Mary letter - Day 17 - In the Wilderness

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
   who will prepare your way;
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
   “Prepare the way of the Lord,
   make his paths straight” ’,
John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, ‘The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’Mark 1:1-8

Dear Auntie,

 We got very, very lost today. Despite all of the plans and the maps that we were given, all the preparation that came before, we still managed to get lost. I had already sensed something was wrong when Joseph got very silent for a very long time. He's not a big talker, mind you, but for the most part, when we are traveling, we manage to keep each other company and chat as we go. But today there was a long silence. When I finally asked Joseph to stop because my back was hurting, he yelled at me. I was so shocked! He's mostly so gentle and patient that I couldn't believe it. Here we were in the wilderness and my husband is yelling at me. I started to cry like a little girl. He was so apologetic then, I thought he might cry too. He admitted we were lost, and he could not find seem to get his bearings.

We sat for awhile, holding each other, both sorry for falling apart. Both feeling very lost. There was silence between us but it was finally not tense. I opened up one of the food bundles and made us a little meal right there, out in the middle of nowhere. As the sun was low in the sky, we thought we might have to camp there. Just as the sun was setting, an old man wandered by, and invited us to his home for the night. There it was, his little home,  a small dwelling not a  quarter mile away. We had not seen it before. His wife welcomed us in. They were both ancient, wrinkled all over but very bright still. They seemed happy to come across two young people needing help! It was as if the Holy Spirit were guiding us, despite ourselves. Auntie, it seems that when I give up hope, when we are totally and completely lost, somehow God finds us and puts us back on our way. This little one must have some life ahead of him.  For tonight, I will rest my aching back and be grateful for the intervention of our loving Creator. There is so much more road ahead!

much love,

Mary