How Majestic Is Your Name!

After exploring the north central region of New Mexico, Brian and I then travelled to the south central region and stayed in the town of Alamogordo.

 

 



Alamogordo is the place of one of the worlds' greatest natural wonders - 275 square miles of glistening white gypsum sands called the White Sands National Monument.

 

 

Surrounding the White Sands National Monument is the White Sands Missile Range, where U.S. famously tested the first atomic bomb.



 

 

Then just east of the White Sands National Monument is the Holloman Air Force Base. When Brian and I hiked the 4.6-mile long trail through the white sands of the gypsum dunes, three times the desert silence was broken with the roaring engine of an F16 flying overhead, adding more to the mysteriousness of the White Sands.

 



 

It was wondrously amazing not only to look beyond the greatness and beauty of the White Sands, but to look down and see how the desert wind created symmetrical ripples in the soft shifting sands like the continuous waves of a soothing ocean.

 

Even many of the small creatures that live in the White Sands are white to match their bleached surroundings. This little reptile pictured above is called the White Sands Prairie Lizard.

 

With everything on the terrain being a glittering white, capped against the contrasting clear blue sky, and surrounded by majestic mountains, it produced a surrealistic landscape to revel in.



The White Sands was indeed an unforgettable experience!

 

"Lord, our Lord,

how majestic

is Your Name

in all the earth!"

Psalm 8:9 (NLT)

In His Hand

On one of the days Brian and I were staying in Taos, we drove just over an hour to Antonito, Colorado to ride the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad.

 

This railroad was construction in 1880 as part of the Rio Grande's San Juan Extension.

Today, the age-old locomotive still operates on coal and steam on a narrow gauge track of 3 feet, just like it did many years ago.

The trip was 64 miles long and it took six and a half hours to complete, as it travelled along the two neighbouring states of Colorado and New Mexico.

 

These two state lines were crossed a total of eleven times during the excursion.

 



 

In an abandoned town called Sublette in New Mexico, the train stopped for a short period of time to supply the necessary water for the steam locomotive.



 

 

At midway, the train stopped again at a rustic town called Osier in Colorado for us to have lunch in an old train station.

  

On route, the Cumbres and Toltec train entered three tunnels. The first one was Mud Tunnel (pictured below). Then Phantom Curve, and Rock Tunnel came next.

 

 

The train worked very hard trekking through Cumbres Pass because it had an elevation of 10,015 feet. 

 



 

Cumbres Pass is actually the highest mountain pass reached by rail in the United States

 



 

As the train started its deep decent, the sweeping views of the Chama Valley began to unfold.

 

 

The beauty of the Colorado and New Mexico earth depths and mountain peaks reminded me they  really all belong to God and are in His hand. 

 

"In His hand

are the depths of the earth,

and the mountain peaks

belong to Him."

Psalm 95:4 (NIV)

How Good And Pleasant!

The Pueblo Del Arroyo was a major cultural center for the Ancient Puebloans between AD 850 and 1250.

It is located in the Chaco Canyon of Northwestern New Mexico between Albuquerque and Farmington.

In this Puebloan site there are fifteen main complexes known as Great Houses which were constructed by quarrying sandstone blocks and hauling timber from great distances.

These Great Houses contain hundreds of rooms of multiple stories and were connected by roads to more than 150 other Great Houses in the region.

The Chaco Pueblo also oriented their buildings to solar, lunar, and cardinal directions.

Until the 19th century, the Pueblo Del Arroyo contained the largest structures in North American.

Unfortunately, the fifty-year drought starting in 1130 forced the Ancient Puebloans to emigrate elsewhere and eventually abandon living in the Chaco Canyon all together.

In this area, the winters are long, the growing season is short and the rainfall in minimal. But this did not stop the ancestral Puebloan culture to take root and flourish here for 300 years.

Brian and I immensely enjoyed our time here exploring the past history of a very close-knit people!

 

May we all learn from the Puebloan's example of how good and pleasant it is when people live together in unity.

 

 "How good and pleasant it is

when God's people

live together in unity!"

Psalm 133:1 (NIV)

Light Of Life



The second day Brian and I were in Taos, New Mexico, we visited the Taos Pueblo, located 1 mile from the town on a 95,000-acre reserve.

 

 

The Taos Pueblo is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Tiwa-speaking Native American tribe known as the Puebloan people.



 

 

 

Today, approximately 4,500 people live in this very private, secretive and conservative pueblo.

 

 

It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States, with the adobe structures estimated to be over 1,000 years old.

 



Each self-contained home consists of two small rooms, one for general living and sleeping, and the second for cooking, eating, and storage.

There is no passageways between the houses.

In the pueblo, electricity, running water and indoor plumbing are forbidden.

The adobe homes are mudded every year and are passed down from one generation to the next.

Many docile dogs run freely on the property. I took a picture of this one puppy waiting patiently at the entrance way of an adobe home, hoping for the owner to invite him in.

 

The Puebloan people's religion is a combination of their original indigenous spiritual and religious tradition and Roman Catholicism. In other words, they need Jesus! and my heart went out to these lovely people. Everything in my being wanted desperately to tell them Jesus is the light of life.

 

"In Him was life,

and that life

was the light

of all mankind."

John 1:4 (NIV)

A Place Of Safety

My husband and I recently came home adventuring in the enchanted land of New Mexico, U.S.

 
For the first five days, Brian and I stayed at a historic adobe hacienda which had been transformed into a charming award-winning bed and breakfast called Adobe Pines.

 

This unique Spanish lodging is around 200 years old with the original architectural elements still preserved. It is situated in the outskirts of a quaint town called Taos, located in the northern central region of New Mexico.

Our first experience of Adobe history started in our reserved suite called Puerta Azul.

 

Puerta Azul means "blue door" in Spanish. However, they should have added the word "short" in the title because the door was much shorter than my height. I hit my head the first time I entered our suite. However, I soon forgot my pain when I saw the room's bright coloured beauty.

The breakfast menu was advertised the day before and they were absolutely amazing! I would get up every morning waiting eagerly for 8:00 to arrive, so I could eat the scrumptious meal.

 

Underneath the ground, there is also a rock-lined tunnel from the root cellar to the well-house in case the past Spaniards were raided upon. In this way, they could fortify themselves for a long period of time without starving or dying of thirst.  

 

 

As God's children, He is our Rock, Fortress, Saviour, Protector, Shield, Power, and Place of Safety from the enemy who tries to destroy us and take away what God has blessed us with.

 

"The Lord is my Rock,

my Fortress,

and my Saviour;

my God is my Rock,

in whom I find protection.

He is my Shield,

the Power that saves me,

and my Place of Safety."

Psalm 18:2 (NLT) 

Jesus Is First In Everything

The first is always a special experience; one a person usually never forgets.

My son Matthew bought his first car yesterday.

I love the colour of it! The colour is called dragon green.

It was also the first car his young salesman sold. I don't know who was more excited: Matthew or his salesman.

The Bible says Jesus Christ is the first in everything. He existed before anything was created and everything was created through Him and for Him. He is someone the world should never forget because Jesus will be supreme over all who rise from the dead.

"Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created

and is supreme over all creation,

for through Him God created everything

in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

and the things we can't see---

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers,
and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through Him and for Him.

He existed before anything else,

and He holds all creation together.

Christ is also the head of the church,

which is His body.

He is the beginning,

supreme over all who rise from the dead.

So He is first in everything.

Colossians 1:15-18 (NLT)

God's field

Last week I invited all my immigrant students to the Easter drama production. I didn't know if any would come, since they know very little English. I had a very difficult time trying to explain to them what it was, so I wasn't too sure if I persuaded any of them. However, in the process I did manage to teach them a new word, "amazing". I kept saying that word over and over again, each time using my hands to emphasize it.

With each performance I attended I looked out for them. When I spotted a student and their family, I would get very excited! I loved being able to meet their spouses and children afterwards. By the time all four performances were complete, most of my students came. Praise God! The seed has been planted and now God will be the One to make that seed grow.

All of God's family are called to work together with the same purpose: to bring in the harvest. We are God's field, but God is God who makes the seeds grow.

"I planted the seed in your hearts,

and Apollos watered it,

but it was God who made it grow.

It's not important who does the planting,

or who does the watering.

What's important is that God makes the seed grow.

The one who plants and the one who waters

work together with the same purpose.

And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.

For we are both God's workers.

And you are God's field.

You are God's building."

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 (NLT)

Jesus is alive!