Hey you, it's me.

Care from the Camino • Day 15

It's kind of amazing what 24 hours can do. 😂

Yesterday I was riding in circles on the Camino because Little Apple Annie apparently had plans of her own, trying to figure out where to charge Ike, staring at one last ridiculous hill wondering who I had offended, and then walking almost two miles for food only to discover the restaurant Chad recommended was closed.

I was tired. Hungry. Sore. And completely over everybody, including Chad, Ike, and Little Apple Annie, who apparently considers “navigation” more of a suggestion than an actual responsibility. 😂

At this point, the Camino has a whole supporting cast, and none of them can be trusted unsupervised. 😂🚲🍎

Today I'm sitting outside in the sunshine, under palm trees, looking at these huge green mountains thinking, How is this my life right now?

Apparently the Camino decided I had enough character development yesterday. 😂

And then this morning happened.

I woke up, checked my email, and there it was.

My book.

The front cover. The spine. The back.

Silent to Spoken: A Woman's Journey Through the Pause.

And my name at the bottom.

Jennifer Board.

I just stared at it for a minute.

A story I once carried in silence now has a cover, a spine, and my name on it.

That hit me harder than I expected.

Because I know the woman who started writing that story. I know how lost she felt. I know how many times she questioned herself. I know what it took for her to find her voice again.

There was a woman who felt broken and chose to fight for herself anyway. Even when people vanished. Even when she felt alone. She kept showing up for herself.

And today, sitting here in Spain with these beautiful green mountains in front of me, I don't look at her and see everything that happened to her.

I see an overcomer.

Being here has shown me a lot about myself. It has also shown me who loves me and who genuinely cares.

The people who check in. The ones who pray for me. The ones who make me laugh. The people who celebrate the little wins with me and follow this crazy journey from thousands of miles away. Somehow, they have made me feel like I'm not doing this alone.

And I think I needed to see that.

There are relationships I have spent a lot of time trying to understand. People I wanted to show up differently. Questions I carried around much longer than I needed to.

Sitting here today, I feel a weight lifted.

I don't feel the same need to figure all of it out.

Maybe some things don't need another conversation, another explanation, or another attempt to understand why. Maybe sometimes you just notice who is standing beside you and love them really well.

I looked up from my phone a little while ago and saw these mountains.

Yesterday I was trying to get over every freaking hill Spain could throw at me. 😂

Today I get to sit here and look at them.

And that did something to me.

I think I've spent a lot of my life looking ahead. Thinking about what's next, what still needs fixing, how much farther I have to go, what I need to accomplish, and who I'm becoming.

Today I looked around and thought, Jenn, look where you already are.

🐚I'm in Spain.
🐚I'm biking the Camino de Santiago.
🐚My body has carried me farther than I ever thought it could.
🐚My book is becoming real.
🐚My name is on the cover.
🐚I found the voice I thought I had lost.
🐚And there are people back home loving me through every mile of it.

Maybe today can simply be about being here.

Feeling the sun.

Looking at the mountains.

Thanking God.

And letting myself be proud of how far I've already come.

Because tomorrow, Ike and I will undoubtedly be back to our regularly scheduled chaos. 😂🚲

But today?

I'm going to let this one be sweet.

So before you go, take a minute with me.

When was the last time you paused long enough to see how far you've already come? I bet it's farther than you give yourself credit for.

Write Me Back ↓

Care from the Camino 🤎🐚

Buen Camino. 🇪🇸🐚

I love you, just stay sweet ~ Jenn

How Far Have You Already Come?

I bet it's farther than you give yourself credit for. Send it to me if you want. Nobody else sees this.

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