Catching up with Maddie

After 8 1/2 months without seeing Maddie, it has been amazing to see her again and at the same time, the sense of the long separation seems to have simply vanished. We are meeting her in her new world and love the small things - wandering the streets, chatting over a coffee, getting some tutoring on a few Italian phrases.

The welcome we have received from Maddie's host family has been as though we are long lost friends. We feel very comfortable and have been sitting over the meal table chatting away in English or Italian with Maddie translating and also trying to follow the conversation when we can recognise only a few words here or there. The family have a very practical involvement in living simply and supporting community life. They helped to found a co-operative about 7 years ago, now 18 families are involved in buying good quality local produce. Every Friday Roberto collects freshly wood oven-cooked organic breads and people drop in through the afternoon to take their loaves. They in turn collect meat, fish, fruit, cheeses from other homes and have actually saved a local cheese factory through this co-op. Roberto sees his vegetable garden as his second job. Meals here as you can imagine are just delicious and so fresh.

Today Maddie is taking us into Milan, then we are going to a restaurant in the hills with other family members too. Tomorrow we are cooking an Australian meal for lunch, then going to a concert at La Scala opera house in the evening. We may pack up on Monday so we are ready to begin our walk from Vercelli on Tuesday.

Our trip so far has been just wonderful, love to you all, Merran


Friends have sent us off with two songs relevant to pilgrimage.

Thanks first to Gill, for this song, Long Way Home, by Steven Curtis Chapman. For me pilgrimage is the opportunity to put down that bag of regrets, could-have beens and not yets that I don't need any more. You can listen to it on you-tube too.

LONG WAY HOME

I set out on a great adventure
The day my Father started leading me home
He said there's gonna be some mountains to climb
And some valleys we're gonna go through
But I had no way of knowing
Just how hard this journey could be
'Cause the mountains are steeper and the valleys are deeper
Than I ever would have dreamed

But I know we're gonna make it
And I know we're gonna get there soon
And I know some times it seems like we're
Going the wrong way
But it's just a long way home

Some rocks in my shoes
Fears I wish I could lose
They make the mountains so hard to climb
And my heart - it gets so heavy
with the weight of the world sometimes
And there's a bag of regrets
Should-have-beens and not yets
I keep on dragging around
And I can hardly wait 'til the day I get to lay them all down

Well I know that day is coming
And I know it's gonna be here soon
And I won't turn back even if the whole world
Says I'm going the wrong way
'Cause it's just a long way home

And when we can't take another step
The Father will pick us up and carry us in His arms
And even on the best days
He says to remember we're not home yet
So don't get too comfortable
'Cause really all we are is just pilgrims passing through

Yeah
Well I know that day is coming
And I know we're gonna be there soon
I'll keep on singing and believing
What all of my songs say
'Cause our God has made a promise
And I know that everything He says is true
And He promised He would never ever leave us
He's gonna lead us
He'll lead us home
Every single step of the long way home

So keep on we're gonna make it
We're just taking the long way home
Keep on we're gonna make it
I know we're gonna make it
It's just a long way home

The second song is from Mark and Sandy, called I am the Road by Colin Buchanan and Troy Cassar-Daly

I like this, because I have been reflecting on the idea that Jesus is both our destination and the Way we will walk.

I AM THE ROAD

I have been your long companion
You have never been alone
I was there for every footstep
For I am the road

It was I who made you restless
Broad horizon, open sky
Beckoned every hill and mountain
For I am the road.

I am red dirt, I am stone
I am gravel, I am sand
I am always waiting for you
Just around the bend

I have made you friends forever
Comrades who can share the load
I see every weary drifter
For I am the road

I am hard and I am tender
I am lonely, I am free
Every mile you'll ever travel
You will share with me

And I am calling, calling
And I'm calling, calling to you

I will be your long companion
You will never be alone
I'll be there for every footstep
For I am the road.