Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12 Have you ever hiked 10 miles? If it's a nice day— not too hot or too cold, no rain or snow— and you're in pretty good shape, it's not that big of a deal. It can even be fun! But imagine hiking day after day for at least 10 days in hot and dry air, or cold and wet rain, over rocks and hills, and sleeping on the dusty or muddy ground every night. By the way, there's no time for a bath. Now, imagine doing that while pregnant (which is harder to imagine for some people than others). Finally, picture doing that 100-mile hike— 10 days, heat, cold, rain, dust, mud, rocks, no bath, pregnant —3 times!

Not only did Jesus' mother-to-be, Mary, journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem in the Christmas story we are all so familiar with, but a few months earlier, she traveled nearly the same route to visit her relative Elizabeth in Ein Karem (just a few miles from Bethlehem) before returning back home to Nazareth. That's 300 miles of pregnant hiking! Mary may have ridden on a donkey, but the Bible never says that she did. She most likely walked. Remember that the next time your mom asks you to bring your laundry to your room.

The upside for Merle and Pearl was they were riding on a donkey in a shaded birdcage. The downside was that they were locked in that birdcage and at Ruben's mercy for bathroom breaks. Their squirrelnapper remained quite determined to get to their destination as soon as possible, which meant long days and limited potty stops. If you've ever been trapped in the car when your dad is determined to make it to Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's as soon as possible, you know how that feels. In all of Dusty's treks over the Nativity Trail, he had arrived in Jericho on day 8. With Ruben pulling the reins, however, they had managed to waddle into town on day 7.