Here I Am Part 8

I believe I will fast forward a bit. I experienced the child like emotions of waiting-for-Santa on the morning the walk was to begin. My sponsors were not set to pick me up until 2:00. It was an incredibly long morning so there was ample time to send several prayers up to Heaven’s gates.

“O.k. Lord. This is it. The day I have been waiting for. Thank you for preparing me. I feel no anxiety and I cannot wait to get there. Thank you for the many blessings I have already received and for the ones yet to come.”

Finally the time arrived! My sponsors came and loaded up me and my suitcase and we were off. Now is the time I need to be incredibly careful as to what I post. I do not wish to spoil anything for those of you that have not yet gone on a walk to Emmaus. I will recount the spiritual impacts I experienced without much description of the actual event.

Had I known all the events that were in store for me ahead of time, I would have “anticipated” instead of being fully focused on “participating”. This is crucial to the experience. 

I am so grateful that is the only substantial information my sponsors shared with me. A lot of planning, prayer and preparation go into the walk and you gain so many blessings by just letting the events unfold in sequence.

There were several people going on this particular walk so we took 2 cars. I rode with yet another person sponsoring me that I had not previously met and honestly didn’t even know she existed! The amount of people behind the scenes eventually became quite staggering.

The first event was the “Send Off”. This took place in a little cowboy church filled with more behind-the-scenes people and those they were sponsoring. There were certainly a lot of people packed in there for only 36 women. 

It was so touching and emotional to see how many souls had come to pray for the 36. I didn’t know then that the emotions would be ever increasing throughout the next 3 and ½ days. Happy overwhelmed tears, they were just beginning.

Traditionally, after the prayer service everyone that was at the church heads over to the same restaurant where we all enjoyed a great dinner and wonderful fellowship. After the meal, the sponsors gather up their pilgrims and head over to the Emmaus walk venue.

Once there, you could just feel the excitement building. The lobby was full of lovely women that would become very important in my spiritual walk and my life. After everyone had the opportunity to find their rooms and visit awhile the welcoming ceremony began.

All the “staff” for the walk are introduced along with the pilgrims. When this is complete, the sponsors depart and the pilgrims begin their adventure in the Ark. And what an adventure it was.