26April2019 Quickshot: Picnicking

This lovely weather has us outdoors as much as possible.  Today we headed outside the city for a picnic and Easter egg hunt (Easter is Sunday, April 28th here).   

19April2019 Quickthought: Beauty Under Wraps

We recently visited Mar Elias, the mountain historically known as the prophet Elijah's birthplace.  It's a rarely visited, underwhelming really, spot up in the mountains.  For the most part the location,  marked by the ruins of an ancient Church, is left out in the open, completely unsheltered from the elements.
As I was walking around the grounds, my foot got caught on something, causing me to trip and nearly sending me to ground.  Further inspection revealed it was a piece of ragged plastic covering the pebbled patchwork of a Byzantine era mosaic (see above).  Talk about surprised! 
I've been thinking about that mosaic, covered by years of negligence, dirt and soil but under that tattered piece of plastic sits a beautiful, painstakingly created work of art.  Isn't that just like us?  Our bodies are wasting away, blemished, scarred and often broken yet within us we have something of value, something eternal.  We contain a treasure, no matter what the outside looks like! 

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." 2 Corinthians 4:7

15April2019 50K'er

We're so impressed by our our kids.  This guy hiked 50k, that's over 30 miles for our non-metric-using friends, this weekend with some of his buddies.  His feet are tired and his clothes smell like a gym locker, but he refused to either ride a donkey (most of the other boys rode some) or to change his socks.  Look at that proud smile!  

12April2019 Quickshot: 5K'ers

Look at these champions!  They got up early this morning and ran their first 5K with a few buddies.  (Notice the Dead Sea in the background.)

8April2019 Quickshot: Green

No exactly how you picture the Middle East.  Recent rainfalls have turned the brown-scape into green-scape which means all our neighbors are outside enjoying the beauty of this place.   

Above is an example of several families spending a Friday afternoon in an olive grove. 

3April2019 Visitors

We've had visitors this week, which is not uncommon.  Thankfully teams and volunteers come here quite often  Let's put it like this.  Our local airport had 6 million passengers last month so if the guards and parking attendants know you by name, it's possible you're at the airport alot.  However, these folks are different in that they come from our hometown.  You want to talk about putting wind in your sails?!  We have been so encouraged, loved on, blessed and energized.  It has been such a privilege to show our friends some of our favorite places, introduce them to some of our neighbors and share some of our favorite foods. Thank you to our visitors, for those that sent and supported them, for those who sent us goodies and for those who are prayed for our time together.  We truly are grateful.