What a great message the Lord had for us this morning: "The Empty Promises of Easter" from Luke 24:1-12... The empty cross represents forgiveness for us and breaks the divide between us, all sinners, and God Almighty. Jesus died on The Cross to pay our sin debt and reconcile us to The Father once and for all. Jesus Christ's work on The Cross is our only way to God, the Father and "It is finished." The empty tomb represents eternal life with the risen Lord Jesus. He has risen from the dead and He will resurrect us to spend FOREVER with Him in Glory. The empty burial clothes signifies that Christ was resurrected, indeed, and not stolen as some would like to believe.
Even with many winter residents leaving, we still had a good crowd this morning. This is only one side; I couldn't get the other side from my vantage point.
After church was picture taking time with Bob and Linda Olsen and Tracy Foor, all friends we made while in Coffeyville, Kansas, Fall of '08. Bob and Linda will be leaving the park tomorrow and Tracy finished her job in Phoenix and will also be leaving soon. It has been great to re-connect with them again. I love this life!!!
Another wonderful surprise this morning was good friends, George and Nancy Reid showing up to worship with us. They have been working on a SOWERS project over in California and will be staying in the park for a couple of weeks until their next project starts.
Immediately after church, a caravan of five vehicles headed to somewhere in the desert mountains. Don and I rode with Jack and Kathy, so we were just along for the ride, the scenery, great fellowship and lunch!!
We forged this stream with the water reaching the running board.
Caravan leader Jim Cleveland enjoyed showing the rest of us what his Jeep could do.
Our picnic sight. A true stream in the desert.
I promptly took off upstream to find pictures.
The first and only wildlife I saw was this colorful little lizard with a blunt tail.
The afternoon could not have been any prettier.
Strange wildflower about to open.
Small purple ground wildflowers.
A white flower hiding in the grass.
About a hundred yards from our site and around the bend, I heard someone calling my name, so I headed back, arriving just in time to get in line to fill my plate. Everyone was hungry so Don had asked the blessing before I got there.
The food was all sooooo good!
After our meal, a few hiked up the mountain near us.
I thought I would try to hike up there and take some pictures, but about that time I heard a hair-raising scream and looked up just in time to see Elaine running down the rock path. The only thing that kept her from falling was that her feet were moving too fast. Why? Snake. LaVon did not go hiking through tall grass. Here's Elaine waiting for her heart to stop pounding.
Here's Toma (and Jim) right after she sprained her ankle while carrying a rock.
I found Don down stream in the shade of a big tree, listening to the stream running over the rocks.
Glenda had the right idea with her walking stick.
A "majestic" turkey buzzard circled, so no one took a nap.
A jagged mountain across the way where Don thought he saw a Big Horned Sheep. Nope, false alarm.
Picnic site clean, we decide to travel on up the mountain to the Roger's Trough Trailhead.
In the cactus garden and around the park, fairy dusters are red, but out here in the wild, they are pink.
That's Garth ahead of us in the caravan.
And Jim is now following Garth. The Saguaro are numerous.
A desert mountain oasis.
We are at 5,000 feet plus elevation here. See the "oasis" and the road we have traveled?
This was an awesome trail with amazing scenery.
We finally reached our destination.
.... Roger's Trough Trailhead.
Even at this elevation, there is a stream.
As we started back down the trail, I took this picture of a Saguaro Cactus.
We had a wonderful day! Thank you, God, for today and all the beauty we saw. Also, help Toma get well fast and thank you that Elaine didn't get snake bit.
