The Fishers in La Paz, Bolivia

Okay, so, it’s the Lord’s Day, and you’ve just had some good worship at home (A great lesson on Moses for Avery and morning prayer for Tom and Anne!).  Then you have lunch at [a certain home of the Whopper... I know... but sometimes we just need a Whopper!].  So what do you do next?

Of course: you go to La Paz, Bolivia’s very own Japanese Garden.

I have been to places I can call “refuge”.  This is one of those.  In a city full of noise and excitement - of minibuses and intense drivers, street-peddlars and everything else you can imagine in a valley full of a million souls, refuge is a wonderful discovery.

As we entered, paying our 2 bolivianos each (that’s a total of 4 because Avery was free), we looked upon a different world, of greenery, walking bridges, impressive shade trees and a fish-pond full of giant carp and goldfish.  Students sat and read under the shade of the trees and families lounged and threw some odd-looking grain into the pond to feed the fish.  We spent 3 bolivianos on three bags of said mystery grain to thrill both Avery and the fish.  The only thing missing (here and in all of La Paz) were the ducks and geese.

So, about an hour and 7 bolivianos later (that’s less than a buck, America!), we left, refreshed and ready for the dizzying excitement of the city and a taxi-ride home.  Apparently, Anne and Avery were also ready for a nap (sometimes, you just need a nap!).

God is so good.  We love the noise of the city and its excitement (we’re definitely city folk), but we are so thankful to have discovered this (truly) “secret garden”, a quiet place to sit, think and be renewed.

(Man, we need to get some photos of it!  Soon…)