Day 691 - A big day, a little church and a beautiful bride

A sunny, bright day filled with love and laughter - what a way to start the journey!

To see your child getting married must be one of the biggest blessings one can experience as a parent. Yesterday that blessing belonged to me. Sitting in the little church next to the sea with my fingers intertwined with my husband's, just as it was 26 years ago when our little Melissa arrived in this world, I knew that everything is exactly as it should be.

  

I asked for God's favour, and we received it. My little girl has started the next phase of her life. Her own camino. Hand in hand with a husband who adores her and a desire to live a life rooted in God's word.

I have a massive 'mother-of-the-bride's-new-shoes'  blister on my foot but tonight I will sleep well! 

Day 680 - Planning of a different kind...

If you're looking for something that will always be there for you, something that will continue to remain active no matter whether you neglect to feed it for weeks and will always allow you to mold it exactly the way you choose, start a blog.

I've never had such a faithful friend in all my life. It's been weeks since I've posted anything but here it is, with a click of the mouse we resume our chatting as if we touched base yesterday...

I've really missed writing about my journey leading up to the big walk in Spain. My excitement has not diminished at all, in fact, I'm counting the days now, all 19 of them to be precise!

It's 680 days since I started blogging about my planned pilgrimage to Santiago and now there are less than 20 left before I get on a plane  - a one bag passenger for the first time in my life.

Right now I am planning my daughter's wedding. On the 26th of May we'll be celebrating this very big day in her life and I'm afraid, right now, that is what all my daily activities center around. In fact, I have a sneaky suspicion that my dreams are pretty preoccupied by wedding decor and menu selections as well!

A couple of months ago I thought walking the Camino was going to be hard work. I'm not so sure anymore - somehow it feels as if it is going to be the vacation after the hard work - walking 780km seems like heaven compared to coordinating a wedding!

It's all good though and I know that once the morning of our big day arrives we are going to forget all the hours of planning and stressing and as it all falls in place we'll probably be walking on clouds for days to come!

In the meantime I am trying hard to fit in a hour or two on the beach whenever I can. I continue to fill my backpack with stones as I walk along - I'm now quite comfortable with carrying weight on my back. The little heart stones continue to line my path every time I head out. I have met some wonderful people on our beautiful beach  whilst walking and I continue to marvel at how the Camino connections are working in my life.

More about these meetings and special people in my next post!