Heavenly Bodies

The teaching department at Hospital Vozandes recently had a Christmas dinner in which the doctors in training acted out the nativity scene.

"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times." And he will be their peace. Micah 5

On October 31, Dick’s mother, Nada Douce, went to be with the Lord. She had suffered for the last two years with dementia and recurrent infections. It is a relief to know that she is no longer suffering. We made an emergency trip to Ohio to be with Dick’s family for the funeral. We had a very enjoyable celebration of Nada’s life. Over 100 friends and family came from all over the US. All of her descendants were there, including two great grand babies. Louise, Pat and Dick combined Nada's articles that she had written in assisted living with what she had written describing her life in Austria after World War II into a book that was given out at the funeral.

"There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body." I Cor 15.40-44

Nada is no longer limited by her physical body. She is enjoying the mansion that Jesus promised us that he was preparing for us. She requested cremation and we spread her ashes near the graves of her parents and ancestors in a graveyard that was spared from the strip mining that destroyed the community in western Ohio where she was raised. Her ancestors were some of the first settlers in that part of Ohio around 1800.

Marian and Dick returned to Quito on November 15. Marian completed leading the first on-line course of Camino de la Luz on December 16. The class was small but much was learned and the guides are motivated to start another course soon.