Mi Ultimo Dia en Espana

from my journal on 4/12:
"Well, this is it. What have I learned? Mucho. What do I have left to learn? Mucho, mucho mas. Thank You, sweet Jesus."

from Mike Howertons' Miles to Cross:

"I don't know all the answers. I don't. Can one person really know? Can there be certainty despite confusion? But I do know God, and because of HIM:

I say life's for living.

Road's for traveling.

Eye's for wondering.

Soul's for soaring.

Bag's for sleeping.

Heart's for loving.

God, please don't allow me too much success and ease as the devil's advocate. Please don't allow my love of ale and travel disqualify me from a role in Your delight. Do I really have to become a safe, boring Christian in order to love You? Tell me what my heart longs to hear... that following YOU well is the only true adventure left."

"Have I climbed mountains of experience and trekked miles down the twisting road of life, only to return devoid of anything tangible, fulfilling? Am I returning to the States with mementos of truth notched in my belt?

What do I know?

I know that it is more important to focus on the journey than the destination. Each mile has a wealth of beauty, and new unexplored groves of trees, and unnoticed shades of green, rocks, hills, a bend in the road that tickles the belly at high speed. Destinations are secondary. They are important, but not most important. Like goals, they are necessarily discarded once achieved. The destination, then, is temporary, but the journey goes on.

I know the mystics were right... there is a mystery in the mundane. God is in the moment-by-moment. He is vastly nearer than most people think.

I know there is more romance here than I ever thought possible... quite enough to keep the Wordsworths and Poes and Falstaffs and Howertons happy for lifetime upon lifetime.

And I know, like sunshine on the back of your neck in July, love beats down upon this place without ceasing.

The bit you play on this stage is of infinite importance. There is a purpose. I'm not sure I know mine yet. But I'm after it with all I've got."

"...somewhere it hit me- joy. Like a doule-shot of espresso, my heart pounding in my throat, I wanted to run, so I did; I wanted to sing, so I did; I wanted to fly, and maybe I did, but it was because I was thankful, I was so thankful, I AM so thankful. I couldn't stop saying thank You, thank You, thank You, God, thank You for loving this wandering pilgrim and for loving all wandering pilgrims, and experiencing only His love back, more and more, a Divine Yes, Yes, Yes, affirming love, affirming life, affirming myself, Yes, even affirming the journey, because in the final analysis, it all works together for His glory, Yes, and can I live for His glory? Yes, and can I point others toward His glory? Yes. And Yes. And YES.

My heart is bursting, and it's all I can do to keep my feet on the ground. Life.

Is there anything else?"

Thank you, all of you, for making this great adventure possible. It was a time in my life that I will never forget.