Today’s pictures can be viewed here. Today’s prayer intentions: for Elda Mills and her husband Adolph’s health.

Tuesday, October 25th

Ok…. today was a little bit late for our start! We stayed in a rather nice hotel last night and I think the bed was especially comfortable. We normally wake up before 7:00 a.m. and are usually heading to the nearby cafe at least by 8:30 or 9:00 a.m. This morning we didn’t even wake up until 9:00 a.m.!

But everything is in God’s hands on a day-to-day basis here! We found a local pharmacy, stocked up on ibuprofen and vitamin c, found our morning coffee and then a quick stop by the cathedral in Astorga. We didn’t have time this morning to go inside the cathedral other than to collect our stamp on our pilgrim passport. But if you’d like to see photos from the interior from our 2016 visit, click here.

Most of the day looked a lot like this. Overcast and some light drizzle here and there. We rejoiced that there was no massive downpours today! Our late start provided us another day of silence and solitude as we walked and prayed.

I’m happy to say that this has been a very fruitful time spiritually for Lisa and I. For myself I’ve been seeking some answers to some questions and direction for my life and the journey of prayer that this Camino has been for us is really bearing some good fruit. Today I listened a second time to an essay by CS Lewis entitled “The weight of glory” which came at just the right time in this journey.

We often get surprised with little oddities on the Camino. At the entrance of one village was this dice made out of stone which you could actually spin on its rotating base. I have no idea what it was for or why it was there but it was fun to spin!! As we entered another village we looked off in the distance and there is a hostel which offers a unique Teepee experience!

As we were nearing our final destination for the day the path took us into the woods for some challenging inclines on rocks. Lisa took the wiser path and walked along the road. When we met up again there was a fence with many little crosses placed there by pilgrims. This time I made a little contribution.

Little breaks in the clouds brought beautiful sunshine spotlighting the local churches in this town. It’s amazing, for such a small town there were three churches all within a mile of each other. (Maybe in honor of the blessed Trinity?)

As we walked through the town there were some really interesting architecture with all of the buildings now being a style of conforming stone. There was a beautiful saying attached to one of the buildings, a proverb of sorts.

We found our hostel which turned out to be a beautiful stone building with an open interior having a bar / restaurant that was so welcoming. The woman who runs this hostel was so kind and offers laundry service even! Of course we did find our room on the second floor which meant a couple of sets of stairs at the end of the day! Ah the way of the Camino!

The comfort of a fireplace with a little coffee and brownie, paired with beautiful sunsets out the balcony from our second floor room made this a perfect ending to the day. God’s reminder to us that no matter how long or hard the journey, or how gray and rainy the skies, we will eventually find the warmth and beauty of the sunshine (and maybe even a brownie!) We take each day with the promise of the kingdom…both now and to come!!

Buen Camino 🙏❤️

Today’s pictures can be viewed here. Today’s prayer intentions: for Elda Mills and her husband Adolph’s health.