ve always been “running” during those times. Walking is a different concept for me, I’m used to running, to having my life be going fast and intense, this is the way I like it. Just like the culture that I am in and experiences I’ve been having, walking is completely different. Walking uses different muscles, has a different focus, and a different mindset. Or like a sailboat that is free to glide the water, but it waits for the wind to direct it, it’s speed ebbing and flowing with the current and the wind together. I’m wrestling with what it means to wait for the Lord. I’ve realized that just as walking is not passive but is movement, is constant, to be patient, to long for, hope, and seek are also active.

            Waiting makes the coming sweeter still. Seeking makes the finding all the more satisfying. I thirst for the Lord and when I find Him, he touches my tongue with the sweetness of His presence and leaves me full and desiring more nonetheless, what beauty of the gospel.

Psalm 27.14-“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

A good snap shot of Italy.

Aubren and I at the Colosseum pretending to be gladiators :)