“El que lee mucho y anda mucho, ve mucho y sabe mucho.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de La Mancha
El que…
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Category Archives: Missions
This place has not grown smaller…
But it is not Caer Dallben which has grown smaller. You have grown bigger. That is the way of it.“ [L. Alexander, The Chronicles of Prydain – The Book of Three]
This quote from the end of Taran’s journey has a lot of truth in it. His home, Caer Dallben did not seem the same after his return, but it was him who had changed, not his homeland.
It was not that he had outgrown Caer Dallben, but he had grown up. One does not necessitate the other. The more we grow, and change, and mature, the more we are able to love our roots.
Camino Day 3
Day three on the Camino. See day one and day two.
We had another day of walking, and kept the distance to another 17 km. We hiked from Gonzar to Palas de Rey.
Still feeling happy after two days of hiking!
Fun with friends!
Getting a stamp everywhere we stopped
One guy’s name means “10,000 lakes” in Korean and the other guy is from “the land of 10,000 lakes”
Good morning!
Hiking when the sun comes up
Proof we did the Camino together
Telling stories
Galician Landscape
A Bug’s Life
Watching the pilgrims
Lost in time
We finished with everyone who started, and picked up a couple along the way!
No matter where
It is easy to romanticize life overseas for those who have yet to live that life. And it is easy to romanticize life in your passport country when you are living that overseas life.
I make both mistakes. Neither is truthful. Neither is helpful. Both diminish my joy in the gift of the life that God has given me.
Trusting God is equally hard no matter where I call home. But that also means that joy can be found no matter where I stand on this globe.
Camino day 2
To read the explanation and see the photos of the first day on the Camino this year, click here.
After we hiked over 30 km the first day, we learned our lesson and did 17 km the second day. We had a lot more time to sit and talk, drink coffee, and “smell the roses” (although I prefer to “eat the blackberries”). Here are photos from day 2.
A misty morning
The concept of the Camino is fairly easy – follow the arrows.
Beautiful pueblo homes
Getting recharged
Group picture!
Helping
Tanzen was kind enough to hold Kate’s hand to keep Kate from falling
One of Tanzen’s favorite things- getting stamps in her Pilgrim Passport
Ready for lunch!
Camino
Our family participated in a hike with our Conversational English Group on the Camino De Santiago. The route is a 500 mile trek across the Iberian Peninsula which normally takes about 40 days to do, but we only did 3 days of it. Last year Crystal and Tanzen both participated in the first day and took a bus home, but this year they stayed with us the whole time. It was a great time for conversation, friendship building, and cultural exposure!
The first day we walked from Samos to Ferreiros, a full 30 kilometers. Tanzen did quite a bit of the walking (with the help of Crystal, and gracious friends!) and by the time we arrived at our hostel, we were exhausted!
We had a great group with us!
The path is a mixture: gravel, single track, rocky, smooth, pavement, and stone.
What keeps the pilgrim moving? Take a guess.
We count this as science class.
A church along the way
Enjoying the walk
Learning new whistling tricks
Pulling (or pushing) her own weight
Constantly changing landscape
By the end of the trip our stroller was a moving flower shop
Resources: Anger
I have asked Josh Stephens from Community Baptist Church and Biblical Counseling Alliance to share some of his top resources in various areas of counseling. Over the following weeks I would like to share those, interspersed with some of my own. Please share your own below in the comments.
The order is alphabetical. See Addictions.
Anger
Jones, Robert D. Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem. P&R Publishing, 2016.
Scott, Dr Stuart. Anger, Anxiety and Fear: A Biblical Perspective. Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2009.
Other Resources:
Here is a handout which Crystal put together:
Anger: What it is and how do I deal with it?
Resources
I have asked Josh Stephens from Community Baptist Church and Biblical Counseling Alliance to share some of his top resources in various areas of counseling. Over the following weeks I would like to share those, interspersed with some of my own. Please share your own below in the comments.
The order is alphabetical. Today we start with Addictions.
Addictions
Shaw, Mark E. Addiction-Proof Parenting: Biblical Prevention Strategies. Bemidji, MN: Focus, 2010.
———. Cross Talking: A Daily Gospel for Transforming Addicts. Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2010.
———. Hope and Help for Sexual Temptation. Focus Publishing, 2012.
———. How Not to Raise an Addict: Biblical Prevention Strategies. Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2017.
———. Relapse: Biblical Prevention Strategies. Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2011.
———. The Heart of Addiction: A Biblical Perspective. Bemidji: Focus, 2008.
———. Understanding Temptation: The War Within Your Heart. Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2014.
Welch, Edward T. Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave. New Growth Press, 2012.
*Website
Here is my review of Setting Captives Free, a valuable resource in daily transformation.
Science and Truth
The next time someone dismisses you with the “Only science gives reliable truth” canard, ask if he wants you to take his statement as fact or simply as unsubstantiated opinion. If fact, ask what testable scientific evidence led him to his conclusion. As it turns out, this claim is not a fact of science. It is a philosophical assertion about science that itself cannot be proven by the scientific method and would therefore be unreliable, according to this approach.
– Koukl, Tactics
A Coruña
We took a quick trip to the city of A Coruña for Crystal’s birthday. The city is a major port on the Atlantic coast and we loved walking around the city.
