The Great Southwest....What an Awesome Creator We Serve

I'm finally back! On the blog that is. We have had an excellent trip...God answered our prayers for safety and joy in all we did and saw. We took our twelve year old grandson, Isaiah, with us. His grandpa felt that because we were making the trip anyway...it would be good for Isaiah to see the southwest and a chance to have a good visit with his cousin, Aidan. We kept the secret until today when Sherri talked with us and said she was going to try to get tickets to the Cubs/Diamondbacks game. I finally had to confess.....but asked her to keep the secret to surpise Aidan with. When we got here we came in and told Aidan to go to our car and check out the back seat. We hope he was as excited to see him as we were to surprise him. The two of them have been in the pool ever since.

It was great fun to revisit the Painted Desert. the Petrified Forest and,today, the Grand Canyon. For Isaiah it was a first. In his words, "If a picture is worth a thousand words then being a place in person is worth a million". Yesterday morning we pulled off an exit that promised an Indian fry bread. As we drove a few blocks we noticed a sign that said "mission". My guys think I'm a bit nuts but I LOVE visiting churches, old churches in particular. I asked my chauffer if he would drive me to that spire in the distance. It happened to be St. Joseph Indian Mission in Laguna, New Mexico. I got out of the car and walked up the steps, took a few pics of the outside and then tried the door. It opened to something that was absolutely awesome. The mission was built in and dedicated on July 4, 1699. The inside was breath taking. The altar screen has been kept as it was originally painted by the Laguna Santerio in 1699. The ceiling was made of logs with small logs filling in between. I found myself snapping pictures when Isaiah bumped me and showed me a sign that asked that pictures are not taken. I put my tail between my legs and put my camera away.....well......almost right away.

I picked up last Sunday's bulletin and read it in the car on our way out of town. I found so many things in there that spoke to my soul. I thanked God that people have been worshipping in that place in the way they understood worship to be for over three hundred years. Somehow, I believe I'll meet some of those people on the other side one day. Won't that be a glorious day?

It blows my mind that this little gem is two miles off the expressway and the only thing that calls attention to it is that small sign that says "Mission". It makes me wonder how many other worthwhile things are hidden from most of us.