Enjoying God's Goodness: I need You every hour....

The past 11 years ministering at Cedarly have been good years...we worked in a beautiful place on the lake, we worked with wonderful people who shared with joy, we served great people who were always grateful and encouraging. When I woke upon the morning I generally felt good about the day and enjoyed my work... I was grateful and thanked God regularly for the ministry He had given Andy and me. However, I didn't often say, "Lord, I need you today...I am dependent on You."

Now we find ourselves on this grand adventure across Spain and we just finished our 6th day...and I find myself walking up each day saying,"lord, I need you today....I am dependent on You. I cannot do this on my own." I pray the same prayer thru the day...and have a real sense that He is here with me. With us. That's a good habit to be developing....it's a good reason to be on the Camino.

Today we had a "short day" of 13+ miles. We left the pension at 7:00 this morning. It was chilly and we both had our polartec fleece pullovers on. Side note: we have already used most everything in our backpacks so we are feeling good about that, tho it doesn't make them any lighter. Andy warmed up a bit with a cup of coffee at the bus station cafe on our way out of town. It was a steady but not steep walk up for about 6 miles to the little town of Villamayor do Monjardin at the top of the hill. On the way we passed a couple of small villages that hadn't woken up yet, or so it seemed. We passed a wine making complex which provided pilgrims a beautiful stopping spot with a very fancy spigot which served wine rather than water. Nice touch!

This is definitely wine country and the vineyards are lush green and bearing much fruit. Some vineyards are well tended with no weeds and tilled soil...others, not so much. The guide book calls the other fields 'cereal fields' - wheat, barley, oats and also lots of hay. They have all already been cut and neither of us can tell which is which, but it is a golden color in the sun. Saw two rather large ruins on the top of two high hills off in the distance. Makes your mind wonder who lived there and what was life like for them....back in the day,

We ate our lunch on the side of the road on a bridge over a brook. For the first time we were bothered by pesky flies swarming around us as we ate and walked. We were only about 4 KM from our destination and were grateful to get a room at the Municipal Albergue in Los Arcos. It is adequate and we are grateful to have a space. Several have been turned away in the time I have been sitting here writing. The city provides the WiFi (pronounced WeeFee by most of the people we have met from other countries). It never got real hot today and there is a nice breeze, so it is great to be out here on the patio.

I walked around town earlier and bought food supples for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. I wanted to send postcards to the grand kids so I asked the gal in the bakery where I buy stamps. She took me to the store right next to the bakery, pointed to it and said they were closed for siesta but would be open at 5:00. It was the tobacco store! Interesting....