Back To Israel

We took over 1000 pictures when we were in Israel and Jordan. 

We've done our presentation for the Church, but I'm still finding it hard to sort through all the pictures! 

The experience was overwhelming and really made an impact on my life. 

It's nearly impossible to put it into just words and pictures.  I'll do my best...

We flew Portland, to LA, where Paul and I met up with our tour group.  Los Angelas to Chicago (O'Hare Aiport, I've been there a few times and didn't mind the layover since I knew how to get to stuff!)  Chicago to Amsterdam, Germany (German is such a harsh language and they are tough cookies!  I was glad to be just passing through.) Amsterdam to Tel Aviv where the pictures above were taken.  After such a long journey, we were so tired, and I was soooo bloated.  (Just thought you should know, ha!ha!)

Straight from the airport we went to Joppa and saw the The Call of Jonah.  We also visited the housetop of Peter's vision and where Peter raised the disciple, Tabitha, from the dead.

The above pictures don't really do it justice.  There were many narrow streets to wind our way through and I hadn't quite gotten the hang of being a photo-snappin' tourist yet.

We overnighted in Tel Aviv smack dab on the Mediterranean Sea.

The shore was covered in shells.

We awoke very early on our first day

so that we could steal away some time for ourselves and go exploring.

My Israel honey-love.

Caesarea (not to be confused with Caesara Philippi) 

 where Peter first took the message of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

We took many, many pictures here.  Too many to post!  Here we also saw Herod's 40 Acre harbor, big enough to accomodate 300 ships, much larger than the modern harbors of today. 

Philip the evangelist lived in Caesarea.

Paul sailed from Caesarea to his native Tarsus.

Herod the Great constructed this theater with a seating capacity of 3500.  According to Josephus, this is where the death of Herod Agrippa occurred, as recounted in Acts 12.

We visited many theaters on our trip.  My favorite thing to do was get up on the stage to hear the amazing acoustics.  I would yell  "Take them away!  Off with their heads!"  I did everything I could to have the full experience of Israel.  It was my own immersion program. Smile.

Above two pictures of the lengthy aqueducts that brought water

from the springs at the base of Mt. Carmel nearly 10 miles away.

So very amazing to touch and feel history!

Besides Jerusalem, this was my very most favorite place.  It was beautiful and we got to hike through to get to our destination.  There was an abundance of remains here of cities and places of worship from thousands of years ago, plus tons of old bunkers we crawled through from the 1967 War which were built in the same strategic locations that the Tribe of Dan had used in 1300 BC.

In the Middle East, the past and the present hold hands.

This was a replica of the four horned altar.  Paul and I are reaching for the horn. 

A criminal could cling to the horn of the altar in order to receive mercy from the law. 

I guess the short people didn't get much mercy.  I was having a very hard time to reach it,

but jumping and reaching, I could with the tips of my fingers.

I'm free in His Mercy!

Dinner tonight: Its and Bits Meat Pie, Cheesy Broccoli and homemade Banana Cake for dessert.

Books and Movies

I've seen a couple of really good movies lately. 
"I Am David" was an excellent movie.  Even my boys loved it, mostly David.  I cried and laughed and it was one of those movies that I will not forget.  It was adventurous with some really deep scenes.  
Another great one was "The Blind Side" which was just a super good and uplifting movie.  I really liked how the family was portrayed so positively.  The children in the movie were really great kids and the parents were admirable too.  I get tired of movies with rotten kids and dysfunctional parents, so this one really impressed me.  I was crying in this movie too!  I'm such sap.

I just finished reading "Abraham's Well" .  My friend, Jackie, thought I'd like it and boy was she right! It's about the slaves of the Native American Indians (is that politically correct enough?),   but I won't go into to much detail so that I won't give the story away.  I really liked the book and it has sparked my curiosity (and anger!) in this subject.  I would definately recommend this book. 

Right now, I am  reading two books by Elisabeth Elliot.  "Let Me Be A Woman" and "The Mark of A Man".    Elisabeth Elliot   is the wife of a murdered missionary who then ministered to the tribe that killed her husband.  It is an amazing story.  You can learn more by watching the Beyond the Gates of Splendor documentary.   I had not really heard of her much before until a friend from our Women's Officer's Retreat in January said that she really looked up to her.  It sparked my interest, and I am hooked on her books so far!

Is the Bible really God's Word? and teaching our children!

                                         
              Here is my Bible on the shore of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus ate with his disciples.

I love to warm up my Sunday School class with a Sword Drill.  Do you know what that is?  The children place the Bible in front of them, closed, with their hand on top.  They sit eagerly on the edge of their chairs in anticipation for the Scripture Chapter and Verse I'm about to announce.  The moment I announce it, pages fly, sometimes Bibles too, while the children race to find the Scripture.  The first one who finds it, jumps up and reads it.  Even the littler ones get involved when I pair them up with an older child who likes to help.  I have to admit, that I think us adults enjoy Sword Drills just as much! I've torn many a pages in Bibles with when my competetive spirit gets out of hand.  (Shame on me.)

It is thrilling to see children and adults excited about using their Bible!  The Bible is God's Word.  It is absolute truth.    I'm not trying to get anyone's defenses up or anything, but here are some of the questions I have asked myself in discerning the Bible to be God's Word.  
*name me one other book in the whole world that is a compilation of 66 books,  has been written by 40 authors, covering a period of 4000 years, yet has the same common thread of redemption for mankind? 
*Pick any book in the Bible and you will see a clear and consistent display of God's character and man's character.  You may not know God, but I'm sure you know yourself.  Look to the word and you will see yourself.  Yikes!
*In all the excavating and studying of history, the Bible has never been proven wrong. The Bible gives an accurate account of all kinds of historical events. Even "atheists" (silly gooses!) look to it for historical value.  If it can be trusted in it's physical context, then how could it not be trusted in it's spiritual context?
*When it is read, it resonates with the human soul, no matter what time period or culture one may be in.  How can it always relate?  Because God and people are the same no matter what the timeline or language.
*It is the best selling book of all time.  Millions of people have and continue to embrace it.  Could that many people really be duped? 
Seriously, how could I not believe??  Only God could inspire a book like that.

When I was working on my CBS Lesson the other day, Ann asked me why I kept flipping around in my Bible.  I told her I was studying and answering questions from my notebook.  She looked at me and said "isn't that cheating?"  "No way, Ann!" I said, "we're supposed to look in our Bible for the answers." 

                  Reading Scripture over the house of Caiaphas where Jesus was beaten and imprisoned          
                     overnight. Next to me was the cistern that prisoners were traditionally thrown down. 


and a quote, about children, and the blessing and exhortation of giving them direction from God's Word      
       “Think of the possibility of raising a multitude of men and women
       whose bodies have never been poisoned by vicious indulgences,
       whose minds have been enlightened and filled with the principles of Divine truth from their infancy,
       and whose hearts, from their earliest days, have been inspired with the love of Christ
       and possessed with the one supreme ambition to glorify the Father,
       dethrone the devil, destroy sin and save the world!”
                                William Booth, Founder of The Salvation Army, 1884

Don't ever be ashamed or afraid to teach your children the Word. I have heard christian mothers say "well, I don't want to turn them off from God"  or "it's their choice" or "I wouldn't want to shove it down their throat".   That is all worldly thinking of  fear and defeat!  My children LOOOOOVE God's Word!  They love the real heros and the wild stories and how it always seems to have just the right answer for them.  My babies have ruined Bibles from mimicking those around them that are reading.  Help your children get  in the habit of listening to the voice of God that reveals itself in Scripture.  Train them to go to it for answers.  Help them be in the habit of reading it and learning from it.  Let them see you wrestle with questions and search for answers.    Going to God's Word is the best habit to develop in them!  Pushing in their chair, or making their beds, or saying "please" and "thank you", among so many other habits are all good, but if you must stress, and fret, and focus on one... make it the reading and learning from God's Word. 

Another Heart's Desire Granted! My Baptism in the Jordan River

I thank the Lord for my husband Paul!

He was so excited for me to fulfill one of my heart's desire,

he wouldn't let anything stop my baptism from happening.

 I learned so much from this experience about legalism and the oppression it brings.

The Lord spoke to my heart and said... You can never be in the wrong if you're following Jesus.

I am understanding in a fresh way the freedom that comes from that. I am praying for the unsaved to submit to what the Lord already is confirming in their deepest parts- that Jesus is Lord. Come by faith.  And instead of death... LIFE abundant!

I told Ezekiel, please do not hold me under, I can't breath under water.

(I always thought that's why they put the hand on the head)

I did pinch my nose, like always.  The kids are still teasing me for that after watching it on the video. 

I was also glad there was a railing to hold onto so that I didn't wash away if the river picked up.

I love playing in the water with the kids, but other than that I am not a water person. 

I get scared in the shower if I'm in there too long.

The water was SOO freezing, but I didn't care. 

Our comrade and friend, Ezekiel, must've been even more cold as he baptized 6 of us.

And I was so glad my mascara stayed on and didn't run all over

because we still had the rest of the day in front of us!

The Lord even takes care of the details (ha!ha!).

It turned out that there was a man who professionally videotaped the baptism.  We debated whether to buy it or not at $18.  But we finally did  buy it and boy am I glad! Because while Paul was "videotaping" he really wasn't!! (He has too big of hands which cause him to push buttons he shouldn't! LOL!)

Now I've been baptized twice- first by the Holy Spirit and second with the Jordan River.

Thank you, Lord, for allowing me such an amazing experience!

Happy Birthday Mary!

Happy Birthday to our sticky-sweet Mary!  One year ago the Lord added you to our family (sorry Mary ha!ha!) and we have loved every minute of it.  Mary is walking up to 12 steps at a time, but because that's not fast enough, she breaks out into a crawl to get what or who she's after.  She says: up, ma-mam, da-da-da, ea (for eat), bye-bye, and points like crazy at stuff.  She loves to "read" books and play with baby dolls, even sits and rocks them while she burps their head.  She wants to be involved in everything to try and keep up with big brothers and sisters. 

Cake
Icecream
Presents
Cards
and an "anything you want" day

   all for Mary.


And a quote I've read before...
"Whoever says you can't love the fifth child as much as the first, never had a fifth."

Thank you, Lord, for Mary!

Happy Birthday David! and some more

Another year has passed for our David! 
He turned 11 in the wee hours of this morning while we were all sleeping. 

We went to Dairy Queen last night after Youth Activities for his birthday dinner since today is a full day. I told him his birth story, which he loves to hear.  I stayed up late to decorate the dining room,wrap his gift, bake a cake,  (and catch up on other stuff too!).  When he gets home from school we will celebrate with cake, icecream and cards/presents in good old Chouinard party style. Raise the roof. 

Then he has a baseball game in Dufur.  Paul will go with him because the other kids and I need to go to Elijah's Aesops Fables school play of which he is starring as a frog. 

And since it is David's birthday--- I must "announce" how I am so very proud of him that he is representing their school in the County Spelling Bee at the end of April!  I am more excited about it than him. David mentioned it to me nonchalantly.  The principal called home to tell us and everything!  I just love spelling, even when I was a kid.  I'm thinking that between school and all of our mini-spelling bees we've done in the car when we're driving long distances has paid off!  Even when David was a babe, Paul and I would compete.  Smile. 

The girls and I have CBS this morning which I love, love, love because of the in-depth Bible Study, the women, and the Children's program.  It is my one "selfish" treat that I look forward to all week.  I walk by the girls' room often in between meetings to watch their happy faces singing songs, hearing Bible lessons, crafting and snacking.


We are so enjoying the Spring days.  The weather has been so beautiful.  The girls pick me flowers all day long from the yard.  They have even re-planted several.  I know I kept ruining their fun when I tell them all the reasons why the flowers won't grow.  So now I just smile and act just as hopeful as them that their flowers will grow to reach heaven.

Off I go, I hear Hannah insisting to Ann that she's a winner not a loser, which means Ann has called her a loser again....

Thank you, Lord, for our beloved David and for Spring!

Destination Imagination and Friday night

David's DI Team (click here--Destination Imagination-- to find out more) made it to the state finals again this year.  He LOVES it and so do we.  Next season, I am really hoping that I can run a team with Elijah and Ann on it too, I just need to figure out the participation rules.  It is an awesome program that implements so many different learning styles and teaches teamwork, creativity, critical thinking, smart-spontaneity, etc. 

Last night I took Elijah to see "How To Tame A Dragon".  We had such a good time together, sharing popcorn and whispering during the movie.  Elijah wanted to know what Cinemas meant, so he went around asking the employees until they could give him an answer.  One finally told him it meant "theaters", but when we got home and looked it up in the dictionary, the technical term is a film or movie.  Hmmmm.  Afterwards we puttered around Kmart, which made us covet toys, when what we really needed was shirts.  He picked out one for David and one for himself (only 4$ each, score!) and I got a new button-up shirt (pink of course).

Enjoying a day at home today.  Catching up on housework, planning to put Mary Poppins on for the kids, and looking for a recipe to use up the gobs of instant oatmeal that Paul bought.  Can you make granola with instant oatmeal?  I'll soon find out.   I will post a  recipe for regular oatmeal that you bake and is soooo yummy in our tummy.