Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Walking along the harbor in Porto, Portugal, misty clouds hovered over the water as Dana and I embarked on our journey of many steps towards Santiago, Spain. Our walking instructions suggested we take the metro to the edge of town to start our Camino but we had the notion to walk door-to-door so we dismissed this sage advice and left our hotel on foot. An hour into our walk we spotted our first of many yellow arrows painted on a concrete guardrail that guided us along the way. Though we knew we were headed the right direction it was both exciting and reassuring to see the arrow, confirmation we were indeed walking the Camino. Two and a half hours later we arrived at the suggested starting point. Perhaps walking door-to-door was not such a bright idea after all.

Yellow arrows began to appear more frequently as our journey took us along a seaside boardwalk most of the day with an occasional detour into cobblestoned villages. Like a treasure hunt, we would seek out the golden arrows, collecting them with each mile we traversed over the next several days. They appeared on sidewalk curbs, wooden rails, boulders, lampposts, blue ceramic tiles embedded into stone walls, and even painted on the asphalt road. Sometimes we’d come to an intersection with a yellow ‘x’ painted on the street, a visual warning this was not the way to go. The spacing between the arrows was random. At times they appeared at regular intervals, other times we’d walk an uncomfortable distance before being relieved by the sight of the familiar guide.

It was during these larger gaps that Dana and I often became anxious and began to doubt ourselves, wondering if we had inadvertently taken a wrong turn. Maps and written instructions would be pulled from our backpacks in an attempt to calm our agitation. Nine times out of ten we were exactly where we needed to be – we just hadn’t gone far enough. Learning to trust the markers would appear as needed, no sooner and no later, was such a metaphor for life. So often I seek reassurance along my path, affirmation I’m headed the right way or making the right choice long before I actually need it. Divine guidance seems to always be available, but sometimes it is very subtle and sometimes I have to keep moving forward before the next arrow appears.

Question: What personal guideposts reassure you when feeling lost or confused? How do you experience divine guidance? Do you trust it?