Life on Hold

A couple of days ago our lone swallowtail (butterfly) larva nibbled her last bite of parsley and then attached herself to the woody twig I'd placed in her glass home. This morning she is a true chrysalis, brown and papery. About the time we return from Cat Island, she'll be bursting her graveclothes and emerging in splendor. I'll let her go in the garden, and I hope she'll deposit some eggs on our waiting parsley plants before soaring off to seek adventure. When the eggs hatch into rice-sized larva, I hope I find them before the birds do, so we can begin the process again. Life ... apparent death ... life ... .

On a far more serious note, someone in SIM received a clandestine phone call from a Christian in an unnamed country saying that persecution and killings are increasing there. On Sunday an entire congregation was arrested and jailed in appalling conditions. They call their nation "the old country" rather than naming it, because any global attention to their situation brings on even more severe suffering. Literally, all we can do is pray! And we do. We have dear personal friends, both in Michigan and Carolina, who came from that country, and that brings the tragedy even closer to our hearts.

Thanks to God's goodness and your prayers, I felt full of life yesterday, and today is beginning well too. There's lots to do before we fly out Saturday morning. I'll most likely be able to post a blog on Sunday before we leave Nassau, but almost certainly not from Monday through Sunday, May 14-20. So here's the deal: I'll pre-load a delayed posting for each day before we leave here for those of you who like to maintain the habit of checking daily. (Oh! thank you SO much!) And I promise you that if my health deteriorates during that week, we'll get a message to someone in the States who can put fresh news on the site. Okay?

This morning I'm meeting with the magazine photo editor to ensure that things are coming together well. I found a digital image that appears perfect for the cover, but it wasn't saved at high enough resolution. The dear missionary photographer, who is dealing with his own serious physical struggles just now, has offered to go through his boxes of slides (thousands of them!) to find the original. He's our Hero of the Week! I pray he'll find it, and even more I pray for his healing.

Blessings,

Carol