and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:1-9
Dear Aunt Elizabeth,
It seems that one day I am up and the next I am down. We moved on from the lovely home of Naomi, starting out in the twilight so as to keep ourselves hidden on these high exposed roads. The problem with traveling in the dark is that sometimes it is very hard to see and there are many dangers hiding in the shadows. The donkey I was riding stumbled over a big exposed root and I was thrown to the ground! There is no need for worry, Auntie, as the baby and I seem to be fine, but I did get scraped and bruised. My pride was also wounded and Joseph was terribly upset. He felt it was his fault but he did not cause the beast to stumble. He insisted on taking a room at a nearby inn. He also asked for a wise woman to come and look me over. She came, cleaned and bandaged the small cut and scrapes and listened to my belly. She told Joseph not worry, that the baby was encased in a great sea and was protected by these water from injury that might harm the mother. I don't think he believed her but he seemed at least to calm down a bit. I don't think he really liked hearing too much about women's bodies and our functions. She was very blunt and he was blushed ever so brightly.
We are resting here today at his insistence and will take a torch with us when we travel at night. It means we will have to use the back roads and the more hidden lanes. I am not so worried about the people who might have followed us, but Joseph is constantly looking around and worrying, aching to protect me with all his abilities. I try to comfort him as best I know how but he worries still. We are not even parents yet and we are a mess of troubles and worries some days!
Auntie, please pray for us as the road seems ever steeper and danger ever present.
All my love,
Mary
No comments:
Post a Comment