16 Day Respite

Yikes! Tomorrow we begin a 16 day respite. That is twice as long as any respite we have ever done before. Needless to say we are a little worried but at least when this respite is done we will get about the same amount of time to rest. Bethany and I are still striving to make friends. We have realized Christian friends are so important to us. We had a good time at a church picnic shown above but we feel like we have so little time to really spend time with other Christians, let alone find people we can pray and live life with.

Praises: We did a regular respite at one of the toughest houses in GAP and actually received affirmation and encouragement for how well we did there. Bethany especially felt like God gave her a special dose of grace while we were there because she didn't give up in frustration with the kids (which often happens at this house) and was able to help Eric the whole time instead of leaving him to deal with everything. I [Eric] was very grateful for all the help I got from my wonderful wife the whole week long!

Prayers: We ask that you will please be in prayer for us as we strive to continue to make some good friendships here in AZ. Please also pray for our 16 day respite because it will hopefully be a chance for some good teaching opportunities and for some relationships to be strengthened with the kids. Pray for our endurance and patience during the next two weeks. We are feeling intimidated.

Picacho Peak

My parents came to visit this week from NH and we had a very nice visit with them. I know they like hiking so prior to their arrival I found the most intense peak I could find in the Tucson area and added it to our itenerary. Nothing builds memories like shared struggles! Poor Bethany and poor Mom! As we drove towards the peak my Mom's confidence started to dwindle. Here is the sight she saw from the car.

When we got out of the car and began to approach the peak we continued to hike towards a solid rock wall. The question on all our minds was, "How will we ever get up this thing?" For my Dad and I this was a reason to have excitement. For our ladies, it was somewhat of a daunting thought.

The first half of the hike actually turned out to be not too difficult. When we got to the top of the lowest peak we could see for miles on the other side of the mountain. We stopped to have some food thinking the end was only a short hike away. We had already climbed 1100 of the 1500 feet to the top. I will let Bethany tell you what happened next while I stand on top of this cliff looking awesome.

After our snack, I (Bethany) felt like I had enough energy to keep going despite the hot sun and my quad muscles which were starting to get sore from feeling like I had climbed 500 flights of stairs. We examined where the trail headed next and found that we had to go down before continuing up. This is when I started to get nervous about the last part of the climb. We climbed down the back side of the mountain between a big rock wall and steel cables that were keeping us from sliding towards the edge of a drop. It was like a stair case with a railing but no stairs as you can see below. I chose to scoot along on my butt for most of the way down and hung on to the cables with most of my weight.

We then turned the corner and headed back upwards towards the very top of the peak. This started out just like hiking any other steep mountain until we hit the last section which consisted of steep jagged rock and cables to support us and block us from any edges. I almost talked myself out of this part of the hike partially from the heights and partially because I knew I would have a harder time getting back down (I once hyperventilated trying to come down the stairs of a large fire tower.) I decided, however, just to keep my eyes focused on the steps in front of me and I didn't spend too much time looking around to contemplate the possibilities of what could happen to me if I slipped. It was quite the exercise of my willpower. As you can see below, we were very thankful for the cables and there was no safe way to do it without them.

We finally reached the top and had a complete 360 degree view of the surrounding desert and mountains. It was very spectacular! At this point I was grateful for the chance to sit down and rest my aching feet which now had blisters and refuel my tank with lots of water because of the hot sun. While on top we also saw a big lizard and were dive-bombed by birds that you could literally hear whizzing past you like feathery missles. After lunch we started our next challenge which was the descent.

I was very thankful for Eric who helped me with most of my footing on the way down. Again, I just concentrated on my feet and didn't look around too much and before I knew it we were headed towards our small blue car in the parking lot below. Every step downwards was painful for me because of my blisters, aching quad muscles and chaffed ankles from my hiking boots. Anyone who hikes knows that the downhill part can be very tough on the feet. Although I have been walking like an old lady the past two days because my legs are so incredibly sore, I am very grateful that I stuck with the climb despite my fears. It was a great time to be outside with the family and conquer what seems to be an unclimbable mountain.

Prasies: We made it to the top!
Prayers: Bethany's poor legs.

Yard Sales!

Eric and I have started to develop a hobby in finding things for our apartment at a cheap prices--mostly through going to yard sales. We seem to be developing an appreciation for shopping due to our proximity to dozens of tempting local stores, especially Goodwill. The only thing which can beat the deals at Goodwill is the yard sales. Every weekend in Tucson signs are at all the intersections pointing to yard sales in the various neighborhoods around here. We don't have to go outside of a 5 miles radius and can hit 6 or 8 yard sales in one day. (One time we hit 15 yard sales on a Saturday!)

However, we found out that the early bird truly does get the worm and the early birds to compete with in this case are Mexicans who come over the border with trucks. They will literally offer a price for the whole sale and load their truck with everything! In the beginning, we didn't have the energy to get up on the weekends but this past Saturday our alarm went off at 6 AM and we managed to hit a mega church yard sale when it started at 6:30 AM.

The church yard sale was loaded with cars the moment we showed up. People were everywhere and I hardly felt like the early bird at that mega church sale. I felt more like I was part of a migrating flock or a swarm of chickens fighting for feed. Our goal for the day was two shelves to organize our small apartment. Sadly we did not find anything at that first yard sale. We did find a humorous game to entertain you in moments of deepest privacy. It was discussed in one of our recent meetings that in GAP your only private moments are on the toilet if the door has a lock. So this item looked like it would be a very fun present to buy for a friend - toilet golf!

We ended up getting one shelf at a yard sale and a second larger shelf at Home Depot-- a store I (Eric) am growing in appreciation for as I start trying to build things around the house. It seems almost everything in our apartment is taken care of except art for the walls.

Praises: It is a good feeling to have filled our apartment with furniture and have it organized. Praise God for the ways He has provided in neat ways even with such a temporal thing as furniture.

Prayers: May God continue to grow us in delighting first and foremost in our knowledge of Him and His kingdom.