And she gave birth to her Firstborn, a Son. she wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the Inn. Luke 2:7

I often think of the miracle of travel today that just one hundred years ago was an impossibility; In just 6 hours or so, I can travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles. If anyone has been on the Interstate 5 between these two cities, they will know it is a rather monochromatic scene of flat farmlands as far as the eye can see. But it is the fastest route, much faster than the incredibly scenic Highway 101. Still, 100 years ago, this same journey on the El Camino Real, a street that runs most of the length of California, would have taken two or three weeks. Trains took less time, but the steam-powered locomotives of yesterday were nothing in comparison to what we have today. And they could not cross the country in less than a day as a plane does now. Two thousand years ago, travel was even more archaic and uncomfortable. If people were fortunate, their travels took them on portions of the well-engineered Roman roads. Joseph and Mary were in Nazareth when they got word of the census. Being from the House of David, which was the Tribe of Judah meant they had to go to Bethlehem to register. This was, give or take a few, 70 miles according to my Biblical map. Maybe an hour to an hour and a half on the Interstate 5 mentioned earlier. With Joseph walking, and Mary riding, this journey was maybe 3 1/2 to 4 days. On bumpy roads. On a donkey. Pregnant. VERY pregnant. I have never been pregnant myself, but those of you who have can understand that a four-day journey on a donkey when you are close to giving birth would have been rather uncomfortable. And when you got there, finding that every single place, every single hotel was already booked. What a welcome!
At this time, I live in literally a trailer on a horse ranch. It was what we could get into with two days to find a place and 5 pets. God opened the doors. The owners are Christians and chose to listen to the Lord in letting us stay here. It is cold here, VERY cold. Too cold to watch T.V some days. In the summer the ants are so bad, I think if given the chance, they will walk away with this whole place on their backs and try to squeeze it down their anthole. Flies are thick. The smell of horse manure rises with the thermometer. But this place would have been a palace for Mary and Joseph. The stable they found for shelter was probably a cold, dank cave scented with the odors of the surrounding animals. Maybe by torchlight, in these surroundings, our Savior was born. He was laid in a manger, which is literally, a feeding trough for large animals.
I have to be honest with you. It is hard to live in this trailer. It is too expensive for what it is, and it is either very, very cold or hot. My prayer is to move soon into a place that actually stays warm if you turn on the heater. In this, I am humbled because I know the Lord was born into meaner circumstances. In our world, our goal is to be happy. If you ask a mother what she wants for her children, it is usually to be happy. But I am learning that God did not spare His Own Son from suffering. Yet even in hard circumstances, we can be content. I know when I move, I will not see the sky as I can see it today, wide and black and studded with stars. I will not wake up to the sounds of horses in some apartment, nickering for their morning feed. I will not be able to walk up and down the stable feeling the warmth of the velvety noses of the horses in my hands. So, there is blessing in everything; blessing in this cold, dank trailer out in the country. And blessing in the Birth of a Baby, born in a stable Who did not think to have His Circumstances above our own.

Thanks Blyth - wow - I'll be praying for you guys to find the *right* place in which to live. How is the one car holding up? How are you guys working through the whole one car thing anyway? Last I heard you were headed one way for work while your other half was headed the other way to go to school or something. What's happening now?

1 Cor 13:13 (NLT)
"and the greatest of these is love."

God provided another car almost as soon as the truck was taken...sorry I did not update you. It is a 1986 Toyota Celica GTS that my boss gave us...he was going to send it to one of those charities. We will have to pay $750.00 for it, which is what it is worth, at least. It currently needs a new radiator...pray for this....but it HAS been a blessing. Believe me! God was faithful in this!
Letty is in her 4th month of work. She is not going to school at this time, although there are some schools near the work that she COULD go to. It is up to her.
God is faithful- He really IS!

AMEN!!!




PSALM 89
34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

IT'S A LOVE THAT NEVER ENDS
TRET FURE

Thanks Blyth for the update. Your financial situation has been on my mind and heart (and prayers) for quite some time.

1 Cor 13:13 (NLT)
"and the greatest of these is love."