Crosses along the road

Hi everyone, this is sari again!
We went on our second water run today- out to the middle of the desert. It took us about 40 minutes of highway driving and then at least two hours total of off-road driving. maybe more. Too bad the Chevy Suburbans do not have 4-wheel drive.
Susanna is a great driver and our car had lots of fun joking and laughing during the ride. We took lots of pictures and told lots of stories and even tried opening the window and poking our heads out a few times without getting hit by prickly branches. It was one long roller coaster ride, but if a truck carrying huge tanks of water can barrel at that speed through the rocky dips and ruts, then we should be able to keep up too.
As we neared the water stations, we began to see some signs of life- remnants of a camp fire, empty water bottles and dusted over backpacks. It was a sad sight. Some of the water tanks were empty, some were still full, some were full of bullet holes. But we went about our work and only got a few minor cactus pokes;
"I touched the cactus and it poked me!" -maddie
It was fun to get caught up in conversations in the car, but one could not help but notice the stark white crosses along the sides of the roads. Some with flowers, some with sayings. There were few, but the car always seemed to get a little quieter when passing by one. Sometimes, one gets so captivated by the beauty of the landscape and the comfort of friends that they do not realize what loss of life still lingers; the crosses are small reminders.
So we give thanks for the life we have and our privileges, we give thanks for our knowledge even though sometimes it seems more of a burden, we give thanks for our ability to help others, and we continue about our mission. And we pray a lot. We pray for people crossing the desert, we pray for those who are living in fear of deportation, and we pray for the sullen faces of the migrants shackled in the court room.
We bring no weapons to the desert (on our missions) ; we bring life, we bring water, we bring love. And hope.
So pray for us and we'll be home soon, but small reminders will remain when we return- our own crosses along the road.
all my love,
Sari