I got a cheery little call tonight from the trooper.
My mom is doing pretty good, praise God.

Please pray for my dear mom.
She's having surgery to fix a busted
wrist joint from a bad fall. I love her.

Here's an Oswald Chambers gem I ran
across today. It is resounding with me
these days.

The Brave Comradeship of God
"Then He took unto Him the twelve." Luke
18:31

The bravery of God in trusting us! You say -
"But He has been unwise to choose me, because
there is nothing in me; I am not of any value."
That is why He chose you. As long as you think
there is something in you, He cannot choose you
because you have ends of your own to serve; but
if you have let Him bring you to the end of your
self-sufficiency then He can choose you to go
with Him to Jerusalem, and that will mean the
fulfilment of purposes which He does not discuss
with you.

We are apt to say that because a man ahs natural
ability, therefore he will make a good Christian. It
is not a question of our equipment but of our
poverty, not of what we bring with us, but of what
God puts into us; not a question of natural virtues
of strength of character, knowledge, and experience -
all that is of no avail in this matter. The only thing
that avails is that we are taken up into the big
compelling of God and made His comrades (Cor. 1:
26-30). The comradeship of God is made up of men
who know their poverty. He can do nothing with the
man who thinks he is of use to God. As Christians
we are not out for our own cause at all, we are out
for the cause of God, which can never be our cause.
We do not know what God is after, but we have to
maintain our relationship with Him whatever happens.
We must never allow anything to injure our relationship
with God; if it does get injured we must take time and
get it put right. The main thing about Christianity is
not the work we do, but the relationship we maintain
and the atmosphere produced by that relationship.
That is all God asks us to look after, and it is the one
thing that is being continually assailed.


Did you catch that last paragraph?!! Wow, that was
well stated, Chambers. "We do not know what God
is after, but we maintain our relationship with Him
whatever happens." That is a mysteriously beautiful
truth for me today. I want to follow after him, even
though it is almost sure that I will have little idea
where we are going till we get there. Oh, what
wisdom and persistence it takes to discern what
steps to take in pursuing a life in Him. It somehow
helps me to know that ultimately, it is an impossibility
to percieve every step of the journey.

I may not know exactly where we're going, but Lord,
I want to follow you. God help me.

OK folks, here's the lowdown.

12 Things You Won't See in Nebraska or Kansas,
But Will in Israel:
1. Mountanous formations
2. Palm trees
3. Camels on the side of the road
4. 4-tiered waterfalls
5. Signs in Hebrew as well as English and Arabic
6. People wearing large guns who want to stop
and talk to you.
7. 3 thousand year old artifacts scattered randomly
on the ground.
8. Tank tops in December.
9. Place names with apostrophes in the middle of
the words (Ma'agan for example).
10. Large heards of mangy sheep led by Beduin
shepheards.
11. Toilets with two options for flushing.
12. Terracing.

Song fragment inspired by various piles of extremely
old rocks:

You don't talk, no, no
You don't make one little sound
Unless I tromp on you
or throw you on the ground
-Whack!_

Oh, you beautiful, you ugly rocks
Formed into a wall so long ago
How you used to be so much taller
Oh, you sturdy and so homely rocks
Long past being used for anything
You win the prize for staying power

Song fragment inspired by Tel Hazor

Burn the city down, oh
Burn the city down
Joshua said to burn the city down,
Burn it down
Turn this place around
The rich man's stones aren't round
God told him to burn the city down
So long Hazor!


I don't know that there's so much potential
in those silly fragments, but they were necessary
distractions for me at a few moments when
I was struggling to keep my mind focused
on the reality of all the piles of rocks we saw
once being acutal, live cities.

It is too hard for me right now to try and
summarize the trip. I just can't do it justice.
Just to give you an idea, I probably took about
300 pictures. For me, that's a ton. We saw
and experience SO MUCH. My dad is a master
at planning and implementing a schedule. I
am very greatful for the opportunity to benefit
from his experiences and knowledge in this
wonderful country.

By the way, the food is so amazing, especially if
you are a fan of freshness and variety like me.
So many different salads to fill up your pita bread.
Mmmmm, it was tasty. Not to mention like eight
different consistencies of yoghurt and cheese,
and the fallafels and schwarma...and such
amazing things done with the eggplant.

I'm going to go sleep now, ok?
Sorry to cut you off so abruptly, but, well, I'm
kind of tired of talking at you. ha ha, just
kidding. I could never tire of talking at you.
Ha ha, you only wish! Alright then, until we meet again...
have a great day!

Here's a little taste of my trip.

I'm alive.
Israel was....
an experience I have yet to be able to fully grasp
or explain. I could say it was great, I could say it
was enlightening, I could say it was a struggle at
times...but mostly, I don't think I really understand
its role in my life quite yet.

I'll maybe put some actual pictures on here pretty
soon since I used a digital camera for the first time
while over there.

I sincerely hope anyone who might read this is doing
well and I hope that all my friends and family know how
much they mean to me, even if I've been quite absent
as of late.

I appreciate the Truth, and I am still grasping for more
in many areas of my life. Above all, I thank God for
His love and patience with all of us.

I love my parents and my family. I'm so glad for the
time spent with them this break, even for the moments
where our vulnerabilities and weaknesses rubbed up
against each other unpleasantly. It is all part of the
refining, and a part of real love I believe. Thank you, Lord,
for counting us worthy of these experiences that open
our eyes more fully to the light.

I am an official overseas traveler! I am like 20 points
cooler now. Who hoo!!!!