The Covenant Renewed (standard:Creative non-fiction, 1995 words)
Author: Mookoo Liang	Added: May 05 2009	Views/Reads: 3994/2240	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
This story was originally written by my wife in Chinese; a week later, I translated it into English. We would like to share our . . . with you!

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

My "camel boy" was very young, just like a 5th or 6th grader at the
elementary school. But he was now helping her family make money. 
Suddenly, he asked me if I had cookies with me. I gave him all the 
chocolates in my bag. From time to time he yelled at the camel walking 
beside him and hit it slightly on its hips or hind legs with a stick. 
The camel would speed up at once, and I had to try my best to ride well 
along. I had a mixed feeling all the way uphill. 

Jerry was behind me, on his bigger camel. Holding a new Nikon in his
hand, he tried to take pictures of me while my camel and I were making 
a turn along the narrow path uphill. I saw him adjusting the lens with 
the other hand. I told him not to fall. This was especially important 
because he was suffering from a bone problem called osteoporosis. 

Then, something terrible happened to me. My right leg -- the lower part
of my right leg was hit by something heavy! A huge camel with no one on 
its back was walking down in the opposite direction when it collided 
with my tiny camel, side against side. And my leg was just rammed in 
between. What a sharp pain! Is my leg broken? If it is, how can I . . . 
Oh, no! May the Lord save me from the time of trial! 

Seeing drops of blood on my leg, I felt rather discouraged. But I
managed to calm down. When we arrived at the final point of 
camel-riding, I thought to myself: Jerry and I are looking forward to 
celebrating our anniversary at the top of Mt. Sinai, and we are halfway 
up the mountain now! With Jerry¡¦s approval and support, I continued to 
walk up the steep slope, step by step. The second half of the uphill 
journey was much more difficult than the first half. Jerry and I kept 
encouraging each other; we reminded each other that our Lord was (or 
is) with us all the time. 

Lord God (the Holy Trinity) indeed takes good care of each Christian
according to their needs. Jerry said so, emphasizing that what we want 
is quite different from what we need. I would rather believe what he 
said. But I just wondered if those who were staying at the foot of the 
mountain would regret not coming along with us. For instance, Fr. Chen 
would have come with us to visit the top of Mt. Sinai if he had not 
been kept down there by his family; he was eager to come! 

About 4:20 p.m. one of our sisters stopped climbing the mountain; she
was obviously too weak to continue. A few minutes later, a second woman 
gave up, telling her husband that she would return and wait for him at 
St. Catherine Monastery. Yet Jerry and I kept going, at a snail's pace! 
Then, as the stone steps became so steep and narrow, Jerry and I were 
unable to walk side by side. We had to move up very carefully, one 
after the other. And our chatting became a little bit inconvenient, or 
unusual. 

"Do you think that in the animal world, the bigger would bully the
smaller too?" I asked. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Why did that big camel collide with my little camel? Did he do it on
purpose?" 

"Oh, we don't really know," Jerry smiled. "Maybe it is their way to
greet each other. Maybe the bigger is the father of the smaller!" 

Jerry reasoned that it was sensible for a father camel to "encourage"
his youngster by "tapping" him on the side. I didn't agree. He then had 
a new idea, saying that probably both of us were wrong. The two camels 
that we had talked about might not be father and son; they should be a 
very strong husband and a dainty and little wife. "You didn't notice 
your camel was female, did you?" Jerry spoke with a funny facial 
expression. "Let me tell you the truth. Camels do not hug each other 
like humans; instead, a good couple of camels (husband and wife) show 
their love by `kissing' each other with their sides!" 

Sheer nonsense! But I liked it at the moment because I was rather tired
from walking for hours. I knew Jerry was fond of camels. At least he 
respected them. The phrase "Luo Tuo" (meaning camels) had been the name 
of his class from 1970 to 1975, when he studied at Chiayi Junior 
Teachers College. Since then, he and his classmates, all male, have 
called themselves Luo Tuo Brothers. They meant to be "people who can 
shoulder heavy responsibilities." In this respect, I would admit that 
Jerry has been a responsible man, though sometimes too imaginative to 
be practical. 

Anyway I should thank God for granting me such a sweet family: my good
husband and our good and interesting son! Our only son Tony is 
hardworking and responsible too, yet more humorous than his father. 
"I'll start to use `Antony' as my English name from now on, because 
I've grown up," proclaimed Tony one day. In fact, he is going to get 
married soon. Oh, dear Lord! May you constantly bless this sweet 
family, and also all other families! 

Now my watch read almost 5:00 p.m. We still couldn't see our
destination, the top of Mt. Sinai; but we were not too far from it, I 
thought. Being high up on the steep slope, Jerry and I were very 
impressed by the grand, noble, and fantastic landscape. Light and shade 
in this natural "picture" became a sharp contrast: Hundreds of bare 
rock mountains were already darkened in gray, but tens of the high 
peaks were still shining in glowing colors. The setting sun was on the 
other side of Mt. Sinai, that's why only the tops of mountains were in 
the orange sunshine. Jerry took pictures time and again. I reminded him 
that we had been told to get to the top no later than 5:10. 

Suddenly, someone shouted cheerfully from above, "Hooray! Here we are!"
Others echoed, "What a wonderful view! Alleluia! Alleluia!" Jerry and I 
stepped up our pace, unusually excited. Then, just in time, the very 
same words "Thanks be to God! With God's help we've made it!" came out 
of Jerry's and my mouths spontaneously, in such a loud voice that both 
of us felt a little embarrassed. 

As soon as all the 15 persons (we did count all) arrived, Bishop Lai
gathered us in front of the only building on the mountaintop, that is, 
St. Trinity Church. We stood closely in lines, facing the setting sun. 
Bishop Lai prayed for us. And we started to sing "Amazing Grace" and so 
on. We sang with tears in our eyes. I noticed Jerry was deeply moved 
too. He put his arm around my waist, and I leaned against his shoulder. 
We became quiet. The setting sun seemed to be right in front of us, or 
a little bit lower than where we stood. The colorful clouds were 
floating in the cool breeze. I heard no birds or insects singing; but 
amazingly, I heard a voice whispering to me: "Lord God has constantly 
blessed us; he will abundantly bless our family, and many, many 
others!" 

As you can see, we have celebrated our 30th anniversary in a special
way. On the holy mountain Mt. Sinai, our Love has been refined and our 
Covenant renewed. <#> 


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