Mary Letter Day Fourteen

1 You tyrant, why do you boast of wickedness

 against the godly all day long? 

2 You plot ruin; your tongue

 is like a sharpened razor,

 O worker of deception. 

3 You love evil more than good

 and lying more than speaking the truth 

4 You love all words that hurt, 

 O you deceitful tongue. 

5 Oh, that God would demolish you utterly, 

 topple you, and snatch you from your dwelling, 

and root you out of the land of the living! 

6 The righteous shall see and tremble,

and they shall laugh at him, saying, 

7 "This is the one who did not take God for a refuge, 

 but trusted in great wealth and relied upon wickedness."

8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; 

 I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. 

9 I will give you thanks for what you have done

 and declare the goodness of your Name 

in the presence of the godly. Psalm 52

Dear Auntie,

I am writing late at night after our first day of travel. I will tell you what I cannot tell Mama and Papa, as I do not want them to be afraid and angry. We waited to leave as the sun was setting, figuring that our leaving should be done quietly as darkness fell. The first few miles were fine, and we have a small lamp to guide our steps. We were at the far outskirts of town when several young men from our village stopped up. There was a good deal of shouting, and they tried to push me off the donkey. They were shouting terrible things at Joseph, saying I should be stoned for my offences. He kept himself between me and the men when they tried to grab and shove at me. We finally both fell to the ground from their shoving, but fortunately, a stranger passed by, coming into town, a big burly man, and scared them off. He helped us both up, made sure we were all right and hurried after the boys. We were so grateful but forgot to ask the man's name. We sat by the road for a bit, gathering our courage and dusting ourselves off. Joseph decided that after that incident, we would have to do all of our traveling after dark. 

Auntie, we are safe now in Cousin Jacob's house. I think we must have looked quite frightful when we arrive. Jacob's wife Sarah and their daughters came rushing out and seeing our disheveled appearance, check us all over for cuts and scrapes. We both were more banged up than we realized since we were so desperate to get to safety! We have been told we are staying an extra night here so they can make sure that me and the baby aren't hurt. I feel fine, really, just very disappointed in other human beings. Why do they have to come after us? We were leaving town, leaving home, what more could they want? I will never understand how good, faithful people can be so cruel.

We will rest here and be grateful for now that nothing worse happened. And tomorrow we will be checked over and maybe set free to travel once again. I will write my parents and tell them all is well, they have so much, and I don't want to add to their worry. Please pray for us!

love, 

Mary