Here we are in Israel and I'm beginning to glimpse how important the land is to the Jewish people. Today was our 3rd tour day and we have seen so much. My mind is full of the wonderful things being shared from the mind of our tour guide who is a Messianic Jew.
Today we went to Caesarea Phillipi and saw what is known as the gates of hell. The idea is that when Jesus was speaking of the conquering the gates of hell it wasn't just imageary it was literal regarding this place. I can barely touch on the things Areay (our guide) is sharing with us because I don't have the time...I have to pay for the internet. I also can't download pictures. So you all will have to be patient. :-)
So far we have visited: Joppa, Tel Aviv, Caesarea Maritima, Mt. Carmel, Arbel Cliffs, Mt. of Beatitudes, a boat ride on the sea of Galile, Caesarea Philipi, Golan Heights, and about a half dozen other places that my racing mind can't think of right now. Trust me though, I'm taking notes and I'm journaling. And wishing I would have brought my laptop. Oh well!
Scott and I are praying that we would not leave Israel the same as when we came. So far it's been like a chapel message at our alma mater Ambassador but with up front, hands on exposure to the Word of God. Amazing! I just can't even do it justice. There are times that I think we should have an invitation after some of our visits to places. To have all these places in my mind now is just eye opening. Such revelation. Life changing!
Isreal is a besutiful place. It actually reminds Scott and I of Southern California in some places. The haze from the heat, especially. Haha.
I'm going to close by asking you to pray for one of our ladies at Fundamental Baptist in Colonia. Sylvia Funes' sister, Elba, died from a heart attack yesterday! Both ladies are dear to my heart and so I mourn over the loss of my sister in Christ and grieve for Sylvia! Yet I rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ who conquered death. Elba is now in His presence! How precious a gift she has received!!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Stop in Spain
Well Madrid is absolutely gorgeous! Honestly I was a little unsure I had the cities in S. America pverlaid on Madrid and to say the least I was wrong. We have seen a lot of the city and I´ll have to blog about that later because we are in a Cyber cafe using the internet and I have 8 minutes left...not enough time to tell you all about what we have seen. Maybe in Israel I´ll have internet in the hotel and will update then.
So far our trip has been fantastic. Tomorrow we will take the Metro (subway) to the airport and spend 4 euros instead of 40. After taking it to several places here in the city we feel fairly confident that we can get to the airport. Hopefully the check-in won´t be too bad. We will see. The flight is only 4 hours and once again I ask that you pray for a good trip. The flight here was excellent only about 1 minute of bumpy weather so you all keep praying!!!
I want to say to my kiddos that I love you all and miss you a lot! I have thought of each of you every day and I miss your snuggles. So here´s a cyber hug from me to you. Thank you Sanders and Lopez families for caring for our kids. (Gracias a las familias Sanders y Lopez para cuidando nuestros hijos!!!)
Until Israel!!!
So far our trip has been fantastic. Tomorrow we will take the Metro (subway) to the airport and spend 4 euros instead of 40. After taking it to several places here in the city we feel fairly confident that we can get to the airport. Hopefully the check-in won´t be too bad. We will see. The flight is only 4 hours and once again I ask that you pray for a good trip. The flight here was excellent only about 1 minute of bumpy weather so you all keep praying!!!
I want to say to my kiddos that I love you all and miss you a lot! I have thought of each of you every day and I miss your snuggles. So here´s a cyber hug from me to you. Thank you Sanders and Lopez families for caring for our kids. (Gracias a las familias Sanders y Lopez para cuidando nuestros hijos!!!)
Until Israel!!!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The plane to Spain
We are waiting to board please pray for a good flight. By the way I continue to have good almost pain free days! Praise God!
Monday, May 11, 2009
On our way...almost!
It's just a little after 6 in the evening the night before we leave for our trip and the stress level is slightly high! Everyone is in the last minute scramble. Not fun! This is the part of trips that I really don't like. After 3 years of traveling on deputation I decided that I was wanting to stay at home and never pack another suitcase.
Ok, I know that's not at all reasonable, especially if I want to ever see anything of the world farther than my back yard. So here we are not heading to one place but heading in 3 different directions and I keep getting confused as to who is going where and with whom. So is life with 8 kids and a cross Atlantic/Continental trip with out those aforementioned kids.
Have I mentioned yet how incredibly excited we are about this trip? If not, let it go on record that we are ALL really excited about this trip. Even the kids. We praise God for the families who have so graciously opened their homes. Each one doubling in size for the rest of May. Now that's quite the thing. So let me say in advance, Sanders and Lopez families, THANK YOU!!! We couldn't do this without your help!
Tomorrow we will (hopefully) head out of Colonia around 4:00 a.m. and head to Salto. After we drop the oldest 5 kids off at the Sanders house we will head to Montevideo on a bus and stay the night there. Our plane leaves for Madrid, Spain on Wednesday afternoon. Scott and I will have a mini vacation there and will head to Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday. Then it's all out after that. I hope to be able to upload pictures and blog a bit while we are there, but I'm not really sure what the internet will be like.
I really don't like flying so I would greatly appreciate your prayers for me to have peace during take-offs and landings. And since our flight to Spain is through the afternoon and night I ask that you pray for me to get some rest while we fly...something I never do very well on a plane. And, of course, for the pain to stay at bay. Last time we were gone for a few days our house was robbed...someone stole our keys while they were visiting us and came back and stole some things while we were gone. Anyway, everyone knows that we are traveling but they also know someone will be here during the day and night to care for the house. Please pray we will not have another break in. Finally, pray for safety and health for all our kids while we are gone. And that they won't miss us, and home, too terribly. (Ditto that for us!!!)
Well I think I have avoided my last minute packing responsibilities long enough. Until Spain!!!
Ok, I know that's not at all reasonable, especially if I want to ever see anything of the world farther than my back yard. So here we are not heading to one place but heading in 3 different directions and I keep getting confused as to who is going where and with whom. So is life with 8 kids and a cross Atlantic/Continental trip with out those aforementioned kids.
Have I mentioned yet how incredibly excited we are about this trip? If not, let it go on record that we are ALL really excited about this trip. Even the kids. We praise God for the families who have so graciously opened their homes. Each one doubling in size for the rest of May. Now that's quite the thing. So let me say in advance, Sanders and Lopez families, THANK YOU!!! We couldn't do this without your help!
Tomorrow we will (hopefully) head out of Colonia around 4:00 a.m. and head to Salto. After we drop the oldest 5 kids off at the Sanders house we will head to Montevideo on a bus and stay the night there. Our plane leaves for Madrid, Spain on Wednesday afternoon. Scott and I will have a mini vacation there and will head to Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday. Then it's all out after that. I hope to be able to upload pictures and blog a bit while we are there, but I'm not really sure what the internet will be like.
I really don't like flying so I would greatly appreciate your prayers for me to have peace during take-offs and landings. And since our flight to Spain is through the afternoon and night I ask that you pray for me to get some rest while we fly...something I never do very well on a plane. And, of course, for the pain to stay at bay. Last time we were gone for a few days our house was robbed...someone stole our keys while they were visiting us and came back and stole some things while we were gone. Anyway, everyone knows that we are traveling but they also know someone will be here during the day and night to care for the house. Please pray we will not have another break in. Finally, pray for safety and health for all our kids while we are gone. And that they won't miss us, and home, too terribly. (Ditto that for us!!!)
Well I think I have avoided my last minute packing responsibilities long enough. Until Spain!!!
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Vitamin Deficiency! Really???
The other night Scott called our doctor in the States to consult with him about my health. He suggested some possibilities and also recommended some blood tests to get. One of the things he mentioned was a possible vitamin deficiency.
When we were in MV for 3 unexpected days I didn't have my vitamins with me and my pain did increase over the time we were there. It also happened that when we got home I started getting sick with the same cold that Silas so had I started taking some extra vitamin C along with my daily vitamin and for some reason the pain began to decrease some.
After all of these coincidences, plus looking up symptoms of vitamin deficiencies and seeing I have several of them, Scott and I decided that I should double up on the multi-vitamin and on the C to see if it would change my pain at all. After just a few days my pain has decreased markedly! Where I was feeling the pain at least 70 to 100 times a day, I am now feeling the pain around 20 times a day.
Finally, I have noticed a correlation in what helps minimize the pain. Whereas before now there seemed to be nothing that made me any better. It's important to note also that I had only been taking vitamins for a couple weeks before now. (I'm just not a pill taker!) It almost seems ridiculous in its simplicity, doesn't it? I sure hope this is all that is wrong with me and I am now on my way to being well again. At any rate, I'm glad to be feeling better and hope it lasts through our trip to Israel.
When we were in MV for 3 unexpected days I didn't have my vitamins with me and my pain did increase over the time we were there. It also happened that when we got home I started getting sick with the same cold that Silas so had I started taking some extra vitamin C along with my daily vitamin and for some reason the pain began to decrease some.
After all of these coincidences, plus looking up symptoms of vitamin deficiencies and seeing I have several of them, Scott and I decided that I should double up on the multi-vitamin and on the C to see if it would change my pain at all. After just a few days my pain has decreased markedly! Where I was feeling the pain at least 70 to 100 times a day, I am now feeling the pain around 20 times a day.
Finally, I have noticed a correlation in what helps minimize the pain. Whereas before now there seemed to be nothing that made me any better. It's important to note also that I had only been taking vitamins for a couple weeks before now. (I'm just not a pill taker!) It almost seems ridiculous in its simplicity, doesn't it? I sure hope this is all that is wrong with me and I am now on my way to being well again. At any rate, I'm glad to be feeling better and hope it lasts through our trip to Israel.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Unexpected Guest
In the ministry, and on the mission field, it is not at all unusual to hear a knock on our front door or a clap at the back announcing a visitor. It was close to six this morning when an unusual sound announced an unexpected visitor.
I woke to screams accompanying a sound of something moving through brush outside. Immediately following was a sound similar to our front door being opened, which always reverberates through the walls in our bedroom at the back of the house. Since the initial sound was coming through our open bedroom window I thought something was happening in the backyard. I thought it unusual, however, that the sound following seemed to come from the front of the house.
Scott had left an hour earlier with Adeline for Montevideo and so in my sleepy state, and since our dog wasn't barking, I thought they had come back. Then the screaming and yelling I heard finally registered and I headed into the kitchen to check things out. Nothing was out of the ordinary in the back yard so I headed into the living room.
As I entered the living room I saw lights shining through the front sliding door curtains. The position of the lights seemed odd as did the sound of a large truck engine. So I peeked out the window just in time to see a large truck in our front yard. Still in a fog I watched for a few seconds while they moved the broken part of the tree and began backing out of our yard. I figured it was a road crew. Hey, in Uruguay you never know!
The driver of the truck returned about 9:30 am and explained what happened to Brandon. It turned out the the meat company was delivering beef to the butcher next door when the truck, parked parallel to the curb, came to life nearly running one of the delivery men over. That explained all the yelling.
The out of control truck then moved up into our yard breaking the tree along the road. It turned toward the house moving through the yard and was slowed down by the brick planter that sits about 3 feet from the front wall. That is when the delivery man jumped out of its path and into the bushes under the boys window. Though the truck's front tires ran over the planter it lost enough velocity to not run straight through the front of the house. It did make contact with the brick between the front door and slider and partially pulverized it. And that's as far as it made it.
This is the planter box that slowed the meat truck down.
The 2nd brick down is the one that is damaged from the meat truck.
Our unexpected guest did not leave us any meat...too bad. I am thankful though that he also did not leave us with major repairs to make. After this morning I have to agree, that for us especially, life can be stranger than fiction.
I woke to screams accompanying a sound of something moving through brush outside. Immediately following was a sound similar to our front door being opened, which always reverberates through the walls in our bedroom at the back of the house. Since the initial sound was coming through our open bedroom window I thought something was happening in the backyard. I thought it unusual, however, that the sound following seemed to come from the front of the house.
Scott had left an hour earlier with Adeline for Montevideo and so in my sleepy state, and since our dog wasn't barking, I thought they had come back. Then the screaming and yelling I heard finally registered and I headed into the kitchen to check things out. Nothing was out of the ordinary in the back yard so I headed into the living room.
As I entered the living room I saw lights shining through the front sliding door curtains. The position of the lights seemed odd as did the sound of a large truck engine. So I peeked out the window just in time to see a large truck in our front yard. Still in a fog I watched for a few seconds while they moved the broken part of the tree and began backing out of our yard. I figured it was a road crew. Hey, in Uruguay you never know!
I went into the boys room to see if they were awake. Just as I expected all three older boys were awake and Brandon informed me that a truck lost control and was in our yard. Ah, now that shed some light on why they were so close to our house. 
The meat truck would have been parked about where the white truck is.
The out of control truck then moved up into our yard breaking the tree along the road. It turned toward the house moving through the yard and was slowed down by the brick planter that sits about 3 feet from the front wall. That is when the delivery man jumped out of its path and into the bushes under the boys window. Though the truck's front tires ran over the planter it lost enough velocity to not run straight through the front of the house. It did make contact with the brick between the front door and slider and partially pulverized it. And that's as far as it made it.
This is the planter box that slowed the meat truck down.
The 2nd brick down is the one that is damaged from the meat truck.Monday, May 04, 2009
Color Doppler
This morning I had my first appointment with the cardiologist. He ordered another EKG which we were able to have right away and it was ok. He did hear a "murmur" so he has ordered an EKG combined with color Doppler. I expect that we'll have this test done when we return from our trip.
Thankfully, I have been cleared for travel to Israel next week. I am definitely concerned about stamina because I get so fatigued from a trip to the capital, but I trust that the Lord will give me what energy I will need to be able to keep up with the tour. There is sure to be some serious spiritual refreshment on this trip, of which, Scott and I both are looking forward to. Just writing about it thrills my soul! I can hardly wait to write in a journal all the new and personal insights I'll gain about the Lord and His Word! Hopefully I'll have some access to blogger and will be able to share with you all along the way.
To close I have a prayer request; Silas has been really sick this past week and weekend and finally seems to be perking up a bit. Tonight, however, Isabel is complaining of a headache and sore throat. I have a sore throat as well. I am dosing up on Vitamin C to ward this off. Please pray that it won't go any further.
Thankfully, I have been cleared for travel to Israel next week. I am definitely concerned about stamina because I get so fatigued from a trip to the capital, but I trust that the Lord will give me what energy I will need to be able to keep up with the tour. There is sure to be some serious spiritual refreshment on this trip, of which, Scott and I both are looking forward to. Just writing about it thrills my soul! I can hardly wait to write in a journal all the new and personal insights I'll gain about the Lord and His Word! Hopefully I'll have some access to blogger and will be able to share with you all along the way.
To close I have a prayer request; Silas has been really sick this past week and weekend and finally seems to be perking up a bit. Tonight, however, Isabel is complaining of a headache and sore throat. I have a sore throat as well. I am dosing up on Vitamin C to ward this off. Please pray that it won't go any further.
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