PARALLELS

We have stayed in our house all day to day.   We have a little flue, called gripa here,  so, we stayed home.  We think the terrifying events of this past week ( high centered car by the edge of a cliff, and, the earthquake) has lowed our immunity.  Also, the water to the house has been on for just a few minutes then off.   The shower water heater is a device on the shower head.  It only heats up when there is a fairly good flow.  So, we wait around for the water to build up, run for the shower, scrub real fast, and get out.  We always end up getting the cold water, and here in the mountains, it is really cold.  But, we get along ok and just say to our selves like all the missionaries do, "that's Guatemala".

We had our 50th anniversary a few days ago.  We worked in the morning then we shopped and shopped around town.  We wanted to get something to remember this anniversary, so, we found a little on man that makes rings, and got a little gold ring for Kathy, the man in graves on the inside with our names and the date, here is the ring:

Gary got a gift also:

The most interesting gift of the day was the earthquake.   Last year, they had a bad one here that did lots of damage, so, that gave a lot of meaning to this one,  we had such a great day, we got our gifts, and, Gary got a hand made sweater ( he is too big for any pre-made sweaters we could find ) that cost about $20.  We had take-out Chinese food and we were sitting at the table eating and complimenting ourselves for such a great day, and then, the house started to shake.  Now, we lived in California for many years and experienced lots of earthquakes, one rocked us so bad that we could not get out of our water bed because it was waving back and forth.  But, all these earthquakes lasted for only a few seconds.  This one went on and on a started to worsen.  The fact that we are in a total concrete and cinder block house begin to worry us.  It finally ended, and, we spent most the night tracking Down missionaries.   Everyone was OK, a wonderful blessing.   That was our anniversary.  We reflected on this event, and thought that this is a graphic lesson about our total dependence on our Heavenly Father.   We were thinking how we had mastered the day, and, God showed us who was in charge.

After our scary situation in the mountains, we were hesitant to go back up, but, what do you do when you get bucked off a horse..  So, up we went.  This time we prayed at every split in the road, and, every near vertical hill, and we made it back and forth.  A major blessing.  At the top, there is a little town with 4 missionaries.  The town and the surrounding views are breath taking!  We thought that it was a little like reaching heaven.  Then,  we carried this theme a little further:  Our fear of beginning the trip must be similar to our feelings just before we come to this world, knowing it is the right thing to do, but, also, understanding the great risk to our salvation.  Our trip through life is dangerous similar to this trip.  There are many "Y's" in the trip that require correct decisions.  The wrong choice could be disastrous.  And, the trip does not get easier it is hard all the way, in fact, it gets harder just before the end.  However, when we safely arrive, it is all worth it.

This horse delivers its load all by itself.  We felt a little like this horse:  doing our job all a lone with a gigantic load, but stopping now and then for a little snack.