Pilgrimage: Day 11 Happy Birthday to Me!

Day 11: December 10, 2013: St. Melchiades, Pope and Martyr, pray for us!

Today I turn 44! Ian is in Fort Collins at work, the kids are working on their school, and I am helping them while I get ready for a doctor’s appointment. I know it does not sound all that special or exciting, but the life that God has given me, and that I have freely chosen and accepted, is the most beautiful gift. Each moment I choose to say “Yes” to God is a diamond He adds to His Blessed Mother’s crown.

So how do I say YES today? By getting up when I would rather stay in bed. By getting the children up when I would rather enjoy the quiet as long as possible. By encouraging them to do their schoolwork when it would be easier to have a free day. By helping them with their school when I have 1,000 other things that have to get done besides this. By staying in God’s holy Presence all day, and keeping the inner peace He gives me, even when there is disorder and noise all around me. By doing what each moment demands. By giving priority to my prayer time, and going to bed on time so that tomorrow I can get up and do it again!

Here is a beautiful thought for today: “What? The cross make us lose our inward peace? Surely it is the cross that bestows it on our hearts. All our miseries come from our not loving it.” ~ St. John Vianney

Today’s walk: 20-40 minutes at an easy pace.

Pilgrimage: Day 10

Pilgrimage Day 10: December 9, 2013: St. Juan Diego, pray for us!

Today was a little warmer than the last few days, and I spent a lovely morning with my Mother-In-Law shopping at IKEA and then having lunch at Panera. I was not walking briskly at IKEA, but we were in there for a couple of hours at least. It was a lot of fun to spend all that time with Mom, looking at all the neat storage ideas and picking up a few Christmas gifts and kitchen utensils.

I came home and helped the kids with their school for a while, and now it is just about dinner time. I will do a little workout after prayers tonight before I get ready for bed since I did not really “walk” today. I have only been doing this walking regularly for a short time, and I have been feeling really good. I do not want to get out of the habit, especially since Ian bought me some wonderful walking shoes and socks this weekend for my birthday, and my feet have never felt better. Tomorrow’s high temperature is supposed to be almost 40 degrees, so I think I might be able to handle walking outside! If not, maybe I will go walk at the mall.

Thinking ahead to sleeping on the ground, I found this inflatable hiking mattress that attaches to a sleeping bag. Just something to think about.

Here are some sleeping bags that attach to the mattresses! Sounds like a good idea! This particular down-filled bag weighs only 1 lb., 15 oz.. Nice for carrying on the trail.

Here are some walking socks, for good measure.

A priest friend who has done the pilgrimage said it would be a good idea to have a walking stick. He went as a seminarian and was very thankful that he had the stick, because he was physically unprepared in other ways.  There are collapsible staffs available also, which might be a good idea.

That’s all for now. I am hoping to hear soon from friends who have done this pilgrimage, and if I do, I will post about that in addition to the physical and material preparations I am doing.