The Jerusalem Letters

New Blog Coming soon

2008-11-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

As soon as all three of my boys are healthy for more than one day in a row, all my laundry is done (and stays done), all my pending books have been read, my groceries are bought and my car has been cleaned, and as soon as I can clear my head enough to have a coherent thought I will be starting up my new blog. As I wrote previously, if you are immensely interested in the life of a family that is living in Jerusalem, but not so interested in them after they come home to the states, then this new blog is not for you. If you have far too much time on your hands, or always wanted to know what was going on inside the head of that perfect-looking (okay well that's not really me) pastor's wife sitting in the front row with her hands folded (Okay that is also not really me) or if you are my mother, then this new blog may be for you. Just click here. One of these days I may actually write something on it but for now I think the picture is the highlight.

Thanks for following us this past year as we travelled and may you find your own winding road leading you to places you never dreamed (and maybe being grateful for it!).

My Spiderwick discovery

2008-10-04T12:46:00.000-07:00

A couple months ago, I watched the movie "The Spiderwick Chronicles" in order to determine whether or not my eight year old son should be allowed to watch it. After watching the movie with my eyes peeking through a blanket for most of it, I decided that no, it is a little too scary for me...er... I mean my son, to watch. That said, there was an interesting premise to the movie that stuck with me (the over-analyzer) and recently came to mind again. In the movie, the man Spiderwick has discovered another world within our world. Things that we see with our human eyes, such as flowers, and butterflies, mushrooms and tree leaves, he realized were fantasy creatures like nymphs and fairies. They did not so much hide from human eyes, but blended into the everyday scenery in a way that they were unseen by those who were not looking for them. In his discovery, he learned the beauty of this hidden world and befriended these creatures (there were also the scary and evil creatures but that is for another lesson..another blog).

I think that Spiderwick was really on to something. I believe that it is easy for us to live in our own world and to be completely unaware of a group of not fantasy creatures, but rather human beings who live among us. As a young college girl I was keenly aware of those who lived in the homeless and downtrodden world. I went to class and went to church, but I also spent time sitting out on University Avenue, sharing life and a sandwich with Homeless Mary, and the group of street kids who liked to sit outside of McDonalds. I didn't "add" street ministry to my life, I just chose to spend my ordinary life with a group of people that many wouldn't normally see. Choosing to be a part of this life gave me opportunity to buy dinner for a group of gang members who attempted to mug me at gunpoint and to become a regular "rummy" (a card game) partner with a young man who called himself a vampire. Those years were an incredible blessing to me and gave me opportunity on a regular basis to find beauty, friendship and God's merciful hand in a world that I could have shut my eyes to.

I now have a confession to make - I have recently come to realize that for most of my "vocational ministry" time in the past 12 years, I have lived as an incredibly unseeing kind of person. This is a difficult and sad confession for me. Somehow in the course of becoming a Jr. High director and then marrying a youth pastor, my ability to see the unchurched, the downtrodden, the "fringe" of society, dimmed. I became focused on encouraging Christian youth and their leaders, I spent time with the gals in my bible study and I planned church potlucks and church teas. I don't think any of these things are bad - but they became the only things I chose to see. Then I had children and I became even more nearsighted. I am still in the middle of that exhausting endeavor. It was all I could do to keep up with church commitments when a good day included keeping the boys alive and getting my teeth brushed. I certainly didn't have time to open my eyes to another world of people to take care of and love!

All that started to change about two years ago when frustrated one day I asked God "is this all there is??" Will I be a mother and a church leader yet never again be a rummy partner for a vampire? God answered that question (I believe) by sending our family to Israel last year. He took us out of our comfort zone and he took us out of the traditional Western church setting and he placed us right in the heart of Jerusalem where the whole thing got started. And then he opened our eyes in a big way once again to the hidden world of people on the fringes of society by making us one of those people. We were no longer part of the moral and cultural majority but rather the outsiders, the people who no one wants to acknowledge or befriend. Our friends last year became those on the fringe with us - the palestinian shopkeepers, the sharp tongued Brit, the rebellious new age Jew, the messianic family.

And then he brought us back to Orange County.

We are on the same street, in our same home, going to the same school and driving the same streets, but everything is different. God has had to keep us out of traditional church leadership to do it, but we are seeing a side of our home that we were blind to before we left. I do miss a large church with a community of friends, but at the same time I feel blessed everyday that God has forced me out into this new world. I am no longer rushing from church event to church event, fulfilled by those relationships so much that I dont have time to stand and chat with the other moms picking their kids up from school. I can talk to the homeless man who hangs out by the coffee shop, and I can interact with the people shopping at the Persian market. I can stand out in the street and really find out how my neighbors are doing (while chasing my toddler of course!) and I can keep an open door policy to people who want to share a meal with us, because we are home to do so. Yesterday I came home and asked Ryan "where have these people been?" I lived here for seven years before God had mercy on me and opened my eyes. To a beautiful world full of God's fingerprints outside of the church walls. And trust me, it's there!

New Blog Title

2008-09-26T11:04:00.001-07:00

Well we have been in the states now for a good three months. It is hard to believe the time has gone by as fast as it has. I have found that this "new" life has brought to light many new challenges and I find myself missing the outlet of "blogging." Since I am sortof thinking that "The Jerusalem Letters" might be a bit inaccurate these days, I am planning on starting a new blog in the next week or so. Since I write for my own benefit mostly, it doesn't really matter that no one will read the new blog. But just in case you think that reading about life in Jerusalem is much less exciting than subjects like motherhood, church planting, and washing dishes, then maybe the new blog is for you. The following are some titles for the new blog that I am toying with and I appreciate any input that comes my way (if anyone other than me actually reads this!):

Lamentations of a Church Planter Wife

Why toddlers never get tired of eating dog food (and other similarly disgusting things)

Discipleship and Dishwashers

12 Steps to Coming to terms with the fact that you have three boys (and a dog)

How to feed your family on $3 a day (plus free Starbuck's pastries)

How to go without a shower (or much sleep) for four days in a row and still look terrific

Again I would appreciate any feedback on this. So many wonderful possibilities. Since this blog contains absolutely no cathartic venting (please remember that I have a dry sense of humor) I look forward to starting the new blog soon.

Things I brought back from Israel

2008-08-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

We have been back in the States now for about two months, which is bit hard to believe I must say! Time in the United States seems to go by so much more quickly for me here than it did in Israel... We have been back in our home in California now for two weeks and have been busy unpacking. This past week I actually had time to unpack our "souvenir box" and enjoyed the opportunity to go through all the things that we brought back from the Holy Land and abroad. We also finally received 3 1/4 of the boxes that we shipped ourselves from Jerusalem. I now know officially what did and what didn't come back with us from there. I did get some beautiful scarves, an olive wood nativity scene, and some ceramic pomegranates that I love. We also brought back the plastic (non-kosher) bowls that the boys used last year, as well as a Hebrew language International Monopoly game, and Ryan's Boston Red Sox kippah. (our Hebron glass and a teapot that our son made did not make it unfortunately). It was truly a joy to look through everything, and now that things are "starting to settle down" I was able to really think back on this past year. It has also really hit home this past few weeks that beyond the Ahava Dead Sea Salts and Middle Eastern spices, I have brought back things that are much much more valuable. They are not things, but rather mindsets, that I picked up here and there on our excursions and experiences last year.

For instance, I have realized the value of hanging my laundry to dry. If the sun is there to do the work for me, why waste energy on using the dryer?

I have also realized the value of walking to the the store near my house, which is half a mile away. Owning a car is an incredible privilege which many don't have. I am in my car plenty (I am not so different from everyone else!) but if I don't need to drive there, why should I?

I brought back a greater understanding of the "wants" vs. the "needs." We lived last year out of six suitcases, plus a couple reinforcements halfway through of winter clothes and food. We were content with what we had and we had all that we needed. I am no longer as prone to believe the ads that tell me that because it is a good deal, I should buy it. I feel incredibly blessed right now and recognize that we have more than we need.

I brought back the habit of buying produce in season and in small quantities. Two weeks have passed and our fridge is still sparse. And yet, we have had enough to feed all those who stop by and somehow feed our three growing boys, without throwing anything in the trash. I also brought back a craving for pita and hummus - which I find a little ironic.

I brought back a new compassion for those who are different from me - for the foreigner and visitor here in my neighborhood, in California and the USA. Also for the poor and those who are a different religion or culture than me. I feel more compelled to show kindness to them, after a year in which I craved it, and relished it when it was given to me.

I brought back the idea that my schedule (or my boys) does not need to be packed in order for me to find fulfillment in life. I appreciate the moments in our backyard, relaxing with friends and family so much more than rushing from errand to meeting to event.

I also brought back a more three dimensional view of God's Word, and of God Himself. I came back with a bit more humility, a bit more grace, a lot of awe and a decent amount (at least six suitcases full!) of gratitude.

Our suitcases, our hearts and our photo memory cards came back from Israel overflowing. We most definitely came back with more than we took. And for that I will be forever thankful.

Finding an Extraordinary Backdrop

2008-07-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ryan's last post expressed sentiments that I too have been feeling. Mainly, the feeling that I am not yet ready to let go of our Middle East Experience (MEE). Now some may find this ironic, since for the last nine months I have been lamenting my MEE and daydreaming about cheap American prices and tasty food. But since the grass is always greener...

I have become keenly aware of the fact that living in Jerusalem, Israel is just plain cool. I am not bragging - no one else has to agree with me here...but to me, Jerusalem is cool.

Last week Ryan and I went to Seattle, to the University of Washington campus (my alma mater). He went to the Grad library to work on a paper, and I walked and reminisced my college days. I walked past my old dorms, to Kane Hall where I studied Psych 101 with 600 other students, to my favorite little cafeteria, to my little study cubicle in the Undergrad library. I also took a very long walk to Gasworks Park, overlooking the water, the mountains and the cityscape of Seattle. In college I often ran or biked this very route. This incredible view was part of my daily life. Doing every day tasks in the extraordinary backdrop of the old University and the city of Seattle, just made life more interesting and more cool.

Finishing my walk at Gasworks park immediately reminded me of my walks in Jerusalem. Both Seattle and Jerusalem were extraordinary backdrops for my life. I didnt have to do extraordinary things - the location did all the work for me. Some examples from Israel..

I could go for a run to the Old City of Jerusalem.
I could donate Ben's old clothes to the Sudanese refugees at our church.
I could run errands in Bethlehem.

We could do a quick day trip to the Dead Sea.

I could give the boys old toys away to the Iraqi children coming to Israel for heart surgery.

We could get fish on the beach of Galilee.

Ryan's last blog post made the comment that "nothing is boring, only boring people get bored." I am starting to wonder if I am a boring person. Our MEE was difficult but it was never Boring. Going for a run just isnt as interesting in the suburbs. Haggling at Target doesn't hold the same thrill. My weight in pounds is MUCH less fun than kilograms (it is a bigger number!).

So I guess my challenge this year (and Ryan alluded to this also) is to re-paint the backdrop of my life with a new, and more colorful perspective. As of right now I dont know how to do it. I dont really know how to take something so familiar and make it extraordinary. Perhaps doing an "orange county letters" blog could open my eyes to what my home has to offer beyond the comfort of home and of friends. Let's just hope that something works because I dont think I am quite ready for another international adventure (not quite yet).

Vagabond Blues

2008-07-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a few weeks now since we arrived back in America and we have been staying with our families in Washington State. It has been great to be around family and enjoyable to be able to see them everyday... something we have never been able to do since we got married 11 years ago. Even with all of the benefits of being around family we are still living out of suitcases and we still realize that we are not home. The question is will we feel like we are home when we arrive in California next month?

For me, our time in Israel feels like a blip on the radar and I wonder how the time went by so quickly. Today I heard a song that often played in my Ipod and for a moment I felt like I was walking up Rehov Gidon on the way to Bus #30. I thought about how it feels like just a few days ago when I was finding my way around the University and learning to read Hebrew signs. I can still feel the emotions of excitement and anxiety as I explored my new surroundings half a world away. I remember feeling completely blessed to have such an amazing opportunity and how I wanted to take advantage of everyday. Later in my day today I walked out of a store and a man wearing a Kippa walked in and I stopped for a moment because I was so excited to see a Jew. I wanted to sit and talk with him in Hebrew (assuming a random American Jew knows Hebrew). It was funny to e how just seeing him stirred emotions of familiarity and comfort.

It was after this moment that I realized that I have not unwound yet from my trip. I still want to embrace the feelings of living in the Middle East and I am not sure that I am ready to live here in the land that I love more than any other. I fear that I will be bored. I fear that I will not recognize God's blessings on my life even here and I fear that I will miss the excitement of living right where I am now. I know America does not compare to the excitement of Jerusalem but as my 5th grade teacher said, "nothing is boring, it is boring people who get bored". California is one of the best places on earth to be and I look forward to being there, but for now I feel like a drifter waiting to land somewhere permanent. I hope the next stop will also bring new excitement and joy.

Back

2008-06-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

We have been back in the states for one week and a day, and I am getting myself re-acclimated. Some things have been very easy to re-adjust to. I have enjoyed using a microwave, cooking with meat and cheese to my heart's content, using my cell phone, driving my car, chit-chatting with the check-out lady at Target (in English!), being at Target, sitting in a private backyard and eating sharp cheddar cheese. I have generally been thrilled by the grocery prices (even with the supposedly high prices this year), the clothing bargains, and the quietness of my in-laws neighborhood. I have eaten mexican food three times (and have gained a good five pounds...can you do that in one week?), and have bought Dead Sea products at Ross for less than five dollars. I have also had the joy of spending a lot of time with my family this past week, which doesnt happen often since we live in California and they all live here in Seattle.

Some signs that we have been out of the country still pop up however...

When asked how much baby Ben weighs, I replied..."11 kilos." Instead of referring to Washington state as the place we are visiting, I keep saying things like "I love this country!" or "this country has great weather!" I am still walking my errands more than I am driving them - it just feels better that way. Ben prefers his stroller (his new one) to the car. When I am shopping I say things like "this dress is only 35 shekels!!" Or "milk in this country is only 8 shekels!!" I am also amazed at how many women have the same hair cut as me...most Muslim and Jewish women in Jerusalem cover their hair so it has been a while since I have seen women's hair styles. I went for a run yesterday morning and I saw a squirel, a raccoon, and a lot of trees - and thought (with mixed lament and boredom)"I am definitely not in Israel anymore."

We are glad to be back in the United States and to enjoy its freedoms. We are glad to be with family and friends. We are enjoying the sunshine that Washington State (ie. "this country") has in abundance this week (totally out of character). We are viewing life through "israel-colored lenses" right now, and noticing the great things as well as the challenges of living here. And of course, we will write our thoughts in the coming weeks as we transition out of "the Jerusalem letters."

We Are Strangers Here Ourselves

2008-06-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

Bill Bryson, a “must read” author, writes about his return to America after living in Europe for 20 years and he talks about how he is now a stranger in his own country. We were not gone long enough to be completely out of touch with America or to be completely clueless on what is happening around us but the truth is that in our short time away we lost a piece of our old selves somewhere in the Middle East and we are coming back with new eyes that are gazing on unfamiliar scenes. I have been noticing little things like how Americans smile and say “hi” to each other, how they don’t use their horns when driving, how they will complain about the price of gas but still drive everywhere, and how so few Americans wear head coverings. These are subtle differences but in the spirit of Bill Bryson, I thought I would share occasional “I am a stranger here” moments as they come up.  

Today I had my first “I am a stranger here” moment when I purchased some food with a $20 bill and received two $5 bills as change. I looked at the money and realized that she did not give me the correct change. She must of had some foreign currency in the register because I received some bills that were like nothing I have seen before. She looked at me strange when I explained her mistake and then received the news that our country decided to print new money this year. I have never seen the new $5 bills and did not even know we had plans for them so I was quite happy to look my country’s strange new currency. I was even happier to notice that we are finally adding color to our bills so they are now almost as interesting as some of the other currencies around the world. I was also happy that it did not matter that the Shekel is trading at 3.32 to the dollar.

Re-entering

2008-06-27T10:28:00.000-07:00

It has been a week since we posted because we left Israel, spent a few days in the UK (a good in between point from Israel and the USA, and then took a few days to rest, adjust, and unpack our bags that were all tightly packed to 23.5 Kg. We are now on the right time zone and trying to figure out if the past 9 months was just a dream. By looking at the bank account it turns out that it indeed was a reality so we will take a few more days to de-brief and re-enter.

It is Better to Have Loved

2008-06-19T14:03:00.001-07:00

I didn't actually want to post today because I like Sara's last post and wanted it to sit in the "first" position a while longer but she reminded me that we are leaving Israel and may not get around to writing for a while.

It is funny how leaving can help clarify feelings towards something. The whole "you don't know what you've got until its gone" scenario plays itself out in all areas of life. Relationships, jobs, strollers (see two posts ago), favorite sweatshirts given away to the Salvation Army (by wives) ... all things that tend to increase in value once they are no longer in our reach. Now that we are in our last week in Israel we are facing the realty that has been on the horizon for quite some time. That reality is the fact that Jerusalem is a special place and we will no longer by caught in the middle of it all. Granted, it is one of the most tightly wound and difficult places to live on this earth, but for the past 3000 years, the eyes of the world have not been able to break free from her allure.
I could talk about the feelings that passed on my final bus ride through the city, or what thoughts I had passing through University security for the final time. I could attempt to explain how beautiful the dome looked tonight as my family gazed upon it for the last time or how great it was today to spend some time with locals in the Old City. But Sara already did that wonderfully in her last post and I would risk giving up my shallow image if I did.
I do want to mention a conversation I had with our oldest son. He tends to be the sentimental one who has a hard time leaving places and saying goodbye. In the course of our conversation we discussed the belief that it is better to experience new things and meet new people than to never experience these things in the first place. I talked about how even in the sadness of leaving them behind we are better for it.
As I reach the end of the time in Israel I had to ask myself if I believed my own words. Is it better "to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all"? I have to answer with a convincing, "maybe". Is it sad to leave? Yes. Will I miss my new friends? Of course. Does the pain leave scars? Probably. But the great thing about scars as they serve as a reminder that something changed.
I guess that is where the value is found. As we go through loss, we feel pain and we are left with scars. Sometimes it is a small pain with a small scar, and sometimes it is noticeable to all and it feels like you can't go on. In this case I think it is in the middle... but it will leave scars that show that we are not the same before this experience. It is late so my ability to communicate is rapidly diminishing so I will leave the "what scars do I have" post for next time, but for now I will pack a few more things, smile at a few more memories, and prepare for the pain that will come as Israel fades in the distance as we fly away on Friday night... and I will hurt for this new love in my life to whom I will bid farewell... and I will be better than I was before I came.

A Walk To Remember

2008-06-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Today Ryan got home in the late afternoon and did a "boy's night" and let me loose to walk the city of Jerusalem one last time. I grabbed my ipod and my purse (hey you never know) and headed out to retrace a route that has become as familiar to me as well...my hometown would be. I walked out of our apartment, down the steps and onto Gidon. I crossed over the train tracks and turned on Emek Refaim. Emek is a chic shopping street in the high end "German Colony" of Jerusalem. It is fun to people watch here- especially on the eve of Shabbat when everyone is racing to pick up their last minute challah from the bakery, good wine from the wine shop, and fresh bouquets for the table. Tonight the cafes were full of patrons eating kosher salads and drinking cappucinos and turkish coffee. Plenty of window shoppers walked the pavement and at this time, the breeze was still warm. I walked down to where Emek meets Derek Bet Lehem and King David Street and turned up King David. I did a quick detour into the (this is original) King David Hotel just to say that I had been inside the building where most US presidents and many world dignitaries have resided over the years. Then I turned down towards the old city - down a hill, then up again. Through a little concrete valley made up of fountains and steps, which ultimately leads to the base of the Jaffa gate entrance to the Old City.

Because it was "Sara night," instead of going through the gate at my right, I headed left, into the newly constructed, modern (and very Irvine Spectrum, California-like) outdoor mall. I gleefully walked from store to store thrilled to be sans children. As I exited the mall, up a steep staircase, I saw the Jaffa gate ahead of me and made a conscious decision not to head into the city tonight. We had been to the city as a family two days prior to say our goodbyes to the vendors we have befriended, and to say our goodbyes to the sights and smells that we have truly grown to love. I turned to walk away and was a little surprised to feel (gasp!) not a tear, but rather a pang. That little ache in my heart caught me off guard. At this point I also realized a song by David Crowder had come into my ear through my ipod earphones. The words "Take my heart, I lay it down At the feet of You who's crowned" are playing while I start to have a little panic attack. We are actually leaving! I cant go for a run and end up at the rock of Golgotha anymore.... I walk towards a cross walk and the "walking green man" immediately replaces the red one signaling me to walk and I think... but I want to stop! I dont know if I am ready to say goodbye... Meanwhile David is singing "Take my life Letting go I lift it up to You who's throned..."

I walk through my favorite park and at this point the sun is beginning to drop low in the sky. The golden hue of the evening sun is gathering in little pools of light under the olive trees. I start to walk up the stairs again, past the fountain, up towards my "thinking spot" under the bouganvilla, and I turn back to glance again at the old city. There is still so much we haven't done in Israel, I think. Ryan and I never came to this park just the two of us, to watch the sun set over Mt. Zion and the road to the Mt. of Olives. We could still get one more meal of our favorite arab salads and grilled meats. We could still spend more time in the West Bank with the orphans there, or in the refugee camps. I wont be getting good Israeli coffee with my favorite Jewish friend again to discuss theology and matters of the heart.

"Take my fret, take my fear All I have I'm leaving here Be all my hopes, be all my dreams You're my delights Be my everything (I have also during this walk put David Crowder on repeat mode...I figure the song is the perfect way to just swim in my emotional outpouring)."

David faithfully (he cannot say no to the ipod repeat button) croons out to God "And I will worship You, Lord Only You, Lord And I will, I will bow down before You Only You, Lord." And I actually laugh. Not because I think that worship of God is funny, but because I realize that God has done a funny thing in me this year. You see, there is this movie that I love called "A walk to Remember" about a pastors daughter and a "bad boy rebel cool kid." In the movie you figure the two will get together, but you think that eventually the girl will start to at least dress a little cuter or start acting a little "cooler" but she never does. The "cool kid" does fall in love with her and it is because he is changed by her inward qualities and I believe God in her.

Jerusalem has most definitely not changed this year but somehow I have. I have genuinely come to love Israel, and not because of its outward appeal. I love Israel because GOD HAS BEEN HERE with us this year...in the same way that He was with us in California, the same way that He will be with us wherever we are. I have cried out to God many times on the streets and alleyways of Jerusalem and He has answered me and embraced me. Despite the constant struggles (which I might add I have not been shy to blog about), God has faithfully, and lovingly kept my head up - even if barely enough...

I walk past the lion fountain and praise God for this year. I genuinely (yes, genuinely!) thank Him for our time here. I am excited because I know that He will be with us even next year as we enter into newer (and I think scarier) ventures in life. I can be moved to tears by the living, pulsing heart of God in Jerusalem. It's okay because it beats in California as well. And all the world! And my heart skips a beat as I walk through a crowd of some out of town, camera toting tourists, elegantly dressed muslim women with their children, a young Jewish couple with heads bent towards one another, and I hear David singing in my ear a love song to God, that I too am singing at this point "And it's just You and me here now -Only You and me here now- You should see the view When it's only You."

Farewell, Sweet Stroller

2008-06-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have a melancholy, cheesy and overly nostalgic side to me....if you have been reading our blog and haven't figured that out...well I would be surprised. If you are aware of this fact, you will understand that I am a little bit (okay overly) sad about the fact that we have just sold baby Ben's stroller. We had not planned on selling it, but we did need to sell our car seat so we wouldnt have to take it back to the States with us. We had such a hard time selling the car seat without the stroller that we finally gave in and sold the entire set. (I am pretty sure most readers at this point have either stopped reading this or have glazed over looks in their eyes). Let me explain my melancholy and my slightly unhealthy attachment to the stroller now...

Last year, at my baby shower for Ben, my dear friends gave me a Graco Travel system - a car seat and stroller combo. We brought our newborn baby home in that car seat after he had spent 3 weeks in NICU. Then I proceeded to walk that baby around the lake near our house in that stroller. We then uprooted the stroller from Mission Viejo and took it on a drive up the coast to Washington State, where it transported our baby around to homes of grandparents, around Seattle, and along the Puget Sound. Next we put the stroller on a plane to London, where it carried a sleeping baby (confused by the time change) around the city to see cool things like Big Ben, the Parliament Building, statues of nursing mothers (or was that me?), Westminster, Windsor Castle and more. This stroller is a serious trooper.

After London, we put the stroller back on the plane where of course it had to be crammed under the plane with all the other oversized luggage. It was most likely man-handled more than usual since it was on its way to the security sensitive country of Israel. Here in Israel, the stroller has received more abuse than most strollers will ever see in 10 years of life. It has bumped and jolted down the cobbled streets of the Old City, it has jockeyed for space in the crowded streets of the main "souk" or middle eastern market. It has gone to and from the grocery store about 4000 times (give or take) - with it's basket filled to capacity with heavy loads of canned goods, pita, and hummos. Of course it has carried a baby this entire time as well. Jerusalem is a city on a hill, and this stroller has seen its fair share of hills and endlessly long staircases. It has been locked up outside of our apartment every night for 8 months - gathering dust, collecting the boys rocks and pottery, and even being a nighttime rest area for a local cat(not Jack).

This stroller has been dragged all over Israel, through London and also to Jordan. It didn't even complain when we left it at home in favor of a smaller umbrella stroller for Egypt and Greece.

This stroller has fearlessly, generously, and comfortably been a resting place for our baby in his first year of life (the baby, not the stroller). In the midst of a fairly "unsteady" year of activity, the stroller has stuck it out and provided some security. This past week, the stroller was the seat baby Ben sat in whilst he opened his first ever 1 year birthday present. It is a fixture in many of our families most poignant photos of this year.

All that said, it will be sad to leave the stroller behind. It represents a year which we are also preparing to leave behind, and with all the bumps, all the uphill climbs, twists and turns, this has been a year to remember. So I wish our stroller, and this extraordinary year adieu.

Happy Birthday

2008-06-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our baby turns 1 year old today.
By age 1 he has been to 6 countries on 4 different continents. He has seen 3 wonders of the ancient world, celebrated Christmas in Bethlehem and Easter in Jerusalem. He has lived in a hospital, an apartment, and a house. He has been in ancient castles, tombs, and temples and he has been to the Pacific Ocean, Medaterranean Sea, and the Red Sea. He speaks English, Spanish, and Hebrew (although they all sound pretty much the same).
He is currently working on his "to do list" for next year so we are excited to see what this year will bring.

Fantasy Fulfilled

2008-06-09T01:32:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I give each other permission to include a little fantasy in our marriage. For instance, Ryan has an ongoing fantasy of playing for the Boston Red Sox, and I am okay with that. Whenever we go to Spring Training games in Arizona, Ryan lets his imagination go and by the time we leave he has planned out his career from playing on a "farm team" and then of course being picked up in draft by his favorite team. My fantasy life is fed mostly by visits to museums (at least this was before this year). When Ryan and I go to a museum, we always split up. He goes to indulge his artsy side and strolls the art galleries (all but Italian/Rennaisance art - he doesnt like pasty chubby white people...at least not in art). I on the other hand head straight to the artifacts. The Egyptian rooms, the pirate treasure rooms, room after room of little pieces of pottery, coins, ancient cooking tools, and fragments of 2000 year old sandals. By the time we meet up again, I have let MY imagination go and I am well on my way to going back to school to fulfill a childhood dream of being an archeologist (it was either that or a national geographic photographer in a Jeep). The thought of uncovering something for the first time that was once used by fellow, yet ancient humanity gets my adrenaline up even more than a good five mile run. I love to people watch and to analyze human behavior, and archeology is that at its most glamorous.

The dirt, the heat, the monotony of dusting off layer after layer of ancient ground in the hopes of finding that singular treasure holds more appeal to me than almost anything. I love and appreciate the cultures and people who laid the foundations for life as we know it today. I also love the people who did nothing to lay foundations today but who instead charted a course that was so unique that its culture had seemed to freeze in time... Thanks to my dad, who instilled in me at a young age a childlike wonder for adventure and discovery, this is who I am today. I am no less interested in pirate treasure and Indian artifacts today as I was as a 10 year old digging up my mothers vegetable garden (much to her dismay).

Yesterday, our family went to the Ashkelon National Park - on the coast of the Mediterranean and just barely north of Gaza. There a friend of ours from Jerusalem is heading up a dig there. A REAL dig. In Jerusalem you are able to pay as a tourist and sift dirt for a few hours to say that you were an archeologist. But this is a new site, an active site. When we arrived, we were greeted with the sight of a couple dozen archeologists and archeology college students, scattered across the area. Covered in dust, wielding trowels and brushes as well as the very non-Indiana Jones lap tops and laser mapping tools. They had bandanas on their heads and sweat on their brow.... My heart is skipping at this point. We were shown around the site and explained it was at two levels - an iron age dig higher up had unearthed a Philistine (think David and Goliath) home and some wells and graves. At the lower level was a bronze age dig from the Canaanite period (BEFORE the Israelites had formed a nation). Up to this point they had found plenty of bones and pottery, bricks and buildings, gravesites and bodies...some little trinkets like beads, Egyptian scarobs, and just that morning had found a little shiny stone piece used for sewing (dont ask me the technical term I cannot sew!). Up above the site in the walls were ancient water systems and even entire Roman pillars jutting out of the dirt, from other, more recent (yet ancient) eras.

Our 8 year old had come prepared with his Indiana Jones hat and his book on ancient hyroglyphics - he is teaching himself the language and was promptly put to work in one of the deep holes in the Canaanite dig. Our five year old was given a short job so he could say he did something. Ryan and Ben walked around trying to blend in while taking our shameless tourist pictures and pretending that it is perfectly NORMAL for a one year old to be at an active dig site. I was placed in the Philistine home, where I helped to scrape and dust a layer of ground for two hours. I was covered head to toe in dust and carefully picked at the ground, pulling out pieces of pottery covered in black soot (we had uncovered a hearth in the home) and bones (probably from a family meal...or maybe the family). I listened to the archeologists use lingo like "floating" and "mud bricks" and happily pretended like I was one of them. I took every first and fifth bucket of dirt over to the sifting area, and carefully placed my bones into the labeled "bone bag." Archeology is definitely just as glamorous as I always thought it would be. With a good imagination and a love for the great thread of mankind throughout history, how can it not be?? So with all of its ugly warts and trying days, I will always be thankful to Israel for providing me a little bit of fulfilled fantasy. Who knows? Maybe one day I will be back - when Ryan is busy playing for the Red Sox and I am in need of a good diversion.

Israelitis

2008-06-06T04:34:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year when seniors in high school have full blown cases of "Senioritis" which means they are so close to the end that they pretty much check out of everything and just wait to be done. I developed my senioritis when I was in my sophomore year of High School and I just couldn't find a cure the final three years.

Now that our time here in Israel is coming to a close I am coming down with "Israelitis". The classic case of Israelitis is when you just want to sit on the beach, eat pepperoni pizza, drive your car on the Sabbath, get smiled at from a cashier, not have any old ladies push you while getting on the bus, eat Mexican food, see people pick up their own trash, or not have other countries say they wish for your total destruction.
I really am happy for the experiences and the education we have received here but I have no more capacity for "cultural enrichment". I am no longer happy to experience the burden of the "law" in keeping a kosher kitchen or no "new work" on the Sabbath. I don't really need to gain any more confusion over the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. I even have had my fill of falafels and various foods stuffed into pita (kebabs and babagnoush being the exceptions). I think I would even enjoy having a conversation with someone without having it turn to politics or religion (which are synonymous here).

In order to treat my Israelitis we rented a car for the weekend. This will allow us to 1), fulfill one final request of my wife which is to work on an archaeological site in Ashkelon, and 2), to head to the beach on the Mediterranean Sea. I'm not sure how this will really treat the Israelitis other than by changing the scenery a bit in an effort to pass the time and by working on my golden brown skin tones. Sure I could finish all of my papers for class and I could seek out some final Middle East experiences but that doesn't measure up to the warm blue waters of the Sea. I am sure that it wont be long after we return to the U.S. when we will long for some excitement and some break from the typically monotonous life of America, but at least we will have our Mountain Dew and pizza.

No Trademark Violations Here

2008-06-04T02:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went with some friends to the Palestinian Authority's capital, Ramallah. We had some cheap falafels, brought home very cheap fruit from the market there, enjoyed some 2 shekel arabic coffee, and even passed by this Stars -n- Bucks Coffee house. It is a bit like the "Mac Donald's" with the yellow arches in the movie "Coming to America". The difference is that I don' think Starbucks will come to Ramallah and try to take legal action.
By the way, for some reason I feel more safe in Ramallah than in some neighborhoods here in Jerusalem.

Retail Therapy

2008-05-31T04:55:00.000-07:00

This post can take on several titles and it may be all over the place and really unfitting for an English 101 essay, but I forge ahead. Titles one and two would be "Retail Therapy" or the better stated "How I spent the grocery money today." The third title that would work is "One jar of marmalade at a time." Let me explain...

Today two of our very close family friends in the states are getting married to each other. Silly as it seems, moving to the middle east required a few sacrifices, but this one felt like it topped the list for me. Because I was a little sad to miss their special day, I did what many mopey and slightly hormonal women would do in my situation...I went shopping. Lucky for me, although today is shabbat and most everything is closed in the city, my friend Kay has organized a bazaar today - and even luckier, it is walking distance from our house by about a mile. While Ryan took the two older boys to church, like any good pastor's wife, I went shopping with the baby (the baby stroller is good for purchases). I think I made out quite well at the bazaar. My first purchase was two handbags, made of spun cambodian silk. These are "cottage industry" purses, made by women in small Cambodian villages. The women hand -make the purses, along with other beautiful items and the money they make off of them goes directly to building houses and digging wells in their communities. The organization who works with the villages is called the Tabitha Foundation. Their sole purpose is to help poor communities to rise above poverty and become self-sustaining.

My second purchase of the day was a set of hand-made paper notecards, made by the Al Basma Center for the disabled in Bethlehem. The center teaches the students life skills, speech and occupational therapy, and shares with them the love of Christ. The students make the cards, providing for them a sense of pride and accomplishment and the sale of the cards provides some of the funding for the school.

Third (yes I am a power shopper!) I picked up a silver ring - made from a single olive leaf from an olive tree. The leaves are made into molds and coated in silver, burning away in the process but leaving behind a perfect copy of each individual leaf. My ring is one of those leaves wrapped into the size of my finger. The following quote accompanies the olive leaf jewelry: "As Christians the olive tree stands for the steadfast love of God (read Psalm 52:8), for the people of Palestine it has symbolized abundance, steadfastness, and rootedness to the land. The olive branch stands for our longing for the end of the chaos and for peace. " The artists live in Bethlehem and you can find out about them at www.annadwa.org.

Lastly, I picked up a small coin purse and some more notecards (I am a sucker for old-fashioned communication though I obviously also love my computer!). The couple running the booth had lived in Gaza for 18 years and are now only allowed in and out on a limited basis, due to the violence and unrest in the area. The purses are made by a center for the deaf in Gaza, and 100% of the profits go to the center and to the workers and their families. There is very little commerce coming out of Gaza at the moment, and Harriet and her husband are one of the few who can get things out to sell.

It is true that I like to shop. It is also true that I am a softie for good causes (just ask all the girl scouts on our block in Cali). But retail therapy definitely took on a new depth for me, as I practically wept at each table as I walked around today. It was such a joy to meet the people who work to lift others out of poverty and to create meaning for them. All of the organizations today do what they do in the name of Jesus Christ. My friend Kay, who organized the bazaar, is a homemaker and mother of four boys aged 10 to 18. She has been busy these past 18 years with diapers, carpools, swim lessons and homework. And yet she has a deep ache in her heart for the poor and the oppressed in the West Bank and in Gaza. When she could do nothing else, she made 100s of jars of marmalade (she is originally from the UK) to sell. With the money she made, she was able to "adopt" 5 families in the West Bank, providing schooling, medical care, food and shelter for them. Hence my third title to this post. Kay is such an inspiration to me. Today my title might be "saving the world...one shopping spree at a time." But my hope and prayer is that in the future I can use the gifts and the meager talents that God has given me to join with Him to love and restore His people.

Sorry we are missing the wedding

2008-05-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Cheers to you Andrew and Nina. We wish we could be there with you. Have a great wedding day!

The Birthplace of Christianity

2008-05-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

Many Christians have glorious views of the "Holy Land" and most who visit have life-changing experiences as they walk the hills and the streets that the people of the Bible walked. I too have experienced these same joys as I live in the same land as the people that I have heard about my whole life. One thing that has changed by living here is that now I realize that this is no longer a land that is open to Christians. For the latest happy occurrence read this article .

The Silver Lining

2008-05-26T12:07:00.000-07:00

Since moving to Israel the U.S. dollar has lost 20% of its value compared to the Shekel so most of our expenses have consequently been 20% higher than expected. For example, when we first arrived we paid $6 for a gallon of milk and now it is closer to $8. Our cheapest box of cereal (generic cornflakes) cost about $3.50 and now it is over $4. That may not sound bad but think of the fact that the first time George Bush stayed here the American taxpayers paid 2 million dollars less for the hotel rooms than the second time.
With all of that said, now that we are nearing the end, we are selling some of the items that we purchased here or that we no longer need (infant car seat anyone?). So the rug for our living room cost us 500 shekels which was about $120 dollars. Now we are selling it for 325 shekels which is a great deal for someone here and it equates to $100 for us so we actually do not lose as much as we normally would.
So we may be returning to a country with gas costing $1.25 more than when we left and food prices 15% higher, and shamefully now the Canadian dollar is worth more, but at least we will sell many items for the same price that we purchased them for in Israel. And if we hang on to some of our shekels in a year or two they should be worth more than the dollar.

So if you need a rug, high chair, car seat, energetic children, toaster oven, baby toys, or a broken scooter and if you are passing through Jerusalem I will give you a good deal.

Champion Chefs

2008-05-23T06:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we had another "Taco Night" and this time we had a "Bring your best salsa competition" theme. Because I am a humble and giving type of guy, I volunteered to not make a salsa and to simply serve as a judge. One guest (a Minnesota boy) also served as a judge with me.
My boys, aged 8 and 5 made their own salsa completely on their own. Sara simply supervised and bought their ingredients at the store. They made a cheesy, chili, and pepper mix which closely resembled the excellent canned nacho cheese dips from America but theirs tasted much more fresh and was honestly quite tasty. Because they also made their own dessert (Israeli pudding snack packs dumped into wine glasses and served with fresh Israeli cherries) they ended up taking first place. They were completely overjoyed and wore their first place ribbons with pride.
2nd place went to a grad student here who made a "summer salsa" consisting of berries and other fresh ingredients which was excellent but he really impressed with his dessert salsa which he served with baked cinnamon and sugar tortillas. Singles ladies, you might want to meet him.
3rd place to our friend from Santa Barbara who teaches Kindergarten here in Jerusalem at the Anglican school. She made a perfect guacamole from the fresh Avocados that are in season here in Israel.
Of course my wife would win any cooking competition if she was not serving as the host or competing against me but for last night we had a great time with friends and we had tasty salsas. We will have one more Taco Night before returning to the States and we will miss this monthly event.

The Have's

2008-05-21T13:06:00.000-07:00

In response to Sara's last post, I thought I would include a list of the "everyday life" things we have done this year... again for our own personal journaling purposes (and because it is my turn to post and I am at a loss for words).

I have:
Cooked popcorn the old fashoined way on the stove top for "movie nights"
Eaten falafels and good Arabic salads (I hope the Jordan Market carries the "eggplant tahina" salad)
Spent about 15 hours a week on the bus
Purchased much of our meat and produce from outdoor markets
Become friends with a favorite author of mine (not Chesterton... he is dead)
Gone to church as a non-staff member
Spent countless hours on the 5th floor of the HU library
BBQ'd with wood coals
Walked to the Old City of Jerusalem to buy food during the Sabbath.
Crawled through ancient tunnels, palaces, and tombs with my boys
Learned a new language
Had shekels in my wallet instead of dollars
Played basketball with Rabbis
Seen more diplomats/ politicians (including John McCain) than the rest of my life combined
Spent time with fewer Americans than non
Spent a lot of time with my wife and three boys

For Sara:
She has homeschooled our children
Been involved with a ministry to help people in the West Bank and Gaza
Cooked and baked tons of things from scratch
Jogged along the Old City of Jerusalem
Become friends with several merchants in the Old City (and has become a regular face in the ancient streets)
Learned how to survive in the grocery stores, parks, library, and local fruit stand

This list could be much longer but I think you get the point. These experiences will forever change who we are for better and for worse... mostly better.

The "Have-Nots"

2008-05-17T10:31:00.000-07:00

This year our family has had an incredible adventure. If you follow our posts you know that we have had our struggles, but have also had some amazing opportunities. We have also had a unique year, quite unlike what a typical year in our home in Southern California would look like. We have given up some things in order to make this experience a reality. The following (for posterity) is a list of this years "have-nots."

I Have Not:

Driven a car
used a microwave
Eaten good pizza, mongolian beef, cream cheese wontons, CPK salad, or good chips and salsa
Gone to the gym
carpooled
slept through the night (okay maybe once)
walked through a Target store
taken the baby to a "well check-up"
been to the doctor myself
stocked up at Costco
lived on the ground floor
figured out how to make the perfect Arabic meal (but I have eaten them!)
attended a bible study
been to church on time
worn shorts or tank tops (in Jerusalem)
used my cell phone
bbq'd in the back yard
decorated my own home
looked through my cookbooks
had more than 7 outfits in the closet that fit and dont have holes at any given time this year
been to the movies
had a pedicure

And so they dont feel left out....

Ryan has not

had mountain dew
eaten pepperoni pizza
done yard work
gotten a pay check

The boys have not

played on a sports team
left the house to attend school (except for field trips)
ridden their own bikes
eaten a cupcake
slowed down :)

Baby Ben has not

slept in a crib (only a pack n play)
had more than a handful of chew toys (or are those called teethers?)
slept through the night (okay maybe once)

And somehow we have still managed to survive our time here. We are looking forward to our return to the States and all that it offers but there was something refreshing about living out of 6 suitcases for the year. Life definitely was simplified in some ways while at the same time complicated by the nature of living in the Middle East. I did not miss all of the "Have nots" this year, although some of them I missed every day (my non-kosher kitchen for example...)! I am curious about our re-entry into California life - will we dive right in or will it be a challenge? Hopefully driving a car is like riding a bike...

Our Final Galilee

2008-05-14T13:12:00.001-07:00

This weekend our family spent a couple nights in Galilee in what was our final getaway during our time here in Jerusalem. We stayed in a nice place that had huge grass lawns that the boys enjoyed by running on them tirelessly for hours (this is a big treat for Southern California/ Jerusalem city boys). We swam in the lake and pools and were reminded why Jesus spent his time in this region. The weather was perfect, the pace was great, and we even had some nice Arabic food one evening and some great fish on the Sea of Galilee. We drove through the Golan Heights along the borders of Lebanon and Syria and discovered my new favorite site in Israel, Banias (Biblical Caesarea Philipi). All in all we relaxed, the boys had fun, and we even found some time to sit in quiet and think, read, and pray. I actually got up at 5:30AM thanks to our 11 month old alarm clock and was able to walk by the beach during sunrise. (If you have been to Hawaii or a humid place like the Midwest or South in the summer you will know the nice warm mornings that are still and peaceful but warm enough to enjoy the early hour).

As we drove away we were struck with the thought that soon we will no longer be able to hop in a car (rental car) and drive less than two hours to see the towns that Jesus lived in. We will not be able to walk among ruins of cities that are described in the Bible. We will not drive 20 minutes to the border of Jordan, take a short flight to Europe, Africa, or other parts of Asia. We will not be able to stop and by fruit directly from Palestinian farmers from the West Bank or live in a world where followers of Jesus are still rare and threatened. As our end date approaches we begin to see all that we love about this place (even in light of the last post) and we work to enjoy each moment. It is just that some places like Galilee are easier to enjoy than others.

For love of country

2008-05-08T11:12:00.000-07:00

This past week I have been following the "video blogging" of a group from an orange county church touring here in Israel. We don't know any of the people on the trip and have not met up with them, but the site was sent to me by a friend of ours in the states who thought we might be interested. The videos have been well-edited, informative, challenging and fun to watch. I told Ryan that I was tracking the groups travels in order to find out how a Christian tourist is "supposed" to experience Israel. I realized that the more I watched the video and the more I read of their travels, the more depressed I was getting in regards to our own experience here in the Holy Land. Then I came up with my "romance theory" of travel and here it is...

First, there is the "whirlwind romance" travel. You fly in, expecting to be whisked off your feet. All of your normal responsibilities from home are put on hold. You can fully experience the foods, the sights and smells of the cities you visit. You can take time out to reflect on God's beautiful, complicated, vast and awe inspiring world. Here in Israel, people on the whirlwind romance tour, are able to be with friends, enjoy comfortable air conditioned busses and catered meals, great teaching on the life and teachings of Christ and are genuinely impacted for life. They are here long enough to see that Israel is rich in history, to see God's word come to life in a new way, and to perhaps gain refreshment and a new love for God, become Man. This seems to be the experience of this church group whose writings I have been following...and I have to say I am a bit envious! Who doesn't enjoy love in its early stages?

There is a second type of travel that I call the "marriage of longevity" travel. This is where you do your research on a place and you have your eye on it for a long time. By the time you land at the airport, your heart is beating, your palms are sweating and you are already planning to fall in love with whichever country it happens to be. Perhaps you are able to stay a month, maybe a year. You have to dive into the culture and into daily life but for this you were prepared. You might run into some things that aren't so pretty about the place, but you anticipated the bad along with the good. Our friends across the street came to Jerusalem with this method of travel. They hope to stay here for as long as possible while the husband works on his PhD. It might not be the whirlwind romance, but they don't really mind. If they aren't able to see everything there is to see in this year, there will always be the next.

Lastly there is the type of travel that I call the "pre-arranged marriage" of travel. Somehow, without knowing exactly how, you find yourself in a place that you aren't quite sure you have chosen. In fact you don't really know why you are there at all except that "someone" has sent you there. There is very little time to get to know the country because on the first day you are already trying to figure out how to buy groceries and use the public transportation. This is the type of travel I think I have found myself in this year. Instead of stepping off the plane preparing to "fall in love with the Holy Land" all I could think of was the logistics of taking care of three children in a strange land with all my babysitters still in California. Instead of falafel and St. Peter's fish, my normal diet consists of the more practical budget-friendly peanut butter and jelly pitas, and spaghetti with tomato sauce. Instead of sitting on the side of Mt. Carmel and reading the story of Elijah the prophet, I am contemplating for a quick moment before I change a baby's diaper and oohing and ahhing at my 8 year olds rock collection.

I am looking forward to returning to the States in two months, but I am also sad. Not because this has been such a fun year for me, but because it hasn't been. I am not saying that it hasn't been life changing. That it hasn't opened my heart up to my God and to humanity. I am not saying that I am not grateful for this year, or that God's Word is not more alive to me than ever before..it is! In our "pre-arranged marriage" I have found myself both loving, and hating Israel. I have learned secrets that I did not care to know. I have learned more about myself and about this land and that has not been easy. I have a burden in my soul and a heartache that I didn't have before. I have witnessed a hopelessness so deep that I now finally understand that only in God can hope truly be restored. I am sad to have missed the "romance" of travel here. Even if I come again I don't know if that will be possible. Cheers to those who can love this place with no baggage attached. Cheers to the God who loves this place with the baggage...and who teaches us to love as well.

More Celebrations

2008-05-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

This week marked a continuation of the relentless onslaught of holidays in Israel. On Tuesday night through Wednesday the country observed Memorial Day that is intended to first remember the soldiers that have died for their country and secondly to remember those who have died in terror attacks.
Immediately following Memorial Day, they begin celebrations for their Independence Day. To celebrate they have poorly done fireworks and very well done block parties everywhere. The next day (which is today) literally the whole nation (who are Jewish) go to the parks for afternoon BBQ's. It is an interesting to be in a country celebrating their independence when a large percentage of the population (mostly the Palestinians) do not share in the freedoms or the celebrations.
For all of the so called problems in the United States, it is good to know that more than anywhere I have seen in the world, in the U.S.A. everyone has a chance for freedom and fair treatment (compared to other nations). Also,I was surprised to discover that since Israel became a nation in 1948, the number of U.S. soldiers that have died for their country outnumbers Israel 5 to 1 and Americans killed in terror attacks also outnumbers Israel 5 to 1. We are enjoying a lot of aspects of living in Israel but we will be happy to be home in our country celebrating our freedoms this summer.

Cinco De Mayo

2008-05-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

Most of you know how much Sara and the boys love every holiday that comes along and use it as an opportunity to do something in honor of that day. Well, today is cinco de mayo or חמש ֶשל מאי so we hosted one of our "Taco Nights". It was a pleasure to enjoy some Mexican food, some cheap Israeli wine, and great conversations with four college students in Israel. Sara and Ian made a new Mexican dessert (Cinnamon Brownies with something good on top) to complete the meal. Although we will be happy to return to our homeland this summer, we will miss the company and the times we have at our monthly taco nights.

Remembrance Day Video

2008-05-01T01:20:00.000-07:00

This is just to give you a feel for how this event (see previous post) is remembered in Israel. This footage is taken by an 8 year old so please bear with the quality.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

2008-05-01T00:04:00.000-07:00

Today at 10:00 AM our "air raid" sirens sounded and the nation came to a brief but important stand still as we took a moment to remember the over 6 million Jews who were killed by the Nazi's in WWII. I usually am very gracious to the opinions of others but it is completely despicable that there is a movement led by people like the deranged president of Iran (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) that claims the Holocaust never happened. Almost equally detestable is the opinion that the current actions directed against Gaza are worse than the Holocaust. Let me be clear that there is a serious situation in Gaza and it demands attention, but it is not equivalent to the death camps of WWII (this is not an excuse for the unfair treatment of thousands of Palestinians, just a plea to please not make such an unequal comparison).
Today is a day that we should remember the people who died at the hands of the Nazis and perhaps the millions of Chinese that were placed into camps by the Japanese, and even the thousands of Japanese that were placed into camps by the Americans. Racial/ tribal hatred continues and acts of Genocide recently occurred in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan (just to name a few). Please remember these tragedies today.

Ancient Stuff

2008-04-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Greece on our final excursion during our time here in Israel and our final "lets look at ancient stuff from Bible times" trip. When most people think of Greece they think of blue warm water, sunsets on the Islands, ancient temples, and the olympics. We were no different except we also think of Greek food, the world of the Apostle Paul, and will the hotel rooms have room for a crib and include breakfast.
I will spare you from every detail so here is a quick recap of our time:

Day/ Night One- Ancient Corinth which is an amazing place because of the size of the ancient city. It was nice to walk where Paul walked for 1 1/2 years and read through passages in Acts and Corinthians. Our hotel room had plenty of room but no breakfast, the owner of the hotel invited me to sit with him and enjoy a glass of wine. The boys climbed on ancient ruins, found rocks, and in the morning threw rocks into the Gulf of Corinth while eating local pastries.

Day 2-4- Drive across the Polopenese and take ferry to Zakynthos Island after morning in Corinth Museum/ town.
Nights 2,3,4 on an Organic Olive Farm on Zakynthos. We had a private cottage and learned that no one was staying in the other 6 cottages so had the farm to ourselves. In fact, every hotel on the Island (about 70) were all closed because tourist season begins in May so we shared the Island with the locals. Thankfully we had a kitchen and a car so we could get around and eat.

We went around the entire Island, saw the unbelievably blue waters on Shipwreck beach (photos on Rosenbaum Photography page), couldn't get any local fishermen to take us on a boat to see Blue Caves because the water was too rough, watched the boys collect rocks and throw them in the water on a beach. Our 5 year old learned to ride his bike without training wheels (I know, he is a typical kid learning to ride a bike in Greece), we had some good Greek food and spent a lot of time watching the boys relax in their element (living in the city made their sense of freedom on the Island more amplified). We had two bedrooms and plenty of room for the crib. The farm owner provided eggs from his chickens so I guess breakfast was included.

Day 5- Ancient Olympia with amazing wildflowers and warm weather for the first time on the trip. The boys raced Sara in the Olympic stadium but I think she tripped them so she could win. Oh yeah, they climbed on Ancient stuff (got yelled at by a worker once) and found rocks. They realized that the Greeks liked statues of naked people.
After this, drive across the Penninsula to Athens.

Nights 5,6,7 Hotel outside of Athens on the Beach. Typical for European cities. It was noisy, not real nice, the TV did not work, the AC did not work, but there was plenty of room for a crib and breakfast was included. We had to sell our cars and wash some dishes to pay for these three nights but it was a great location.

Day 6- Athens Stuff. The Acropolis, Mars Hill (which was our personal favorite in light of Paul's encounters there in Acts 18). We have some great photos of Ian there. Saw other temples, ancient stadiums, the ancient Agora (market), did not shop as much as Sara would have liked (tired kids didn't help with this one), ate decent Greek food, the boys found rocks and climbed on Ancient stuff. Isaac ordered a fish filet for dinner and the waiter told us that the "baby fish" was a fried filet with no bones. What he meant to say was "baby fish" was a plate full of whole fried minnows which did not go so well with Isaac. Ian did think it was funny that they would have to eat the poop of the fish... who wouldn't think that was funny.

Day 7- Leisure drive on the coast, lunch overlooking the sea and Posiedon's temple, boys spending hours collecting rocks, throwing them in the sea, and climbing on stuff. Halfway through the day our five year old asked if we had to "look at any more ancient stuff". I tried to explain that rocks were ancient but that didn't seem to amuse him.

Day 8- Sara spent morning shopping in an area that turned out to be way too expensive for her to enjoy (we regret not going back into Athens), I hung out with all three boys with local fishermen. They allowed me to take their pictures and showed the kids the Octopus and other tasty "catches" of the day. Then we headed to the airport and returned home to Israel.

All in all. A great family vacation but we have had plenty of time as a family this year and look forward to a time when Sara and I can return without our beloved children. Then we can collect rocks and climb on ancient stuff without wondering where the boys are. We could also not wonder if a crib will fit in the room and we might even eat a full meal without one of us having to leave early.

Extras: We had one tire blow out on the freeway but found a used replacement for only 30 Euros. The weather was cold and cloudy but no one got sunburned. Also... we were in Greece looking at Ancient Stuff!

The Fire is Coming!

2008-04-26T07:04:00.001-07:00

This week was holy week for the Eastern Christians across the globe (Greek Orthodox, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syriac Orthodox). That means that once again we have the privilege of seeing our city come alive with energy as thousands of Christian pilgrims come here to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

One tradition of the Greek Orthodox in celebration of this event is to hold a service on the day of the resurrection (which was today) called the "Holy Fire". For this celebration they gather in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where they believe the tomb of Jesus exists (And to where the most positive archaeological evidence for the tomb points). They gather in complete darkness until one candle is lit inside the tomb of Jesus and then from that candle other candles are lit beginning at the tomb until the entire church is alight with "Holy Fire".

Then from here they take the fire and they go to houses throughout the city to light candles in each home of those celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. The fire is even taken to outlying cities throughout the region with great anticipation. For example, we have friends from Bethlehem who say that on this day the believers in Jesus anxiously await the arrival of the flame from the tomb of Jesus. They whisper like excited children whisper as they await the arrival of Santa Claus (with greater reason might I add) and they proclaim to each other, "the fire is coming". The excitement builds as news of the the resurrection of Jesus spreads from Jerusalem throughout the land. The climax comes as the fire arrives and as people proclaim "The Messiah is Arisen"!

I imagine the first Easter when the news spread from the tomb of Jesus throughout the land and the excitement among those who followed Jesus learned of his victory over death. I imagine the excited whispers and the overwhelming joy. I imagine the bonds they must have felt when they encountered others who shared the "holy fire". I can feel the joy that they must have felt and I sense the confusion and disappointment that Jesus' opponents must have shared to know that not even crucifixion kept his fire from burning.

How can it be that this "Holy Fire" made it to millions of homes throughout the world since that time but the excitement and wonder that it brings has been reduced to a 1 hour service on a Sunday morning? As for me, on this matter I choose the Greek way of remembering and I pray for the joy, the wonder, and the outright excitement that comes from the "Holy Fire".

Rocks

2008-04-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

I am a mom of three boys who love rocks. Every time I do laundry I have to pull at least half a dozen rocks out of pockets and I usually miss at least two or three more that go through the wash. I actually have a spot on the windowsill where I keep the rocks that I find and the pile is fairly big. My oldest son has a box under his bed filled with at least 15 pounds of rocks he has collected from around the globe this year. He has collected rocks from Petra, from Cairo, from the Red Sea, and from ancient Jerusalem, to name a few. Of course all the rocks end up in the same box, so we will never know where they came from individually. He is constantly picking up rocks to study and also likes to crack them open to see what he can find inside. He has some rocks that alone weigh several pounds that he is sure are ancient "idols" found at dig sites. He actually took one of these "idols" to Ryan's archeology professor and asked what he thought it was - the reply was... "it is a rock." And that answer is enough to make my son happy. My middle son loves to climb on rocks and he loves to throw rocks into water. This past week we went to Greece and as an adult it sounded like a wonderful trip. I had hoped to stroll through the paths around the base of the acropolis, do some shopping, and eat some good Greek food. Instead it turned out to be the best place in the world for my five year old. We spent hours watching him throw rocks into the Gulf of Corinth, into the Aegean Sea off a Greek Island, and into the mediterranean. He is practicing "skipping rocks" so in order to perfect this he requires at least half a days worth of practice.. We spent the rest of the time watching him climb on rocks near the Cape at Sounio, around the parthenon, and also near the water. When we went to see the pyramids, he didnt care to look up at them in awe - he just wanted to climb on them. He also climbed at the rocks in Jordan and climbed on the stone walls at Westminster in London. Whenever we reach some ancient or famous site, usually his first question is "can I climb?" My youngest son loves to eat rocks. He is 10 months old now and he really really loves to eat rocks. I have had to swipe rocks out of his mouth from many different parks and beaches. From the number of rocks he tried to eat, I would say that Greek rocks are his favorite. His second favorite probably has to be rocks from the Red sea area of Israel but really he doesnt seem to be too picky about them... although the smaller the better.

There are many days when I wonder what benefit this year is going to have on our boys. They do seem to have their understanding of the world broadened. Geography, History, Sociology - the way different people interact with one another - they are learning alot in that respect. But on the other hand I wonder if maybe instead of spending their future college funds on travel, if we had just spent some of it to fill the backyard with lots and lots of rocks...if their year would have been similar. I guess only time will tell. But for now, we are back home in Jerusalem, with all the rose hued Jerusalem stone for them to collect, study, break, throw, climb and eat. And I will continue to wash them - usually on cold, gentle cycle - with a nice spring scented laundry detergent.

Renewing the Tourist Visas

2008-04-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

Because I never got a student visa to stay in Israel our family has to leave the country every three months to renew our status as tourists. This week we are heading to our final "renew the visa" trip and our final "spend the kids college money now" experience before our return to America this summer. We will likely not update this for the next week when we are in Greece so have a great week.

One week and four days

2008-04-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

This week is the week before the week before Pesach (passover) here in the Holy land (I meant to write that twice). Passover is a time when families come together over a seder dinner, and remember and celebrate God's deliverance of them out of Egypt. It is also more specifically a time to remember when the angel of death "passed over" the door posts of the Jews in Egypt and spared the lives of their first born sons. These doors were passed over because there was blood of a lamb brushed over the doorposts which signaled to the angel that God had set these people apart. This is one of the most sacred of Jewish holidays, and also has incredible significance for believers in the messiah Jesus if you look into it. I will not be looking at its significance in this post however.

I would like to note a few observations of the holiday that are slightly less spiritual. There is now one week and four days to Pesach and counting. The Jews have been commanded to get rid of all leaven from their homes to remember the night they were freed from bondage in Egypt. There was no time to allow the bread to rise, so they ate unleavened bread that morning. In order to follow this command, Jews today do a "spring cleaning" of their home to get rid of all leaven. They clean every square inch of the house, some using q-tips, some repainting their walls just to be sure. All bread products and products with leaven are thrown out, as well as products made in factories where there has been leaven. This can include bread, pita (this makes me sad), cereal, peanut butter, beer (this makes Ryan sad), certain toothpaste, and even hummos. They cannot use dishes or pots and pans during Pesach that have touched leaven. They must eat only matza and matza flour (in place of breads) during the week of Pesach. Apparently a well known burger chain here replaces its "McKabob" with a "Matza burger" where matza is used in place of a bun (I will be getting one don't worry).

I keep forgetting to bring my camera to the grocery store but the breads and cereals are already on the "clearance aisle" and the quantities are dwindling, while the store workers get everything reorganized for the holiday. Huge displays of cleaning products and sets of silverware, dishes, and serving platters are set up at the entrance to the mall and to the supermarket. The store fronts are all filled with the special Pesach/seder plates and dishes, candlesticks and kiddush (blessing) cups. Many people here get two full weeks off for Passover - one week to prepare and one week to celebrate. One friend from school told Ryan that Pesach is too crazy and too busy but at least the night of the Seder dinner is nice.

Many Jews find ways to make the holiday less hectic. One way is to "sell" their leaven to their pagan friends (like us) so they can keep it in their kitchen. I think they also sell their kitchen... This way they dont technically have any leaven in their kitchen. They just have to buy it back when the week is up. Another technique is to leave home and go on vacation which is why we have heard the Ben Gurion airport is insane the week of Pesach and the airlines hike up prices to benefit from the Jewish families attempt to get out of a deep house-cleaning. Also the hotels in this area can charge up to 3000 dollars for a small family to participate in their hotel-hosted seder dinner. Suddenly a new set of dishes seems like a bargain.

The point of this posting is in part to journal something that is fascinating to watch here. Also in part it is to note a parallel that I see to a holiday we like to call "Christmas" at home. The people here are so frantic and although they get a lot of time off, they spend most of it in preparation and much less of it in remembrance and celebration with family. The country is engulfed in the holiday "trappings" and yet as an outsider, I see very little of the "true meaning" of the day. My hope is that next year this will be brought to mind, and that perhaps our "biggest" holidays can be reduced down to something of more meaning and much less of everything else.

(By the way, our own family is leaving town this Friday - but will be back in time to stock up on some last minute leavened products and to perhaps buy a couple kitchens...).

Reality Check

2008-04-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Please click here to read about an important message regarding a couple of friends of our church here in Jerusalem. Thanks.

No Child Left Behind

2008-04-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

This year we decided not to send our kids to Israeli schools and we decided to teach them at home. Because we are not the typical home school family we were unsure as to how successful we would be. Now that the countdown to the end of the year has begun, we have to consider how successful we have been so here is an update, for the world to see, of what our kids are learning:

Our 2nd Grader:
Talks about the reasons for conflict between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. He has asked things like, "When will we get a new passport so that we can enter countries like Lebanon and Syria"? and "Is this wall from the First Temple Period or Second?" He also plays games like "guess what country I am thinking about" and says things like, "It is South of Israel and West of Saudi Arabia". He also wants to understand which American Presidential candidates like Israel and which ones are winning in the primaries.
For fun he is reading a book called "Famous Inventors" and he is telling me about inventors all throughout the history of the world. He was able to see Albert Einstein's Nobel Prize in a museum and wants to be just like him. He even told me that he wants "mad scientist hair" just like Einstein. He works on fractions and multiplication tables for fun. He reads in Spanish and has passed all of the same Spanish vocab tests that his class takes. He has been to active archaeological sites and has found Iron Age pottery. He has met professors, Armenean Priests, and Rabbis and has treated them all respectfully.

Our 5 year old:
Counts to 100 in English, 10 in Spanish, and 10 in Hebrew. He knows a number of phrases in Spanish and Hebrew, he can read three letter words in English and knows most of the Hebrew alphabet. He learned how to add and subtract and is learning US and world geography. He has a good friend who is an orthodox Jew and he spends a lot of time playing with him. He knows the difference between the three major Monotheistic religions and knows a bit about each of them. He likes to eat Pita bread with Humus for snacks and can bake cookies by memory. He goes to ceramics class here and has completely impressed his teacher with his imagination and his skills (He even made a mug on the wheel without help of his teacher). He can also win a match on FIFA soccer on his Nintendo DS. He recognizes the currencies from the USA, Israel, Egypt, Jordan, and the UK. Next year he will begin Kindergarten in the US.

Our 10 month old:
Has been to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He can laugh when tickled and cry when hungry. He still does not sleep through the night (except once). He army crawls and chews on everything. He can say "dada" and "abba" but doesn't seem to know when to use these phrases. He knows when he is being funny and is good at "hamming it up" to keep us entertained.

I checked the requirements for the "No Child Left Behind" tests in America and discovered that my kids probably won't meet the expectations of the Public School System. I guess they just won't learn a thing at home this year. I just hope next year they will be able to catch up.

Skull Caps, Fouls, and Bricks

2008-03-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

This morning I took the boys over to a great park near our house that includes Basketball courts, a large playground, and tons of grass to run in and trees to climb. We went there so I could play basketball with a large group that plays every Friday and so the boys could run free for a few hours.
Playing basketball here is definitely a unique experience. Nevermind the Hebrew instead of English or the fact that this court is located right on the same location as the "Road of the Patriarch's" that was used 4000 years ago as the Patriarch's of Israeli history walked from Haran down to the Negev desert. Also forget the fact that the players use a blend of international rules and American streets rules. The unique thing for me is playing alongside orthodox Jews who still find a way to wear their tallit (Prayer shawl under their shirt that has tassels hanging out) and their Kippas, or their skull caps (black kippas that Orthodox usually wear under their black rimmed hats). In addition to the clothes, it is not everyday that I play basketball with people named Ephraim, Mordecai, Yacov, Abraham, and Yeshu. Most of these people have lived in Israel most of their lives but many have family from New York so when they speak English it is a bit like being on the set of Seinfeld or hearing commentary on the game from Woody Allen.
The level of talent on the court is definitely lower than what I would see in California but it is decent and at the very least it is fun to play. There are a lot of fouls, too many traveling violations that are not called, and many bricks thrown (not literally... get with the Basketball lingo) but it provides a nice 2 hour break from routine in this city. The boys love the opportunity to just run and explore for a while and I enjoy further immersion into another side of the Jewish culture that you can't find in books. My only question is what kind of basketball player would Jesus have been?

Jesus is Alive!

2008-03-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

This last week was a reminder of why being here this year is a good thing. Palm Sunday was definitely one of the coolest things I have done in my entire life. Singing and celebrating Jesus with 10,000 (give or take) believers was absolutely incredible. It wasnt like being in a big theatre singing along with a talented worship leader either (which would be fun). It was spontaneous and it was celebrating Christ coming into Jerusalem basically on the same path that he took. Plus it was dozens of different languages all lifting up at the same time. I couldn't imagine much better aside from heaven itself. Just awesome.

Easter also was incredible - You just dont need a big program when you are in this city - it speaks for itself. Like Ryan said, we went to the Garden tomb for our Easter service this year. The Garden tomb is directly across the street from the Damascus gate, which is the where the Arab market and Muslim quarter of the Old City is located. This is also the site of a stabbing of a rabbi just days before (he was not killed). It is hard to express the range of emotion that Jerusalem evokes in me. But Easter morning I walked past the Arab vendors and the reminders of the endless conflict, and turned the corner toward the Garden Tomb. We were a bit late and I could hear rising up out of the walled garden courtyard, hundreds of voices singing the hymn "Jesus is Alive!" I immediately began crying (my hankie toting mother would be proud) as I thought YES! Jesus is Alive! He did come to Jerusalem and he is still here and he is alive and well! Somehow in the midst of this broken and hurting city Jesus is Alive. Somehow despite the struggle that this world is immersed in, Jesus is Alive! Yes I hurt for those who are struggling. I am saddened by world and church politics, by the state of the environment, by poverty and by war. I hurt for my dear friends who have lost loved ones, who are struggling with cancer, who have children who are sick... But on Easter I am reminded that Jesus is Alive!! God Almighty is Alive and Well. He loves us with a fierce and Living Love. He has overcome death and he gives hope and he gives light in the midst of so much darkness. Easter is a good reminder for me. And celebrating Him here in this place was more meaningful than I ever could have imagined. And not just because it is Jerusalem where he died and rose again. But because this year I have become more aware of the worlds, and my own brokenness and our need for a living Savior. This year in Jerusalem has brought me low and yet Christ is all the more lifted up. I am happy to shout with all those in the garden that Jesus is Alive!

O Happy Day

2008-03-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday 2008
6:00 AM All three boys woke up because it is light outside. No other reason whatsoever.
6:15 AM Boys remember that it is Easter, they find their Easter baskets that Sara made out of old cereal boxes and filled with candy that came with my parents and one other package.
7:00-8:00 AM My 5 year old and I make "Easter Egg- Colored Pancakes". We eat them with Honey-Date-Middle Eastern Syrup and coffee made in a French Press.
9:00 AM Leave to the "Garden Tomb" to celebrate Easter. The English service was at 6:00AM and 9:30AM today and naturally 9:30 won our vote. (The Garden Tomb is where Protestants prefer to remember Christ's resurrection because it is a tomb outside in a beautiful garden and no church or altars can be found covering the site. Archaeology does give much stronger evidence to the tomb being in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and not at this site, but this is a great place for church).
10:30 AM Our service ends after amazing worship and a simple message. No dramas, no videos, no special music. Just singing, a simple message recalling the events surrounding Easter, some prayers, and then we leave.
11:00- 3:00 PM We relax at home with the boys. We have two neighbors stop by bringing Purim baskets. (It is customary to give gifts during the Jewish Holiday of Purim. It was really nice to have two neighbors think of our boys and give them gifts... keep kicking stones!) During this time the boys also filled tons of plastic eggs with candy while Sara prepared food for an Easter BBQ in the park. I just sat around eating chocolate bunnies and Peeps.
3:30 We went to the park near our house that overlooks the Old City of Jerusalem. We met two friends who are staying with us from California and 4 others who are living here in Jerusalem.
4:00- 6:30 PM We enjoyed Easter dinner with others who believe in the hope of the Risen Messiah while watching the afternoon sun warm the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Meanwhile the Arab kids swam in the fountain nearby and the Arab families relaxed and picnicked in the same park. (Jewish families prefer other parks... don't try to analyze it). Also during this time we hear fireworks erupting as all of the Jewish people celebrate Purim.
7:30-8:00 PM We attempt to unwind the boys and get them to sleep.
8:30-10:00 PM I walk through the old city with one of our guests and we marvel at the spectacle of Purim. To read more about this and to see a video from this night check my other site here

As I look back at this year’s Easter I will remember a few things (in no particular order). 1) My oldest son singing songs from the morning worship time all throughout the day. At night he said his favorite part of the day was singing worship songs. 2) The joy on my middle son’s face when he woke up in the morning and remembered what day it was. Then making pancakes with him in wonderful shades of red, blue, and green. 3) Sitting with family and friends on the grass while eating Easter dinner with the Old City of Jerusalem looming in the background. 4) Watching my boys search for Easter eggs in the park we play in each week. 5) Worshipping with my wife, our boys, and friends from here in Jerusalem and singing “Jesus is no longer in the grave” and thinking about the first Easter and how this song would have sounded then!

So we began the day and spent most of the day celebrating the life that Jesus brings. We sang "He Lives" and "Happy Day" and rejoiced in the hope Jesus brings. We rejoiced in a city that offers perhaps more diversity than any other place on earth; in a place where people fight daily and where simple conversations become political conversations. But it is in this city that Jesus came and died and it is here that he rose again. It is this city where the original message of hope began and where it continues today. Today we rejoiced in our Savior and I rejoiced even more when I thought that people in every corner of the world rejoiced with us. The only thing that was strange for us was thinking about next year. It is really going to be difficult to top this.

Out of Town

2008-03-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

We are out of town for a few days while we relax on the shores of the Red Sea. We will return to Jerusalem in time to celebrate Easter (which coincides this year with the Jewish Holiday of Purim).
We will give more details about Purim and our Easter celebration later this week but for now this break is a nice one. Things in Jerusalem between the Jewish community and the Muslim community are definitely experiencing a renewed dose of energy so getting away is always nice. I was thinking about the joyous Palm Sunday celebration this week and how while that was occurring several hundred Jews held and anti-Palestinian rally (On the hill where the High Priest Caiaphas reportedly decided to kill Jesus). During the rally they stormed the neighborhood where the gunman from the shooting two weeks ago lived and they attempted to tear down his house. The following day a Rabbi was stabbed outside the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. It is amazing that during the intense hatred and fighting between two sides, the Prince of Peace was being honored and worshipped by thousands from all around the world.

The Triumphant Entry

2008-03-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Today we took our family of 5 and two friends from America and headed to the top of Mount of Olives in Jerusalem to participate in the annual procession commemorating the day that the Bible describes Jesus entering Jerusalem from Bethany, over the Mount of Olives, and into the city of Jerusalem. It began as what appeared to be a fairly small group of people making the walk and turned into a parade of thousands of people (over 10,000?) from nearly every country in the world all marching down the hill carrying palm branches, and celebrating the fact that the Messiah Jesus is the God who saves and He did enter this city. As our family and friends joined the crowd we walked casually towards the old city of Jerusalem, up the same hills that Jesus and his disciples walked so many years ago. We had the sound of voices shouting and singing "Hosana" and we saw dancing and rejoicing in the Good News of the Savior.

No words can really describe the joy that was evident this day so I will do my best with the following observations.
1. The sounds of dozens of languages and the presence of literally hundreds of different ethnic groups gave a true picture of the Body of Christ and a glimpse into Heaven. Every tribe and every language was present as we worshiped our King.
2. Standing on the East side of the city is the "Golden Gate" that traditionally is believed to be the gate that the Jewish Messiah will enter through on way to the temple. It was the gate in existence in the time of Christ and would be the likely gate he entered from the Mount of Olives. Currently the temple mount is under jurisdiction of the Muslims and therefore this gate has been filled in with bricks so that the Messiah will not be able to enter. As we walked towards the city and saw the gate before us, my wife and I said that it was too late. The bricks can't stop the Messiah from entering... he already came in!
3. As we walked, hundreds of Israeli soldiers stood by in an attempt to provide protection for the crowd. At first I thought how they must have looked a bit like the Roman Soldiers who probably stood by and watched these people run out to celebrate a Messiah. Then I wondered what they were thinking, I really cannot explain how much joy was obviously in the place today so I wondered how they viewed this. This must be such a welcomed relief to the "action" that these police and soldiers face each week. It also must be a cause for wonder as they saw a united and a joyful group of people from all over the world getting along because of the work of the "Prince of Peace".
4. I don't know how my family will be able to experience these days once we return to America. This year we are blessed to have been in Bethlehem for Christmas and in Jerusalem for Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter. I know the location doesn't make this experience more "spiritual" than anywhere else, but being able to head the Old City of Jerusalem to celebrate Jesus with thousands of people is hard to beat.

Allow me to end this short post by encouraging all of you to celebrate what Jesus did this week. Whatever you can do, try to see this season in new light and do not simply go through the motions of experiencing the magnitude of what happened during this week so many years ago. And remember that that are literally millions others from all over the planet that believe the same things you do and who want to celebrate the king as well.

1 Minute of Glory

2008-03-12T02:31:00.000-07:00

This is a selfish moment for me so bear with me. One of my Jerusalem photos is currently on the L.A. Times web-site under "The World Observed". You can check it out here and you can even vote for it to be displayed as the best of for the week.
Before you get too impressed (mom) just know that anyone can submit a photo... but it did get voted as the best photo by someone just after it was submitted so at least one other person likes it.

Good Things

2008-03-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

Martha Stewart is one of my heroes (jail time not counted). I have not read a Martha Stewart Living magazine since leaving the states in October, and thought I would do my own "ode to Martha" by writing a list of "good things" for which she is famous. Of course I am also writing this list because I realize that the last couple entries have been a little deep and depressing and I would like to point out some of the upsides to living in the middle east (lest our friends start to think there aren't any).

1. Despite the violence and never-ending cycle of prejudice, oppression, and retribution in Israel, there are moments where I am actually encouraged. The countries of Jordan and Egypt are both working to promote peace here and are doing a good job in my opinion of supporting both Jews and Arabs. There are people of all backgrounds and religions here who want to live side by side. Sometimes it seems as though they are a minority here, but I am thankful for them.

2. The chance to gather together with other believers each week is a VERY good thing. This past Saturday, while I sat in church, the fears and anxiety and hopelessness I had felt the day before disappeared. We were able to collectively lift the country up to God and call on Him to restore and to bring mercy. We heard about the Iraqi children who would receive surgery by Jewish doctors here. We were informed of the bake sale next week to raise funds for needy lebanese families up North. It reminded me of our greater calling to seek God and to take care of those who need it and to let God carry our burdens.

3. The Month of March here in Israel is a dream come true for hard-core holiday lovers such as myself. As if getting to celebrate leap day at the end of February were not enough, March is full of festivities to enjoy and exploit to my hearts content. There is the ides of March, and then Palm Sunday. Then we get to wear green and eat cabbage on the 17th. Good Friday is not a celebratory day but a day to remember none the less. Then Easter weekend falls on the same weekend as the Jewish holiday Purim. So our family will go to synagogue on Saturday, dressed in costumes and clacking our noisemakers while remembering the story of Esther. Then on Sunday we will go to a sunrise service near the old city, and picnic in the park and look for easter eggs, while the Jews in the city also picnic (and apparently recover from hangovers...but more on Purim later). I believe holidays are nearly always Good Things and will write more on Easter and Purim as the month goes on.

4. But first one more thing about Purim...I learned about a Purim tradition from my neighbors yesterday that I believe is a very VERY good thing. In the book of Esther, when (the bad guy) Haman sends out the decree to kill all the Jews in Persia, he collectively singled out Jews for evil. When Esther brought the plan to light and the King retracted the decree, all Jews were collectively saved. From that Jews have come to the concept (at least at Purim) that "we rise together, and we fall together," and make a special effort to give to the poor during that week. They also give out baskets, called "Mishloach Manot" (translated "sending portions" or "manna delivery" ) which basically means making sure that everyone has their needs provided for and everyone is able to celebrate the Purim feast. So everyone goes around giving baskets of food and goodies to friends and neighbors as well as to those in need during Purim. There is much more to this but if you want more info you can always do a google search (I am fond of those!).

5. Our recent trip to Egypt was a good thing. It got a little overshadowed by the violence that has been going on here in Israel. Our family needs to leave Israel every three months to renew our visa and so in a way are forced to see a bit of the world. In Egypt we were able to ride on camels with the sahara as our backdrop, see the pyramids and sphinx of Giza, take a sunset felucca (sailboat) ride on the Nile, and visit the Egypt museum. At the museum I was able to come face to (mummified) face with Ramses II, who incidentally knew Moses over 3000 years ago. I was also able to haggle my heart out at the Khan al Khalili market which is always sort-of fun and also sort-of exhausting.

So there you have it. Ryan just commented from the couch that I must be writing a report. But I don't consider it a bad thing that I have a lot to write in a post entitled "Good Things."

Interesting Timing

2008-03-07T05:42:00.000-08:00

Last night while I wrote yesterday's blog about the abundance of guns here in Jerusalem, someone entered a Yeshiva school (a Jewish Religious School) and killed eight teenage boys. I received the news this morning from some of you who were concerned about what happened.
Although the school is fairly close (3 miles?) we were not aware of the incident and with the exception of an even greater military presence in the city, we do not feel the effects of this tragedy.

I will leave you with the words from a Chief Rabbi who spoke at the memorial services today,

"We will not be cruel at this hour when we are faced with such a wide crisis, and we will rise up to cast away strife; to further increase torah study."

If this attitude prevails, hope is on the horizon.

יש לך כלי נשק

2008-03-06T22:33:00.000-08:00

Today I walked with the boys to the post office to pick up a package from a friend (Thanks Patricia) and as usual, when we got to the door of the post office I was asked by the security guard if I was carrying a gun. You must understand something about Israel. When you are asked this it is not because you will be in trouble if you say you are, it is just so the guard knows and in some cases so he can hold it for you when you go inside. This is the case in every restaurant, the mall, school, and every museum that you visit in Jerusalem.

It is strange how these things seem so normal to me now. Give me 5 minutes on any street in Jerusalem and I will show you at least one person that has a gun tucked into his/her pants. Give me 30 seconds and I will show you an Israeli soldier carrying a gun and a backpack as he/she returns home or head back out to active duty. Many security guards carry Uzzis (like the security at Hebrew University) and every school field trip requires that an armed guard accompany the students.

Before coming here I looked in the Hebrew phrase book and laughed when I saw phrases like "Could you please move your gun" (For when someone's rifle is blocking your way), or "Where is the bomb shelter" (shelters are also required of every building). Now I realize that it is possible to use those phrases in normal life.

All of this to say, this is life in Jerusalem. The metal detectors and the "bag-searches" that we must undergo to enter public buildings are not inconvenient, they are re-assuring. The soldier sitting next to me with his gun is not intimidating, it is comforting. The person asking me if I have a weapon is not strange, it is routine. The question is how quickly will all of this feel like it is world's apart once we return to America?

The Jerusalem Church

2008-03-03T07:53:00.000-08:00

Saturday here in Israel is probably my favorite day of the week. Even with all of the inconveniences of the entire city being shut down in honor of the Sabbath we have still managed to create a routine that I look forward to. Each Saturday morning we get the boys somewhat clean and we all head out the door to our church. The streets are empty of cars and families can be seen carrying their prayer shawls and their "tefflin" as they return home from the Synagogue. For the first few moments we fit with the crowd as our dark hair, dark eyed family walks the streets just as everyone else. Then, in a moment we blow our cover as we hail a taxi (forbidden on Sabbath) and head off to church.
The ride to church costs us 25 shekels a week ($7) which I figure is what it would cost us to drive to church in America with the current price of gas. On our ride we usually have an Arab driver so we begin the day with small talk about the weather and whatever else we can communicate through the language barriers. 10 minutes later we arrive at church, get out of our taxi in an extremely Jewish neighborhood and walk into the "Baptist House".

To get an idea of what our church is like I thought I would tell you about our day yesterday.

We arrived around 11:00 AM and my boys ate lunch as they waited for their class to begin. One church member was sitting outside and praying with one of our regular attending "homeless" guys who was making up a great story about his life. We finished eating and I sent my kids into their class which usually begins sometime between 11:00 and 12:15. After dropping them off I looked through the glass doors into our "sanctuary" and see one of our friends' kids standing in the aisle playing with a sword. (Kids are not a distraction to anyone at this church). I just laughed as I thought how the ushers in American churches would have handled this boy with a sword.
As I stepped inside church one of our refugees from Sudan was sharing about an update on the conditions in their hometown. (We have several Sudanese regulars in our church and an ongoing ministry to refugees). After he shared we heard from another one of our regulars who leads a ministry that takes kids from Iraq and brings them to Israel for life saving heart surgery. Yes. Doctors from Israel provide life saving medical care to kids from Iraq! Then our guest speaker (who is a Bible professor here in Israel) got up and shared from her heart. The bulk of her message was a reading of a message that a priest gave at his 50th anniversary of ministry. The message was about how living in Jerusalem changed his theology and radical shaped his relationship with God.
Just like every week when the message is over, our Senior Pastor goes to the front and shares how the message effected him. He never preaches because it is not his gift so he allows others to teach. He suffers from Parkinson's Disease so he moves slowly and cautiously but has a very sincere demeanor and always drives home the point. Then we end with a song with the words projected with an overhead projector on a white wall. During the one song I see Sasha, our homeless man from Russia who always cleans up after the service (and who had a snowball fight with my 5 year old), worshiping with his hands raised. I see a family of 12 singing behind a young couple who are both Doctoral candidates here. I see Jewish believers, Palestinian Christians, students from all over the world, and life long Jerusalem residents who have learned to follow Jesus in a land that resists it.
The service ends and then the entire church spends 1- 1 1/2 hours standing on the front lawn talking while the kids run through the crowds of people. Once the crowds thin, I gather the family and we begin the slow walk home while stopping at the park. We arrive home sometime between 4-5 PM tired but glad for a day of rest in worship, in real friendships, and in simply being together.
Yesterday I thought about the day and truly felt blessed. We are a completely unorganized church and no one cares. We are the most diverse church I have seen and it feels natural. We have a Senior Pastor who doesn't preach. We have refugees, missionaries, students, retirees, homeless people, writers, Jews, Baptists, Catholics, Arabs, and even Anglo-Saxons! We don't have great music and we seldom hear amazing teaching but this feels more like a church than anything I have ever seen. Best of all, we have kids playing in the aisles with swords.

A wish for peace

2008-03-01T12:42:00.001-08:00

Today in Gaza was one of the bloodiest days of "battle" between the Hamas militants there and the Israeli government since Hamas took over Gaza last June. I am sure that most of the world is aware of this conflict. Hamas has been shooting missiles into Israeli neighborhoods and Israel has retaliated by shooting at those responsible. This has gone back and forth almost daily since we arrived in Israel in October. Many innocent civilians on both sides but in Gaza in particular, have been injured in this process. Today a baby was killed, a baby like our little Ben.

Living in the Middle East has been an education to say the least. I told Ryan today that this is probably the worst POSSIBLE place to bring our family on a sabbatical year - if rest is what we seek. This is not a place to find rest, or peace. The conflict between the Jews and the Palestinians is palpable. Aside from terrorism, which shows no respect for the innocent, I can see validity to every side. When I walked through Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum here, I felt sick to see the way the Jews were dehumanized and killed. I feel sympathy and maybe can start to understand the hardness that is at the core of many of them. The Jewish people and the country of Israel does not find many friends, and that can harden a heart.

I have also spent a lot of time talking with the Palestinians here. They are an indigiones people who have been displaced, who have been through war, who have been pushed aside and treated like an inferior race. I can understand the feelings of hopelessness, but also of rage and even hate by some. I am oversimplifying the situation here of course. A lifetime of writing could not do justice to the depth of it. There is certainly no way to escape it here. A Palestinian shopkeeper in Old Jerusalem shared with me just last week, as I was taking shelter in his shop in a sudden rainstorm. His family lost everything when Israel became a state. But then I see footage of the Israeli soldiers taking back the Holy Land, weeping at the western wall, and I once again see there are no easy answers.

Living here is so surreal. To think that there are pilgrims from three major faiths who come here daily - not only to find spiritual connection and enlightenment, but also to be tourists. There are people buying miniature menorahs and shot glasses with pictures of the western wall, while a war is being fought all around us.

What is interesting to note is that there are many people in this country of all faiths and origins who desire peace. Today in Jerusalem, the "city of peace," my family and I played at a large park near our home. There were American Jewish boys playing football, Arab families grilling meat for a Saturday picnic, Christians, Muslims, and Jews alike - all enjoying a warm and beautiful pre-spring day. On the way out with my boys I noticed a plaque overlooking the park that I had never noticed before - it read "For all the children of Abraham."

It breaks my heart to be here sometimes. To be in the middle of so much unrest and so much conflict between people. Not just between Palestinians and Jews, but among the Palestinians, among the Jews, between Jews and Christians and Muslims, between young and old. I know that peace can only truly be brought about by God's intervention here and I beg him to do so.

The Week in Photos

2008-02-28T09:04:00.000-08:00

This week's theme is "Egypt"... since the photos are not telling enough.

Do I need to say what these are?

A woman with stuff on her head. She is also carrying a bag on her head.

I was pretty fortunate to see an Egyptian man in a white robe, with a camel, sitting in front of the Great Pyramid. Of course this was just a wax statue.

We paid a few Egyptians Pounds to a guide, who then bribed a guard, who then let us into this new excavation. Inside the excavation we saw Egyptian stuff.

A silhouette of one of the hundreds of mosques.

Cairo at night.

Cairo at day.

It really is amazing to see these structures that were built in honor of dead kings. The engineering and manpower that went into these clearly make them worthy of being wonders of the ancient world.

Can you get a more cliche' photo of Egypt? The answer is yes, but I am not going to post the photo of my family doing the Egyptian dance with these in the background.

A day in the life

2008-02-20T01:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday started out like any other day. We woke up to a near-snow-storm in Jerusalem. We ate our pumpkin bread. We watched my father-in-law (who is visiting this week) attempt to recreate "American" style coffee without a coffeemaker. First he boiled the coffee grounds in a pot, let the grounds sink to the bottom of the pot and then put the coffee in another pot on the stove to stay warm. This process only takes about 30 minutes and would be shorter if we would let him use an old sock as a strainer but I have boundaries. We then piled into our rental car and headed out of the snow storm, through some heavy rain and onto the Mediterranean coastal town of Haifa. It was cool and very windy there. We headed up the side of Mt Carmel to the Ba'hai temple and gardens. The Ba'hai "faith" is the belief that all religions and philosophies are good, and all men who have claimed to be messengers of God, are. One good thing about them is that they are a very peace-loving group of people and they also are amazing gardeners. The gardens surrounding the temple (and the shrine of the Bab) go all the way up the slope of the mountain and are perfectly manicured. We walked around and took pictures, and then left. Out on the street we continued with our day in the normal way. Everyone ate their peanut butter and jelly pitas while standing out on the street and I sat in the car and fed Baby Ben. Then we proceeded to look for the Santa Maris Monastery and Elijah's cave. We spent one hour driving in loops all over the city, following ill-marked signs, and roads that stop and veer off in strange directions. This is normal for Israel as they assume all drivers know where they are going so signs and even maps dont really matter. Finally we stopped for directions. I walked along the side walk asking if anyone speaks "anglit" until a nice man replied that he did. He gave me directions while a crazy man yelled Hebrew in my face (really a crazy man). We followed those directions and came to a place where there was no parking and no apparent street access at all. Ryan dropped us off and drove off in search of parking and we walked down to the beach where there was a cable car that supposedly took us to the monastery.

Because of hurricane level winds (give or take) the cable car was not running yesterday. We were told there was no access except by foot and our tour books also told us this. At this time, Ryan had showed up - he had off-roaded on the beach to get to us which again is fairly normal. We all got some coffee and then decided it was time to go. We also noticed that the monastery that had no car-access seemed to have a road going straight to it, so we decided on our own just to give it a shot. Somehow in 10 minutes we were able to make our way to front row parking up on the side of Mt Carmel in front of the monastery. Inside we were able to stand in a cave that for centuries has been traditionally the location of Elijah's hideout when running from Jezebel and her prophets. Just down the hill, surrounded by wildflowers and with the whipping winds, overlooking the Sea, is the traditional location of Elijah's showdown with those prophets of Baal. It is a very common experience for us here to be so fed up with the culture and crazy street signs and then to find ourselves standing on a cliff recalling the incredible intervention of God on behalf of His prophet. Elijah is a man who I have incredible respect and awe for and it was hard to believe I was standing on his turf.

When we left Mt. Carmel, we drove down the coast to Caesarea, where we had an incredible Mediterranean/Middle East -fusion non-kosher meal, while watching the sun setting over the sea and illuminating the ancient port town built by Herod the Great (the one who wanted to kill Jesus when he was born) in an orange-pink hue. After dinner, Ryan took his parents around the archeological park (in the dark) while I watched the boys roll down a grassy hill that ended at some ruins of Herod's summer home. Just as the country began to endear itself to me again, we walked out to the parking lot to find that our rental car had been broken into, and the boys leapfrog games had been stolen out of the glove compartment. The passenger side window had been shattered, and we spent two hours at the police station waiting to file a report. Thankfully, the baby (and grandpa) was asleep, and the boys were so happy to be at a police station looking for bad guys that it was only an inconvenience for me. After the police station, we drove an hour and a half home, with plastic bags in leu of a glass window, and put the boys to bed - only a couple hours past bedtime.

My emotions here in Israel must rise and fall about as much as the waves on the mediterranean on a windy day (like yesterday). But such is a day in the life of our family this year.

Random Thoughts (on life in Israel)

2008-02-09T11:55:00.000-08:00

The following are some random thoughts or observations from life here in Israel. The following are in no particular order:

We have to keep a kosher kitchen which means we can never mix dairy plates, pots, utensils, towels, washcloths, ect. with any of the same used for meat. We even have two separate sinks (dairy & meat). This year for the first time in my life I had to ask myself, "When cleaning up vomit, do I use a meat rag or dairy?"

Since we left the calmness of the USA to the dangers of the Middle East, California had some of the most devestating fires ever, Washington state had 9 inches of rain in one day resulting in massive flooding then this winter the main mountain pass has had 30 feet of snow. The Midwest has seen violent ice storms and rare mid winter tornadoes. There have been mall shootings, a city hall shooting, national manhunts for killers, and the ever-violent presidential primaries. Meanwhile here in Israel it has been a warm and dry winter (with the exception of one snow storm) and we have only had a small 6 mile stretch of a wall on the Gaza border knocked down allowing 10,000 people to cross illegally into Egypt. So I guess we do have it easier here in Israel.

When we first arrived, I worked hard to keep the rules of the Sabbath so that our Jewish neighbors would not look down on us. Once I realized that this sentiment is unavoidable I now feel the freedom to take out the trash, shower, cook, and even brush my teeth in violation of the sabbath.

Forget the peanut butter and jelly, my 5 year old son eats pita with humus for lunch most days.

I have not had a piece of pepperoni pizza since I left and the countdown has now begun to when I will once again enjoy this gift from God.

We have become friends with a Palestinian Christian and his wife and like to have them over for a glass of wine and conversation. I didn't realize how much I could learn about Jesus through their eyes and not just the "trendy" Jewish perspective on Jesus.

I have not been a full time student and a father until this year and I realize now that this is impossible to do perfectly. Since something has to suffer, it must be the studies instead of the kids. (My sleep suffers a bit as well, but the Red Sox World Series Games and the Super Bowl airing at 1:00 AM did not help).

A gallon of milk costs about $8.00 but Captain Crunch is the cheapest cereal so I am not able to change my breakfast habit.

Sometimes for fun, I take my camera and walk down the street to the "Wailing Wall", the "Hill of Golgatha", or the Mount of Olives.

I have not had a burrito from Chipotle in 5 months but I have had many falafels and "toast with salty cheese and pesto (a.k.a. a paninni with sheep's cheese and basil)".

I have seen more men peeing in public this year than in my whole life. My wife saw a boy peeing in front of the swings at the park today. Brilliant!

I take one bus route through an "Ultra-Orthodox" neighborhood and I can actually make people get up from their seats by sitting next to them. I am a "defiled" pagan so they cannot be next to me. The sad thing is that I take pleasure in watching people move away from me. I know... "w.w.j.d."

My son asked to go to Egypt for his 8th birthday so, like any good father would do, next week we are going there for him. Forget the bounce-house, I'm giving him the pyramids!

We have actually become friends with a good amount of people and even almost have a social life here. Of course even in the states, having a social life and having three kids are not compatible ideas.

When crossing the border or dealing with any official here in Israel I proudly display my Jewish last name and my wife and boys' Old Testament names. If their thinking that we are Jewish allows us more privliges, then who am I to correct them?

I have learned more Hebrew and Greek this year than ever before and this is in addition to my leisure and required studies. I think my brain is full. My oldest son says that if we eat the brains of animals, our brains will grow bigger. We just have to remember to use the "meat" plates.

In the words of my wife, "I know I will be glad we came here this year. This will be a great experience when it is over".

The Week in Photos

2008-02-03T11:22:00.000-08:00

This week we give you the obvious theme of snow in Jerusalem. This is the view of the Temple Mount from Mount of Olives.

This is a fountain in the park at Yemin Moshe between the Old City and our house. In about a month we will see kids swimming in this fountain once again.

The 8 inches of snow that fell over two days cancelled almost everything in the city but these two "Yeshiva" students still made their way to class.

Not too many made it out to pray during the heavy snowfall but God can hear us in our houses.

I found these Jewish kids on the rooftops of the old city building forts for their snowball fights. These are the "fences" and the types of wars that are fun to see here in the Middle East.

One lone person making the walk to work.

This Arab man was holding a little surprise for the Army soldiers. The soldiers were getting hit with snowballs from all directions but handled themselves well. I guess the snow was a nice change from rocks.

This is outside the Damascus Gate. This is usually a bustling outdoor market leading into the Muslim Quarter of the city.

This is a photo of Hinnom Valley (otherwise known as Gehenna). It was a cold day in Gehenna!

It was a perfect day to stop by "The Coffee Shop" on the way home. I actually skipped the coffee and stopped by the falafel stand next door. It was equally as warming as the coffee.

Now I am ready for Spring.

Challah (Halla) and Hope

2008-01-31T10:19:00.000-08:00

To follow up on my last blog, I wanted to share with everyone my challah recipe. This was given to me by an orthodox Jewish woman who at one point this year, would not talk to me or look at me "thanks" to our differences. She is one of the women who inspired my blog on "peasants and scum." Since that time she still struggles to talk with me, and does not "hang out" with me. However, she has allowed her son to become a permanent fixture in our apartment, as he is 5 years old like my middle son and never seems to have anything to do. When she comes to pick up Noam at the end of the day, I can usually get a bit of small talk out of her now, and I also got the following Challah recipe.

Challah will be baked tomorrow morning by many, many Jews, and probably bought by many more. It is a staple of the Friday night Shabbat table (as I wrote once before). There are always two loaves on the table, representing the double portion of manna that the Jews were required to collect the morning of Shabbat. The cover over the challah represents the dew that fell on the manna and the board under the bread represents the ground that the manna lay on. In all, this bread represents Gods faithful provision each day for the Jewish people as they wandered in the desert.

This year I feel much like a wanderer. I am in a foreign place, knowing at the moment this is where I need to be, but not quite sure when I will get to where I am going. I feel a bit like the Jews of old may have...in a very large and dry desert, feeling a little lost, a little thirsty, feeling the heat (or ache) in my soul, as Rich Mullens puts it. And yet, like the manna, God has provided me daily with sustenance to get me through. He has provided me with loving friends and family at home who continue to encourage me and send us care packages and letters. He has provided me with some people here who also understand how it feels to be a sojourner in a strange land. He has provided just enough peace, just enough grace, just enough strength. And with this challah recipe He even gives me hope. That even those who have hurt me can become acquaintances, perhaps even friends - that walls can be softened and maybe even torn down. God provides for our basic needs. He loves and restores. Go ahead and "whip up some challah (as I like to say!)" - this recipe makes a lot. Put a loaf on the table (or two if it is the sabbath) and thank the God of the Universe for providing for us always, even when wandering.

Challah

2 cups warm water
1 packet yeast
1 T. white sugar
(mix in separate bowl)

8 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 T salt
2 eggs
3/4 c. oil
extra egg

Put all dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix and make a well. Add the wet ingredients and yeast mixture into well and knead. Let rise 1 1/2 hour covered. Knead again. Separate into loaves and let rise again uncovered for 10-30 minutes. Brush beaten egg over top and bake at 340 degrees F. (or 170 C) for about 20 minutes. This makes 6 medium sized loaves - I make each loaf by braiding three rolls together and pinching at the ends.

Home-made

2008-01-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

A funny thing is happening to me here in Israel. In an attempt to keep my family in a somewhat "normal" state of being, I have had to get creative in how I do certain things. For instance, in order to keep my kids out of the somewhat chaotic Israeli school system and to keep them in their spanish immersion program in the states, I am homeschooling them. I am attempting to teach my children Spanish in a Hebrew speaking country, when the only languages I have mastery over are English and pig-latin (and I am ashamed to admit this). Also in order to provide my family with foods that they are accustomed to, I have resorted to making things from scratch at home, that in the states I would just buy pre-made. I have made home-made stuffing (at thanksgiving), chicken stock (I have yet to see campbells here) and spaghetti sauce (only two brands are available, each with sugar as the first ingredient). Cereal and milk is expensive so I have made more pumpkin and banana bread this year than ever in my life. Baby food is scarce and even the baby food jars of bananas have sugar as their first ingredient - so I am making baby Ben his own mashed up baby food. We dont have a microwave so I first have to roast stuff in the oven the old-fashioned way (or would an open fire pit be the old fashioned way??). Two days ago I got a challah (pronounced Hallah) recipe from our neighbors and whipped up some home-made bread for the family. By night all three loaves had been eaten so in the morning I whipped up another three loaves (with real yeast and no bread maker!). Because it is rainy right now and we dont have a car, today the boys and I made our own exercise video for kids. It has lots of jumping and kicking (they may have just been fighting at this point) in it, as well as crunches and I think at least one downward dog.

Our Halloween costumes were home-made out of towels and clothes pins. Our Christmas play included a sheep made from cotton balls taped onto a stuffed dog (not to say we would have used a real sheep had we still been in California but maybe..).

The other night, Ryan came home to find me sitting at the table, crayons in hand, creating the first installment of the book series "Jack" - about a cat that lives out front of our apartment. It was written and illustrated by me and I have to say I am genuinely proud of the book. My middle child has since created "Jack III" as he is well educated on the concept of the lucrative sequel. Aparently now I need to write "Jack II." This is all because I have not found the time to walk to the library to get a special form, take it to the post office, pay them money and then go back to the library to get a card - in order to use the small English book section of the library. Apparently making books is more convenient in my mind.

I have yet to start sewing my own clothes or making my own furniture.

I dont know if this is a good or bad development. I do have to say that I admire people who can create with their own two hands - I love Martha Stewart for goodness sakes. There is something gratifying about baking bread and making homemade apple sauce. I really think I just have far more time on my hands this year than I will ever have again. So for the moment I will roll up my sleeves and get working on "Jack II."

End of the 1st Semester

2008-01-20T04:29:00.000-08:00

Now that I have reached the end of my first semester of studies here in Israel, I thought I would give a quick update. For those who expect a high quality prose from this web-site, please accept my apologies in advance. There will be no fancy words, just a quick update of each class.

Modern Hebrew- My reading of hebrew has improved dramatically and I can now confidently say things like "I like cake"
אני אוהב עוגה
even though I do not particularly like cake). I have a neighbor who speaks Hebrew and Spanish and when the two of us talk we intermix Spanish and Hebrew frequently. I purchased the first Harry Potter(הארי פאתר ) book in Hebrew and began reading it. Because Harry Potter does not use many theological terms, I miss a lot of the words. לאט, לאט

Apocalyptic Literature- This course focuses on the development of the "Apocalypse" genre. My final paper deals with the book of Revelation in this mix and how our understanding of this genre affects our understanding of the book. It turns out that Kirk Cameron might be wrong!

Christian Memory and Jewish Tradition- This class is taught by 5 different professors in a seminar style. The debate and conversations are really good. Arguments often occur in Greek, Hebrew, English, and sometimes a little French. Our readings come with some of all of these languages plus some German. If it is more than one sentence, the French and German are a bit too much for me. ein Tag erlerne ich auch Deutsches, but for now it goes slowly. The focus of this class is how early Christianity developed in light of its Jewish roots. Most of the conversation is useful and some of it is entirely speculative and not worth the time.

Early Christian Literature and the World of Late Antiquity- The focus here is also on the development of Christianity with most of our focus going to the writings during that time. It is a bit different than a seminary class on "Church Fathers" because the focus is on all of the sources to provide a complete framework for understanding. Some of the writings are very enjoyable but the 100-200 pages per week in this class add up after a while.

Biblical Archaeology of Jerusalem- I tell people that this is like my P.E. class because we travel around Jerusalem to real archaeology sites in an effort to understand the Bible. Our focus is on 1st temple period so the time of David through King Zedekiah is all we discuss. This is a great class with an amazing professor who is one of the world's leading 1st temple period archaeologists. His knowledge of the bible and of archaeology are intimidating but very useful for study.

I would discuss some of what I am learning in each but there is no time. Next semester I will have a lighter schedule as I will be using a lot of time to prepare messages and ideas for leading a church. Hopefully next semester will be a bit more relaxing which I am sure is possible living in Israel with three young boys!

Shalom, Salaam, Peace

The Week in Photos

2008-01-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

This week's theme is... "Jerusalem when the President of the United State Visits". I could also call it, "Why are there men on the rooftops with rifles?" or "Why are those men in black suits chasing me?" or "What the city look like with 10,000 extra officers." I will offer no detailed explanations to these photos, just let the sites and sounds speak for themselves.

Away

2008-01-11T04:42:00.000-08:00

As much as I have learned to appreciate our time here in Israel, and as many lessons as I feel we are learning, it does not change the simple fact that some days it is very hard to be away. It seems that for some reason, many of our friends in the States are going through some of the most difficult times in their lives. Friends and family that we love are fighting for their marriages. Our son's best friend (who is 5) is fighting for his life right now. This is heartbreaking for me and makes it very hard for me to be away. We have friends who are struggling in faith, friends who have been hurt, or are being hurt and beat down emotionally by people they should be able to trust. This makes it hard for me to be away. I want to be home, where I can hold these friends. Where I can pray with them face to face. I want to shed tears on his bedside and not from Israel, from so far away. I dont know why the God who gives us such a love in in our hearts for people, or gives us such a longing to be near people, also sends us away. I trust that God is "near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit (Ps 34:18)." I know that he is with my friends. And I know that he is here with us in Israel. But today, knowing that doesn't make it easier to be away.

The New Mundane pt 2

2008-01-10T03:59:00.001-08:00

Those of you who read Sara's "New Mundane" post a few days ago can consider this a follow up to her thoughts. If you did not read it... you should.
Imediately after Sara wrote about life becoming routine we decided to change things up a bit. All three of our boys are taking turns fighting off various sicknesses which have included a week of sleep being interupted every half hour by "Dad, I need some water", "Dad, I want you to hold me (this is what our baby said in his own words", "Dad, I don't feel ....BLAAAH (That is the sound of throwing up)", or "Dad, why does mom act like she can't hear us at night so you are the one who has to always wake up". That last one might have been what I said, but I know I heard it somewhere.

In addition to these sicknesses that Sara and I also decided to participate in, we have a visitor to our town that has changed life for everyone. The visitor is known as G-Dub and he is the President of the United States. In his honor, the city of Jerusalem has closed a good portion of roads, it has placed robots in the sewers to search for bombs, it has called in 10,000 extra police officers, it has cleaned the streets for the first time since Israel became a country, and it has re-routed all the buses.
No matter how you feel about G-Dub, you must admit that this is an exciting event. This is actually the first time that I have even been in the same city as the President and now he is staying in a hotel less than a mile from my house. Of course I will not see him because he is literally locked in his Hotel room and when he travels, the 10,000 police officers on duty close the whole area surrounding him.

The point is, even the routine of taking the same buses and getting to class at the same time has been changed. Even the fact that we have grown used to see large amounts of security personelle has changed this week as we marvel at the snipers on the rooftops and the large motorcades of black Suburbans. And if all of that is not enough, today the weather is rainy and 38 degrees with lows expected this week to be in the 20's. Our routine Jerusalem weather might actually give us some snow this week. So for now, we take a break from routine and face the reminder that life has its way of keeping us waiting for the unexpected. So now I must venture out into the closed streets of Jerusalem in an attempt to make it home to my sick family (sick is only describing their health). Don't worry, I am carrying my camera so if I happen to bump into the president I will take take his picture and say "hi" for you.

The Week in Photos

2008-01-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

This week we want to share a few photos from the Galilee region. This is a part of Israel where a guy named Jesus lived and breathed.

This is a photo of the valley of "Har Meggido" or Armageddon. In light of the historical battles and perhaps future battles that might take place here, I thought this sign was well placed.

This mosaic is found in the "Church of the Loaves and the Fish" which is the traditional site of the miracle of Jesus. This church is from the 5th century AD.

This is a photo of the Jordan river on the south side of the Sea of Galilee. This is where hundreds of tourists come to be baptized in the Jordan but does not seem to be the location where Jesus was baptized.

These are the ruins from the ancient town of Capernaum where Jesus and many of the disciples lived. These are the remains that date to the time of Christ. Pieces of what is reported to be Peter's house, the synagoge from that time, and other houses on that street still remain today.

This is a view of the east side of the lake. On this side we find the likely location of Gardenes where Jesus sent some demons into a herd of pigs.

This is a 2000 year old fishing boat found in the mud in the Sea of Galilee. This is likely the same style boat used by fishermen during the time of Christ. In case you are wondering, the aluminum support beams are not original.

With views like this, I don't blame Jesus for spending his time in the land of Galilee.

The New Mundane

2008-01-02T10:14:00.000-08:00

When I first came to Israel, it seemed like everything was new and foreign to me. The language, the culture, the little idiosyncracies of the country. It has now been nearly three months, and it seems like the things that used to suprise me or overwhelm, or even inspire, have become part of ordinary life. It took two sets of visitors to open my eyes afresh to some of these things. They saw things that I have ceased to notice - the "new mundane" for me. Some simple things would include the hummos aisle in the grocery store. There are over 200 types of hummos and dips to go with pita at my grocery store, and yet only 10 different varieties of baby food (if that). They noticed the cats on every car, on every doorstep, the cat sleeping in my sons stroller (I hope he isnt allergic), and the hundreds more to be found in most nooks and crannies of the city. They commented on our apartment life. The way I have to take the garbage out and down the street to dump it. Or the kosher kitchen - how it is exausting to do but keeping the dairy and meat utensils and dishes, sinks and pans separate has become the new norm. I can now walk into my grocery store, the McDonalds or the mall, hand my purse to the armed security guard and walk through the metal detector without giving it a second thought. Our guests noticed. My mother had two particulary unique experiences here that I would now consider normal. We were at a city park walking to the Old City and we stopped at the public restrooms. As we were standing in line (now as women, this is normal all over the world), a young woman came out wearing a rifle over her shoulder, washed her hands and left. She was one of the required armed guards for a field trip of elementary students having lunch in the park. Then one night as we were walking home from dinner, we heard someone talking on a cell phone saying something like "Man, I just wish she would give me more space..." We turned to see a young man fully dressed in ultra orthodox black overcoat, top hat and curly tendrils, discussing his love life on his cell. I remember how on the plane ride here there were a few orthodox families on their way to Israel with us. They were dressed so differently and stood out so much. Now the man on his cell phone suprises me no more than a kid in board shorts and Rainbows would in my home in Southern California.

It is interesting to me how that happens. How adaptable we are as humans. But also how quickly the extraordinary things can become mundane to us. So far there are some things which have not become mundane for me here. They have not lost their wonder - floating on the Dead Sea (which left my mother in giggles!), haggling in the Old City, the hills overlooking the Galilee. As a believer in Christ there are days when I wonder if even the Holy land could become the everyday for me. I fear that perhaps like a new believer would, Christ becomes more real daily, but then as time goes on, He fades into my life again as "just another part of life." I fear His demise into my mundane and pray that it wouldnt be so. I pray for those who are on this journey with us - those who want to journey to Israel and experience a little adventure vicariously (you know who you are!) and those on a journey of faith - I pray that Christ does not fade, that he comes into clearer focus. That God as Man would never be ho-hum, that God dying for us in His mercy would never be mundane. Perhaps we need to spend time with some "visitors" to the faith, some new-comers to Christ in order to avoid this. I dont really know the solution but I know the challenge. May life...and our God be new every morning to us!

New Year's, Football, and Winter Break

2007-12-30T05:17:00.000-08:00

One great thing about the Holiday Season in America is that it comes in full force. The Season begins showing its face with Thanksgiving in late November and then there is a gradual increase in Holiday "spirit" up until Christmas. Because all things in America must come in abundance (or over-abundance) we follow Christmas with another week of relative "down-time" until New Year's Day. During this week, students enjoy winter break from classes, sports fans indulge in endless college football games and the beginning of professional football playoffs, and nearly everyone participates in some type of gathering to usher in the new year.
This year as my family recovers from our holiday "hangover" that included two weeks of visitors from America (which went by far too quickly) we find the culture of Israel only adds to this post-Christmas headache. First of all, for obvious reasons the country does not do much to acknlowedge Christmas day. (I actually had to skip classes to celebrate Christmas with my family.) Except for the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, the only areas in Israel acknowledging the season are found in some of the Arab neighborhoods. This came with a benefit of causing our family to purposely seek out the meaning of the Season and the joy of the season instead of taking it for granted but we will enjoy returning to a place that is a bit more "Christmas(y)".
The second thing adding to the headache is my inability to simply waste time watching college football. Granted, I usually don't care to watch Eastern Carolina play Billy Bob's University in the "'Preperation H' Medicated Cream Bowl" but not even having the choice is disapointing. Instead I tried to re-create the feeling by turning on the TV and watching Haifa Soccer Club play Negev-United in a much anticipated match. Unfortunately the match ended in a tie when the police fired tear gas into the crowd after the fans began throwing rocks at the referees. There was no reason for the outbreak of violence but in a post-game interview one fan explained that "this is the Middle East, that should be reason enough for violence". (The previous statement is not true- please disregard.)
If the lack of Christmas spirit and college football isn't enough, Israel provides the final "holiday buzz kill" by not even acknowledging New Year's Day. They are currently in the 3rd month of year 5969 so they have no need to celebrate the beginning of the "pagan" year. Yes, I have class on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Yeah!
So, this year while many of my American readers gather with friends on this New Year's Day watching football and eating meat and cheese mixtures spread on Ritz crackers, I will be sitting in class longing for my two day break from studies that comes in March in celebration of Purim (the events of the Book of Esther). So please enjoy the day and don't worry about us. The tomatoes and humus packed into Pita bread and the cricket match on the TV is a worthy consolation for missing New Year's Celebrations... it is also the source of the saying, "Next Year in America" !

God with us

2007-12-24T12:15:00.000-08:00

I have litterally written and deleted and then rewritten this blog at least three or four times in the last hour. There is something so holy, and so profound about Christmas that I cannot find the words to express it. I cannot find the "angle" to approach it. There are just a few things that I need to say. Immanuel, means God with us. I will never experience that name for Christ in the same way again after this year in Israel. I have now seen the fish swimming in the sea of Galillee, walked up on the hills where he preached. I have been to Gethsemane where he prayed and cried out to God, I have sat in a 2000 year old dungeon like the one he sat in on the night of his arrest. I have walked on the Mt. of Olives, I have brushed my fingers over the Jordan, where he was baptized. In all the glitz and glam that surrounds Christ in this city, with the churches and the souvenir shops, this is the place where he lived and breathed. There is no getting around that. There are many "supposed" sites for his life and ministry but the point remains that He was WITH US. He is more real to me than he has ever been. Some days this is almost too much to bear. That God did indeed live among us and then die, for us.

Tonight on Christmas Eve, my family did not go to Bethlehem. We drove through Bethlehem, though crowded and noisy streets, resembling Times Square on New Years Eve, or the French Quarter for Mardi Gras. And we went to Beit Sahour, to a quiet field overlooking Bethlehem. A field that may well have been where the "shepherds were watching their flocks by night." And we sang with a small group of Palestinian Christians and their friends and family. We sang songs about those shepherds, and the angels who appeared to them. We sang songs about the baby born, and about the hopes and fears of all the world being met in Him, in Bethlehem. We sang about the Immanuel, the God who is with us.

We stood around a fire pit, with the stars appearing one by one as the sky got darker. The moon was full tonight and cast a bright light on the city. To be honest I didn't sing much, for the lump that was in my throat. But as we left that place I had a song stuck in my head. "Rejoice, rejoice! Immanuel has come to thee oh Israel!" I wish I could come up with more to say, that I could be more profound. But I can barely get out words - Christ has been given flesh and blood for me here in Israel. When I say "rejoice...he has come!" I believe it with a depth that I never did before. I rejoice and yet I weep - the God of the Universe becoming Immanuel is almost too much to get my mind and my heart around. I finish this with a line from my favorite Christmas song... "fall on your knees, and hear the angel voices. Oh night divine! Oh night divine!"

Checkout more thoughts on this night from Ryan at What's Wrong With the World.

My Favorite Shrines

2007-12-22T13:10:00.000-08:00

Living in the Holy Land brings a lot of excitements and disappointments. The excitement comes from throwing rocks at military vehicles and then running... (This is a joke; please do not try this on your trip here). What I meant to say was there is excitement from being in the place where so much incredible history took place. There are "holy sites” for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. If you prefer "unholy" sites there are plenty of ancient ruins from pagan temples, Roman cities, and U.N. installations.

What some may find disappointing however, is the fact that at the location where these events took place, people have erected churches, mosques, and museums over the sites. Even if there is no historical validity to the claims at a certain location, the followers of that faith (especially the Christians I am sorry to say) designate a location as the actual place of its occurrence and they make the "Church of Something Happened Here". Pilgrims come from around the world to see these sites and if you take the time you can ignore the spectacle that is built all around the site and actually have a meaningful experience. But if you just come to see the landscape as it existed in ancient days you will be disappointed.

Some of the sites seem to me that they might be a bit over-spiritualized but who am I to judge? I am just here to give you my Top Ten List of most creative "holy sites".
10. The Church of the Multiplication of the Fish and the Loaves (This is actually an amazing building with mosaics on the floor that are worth a visit. It even is in the approximate region of this miracle, but the rock that marks the exact location where Jesus set the loaves of bread might be a bit speculative).
9. Masada- This is a fortress built high upon a cliff and served as a location for Hasmonean occupation, Herod's vacation palace, and later in history, Crusader and Roman fortresses. The location is most famous for the Jewish Essenes who held out there during the revolt around 70 AD. It now commemorates the strength of the people there who all killed their families before killing themselves so that the Romans would not get the pleasure of doing so.
8. The Dome of the Rock. This is the Muslim shrine built on the "rock" where Mohammed is said to have ascended. It just happens to also be placed on the Jewish temple mount and on the site where Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac.
7. The Dormitian Abbey. This is the German church that marks the place where Mary fell asleep (okay... where she died). The crypt is worth a visit so don't pass this by.
6. The church of the Flagellation (not flatulation). This is the location where Jesus is said to be handed over and scourged. This marks the beginning of the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem (The "way of sorrows" that Jesus walked on the way to the cross. Recent archaeology unfortunately places this site on the opposite end of the city, which would completely re-draw the entire Via Dolorosa.
5. The Upper Room- this is the place where the disciples had the last supper with Jesus. If you ignore the fact that the building was built in the 11th century by the Crusaders you can really see why this site is so popular. If you prefer a more accurate location, go to the outdoor market called Mahane Yehuda and look for the man with a jar on his head. For five shekels he will take you to his version of the last supper room. Unfortunately it turns out that his room is the location where Jesus (a tour guide from Mexico) dined with his friends before heading back to Mexico.
4. The Church of the ascension.
It is not the fact that they believe that Jesus ascended here, it is the fact that 300 years later they discovered Jesus' actual footprint in the dirt and then made it into a concrete cast. (What luck!)
3. This is a tie. The chapel in the Armenian church containing the head of James the brother of Jesus and the chapel in the Church of the ascension containing the head of John the Baptist. If I ever lose my head I kindly request that someone build the "Church Where Ryan Lost His Head" in my honor... thanks.
2. The Church of the Kathisma (This is the church of the rock that Mary sat on when she rested on her way to Bethlehem. I guess she wasn't riding a donkey).
1. The Milk Grotto- this is by far the most creative holy site. It is here where there are two spots on a rock that is believed to be milk from the mother Mary that spilled while feeding Jesus.

Now that I have offended people from the world's three major religions I must also say that all of these places are worth visiting. Sometimes negative publicity is the best form of promotion!

The Week in Photos

2007-12-19T06:53:00.000-08:00

Hebrew University is a huge campus with over 20,000 students so these photos do not give a comprehensive view of the campus, just the path I walk each day.

Israeli salad

2007-12-16T10:48:00.001-08:00

Right now we have guests in the house visiting us from California. Because of this, and because it is nearing the end of the semester for Ryan, things around here have been incredibly busy. Our blog entries (especially by Ryan) are coming at a slower pace at the moment. We are busy being tourists and showing our friends this beautiful country, and also are trying to introduce them to the foods and culture. I have been feeding them pita, tahina, hummos and Israeli salad every night since they came (per their request!). I thought that for those of you who would also like to walk on this journey with us, a recipe for Israeli salad would be a good way to help you to do just that. Go ahead and make up a batch, set it on the table with some pita and hummos, and enjoy your taste of Israel!

Israeli salad

3 small persian cucumbers diced in small cubes (do not peel)
3 tomatoes diced
1 red bell pepper diced
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped (1/3 cup)
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 lemon, squeezed over the top, and
a drizzle of olive oil or vegetable oil

Make sure the vegies are a very small dice. Toss together and serve - it will last several days in the fridge.

The Week in Photos

2007-12-11T11:13:00.001-08:00

We had a long weekend due to Chanukhah so we packed up and left the country and headed for Jordan for a few days. So, the photos for this week are from our time in Jordan, in particular, in Petra. We will talk more about this trip later this week. For now, enjoy the following photos.

Entering Petra you must walk down a mile long stretch called the Siq. It is a narrow passage that winds down hill until the end when you see the Treasury peeking through the rocks. These structures are all carved into the rocks by the Nabateans thousands of years ago. During the Roman Empire's dominance in the 1st Century, they conqured the Nabateans and made Petra into a Roman City.

This is a view of the Treasury which was carved by Stephen Spielberg for a scene in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade".

This is a view of the scenery surrounding Petra.

After the Roman occupation and later, Crusader occupation, Petra was forgotten by all except the Bedouin people who moved into all the caves and lived there for hundreds of years before being relocated in 1985. Now the Bedouins thrive from the tourist industry in Petra.

Camels are everywhere in Petra and only the most shameless and cliche' tourists give in and pay to ride on these beasts of the desert.

This is the sunset over the mountains from the patio at our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised to find Christmas trees in our lobby and to find that Jordanian hospitality is the best we have seen in any country in the entire world.

This is a photo of some shameless tourists riding camels... oh wait, that is my family.

This is Daisy. She was my wife's smelly beast of the desert. She may be smelly, but she is an obedient and kind beast... I'm talking about the camel, not my wife.

Light of the World

2007-12-05T21:47:00.001-08:00

Tonight my boys and I lit our first ever "Hanukia" (hanukah menorah) and took part in day two of the eight day Hanukkah celebration going on here in the Holy Land. No, we have not converted. But there is a chance that we will celebrate next year as well. Yesterday (Tuesday night) was the first night of Hanukkah. We were able to join a family at their home for the lighting of the first candle and the traditional celebrating that takes place. Actually many families do a full on party every single night of Hanukkah! Hanukkah is the celebration of several things. One, the defeat by the Jews of the Greek Leader Anticochus Epiphanes who defiled the temple and commanded the Jewish people to stop observing their faith. Two, it celebrates the rededication of the temple after that defilement. And three, it celebrates the miracle that took place for the rededication - where one days worth of oil burned for eight days - the time it took to prepare more "pure" oil.

So, in order to best understand this holiday, we walked over to our friend's house last night. Foods for Hanukkah are fried doughnuts and fried latkes (potato pancakes) in honor of the oil that kept the temple menorah burning. So we ate doughnuts and had tea. We sang songs and lit the candle in the window. The boys made their own dreidels, a toy that looks like a spinning top, and has four Hebrew letters on it, representing the sentence "A Great Miracle Happed Here." In every other part of the world other than Jerusalem, the sentence goes "A Great Miracle Happened There." Apparently the dreidel is a gambling game but the boys ran out of energy before they could teach us how to play. :) We laughed and debated (as good Israelis like to do) and of course I fed baby Ben.

As a believer, I found Hanukah to be incredibly illuminating (that is a bad pun). For starters, Hanukkah is a celebration of the light of Gods word and faith in the one true God overcoming darkness (the Greek emphasis on humanism). The Hanukia is to be set in the window so that all can see that light had overcome, and to remind everyone of God's intervention in the temple rededication. There are nine candle holders on the Hanukia. Eight for each of the eight days the fire burned. And one more, called the "Shamash..(or Servant)" candle, which is used to light the others.

We also were reminded of the time that Jesus was in Jerusalem during Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) as recounted in John 10. Our friends believe that the time frame encompasses two chapters earlier, where Jesus declared "I am the Light of the World: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life." If the Jewish people were in the midst of celebrating the defeat of darkness by light, of Gods intervention into their lives by providing light for them, then this claim makes even more sense to me. It is amazing how much more I learn from Christ when I can learn from Him with Jewish ears.

I walked home into the dark moonless night with the boys. Candles burning in windows and doorways. I pondered the concept that Jesus, the Servant of all, is the light that touches each of our lives, and creates light for all the world to see. That He is the light that overcomes all darkness. And then tonight, we did our own celebration with a homemade hanukia in our window. We recited one of the three blessings spoken on Hanukah (we did English not Hebrew!). "Blessed are you, Lord our G-D, King of the Universe, who has given us life, and sustained us, and brought us to this day and Who is the Light of the World. "

Right now as I write the boys are getting on their pajamas. The candles are flickering in the window. And somehow December holds more meaning to me than it has in a long time, as we celebrate the Light of the World coming down among us. Happy Hanukkah!!

The Week in Photos

2007-12-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

Before looking at the photos for this week look at 1 Samuel 23:29, 1 Samuel 24:1-2, Song of Solomon 1:14 which all refer to this location and then read Psalm 57 which was written here and possibly Psalm 42.

The strongholds of En Gedi.

A view of the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) from the waterfall in En Gedi. Across the sea you can vaguely see the Trans-Jordan Mountains (in Jordan).

One of many waterfalls along the "Road to Hana"... oh sorry, wrong trip, this is on the hike through the En Gedi National Park.

Another view looking back towards the Sea. Notice the contrast of barren landscape next to life. The words En-Gedi basically mean "water from the rock".

After hiking En Gedi, you can't miss a trip to the Dead Sea where you float without any effort. Don't forget your water shoes or else you will definitely not enjoy your time in the water because the salty beaches are hard and sharp.

After floating, rinse the salt off your bady with a shower from the hot sulphur springs. It feels good until you get the water in your eyes or mouth... and you will smell like eggs for a few days but that is not a problem, everyone likes eggs.

Let's Make a Deal

2007-12-01T12:21:00.000-08:00

One thing you should know about Israel is that very few things are absolute and very few things are the same way twice. You may see a fully stocked item at a store one day and return to the same store never to see the item again. You may get on the bus at 9:00 AM everyday for a week and then never see the bus at 9:00 AM again. You may go to a museum at 1:00 PM one day and go inside and then return the next day at the same time only to be told that the museum is closed. I actually had an argument (in Hebrew) about the closing time at the ancient ruins in Caesarea. I was holding the map and our tickets that said the exhibit is open until 4:00 on Fridays in November. The workers closed the gates at 3:00 PM and told me they close early on Fridays. I informed them that their own literature says they are open on this day until 4:00 PM and showed them the tickets. Because they know more Hebrew than I, they won the arguement and we had to leave that exhibit. Talk to anyone in Israel and they will tell you that it is difficult to know what you are going to get from one day to the next but if you are forceful enough you usually get your way.

It is this attitude that fuels the Israeli's love for haggling. At every outdoor market or small neighborhood shop, you are welcome to argue over the price. In the Old City, it is a basic requirement to haggle. The following is the dialogue you can expect when shopping in the Old City:

Storekeeper: You want to buy this hat? How much do you want to pay?

You: I'm not sure I want it....

Storekeeper: It is 50 shekels and that is a good price.

You: 50 shekels? Well, I guess that sounds fair.

Storekeeper: What? You think I am giving you a bad deal? Fine. 40 Shekels.

You: I didn't say you are ripping me off but 40 shekels does seem more reasonable.

Storekeeper: You still think I cheat you? Okay. 30 shekels and that is my final offer. This is how much I pay for it so I cannot possibly go lower.

You: I think you are giving a great deal but I am not even sure I want the hat. I will come back a little later.

Storekeeper: Fine. Give me 15 shekels and the hat is yours. You are a very difficult person. I do not know how I will feed my family with people like you.

At this point. Just pay the money, take the hat, and walk away guilt free. This is Israel and this is how you get a low price even if you never say a word. (It is worth noting that good looking woman like my wife get much better deals so guys should just stay out of the way). It is also worth noting that you may never get that same price again.

Philosophy and Photos

2007-11-27T10:19:00.000-08:00

There is a question that philosophical types like to ask that goes something like this: "If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to see it, did it really fall?" Now, I like to amend that question a bit to go more like: "if a tree falls in the forest, and no one took a picture of it, THEN did it really fall?" I happen to place a lot of value on the photo. I honestly do not remember how I lived before I owned a camera, and I suppose I could ask, Did I truly live? :) When Ryan and I travel, we spend a lot of time taking pictures. It is actually difficult for me to enjoy myself until I have the required photos for wherever we are. For instance, when taking a trip to Paris, we needed to get the shot in front of the Eiffel Tower, the shot at the Louvre, and a good picture of gargoyles at Notre Dame - all while wearing a beret. In London there is Big Ben, a shot in a phone booth, a double decker bus and a good pub. When we went to the Arches National Park in Utah we raced from rock formation to rock formation just to get the photo. I dont actually remember seeing most of them, but I have photos to show for our race through the park. We have the picture of the family car going through a tree in the California Redwoods, one of Ryan in front of the Statue of Liberty, one of all the baseball stadiums we have seen to date. Okay, you get the point.

But the small tragedy of all of this - or perhaps comedy? - is that not only does the photo make the trips a reality, but it creates a NEW reality. As long as there is a picture, it doesnt really matter what actually happened. Let me explain. This last week, our family went to En Gedi and the Dead Sea - both close to home here in Jerusalem. The spectacular views, the sweet moments with our boys, the awe inspiring history of the places...these were not the focus for me. I wanted a picture of me floating in the Dead Sea, a picture of me with mud all over me, and a picture of my boys swimming under a waterfall. Our first stop was En Gedi, an area known for its beauty and described in the Bible in Song of Songs. We hiked up to the first waterfall, and I wanted to stop and get the boys in the water for their picture. Of course Ryan insisted we actually do the ENTIRE hike (which was only about a mile). Again this was not nearly as interesting to me as the photo op, but we marched on. Finally we got to the top, and while I fed Benja (the baby), all I could think about was the waterfall photo - the one consolation of course is that the photo of me feeding the baby was a photo op as well. When we got to the waterfall the boys were not in the least interested in getting in the water, as it was windy and quite chilly as well as in the shade. But we forced them in, and got our picture - it matters not that they both have little colds now. Because in 10 years we will look back at that happy moment when they were able to frolick under a cascading waterfall in En Gedi.

Then it was on to the Dead Sea, where upon walking into the water, my two older boys and I all cut up our feet on the sharp and very salt-crusted floor. We were not aware that we needed aqua socks but for future travellers, be warned. It was also very cold and the waves were fairly strong. My second son immediately jumped out and my first was a bit more of a trooper and went in for a minute. I had pretty much sliced open the top of my toes fairly deeply, but persevered despite the not so pleasant combo of salt water on my wounds. Again, I got the photo and thats all that matters. In 10 years we will look back at that idyllic afternoon, floating weightless in the Dead Sea.

And finally, we got our mud shots. Not to matter that the salts in the mud and the sulphur showers burned our eyes and exacerbated the cuts on my feet. I smiled and all that will remain of our time there are happy memories of therapeutic minerals and soft skin.

I really do love good photo ops. And the truth is, I was truly happy despite the pain and misery, knowing that I had my picture and therefore our pain would not be for naught. And I look forward to the many more photo ops that life sends our way.

The Week in Photos

2007-11-26T12:53:00.001-08:00

The theme of the photos for this week is archaeology. We have been exploring some of the sites in Jerusalem and some outside of Jerusalem so here are some photos.

This is an aquaduct built by Herod the Great just before the birth of Christ. It had a precise slope to allow water to move 17 KM to the town of Caesarea.

This is a stadium also built by Herod in Caesarea. This particular one hosted chariot races and various gladiator games.

These are the pools of Bethesda where Jesus healed the cripple man in John 5. A pagan temple once stood here followed by a 4th century Byzantine church followed by a Crusader church from the 11th Century followed by dirt. The remains of all of the eras still stand here today.

This is part of the Crusader church at the pools of Bethesda.

These are part of the ruins from the temple mount during the second temple period. In year 70 AD the Roman Empire razed the temple and many of the stones from the destruction lay here today.

Outside the wall of Herod's temple mount.

These were actual storefronts on a street right outside the temple mount that were in use during the time of Christ. Jesus might have purchased tourist souveneirs from this very spot.

This is my son walking out of an acient "Mikveh". It was used for ritual purification in the Jewish tradition. This mikveh is right outside the temple mount so would have been used to cleanse those wishing to enter the temple. This is most certainly the predecessor to the Christian tradition of baptism.

These are kittens and they are not ancient but they are wild and found everywhere in Jerusalem.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T06:14:00.000-08:00

Today we are celebrating Thanksgiving here in Israel. Since it is an American holiday it is just a normal day here for everyone with classes and work (I actually went to one class and skipped another in order to get home and be with the family). The local stores do provide turkeys this week due to the high number of Americans living here so we will actually have a fairly normal Kosher Thanksgiving meal. Tonight we will host 3 American students and 2 German students who want to see what this tradition is all about. We really don't care who comes, it is just a joy to be the host and to remember all the things to thank God for.
Perhaps this year we will borrow a prayer from the Jewish culture when they give thanks each week to God who provides the bread (or all their needs).

Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh ha'olam hamotsi lekhem min ha-arets.
Blessed are You our Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.

We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Bless The Name

2007-11-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

One thing that I love about Jerusalem, is that every Friday morning when I go for my run (or walk to the coffee shop), the town is bustling with activity in preparation for the shabbat meals. People are filling the markets picking up last minute bottles of wine and bunches of flowers. And down every street you can smell the aroma of roasting meat and fish, garlic and vegetables. On Friday after sundown, the sounds of singing and laughter fill the night. This past Friday night, our family had the privilege of sharing a Shabbat meal with our landlord and her family. This was our first opportunity to be active participants in this age-old Jewish tradition. Our landlord lives near us so we walked to her house and were met at the gate by her husband and four children. Inside the long table was set with white linens, and on each end of the table was challah bread - set out on boards, with a cloth on top. It was explained to us that the challah represents two things - one, it represents the manna that God provided for the Israelites in their forty years wandering in the desert. On the morning before the sabbath, God would provide a double portion for them so that they would not need to gather on that day. That is why there are two plates of bread on the table, to represent the double portion. The coverings over the bread represented the dew that fell on the manna, and again is a reminder of Gods perfect provision for them each morning. The other thing that the bread represents, is the offering to God. We were told that since the destruction of the temple, there are no longer animal sacrifices to God, and the bread stands in the place of the sacrifice. They salt the bread at the beginning of the meal in the same way that animal sacrifices were salted in the temple.

Before sitting down, a blessing is said over the children - first the boys and then the girls. Then the father (head of the house) reads the last portion of Proverbs 31 to his wife - the part about a noble wife being worth more than rubies, etc. It is a beautiful beginning to the meal and a great reminder of the value placed on family in this culture.

The first thing that happened after sitting down is the wine/grape juice was poured into a kiddush (blessing) cup and the father of the house prayed and said a blessing over the wine. Everyone sang a song and then the cup was poured into smaller cups and everyone drank. After that we went and did hand washing. Our landlord explained that all week we bring forth the fruit of our hands. On this day, we wash our hands to symbolize that it is not ultimately us, but God who provides. On this day we are washing away the works of our hands and consecrating them to God. No one speaks after the hand washing until the bread is blessed and no one had a good explanation of why that is. We all mostly did a good job except for my 7 year old and 5 year old sat shaking with the giggles which I think hastened the father's blessing of the bread a bit. :) Next the bread is blessed, with salt shaken over it to consecrate it as a sacrifice, and then it is passed to eat and we all ate.

After the bread is passed, they do a blessing of God. Again it was a bit vague on what we were doing, since who are we to bless God? But ultimately, they said that to start a meal, they do not ask Gods blessing on the meal, but instead give blessing to God. They turn back praise and blessing onto God. After the meal they thank him for the meal, but they never ask for a blessing. I thought this was interesting since every night we say something to the affect of "bless this food to our bodies...".

The meal then goes about as normal - it is kosher, so roasted meats and lots of vegies and grains(no dairy). They have been on a warmer since the shabbat has begun, since they are not allowed to heat anything up anew once the sun goes down. During the meal we had great conversation, with the father asking the children to talk about what they had learned at synagogue that week. They definitely ask a lot of questions in this culture and force you to think! Again in this culture (typically), the abba (dad) is expected to be the spiritual leader of the family and to ingrain the teachings of the bible and torah into the children.

The meal ends with several readings and songs, extoling God for who He is and all He does. They asked my oldest son to read parts of the blessings, and I was able to read as well. One twist to the story though, is that although FULLY Jew, both the host family and their other guests, are also believers in Yeshua (or who we westerners would call Jesus). That is another story, but they believe Yeshua is indeed the One God promised to them as messiah. Most good Jews will not say the name of God, and so have other names for him. Tonight they referred to him as "Hashem" or "The Name." All night long we referred to "The Name." To finish off the evening, the abba asked my son to sing for us his favorite song, which he did. His favorite song has a verse in it that goes "Blessed be The Name of the Lord...Blessed be His glorious Name..."

Our first Shabbat meal was a good one. I hope to be a part of more of them (and not just because of the free food). I think there is a lot to learn from the traditions here. And what a wonderful thing it was to hear my son lift up his voice to Bless The Name!

Sabbath Made for Man?

2007-11-16T12:42:00.000-08:00

Today is the beginning of the Sabbath for us here in Israel. From around 3:30 PM on Fridays through 6:00 PM on Saturdays most of Jerusalem comes to a stop as people take the day to reflect on God.
In Mark 2:27, Jesus speaks of the Sabbath and says, “Sabbath was made for man”. After taking a look at the customs on the Sabbath, I have come to the conclusion that this verse should read, “The Sabbath was made for teenagers”. Allow me to explain some of the customs to help illustrate my point.

• Beginning Friday afternoon, no one is allowed to work or even acquire any new knowledge. In other words, homework, studying, and even reading to gain knowledge is technically prohibited (Although you can learn from Synagogue).

• Friday evenings usually include hanging out with friends over dinner and an abundance of wine is often involved.

• On Saturdays, it is the norm to sleep in as long as one desires. It is the day of rest.

• No work can be done on Saturdays. This means no washing dishes or clothes, no “taking out the trash”, no “cleaning your room”, no washing cars, no cooking, and no yard work can be completed.

• No one is allowed to go to work on Saturdays or Friday Nights. These times are reserved for spending time with friends.

• Finally, to prove that the Sabbath is for teenage boys, a truly observant Jew will not shower or brush their teeth on the Sabbath.

So, all of you parents out there who struggle to get your teenage son or daughter to do any work, make sure they do not read the Talmud which gives the Rabbis explanations of how one is to observe the Sabbath. This will only give them a spiritual argument for laziness on the weekend. For all of you teenagers out there, just tell your teachers and bosses that it is against your belief in God to work on the Sabbath so you demand some religious tolerance. Shabbat Shalom.

For deeper thoughts on what the Sabbath means, please Click Here to read my more philosophical blog.

The Week in Photos

2007-11-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

This week the photos are a bit less cliche' as these photos show things that most tourists would not take the time to see.

This is a view of Herodian located in the Negev Desert. It is a palace built into the cone of this mountain built by Herod the Great around the time of Christ. In order to build this palace on the mountain. Herod had to build the mountain. In other words, he moved a mountain so he could have a palace higher and more prominent than the temple in Jerusalem. Was Jesus referencing this palace when he said a small amount of faith will allow you to do greater things than moving mountains?

This is just one of many old cemetaries that are left scattered througout town. In this particular one they have discovered several "Iron Age"' tombs.

This hill is what is now called Mt. Zion but is not the Mt. Zion from King David's time. It is located on the Western edge of the old city and is now the location of the "Church of Dormition" and Jerusalem University College (an American Bible Institute).

This is the valley of Ge Hinom. During the 1st Temple Period it was the place of human sacrifices made by the pagans. Steep cliffs on each side mark the location of these sacrifices. The name of the valley became known as the valley of Gehena (which became a metaphor for hell). In other words, this is an actual photo of hell.

One of the cliffs in Gehena.

Olive trees are abundant here. Everywhere you walk, you will find olives growing.

I stumbled upon this film crew from India filiming a documentary in the city. See, it is just like living in L.A.

This is the inside of the "Shops in Mission Viejo". Oh wait, it is actually the inside of Jerusalem's largest shopping mall that includes three levels of shops, cafe's, and it even has a KFC, a Kosher Pizza Hut, and a Burger King. Despite what most of the images portray, Jerusalem is a modern city with several shopping malls, high rise buildings, and flushing toilets.

Finally, this is the view from a cafe at the shopping mall located right outside the Jaffa Gate in the Old City.

The Case of the Shoe-Napper

2007-11-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

Living in Jerusalem has its advantages. One advantage is that the weather is roughly the same as in Southern California except that, I am told, it rains here. Other than that we experience a very similar weather pattern. This time of year the daytime temperatures get up to 20 degrees Celsius and at night it drops to 10. (Okay, I am still American so the temperatures are 70 during the day and 50 at night in Fahrenheit).
Back to the point, the advantage of weather like this is that one can wear shorts (if you want to look American) and you can wear sandals everyday, which is very common here. This week someone stole my boys' shoes from outside our front door (in a locked building) so they have been reduced to wearing their sandals. Now on to the real point of this post.
Shoes. Someone who lives in our building of 12 units stole my boys' shoes. It is amazing how shoes can feel so personal. How can shoes being stolen make us feel so violated and disappointed? I honestly spent a day or two thinking about how awful it is to have shoes stolen. To make it worse, we just bought those shoes when we arrived in Israel so I feel that someone took 150 shekels from me. As I consider who lives in this building, I can assume (understanding what assuming will probably do to me) that these shoes were not stolen out of need but rather out of spite. Only 4 units in this apartment have children and ours is the only one with a boy over 7 years old so it is unlikely that someone needed a 7-year-old's pair of shoes. Also, we are the only ones in the entire building who are of a different religion than the others. Having said this I am sure we will find the shoes under a bed this week and I truly will fulfill the etymology of the word "ass-u-me", but if not, here is the lesson.
For several weeks now we have attended a Christian church here in Jerusalem that embraces the Messiah Jesus. This church and the people of this church face weekly dilemmas in following Christ. In the past month, the building was burned, one associated member was murdered in Gaza, and another person has his life under a serious threat in the West Bank. Each week we pray for these people, but more importantly, we pray for the ones who are doing these things. The church has made it clear that we will not hold grudges and that we will love and forgive those who burn our churches and take our lives. Nobody mentioned loving and forgiving those who take our shoes but after giving this some thought (and after examining the feet of every kid in the neighborhood) I decided that shoes probably apply in this scenario.
So, if someone stole my boys' shoes because they needed shoes, praise God that we could help them with their need. If someone stole our boys' shoes because they do not like those who follow the Messiah Jesus, then praise God that we are considered worthy of facing these challenges. If no one stole the shoes and they are lost under a bed, then praise God that we looked under the bed. And Praise God that we can wear sandals!

Ode to the Pita

2007-11-08T00:23:00.000-08:00

I think I am starting to get the hang of grocery shopping and cooking in Israel. Some simple rules are: you go to the fresh produce stands once a day and get the bare minimum that you need so that you waste nothing. But if you can go to the large downtown souk (pronounced "shook") you can get food at about half price. You dont buy bakery items at the grocery store...only at the bakery down the street or at the souk. You only buy your meat at the souk or at the very large supermarket near the mall, called Mega. Cheese is not really a good price anywhere, unless you want feta or goat cheese. "Salty cheese" is their funny version of chedder but it doesnt taste anything like chedder. You can go a couple miles downtown to the Russian Markets where they sell real chedder like we are used to in the states. Blue is for unsalted butter, and Red is the salted. There is one percent and whole milk only. There are about 100 types of yogurt. And if you see an American brand item that you like, make sure that you buy all of it that is in stock because you may never see it again. Oh, and most packaged goods here have been expired at least 9 months by the time it gets to us. You need to plan on paying a higher price for everything for a smaller quantity, and you have to just stop balking everytime you see a 30 as a price for cereal (30 shekels equals about 7 USD).

There are some things things about shopping and eating here that I really love. One of those things is the fresh juices. There appears to be only one brand of juice in the entire country and they only provide fresh squeezed juices at high prices. But they are sooo yummy. I also love that I can get huge tubs of hummos here for just a few dollars - and I am talking HUGE tubs. And I love that most everything at the souk is fresh and inexpensive. And I really, really love the pita here.

I can get a big bag of hot, piping pita bread for less than two dollars - 6 of them costs about 75 cents or 2.50 shekels. Because pita is such a good deal around here, we use it for everything. Below is a list of the great things you can do with a pita:

You can fill it with peanut butter and jelly
You can fill it with eggs and cheese
You can fill it with leftover salmon, or with tuna and tomato
You can use it for sloppy joes
or hamburgers (they call it a McKabob here)
You can fill it with hummos and tomato-cucumber salad
You can put cheese in a pita, grill it up and have it be a grilled cheese pita (creative name, ehh?)
You can cut it in half, broil it and tell your 5 year old that it is a very large English muffin (with jam)
(have I mentioned that all of this is authentic Israeli cuisine?)
You can make it into croutons
You can make it into pizza (kosher of course, with sauce and salty cheese)

You can probably get the point - since we are sort of on a budget here (retirement income) the economy of the pita is incredibly appealing to me. Not sure yet if the family has joined in my little love affair, but I am sure they will come around. If you have any other good pita recipes, please send them my way. We will try them (just so long as any other necessary ingredients can be found at the souk.).

The Week in Photos

2007-11-05T11:41:00.001-08:00

Morning is the time to beat the crowds in the Christian Quarter of the Old City.

Morning prayers at the Wailing Wall

Empty street on edge of Muslim and Jewish Quarters in the Old City

You can skate in Jerusalem

Before skating, make sure you stop by the Kippa man and get a proper head-covering.

The Russian Orthodox Church on Mount of Olives seen from Haas Promenade near our house.

Spice bins at the Mahane Yehuda Market. Make sure you make a good "phlem" sound when pronouncing the "h" in Mahane.

Cheese... as if you can't read the signs

The gate and the car that Jesus used to enter the city. Actually this is the Zion Gate in a portion of the wall rebuilt in the 1540's. Notice the bullet holes throughout the wall that are remnants from the 1948 war between Jordon and Israel.

Jesus.... okay, this really isn't Jesus

Don't Sweat the Big Stuff

2007-11-01T10:55:00.000-07:00

My kids have incredible imaginations. They truly never cease to amaze me in how they can make something out of almost nothing. At home in California, I have witnessed bunk beds turn into castles, sand turn into Egyptian pyramids, and couch cushions turn into tunnels. The boys can go for a hike along the creek near our home, and turn into real scientists on a quest for a new archeological find. Even a peanut butter sandwich, if bitten in the right pattern, can turn into a pumpkin, or a bat, or part of the solar system. It can be a bit exhausting trying to keep up with them, but it is also a great joy to see their creativity run wild. When Ryan brought up the possibility of this move to Israel, and the world travel that comes with it, I had several concerns. (I wont list them all here but you can probably guess some of them!). One of my concerns was that the boys imaginations might be lessened a bit by the magnitude of the real sights that we would see. Suddenly, the boys are standing in the courtyard of a real castle, are travelling to Egypt to touch the pyramids, are actually making a playground out of a real archeological sight. Will they still be able to make a tunnel out of couch cushions, when for fun Ryan is taking them to a tunnel built by the biblical prophet Hezekiah some 2600 years ago?

Are we making it impossible to enjoy the small things in life when we are exposing them to the biggest things?

My concerns were first diminished some when we reached London, and I saw my second oldest son rolling on the grass in front of Westminster Chapel. And then when we got to Tel Aviv, and although yes, it was the Mediteranean sea, the boys were digging for pirate treasure and jumping in the waves the same as always. By the time we got to Jerusalem, I was definitely starting to feel better. We didnt bring any toys with us, and shortly after arriving here, I found the boys sword-fighting with clothes hangers, and wrestling with....couch cushions. Every day at the park, the boys first run around trying to find litter (plastic spoons and paper cups to be precise), to dig and build with - to build things like pyramids, and to dig things like tunnels that will lead them to underground chambers with new discoveries. Our craft time includes searching for twigs and leaves to turn into masterpieces, and my oldest son can still travel to the solar system and beyond with only a pen and paper.

This week we celebrated Halloween in Jerusalem (I think we were the only ones). I went to the market and bought some Israeli candy. My oldest son dressed up in cargo pants and a skateboarding t-shirt, and cut out some round medallions from a cereal box - he was an archeologist who discovers pirate treasure. My second son, draped towels over each arm, and cut out a mask with pointy ears from the same cereal box - he was a bat. My youngest son sat on his bouncy seat with some candy on his legs - and got to be one of the trick or treat stops for the boys. So I guess as a four month old, he got to be a house for Halloween! Ryan went to one room in the house with his candy, I went to another, and Benja to another (he didnt actually go by himself...he cant walk yet). The two other boys knocked on doors and we oohed and ahhed over their costumes, and gave them candy. They were just as excited (and loud) as they are at home doing trick or treating. Afterwards, we had our kosher cheese pizza and apple cider, and our second son said "this is the best Halloween Ever!" So I am thinking it is safe to say that the Big stuff cannot keep our kids from enjoying the small.

Although one of our children is planning an "Egypt" themed 8th birthday party...on location. That just might ruin future birthdays for him...but probably not.

Buses, Bricks, & Books

2007-11-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of living in Israel certain things become routine and familiar.
At first, I found myself intrigued by every ancient-looking structure and overwhelmed by the lack of any familiar writing on signs and storefronts. The first week here I would ask myself things like, “Where is the safest place to sit on the bus in case of a suicide bomber?” And I would make clever observations such as, “There seems to be a lot of Jewish people here”.
Now I am quickly beginning to feel like a local. Each day I head to the bus stop and manage to get on the correct bus in route to the University. I am able to understand the Israeli bus system and schedule. A basic rule of thumb in Israel is go to your bus stop anytime of the day and you are guaranteed to wait 20 minutes for your bus. No schedules are published because in Israel the bus comes when it comes and that is the schedule. So I get on my bus and drive across town past the old city and on to Mount Scopus.
Driving across Jerusalem I see what have now become quite familiar sites; Wine and cheese shops on every street, fruit markets located within each neighborhood, outdoor café’s, an incredible number of book stores (Israel is known to read more books per capita than any other country), and a consistent and comforting presence by Israeli police and military personnel. I even can read every sign (although I do not understand everything I read). The ride that once captivated my every thought has already become a 25-minute period of time that I can use to read and prepare for class.
En route to the University we pass piles of bricks that form the structures of some of the world’s most famous buildings. We pass sections of the city wall that were built around the time of Christ with the remaining wall being rebuilt in the 1500’s. Once passing through the city I come across another pile of bricks that make up Hebrew University. It is my oasis in a bustling city. After passing through strenuous security checks I enter a world of brick buildings among manicured green lawns and tall shade trees. Students from all over the world stroll the halls and relax in the courtyard. I almost feel guilty while enjoying the serenity of the college campus knowing that below the hill just south of here is the busy city of Jerusalem and a very short distance east is the entrance to the West Bank.
I spend my days in a combination of intense courses focusing on the historical setting of the bible and the world of early Christianity and in full immersion Hebrew classes. I realize that if I didn’t use the Hebrew language to study the Bible my efforts would be somewhat useless. With Israel being the only country in the world speaking Hebrew, this intense language study is all for the purpose of communicating with a population roughly the same as the state of Mississippi. Can you imagine putting forth the effort it would take to understand the language of the people in Mississippi just for one year of study? (Mississippi-English doesn’t even have any classic texts to study so that is one language I am not intent on learning.)
Back to the point; my impression of the University and level of scholarship I am immersed with is one of awe. The intellect of the people in my classes and the knowledge of the subject matter by the professors is considerably higher than anything I have experienced in the states. I will face a challenge this year to keep up and to produce a high level of acceptable academic work but this is why I am here so the challenge is appealing. The question becomes what will this year of intense academic and social study lead to? That is a question better left for a later time but for now I will sit outside on the campus while I wait for my next class (Biblical Archaeology) to begin.

Keep Kicking Rocks

2007-10-30T18:04:00.000-07:00

Last week Sara shared some of her experiences and impressions of life here in Israel. She talked of the difficulties for an American Christian to fit and be accepted into daily life. Even our boys have struggled, as the kids on the playground next to our house seemed to only play with other Jewish boys leaving the “Pagans” to play alone. At one point one of my sons told me he wanted to buy a “Kippah” or “Yarmulke” and wear it to the park so that he would be allowed to play soccer. It is a heart-breaking thing for a parent to watch his kids struggle with acceptance but somehow I know that these experiences are invaluable to developing their lives. I wish I could take his place and protect him from these lessons but we “only possess what we experience”.
As the week went on Sara told me about something her grandfather used to say to his kids (Sara’s mom). Because they moved around a lot he used to tell them, “keep kicking rocks and eventually the other kids will join in”. So, Sara and the boys “kept kicking rocks” and they kept pursuing conversations with the same people who were rejecting them. Now, after one week, the others have joined in “kicking rocks”. In fact, the one who seemed the most obvious in her rejection actually took the boys to the park for a while yesterday and offered help whenever we might need it.
This is a major answer to prayer and a testament to the importance of persistent love and grace in the face of opposition. What Sara and the boys were able to accomplish in one week of breaking down walls proclaims the message of the Risen Jesus. It reminds us of the incredible acceptance that Jesus gave to others around Him and how compelling that acceptance is. This doesn’t mean that all is now easy and perfect, but it does mean that on some levels things are a bit easier. I have the opportunity of studying and working in my “bubble” called Hebrew University, but I think Sara and the boys are learning as much if not more than I will learn this year. Their attitudes and willingness to succeed impress me. I am grateful for them.

the Week in Photos

2007-10-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

A view of Jerusalem from the campus at Hebrew University.

The Western Wall with the Dome of the Rock in the background. This is the location of The Temple Mount from the Bible. The entire mount was made into a Muslim compound which obviously has interesting political implications. This is why the wall is also called the Wailing Wall.

This the Church of All Nations (which I guess means it is the church of your nation) located on The Mount of Olives in
The Garden of Gethsemene.

This is The Church of Dormition which conveniently (and suspiciously) hosts David's Tomb, the location of The Last Supper, and where Jesus' mom died.

This painting is on the dome inside The Church of the Sepcultre which claims to be the site of Golgatha and Jesus' Tomb. Every place of historical importance (or supposed place of importance) has churches, monastaries, temples, or mosques built on the site. Somehow these massive buildings were erected without disrupting the archaeology of the area.... yeah.

A windmill (in case you were wondering).

A taxi.

A market in the Old City.

My son Ian at the Western Wall. He is the one on the right.

Me after two weeks in Jerusalem.

Advertisement for John Nagel's comedy show in Jerusalem.

The Israeli built wall separating the West Bank from the rest of Israel. This is the view from the edge of our neighborhood.

Peasants and Scum

2007-10-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

As is typical, days here in Jerusalem have there ups and downs. I am certainly adjusting to the culture and the people, a new language and a new home. This morning I started off the day with a run towards Old Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate. I sat under a bouganvilla-covered arbor on a bench overlooking the city, listening to Chris Tomlin on my ipod singing "the cross before, and the world behind..." I doubt he was sitting where I was when he wrote the song, but it took on a new meaning for me as I looked out on the spot where Christ indeed died on the cross for me. The world, behind me. I would call that a high point of my day.

I proceeded home, and spent the rest of the day sinking lower and lower. Today was one of Ryan's long days at school and so I was juggling three boys and homeschool (when this is not my forte...I am quite wimpy) in a strange land, and out of shekels to boot. There are some women at the park who are ultra-orthodox jews, and not that this is their culture, but certainly these women in particular are not kind. When I try to walk up to them, they walk away from me. Their children do not play with my children. Our landlord explained to me that here in Israel the way a person dresses will automatically categorize you. My conservative California clothing is considered quite heathen to the conservative Jew here. So I spent a lot of the day inside, fretting over my clothes, trying to figure out how to cover my entire body but stay comfortable in 90 degree weather. When I finally did get the courage to venture out to the park with the boys, I looked a little ridiculous in my outfit, a long dress with a hoodie and closed toe shoes. And still I sat alone on a park bench, watching the orthodox Jewish boys refuse to let my boys play soccer with them.

I am pretty sure I had repeated the mantras "why are we HERE??" and "is it July yet??" about 100 times when I overheard a woman on her cell phone on a bench next to mine. She was talking to a friend about a job opportunity that had come up for her (in English..I am not that proficient in hebrew yet!) in an area she wasn't sure she wanted to work in. She basically said that the area was full of peasants, and minority people groups and said she didn't really want to work with scum. I am finding that this is a place where lines are drawn between people on so many levels - religious, social, economic... her comment just helped to support that sentiment. Certainly the country of Israel and the people here in general are generous and welcoming. But the park near our apartment has not proved to be a place where those people spend their time. I have felt incredibly shunned and very much like "scum." At one point I was sitting on the bench obsessing over my outfit, thinking that maybe my dress should be down to my ankles and not just to my knees. Watching the other women react to me, and questioning my own morality. I started to wonder if that was how the Samaritan woman at the well (in the Bible) felt like. An outsider, shunned, the scum of the neighborhood.

Then I thought back to a Bible Study that I taught last year - our group studied the book "The Jesus I never knew." One Sunday morning we talked about whether or not we would be drawn to Jesus if we lived back when Jesus walked on earth. And none of us were really sure. Sitting there today, feeling like the peasant and the scum, I absolutely felt drawn to Jesus. I had such a longing to have someone show me kindness. To treat me like an equal, to love me and to be gracious to me. I can see why the people who followed him were largely the "ragamuffins" - the poor, the outcast, the sick. I could easily at that moment washed Jesus's feet with my tears, reached out for his robe, laid at his feet, had he walked into that park today.

I still dont know why we are here. I cannot say that at that low point in the park today I was happy to be here. But I can say that I am humbled as well as overcome by the great love that God has for me. I end the day on more of a low than a high...however one thing remains the same. The cross of His unconditional love and sacrifice, which he made for scum like me, lies ahead. And this world lies behind.

Not to us, but to His name be the glory.
Shalom,
Sara

The Week in Photos

2007-10-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this will be the week in photos or the several days in photos but either way I will try to share some images from each week. These photos are from our stopover in London. I will post photos from our home in Jerusalem tomorrow.

FOOD

2007-10-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

As Ryan mentioned in a previous blog, I tend to be a bit more personal and specific in my blog contributions than he is. This could be no better illustrated as true than in todays blog. Because there isnt much more that I take more personally than the subject matter that I want to discuss today - and yes that is food. If you are a friend, family or God, please know that you are indeed higher on my list but that is about it. So let me just ramble on a bit about my food experiences of the past week.

London - I dont have a lot to say about the airplane food or about the food in London. Except to say that the fish and chips were as good as ever, although our restaurant at one point was out of ketchup and tarter sauce and salt and pepper which was a little sad for me. Oh and I did have plenty of tea and shortbread cookies which I believe both of these are some of the best of Britains accomplishments.

Once in Israel though my food experiences have gotten much more interesting - starting perhaps with the McKabob that Ryan got at a restaurant that I will not name (I dont like to give free advertising). The McKabob was very good, did not come with cheese, and also cost us about 9 US dollars. Yes, that is correct.

Once we got to Jerusalem, we walked over to a corner market and tried to go shopping for a few staples to get us through a couple meals. The experience was incredibly overwhelming for two main reasons. One, I had no idea what I was looking at most of the time and two, the prices were 2-4 times the prices we have at home. I did find a box of rice cereal that baby Benja will be needing in another two months. It cost 10 US dollars for the box so I dont really know if Ben will be starting solids while out of the US. I dont expect to see English on anything and am looking forward to being immersed in the culture here. However, right now I know nothing about Hebrew and when everything is written in it things are a bit difficult. I tried smelling and squishing things as best as I could and ended up with a few things - we bought bread (not sure if it was wheat or rye), some milk (either cows or sheeps or something else), some lunch meat (chicken?) and an apple (this I did recognize and it cost me a dollar). I really do love food and cooking and so to be so out of sorts was a bit depressing. So today we went to a larger and cheaper supermarket a little farther away, and I hoped that things would turn out a bit better.

We parked our rental car and went into the market. It was bigger and cheaper and had more things that I could recognize like toilet paper and shampoo. I did not know if I was getting shampoo for colored hair, dry hair, or whatever, but I think it was shampoo and not conditioner. I did get what I thought was a jumbo thing of clothes detergent only to realise at home that it was fabric softener. I couldnt tell which was salted and unsalted butter so I got both. We got what we thought was canteloupe and it was something greener and sweeter once we cut it open. Again everything is in Hebrew and a lot of the foods just look so different that we have no idea what we are getting. Food that was plentiful was hummos, pita, and lots of containers of salads. I have so much more empathy now for people in the US who have immigrated or who are visiting and dont know a lick of English - because I certainly am at a loss in the market for now! One thing that was all too familiar occurred at the end of the shopping trip. Ben needed to eat (he is feeling left out of the cultural experience) so I took him and the keys to the rental up to the parking garage to feed him. I walked up and down every aisle pushing the unlock button, hoping to hear a beep or a door unlocking. I looked in the back seat of every big car I saw hoping to find a car seat and even tried the key in one. Finally I gave up and sat on the concrete outside the store and waited for the one in our marriage who has a shred of a sense of direction. At the very least, it was comforting to know that even in Israel some things remain the same. Stay tuned for our efforts at keeping a kosher kitchen. :)

British Sitcom

2007-10-14T13:33:00.000-07:00

Our final stop before arriving in Israel was a quick two days in the U.K. One day we decided to head out to Windsor with the family (and two friends from America, Megan and Danna). We had a great time in Windsor and the boys were energetic and interested all day! On the way I witnessed a classic British scene that I just have to share with you.

This story works best when you hear the dialogue with thick British accent so do your best to imagine it.

We were sitting in a mostly empty Charter bus for a short ride to Windsor. In front of me sat an elderly couple with gray hair, glasses, and wearing typical English attire, somewhat formal looking. Between the two of them they had one whole rows of seats, two on each side of the aisle, and they each occupied the opposite window seat so there was a decent amount of space between them. As we traveled, the husband sat turned towards the window and was fully engaged in reading the morning newspaper. His wife sat staring straight ahead and had a bothered expression on her face.

As our journey neared the end, she tried to get his attention because she wanted the plastic bag that sat in the chair next to him. He failed to acknowledge that she was there so she hit him with her cane and this is where I bring you into the story.

"Harold... Harold, give me the bag. "

"What do you want (you old hag)?" I actually added the "old hag" part because I think it makes the story better.

"The bag Harold, give me the bag".

Harold tosses the bag over to her and turns back to read the paper while mumbling to himself.

Ali proceeds to vomit into the bag. (I'm not sure what her name is but the only British woman I really know is named Ali).

Harold looks at his wife vomiting and then expresses his disgust with her behavior with another mumble that I regrettably was unable to hear. Harold turns back to his paper as Ali proceeds to vomit several times. Our bus comes to its final stop and once again Ali calls out to her husband.

"Harold. Harold, give me your hanky".

Harold pulls his handkerchief from his pocket and tosses it to his wife as she completes her vomiting. Ali wipes her mouth and Harold says, "You keep the hanky, I don't want it anymore".

Ali counters, “I will keep the hanky, but you can keep your plastic bag”. Ali then got up and tossed her bag of vomit to her husband and stormed off the bus.
Okay that last line is not true but the Ali I know would have thrown the bag of vomit at her husband if he said that. Plus, at this time the bus was stopped and everyone was scurrying off the bus to avoid engaging in any sympathy vomiting so I didn’t actually see the end of the scene.

And that was our trip to Windsor. Cheers.

My Version of the Road Trip

2007-10-10T17:07:00.000-07:00

Now that you heard from my wife who tends to be more personal and factual about our adventures, here are my thoughts after the trip up to Washington.
***
Packing up the car and driving across portions of the Country as a family is a good old American tradition. It only makes sense that the country that perfected the mass production of the automobile and publicly funded interstate freeways should embrace a tradition such as the “Road Trip”. Because of this fact, I thought the best way for my family to spend our time before we head off to another country is to embrace our American heritage and hit the road. So we completed the task of packing our home into storage and then loaded our essentials for a drive up the west coast of our country to our final stop in Washington State before heading off to Israel for the year.

Our trip would take us to the Northern California Coast to the famous Coastal Redwood forest. And what says, “Road Trip” more than driving through one of America’s largest states, sleeping in roadside hotels, and eating “Moons Over MyHammy” for lunch at Dennys? Once in the Redwood forest you can actually spend the day in awe of God’s creation and be convinced of the value of conservation and responsibility towards our natural resources and then drive through a 1000 year old tree that someone decided to decimate by carving it out just enough to fit a family vehicle right through the center. To complete the experience, you have one person jump out of the car and take pictures of your vehicle actually going through a tree. Only the families that swallow their pride enough to take part in these most cliché’ tourist experiences can fully enjoy the real American Road Trips.
While driving up the coast in hopes of getting in touch with nature and finding some “World’s Largest Lump-of-Clay” type photo ops, I realized that a few universal rules apply when enjoying a family vacations on the road.

Rule Number One: No matter how much fun is being had, the kids must take periodic breaks to either complain about the length of the journey or to fight with one another. It is a very important part of the trip to make sure that the parents go through times during the trip where they think it would be better to be back at work. Without these moments of torture, parents would quit their jobs, sell their homes, and devote their lives to touring the world with the family. Productivity in our nation would drop and the population of hippies would grow out of control so rule number one is essential.

Rule Number Two: Parents must make empty threats to everyone in the car. Common phrases are, “If one more person complains we will sit in the hotel room and do nothing all day”. Everyone except perhaps the parent making this threat knows that sitting in the hotel room and disrupting the schedule is not an option so no level of poor behavior will ever put these threats into effect. Other common phrases are, "I will turn this car around”, “We will never go on vacation again”, “This is the last time we are stopping to go pee”, or “We will just leave you on the side of the road and continue without you”. This final threat is the most likely one of all to be fulfilled so parents must use caution when vocalizing it.

Rule Number Three: The driver shall be the only one truly interested in seeing all the great wonders of God’s creation. Only a driver (and usually only driver who has entered the ranks of fatherhood) can pretend there is beauty and joy found in driving 8 hours through hot, dry, and smelly places like central California. The problem is that only the driver is truly required to stay awake and pay attention to the surroundings so all other passengers can find ways to pass the time until they arrive at things truly worth enjoying. Basically, everyone else just wants to get to the next stop, hop out of the car and pose for a family picture in front of “America’s largest ball of twine”, and get back to sleep in the car.
I remember when I was young our family would drive across places like South Dakota and my dad would say things like, “You boys better wake up and look out the window. You are missing all of the scenery”. Of course he knew that South Dakota doesn’t actually have any scenery and he also knew that life was easier if we all stayed asleep, but violating rule number three is unacceptable so the game goes on.

Rule Number Four: The schedule is similar to the budget; it looks good on paper but is more accurate when made after the trip is complete. I don’t have time to get into this so allow me to simply give some quick observations. Scenic drives come with RV’s and Logging Trucks. Gas stations are never available when the fuel light goes on. “Points of Interest” are never just off the road. Kids and wives forget things at restaurants and don’t remember for at least 15 miles down the road. Tires never pop unless it is raining.

By the way, our trip up the coast was perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of God’s creation while my wife and boys slept. We got our picture driving through a tree. We almost ran out of gas on a scenic road but luckily found one pump at “Harry’s Gas, Beer, and Fine Collectibles” station. I threatened to turn the car around twice before coming to grips with the fact that turning around would make our trip even longer. We ate blackberries on the side of the road. We hiked through the woods at three different stops. We searched for agates at Agate Beach. We ate more fast-food than we have in the past year. We made it to our final destination and were actually glad we took the trip and look forward to the next one.

Shalom from the other half

2007-10-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! Ryan has graciously allowed me to post on his blog from time to time. I figure I can post a funny kid story, or a new Israeli recipe from time to time when you get tired of Ryan's philosophical wanderings (not that I ever get tired of them!).

I am writing this from my father in law's office computer. We made it safely to Washington state and have been here since yesterday afternoon. The trip was fun and the boys were all three troopers. Baby Benja (as we have nicknamed him for the moment) slept well and was fairly laid back despite having to sit backwards in his car seat and stare at nothing for three days. At one point I called the trip "nursing my way up the coast" as I sat on a rock overlooking the ocean feeding Ben. I also fed Ben at a rest stop in the pouring rain at 3 in the morning, on the side of the road behind a sleeping big rig driver, on the side of the road in the redwoods, in a Denny's, a KFC, a McDonalds parking lot and by the side of an indoor pool while the boys swam and Ryan slept. This will be the extent of Benja's travelling experience which he has probably already forgotten. :)

If you have facebook you have read my short account of our trip but here it is again. The redwoods were beautiful and majestic, just like the claims. They are tall and straight and taller than some 35 story buildings. The sunlight filters down onto the moss-strewn ground and you feel like you are in another world - travelling in October meant that we were usually the only tourists around which made it all the more surreal. The trip was an interesting emotional mix - of awe at the incredible natural beauty and enormity of this world, mixed with awe at our awesome God and the enormity of what he has called us to do in this next year. He is certainly big enough to cover us with his sheltering branches, to warm us with rays of his love and to blanket the path before us with the life he has already prepared.

Most of you know that I read the Harry Potter series and enjoyed it - if you plan to read it and havent yet you may want to skip this part! But one of the most poignant parts of the final book (in my opinion) is when Harry has just realized that he is going to die. He is walking through the school that he has spent many years of his life, stepping past good friends, and walking through the forest, thinking about what he is about to lose. I can imagine the ache in his heart. To tear away from all that is so precious to him - he knows he must do it but it leaves him feeling raw and pained. This past month for me has felt a bit like that - I have been most certainly blessed by friends and family that love me and have been there for me. Walking on the lawn of MHC on Sunday and looking over the faces of some of those people left me a little achy and raw. Of course I do not plan on dying anytime soon :) but with changes there is a sort of death to the way things were. I look ahead to this next year with much anxiety but also anticipation at what God has in store for our family. But know that for those of you from our home in OC, know that you are loved and missed.

Leaving

2007-10-04T11:02:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we closed the page on a seven-year chapter in our lives and opened another that is certain to hold unexpected adventures and unforgettable experiences. After working and living in the same area for seven years I did what any other normal person would do; I quit my job and decided to move my family with three young boys to Israel for a year.
Driving away from our home and our lives that we have grown to love so much is no easy task, but the prospect of meeting new people, seeing new things, and allowing our perspectives of the world to expand is a suitable consolation. It is this promise of adventure and anticipation of the unknown that drives us forward. It is amazing to me at the number of people who cannot fathom why a person would leave the comforts of Orange County for new experiences. Granted these are the people who count going to Los Angeles as a trip to a third world country and standing in line at the DMV as a multi-cultural experience. It is these people who give helpful commentary such as, “I hope Iran doesn’t nuke you this year”, or “I would never take my family into that violent country”. I like to follow this up by asking for the actual number of violent crimes in Israel compared to California. I have even had one person help me out by saying, “A lot people die in suicide attacks on buses… I hope you won’t ride any buses.” To this I simply replied, “I actually just got a job as a bus driver… well, it was nice knowing you.”
My wife says that I am a “dumbist”, that I am prejudice against dumb people and that I have no patience for those who I consider lacking in some form of intellectual competence. So maybe I am too harsh on those who believe that the “News” gives an accurate picture of the world or on those who think that my kids will receive less education traveling the world than those who spend their whole lives in our dream world called Orange County. I guess I just expect mature adults to value expanded horizons and to embrace the thrill of quenching the desire for discovery.
Maybe it is my family that is unusual. Perhaps the fact that we made a decision years ago to spend our money on experience over stuff sets us apart. It could be that finding pleasure in the earth God created keeps us from a healthy retirement and a stable career path. All I know that I am grateful for my wife who is willing to go along with this idea and for my boys who help me find the wonder in this world. I am thankful to my God for putting my family in a position where we can take time off from work to pursue the adventure of a lifetime. I can say without a doubt that I am the most blessed person on this earth and completely undeserving of this status.

Slight Delay

2007-10-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

We have been traveling from our home in Orange County to Washington before leaving for Israel and have had some posting problems. Our real posts will be up by the weekend.

Coming October 3rd 2007

2007-07-19T16:23:00.001-07:00