Ballet Pictures

Dedication and Ballet

This was a really fun week to be back with our kids! On Sunday Jaron had his dedication at church. It was really special, they read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 for us and then had the Joshua students recite the beginning of it in Hebrew. They do this at every meal, it is called the Shema. We raise our pinkies as a reminder of God's power, because there is a Hebrew tradition that God made the plagues with just the power in His pinky, so imagine what He could do with His whole hand. Jaron would have no part of sitting still or being quiet the whole beginning of the service but did really good when it was his turn. He just made one squeal while the elders prayed for him and us. But what would you expect, everyone stopped looking at him!
Then Monday was Ballet dress rehearsal for Ellie. Tuesday was Ballet Pictures, and Wednesday was the Recital. So fun and so cute all those little minis are! The older girls came out and "woke up" all the little ones, and they just got up and did free dance, precious! Then they were suppose to all come out to the front, hold hands, and curtsy. But Ellie stood in front of all the other girls and just smiled and curtsied on her own, it was awesome! She did really good too, at sitting still and watching the rest of the show, which was the part I was most nervous about. :-)

The Joshua students graduate on Sunday, so that should be fun!

Oh, I have to do the Ballet pictures in the next blog, because I can only do 5 at a time.

Israel Song

So I would love to tell you every single part of my Israel trip, which was AMAZING!!! But really, you'll just have to go. But I will give you one of my favorite places and moments and then I wrote a little song/poem that I put at the end.

Hiking Mnt. Arbel. Arbel is a mountain on the Sea of Galilee, it is in the city of Tiberias, it is very likely that Jesus spent time climbing it possibly to have some quiet time with God, maybe preach the Beatitudes or even feed the 5,000. When we were on the top there were several special moments. First, Rich talked on the feeding of the 5,000 and how in Jewish culture they think in pictures and how numbers represent different things, and so when Jesus asks His disciples to use the 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed them, readers could be thinking, hmm, 5=the first 5 books of the Bible, the Torah, and 2=The 2 Tablets, or Ten Commandments. And when there are 12 basketfuls left over, they could be thinking, hmm, Jesus is for the 12 tribes. And when he later feeds the 4,000 in the pagan area, there are 7 basketfuls left over, hmm, 7=7 Pagan Nations, Jesus is for the Gentiles too! Just a cool thought.

Then while we were up there, we heard an alarm that is set off all over Israel on the day of remembrance for those who died in the Holocaust. The whole country stops what they are doing, stands up and has a minute of silence, they pull over their cars and everything. It was really special to see how they honor their lost, they do the same thing the day before their Independance day to honor the soldiers, we got to do this as well, on the way to the airport. I pointed out that all we seem to do in America is have sales, in Israel, they close the stores all day to just be in remembrance.

The next super cool thing we did on Arbel, was to just spend time in small groups praying. This was a really neat time.

And to top it off, the actual experience of hiking up, and especially down, Arbel was phenominal! Almost the entire way day we walked on about a foot wide "trail" holding on to staples on the rock face. It was SO RAD!

Okay, I hope that gives you a little picture of our trip, I will try to write more, but I don't want to have it be too, too long, so maybe I'll just do another favorite on a another day.

But now, I will leave you with this:

Can’t Help
Looking over this valley, where a boy killed a Philistine, I can’t help but think of you.
You use the weak, oh you are strong, that is why I sing this song, I can’t help but think of you.
Walking through this desert place, kicking rocks a smile on my face, I can’t help but think of you.
To think how you provided, and to think how you provide, I can’t help but think of you.
Looking out from this Sea shore, thinking of a calming storm, I can’t help but think of you.
How your power made it still, how your power is unfathomable, I can’t help but think of you.
Climbing up this mountain side, where you may have come to sit and hide, I can’t help but think of you.
Praying over this sweet view, on my knees thinking of you, can’t help but think of you.
Standing in this garden of trees, picturing you on your knees, I can’t help but think of you.
Hoping I will not be, a disciple who falls asleep, I can’t help but think of you.
Walking on these city streets, taking in the smells and heat, I can’t help but think of you.
Walking where you surely walked, carrying that wooden cross, can’t help but think of you.
Watching prayers touch a wall, to be near you when they call, I can’t help but think of you.
So glad you are in me, and you hear my every praise and plea, I can’t help but think of you.
Israel 2009