I was visiting a family in Prague, CZ this last spring and one evening when we sat down for dinner, they pulled out a bag with several pictures of different friends, family members, missionaries, etc. They chose the first two pictures on the top of the pile and spent time praying as a family for the people in the pictures. When they were done, those two pictures were placed in the back of the pile and the next two pictures would come up for the following family meal. I thought this was a great idea and it solved the first of my challenges. I liked that they were intentional about prayer for others in setting aside some time that would be completely devoted to prayer for others, but they did not try to pray for every person in every picture in one night.

A few days ago, I was listening to a Christian radio station and prayer was the topic. The pastor speaking shared that he would often tell people that he would pray for them, but wouldn’t. He understood his weakness in this area and so, in order to hold himself accountable to his word, he started praying for people right on the spot while they were still with him. This may not always be practical, depending on the situation, but if you are out for coffee with a friend, it might be a perfect time to pray for that person right there instead of leaving the request for your forgetful mind to let slip. This now solves the second of the problems.

Just a little food for thought

Martha Stewart’s “Everyday Food: Great Food Fast” was recommended to me by a close friend while I was in Minneapolis and so I picked it right up from the library and found in it a recipe for grilled chocolate sandwiches! I’ll give you all a minute to let that one sink in…

So, I invited my friends Tara and Courtney over and shared the sandwiches with them. We were all blown away and you will be too. It’s full-proof for children and women, hopefully the guys in your lives will like it too If you do try it (which, you’d be crazy not to!), it is always best to make your own challah bread, the grocery stores just don’t make it right, but it will surely work. I used unsweetened almond milk and Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate for mine. You can also add strawberries and blueberries to add something a little extra. Have a glass of milk or almond milk, cut up some fresh fruit and enjoy! Let me know what you think!

www.marthastewart.com/334201/grilled-chocolate-sandwiches

Mark 40:30-32 ‘And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”‘

On our hike from Jericho to Jerusalem, we passed by several mustard trees. A mustard seed is the size of a pepper flake. The trees that the seeds grow in to are a little bit taller than an average sized man. This is the Kingdom of God. It began with Jesus, the first fruits, who came and conquered sin and death for all to increase the Kingdom of God from one into a nation of peoples from every tribe, tongue, and nation. One of my teachers sheds light on this idea often in pointing out that Jesus lived here in Israel. He died and he rose again in Israel and because of his work here in this small country, there are now students from Sweden, Oklahoma, California, and Ohio in Israel, studying the life and work of one man. This is the Kingdom of God. With beginnings as small as a mustard seed, the result is grand.

You are the light of the world! (Mt. 5:14).

While I was in Galilee, I got to stay with my class at a resort right on the Sea of Galilee. The first thing that I did there was go down and sit next to the sea. I have been memorizing the Sermon on the Mount and so I practiced there. The sky was cloudy, but the light from the sun streamed in through a few spots in the clouds and lit up the city of Tiberias. I came to Matthew 5:14-16, which says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see you good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” As I was saying the verses I was amazed that I was staring at the exact image that Jesus gave to his disciples. Tiberias is a city set on a hill. Light from heaven shone over it and made it visible and obvious to all who could see. Tiberias was seen, but not by its own power. The light could be traced back to heaven, giving glory to the Maker of heaven and earth. So, what does it mean to be the light of the world? It means to be like Tiberias, a city set on a hill that could not be hidden because the light that came from God made it visible to all men.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:4-7).

“I will Rise” by Chris Tomlin

There’s a peace I’ve come to know

Though my heart and flesh may fail

There’s an anchor for my soul

I can say “It is well”

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

There’s a day that’s drawing near
When this darkness breaks to light
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

Jesus has overcome
And the grave is overwhelmed
The victory is won
He is risen from the dead

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

And I hear the voice of many angels sing,
“Worthy is the Lamb”
And I hear the cry of every longing heart,
“Worthy is the Lamb”

And I will rise when He calls my name
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles’ wings
Before my God fall on my knees
And rise
I will rise

Right now, I am sitting next to the Sea of Galilee looking straight across at the city of Tiberias. The water is calm and still. The sky is bright, but grey. There are only a few spots where the sun shines through the thick cloud cover. The sea is smaller than I imagined; I can see the land limits on every side from where I sit.

Many years ago, there were several men of God in a boat traveling this same sea. The weather was quite different than this day. They were in the midst of a storm and as it is written, they were far from land, the wind was blowing hard, and the waves were against them. They could not even see the land limits around them. In the middle of their struggle, they saw what they thought was a ghost. They were already terrified of losing their lives due to this great storm, but now that a ghost entered the picture, they were terrified all the more. But it was at this point, in the fear of the the unknown that they heard these blessed words: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” What comfort; what relief! What was once a ghost in their minds was now their Savior. One of the men was named Peter. He was a zealous one and he took heart and jumped right out of the boat to follow to the voice of this One walking on the water in the midst of a storm. He had his eyes fixed on his goal. He was confident and ready, but then, unexpectedly perhaps even to himself, the eyes of his heart turned to the left and to the right. He saw the great waves and the struggle of the winds. He lost sight of his goal and began to sink into the sea. Fear gripped this man as he cried for help to the One whom he walked towards in the first place. The next words he heard were these, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” The zeal Peter burned in his heart. It was his hope to have faith, he asked for faith, he desired it with passion, but he turned away. I am sure that he felt like a failure, like one who knew his spirit was willing but couldn’t understand why that spirit did not sustain his faith. He did not respond to the question asked. He perhaps had nothing to say. Maybe his words were not recorded, but the gentle rebuke seemed to be enough. Nothing more needed to be said.

In human terms, Peter had every reason to be afraid and to look away. In times of storm, the Lord says the same things to me: O you of little faith, why did you doubt? My first response is always incredulous. I want to look at my Lord and say, what do you mean? Look at what I am going through, don’t you see? Don’t you understand? I understand that you have plans that are bigger and grander than my little life, but look at what I am suffering! Like Peter, all I look at is the storm and I start to sink and then when I am sinking, I cry out for help to the one whom I was chasing in the first place, the one who rebuked me for small faith.

The Sea of Galilee is very small, but in the storm, the disciples could not see the other side of the shore. All they had to look to was Jesus. In the same way, in the midst of the storms of life, the shore is never far off. Eternity is within reach despite not being able to see it at times. The test comes when we can’t see it and that is when we have the opportunity to trust in the Savior, the author and perfecter of our faith, the One who WILL complete the work he began in each of us.

1 Peter 4:19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

My brethren, believe that you will look upon the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for Lord, let your heart take courage and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27)

The hike from Jericho to Jerusalem is significant because Jesus took this trip with his disciples in order to get to Jerusalem for the Passion Week, which would be the week of his death. Jericho is 800 ft below sea level and Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level. That means that Jesus, his disciples, and my class all had to walk up in elevation a total of 3300 feet before reaching the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. This is the vertical distance. The horizontal distance, as the crow flies, is approximately 15 miles. We however, did not walk as the crow flies. Our route was about 18 miles long. As we began our hike, we were in Jericho and in the wilderness. It was dusty and very windy. We passed by several Bedouins (tent-dwellers) on our way up and even a few camels. For each of our hikes, we are all given a passage to memorize on the hike that corresponds with the biblical journey. This time, we memorized Matthew 20:17-19 and Matthew 20:29-34. The first is this:

17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

The first section above was a very sobering passage as we made our way to Jerusalem. We were not on a normal hike. We were making the same walk that Jesus had except when we got to Jerusalem, we would be picked up by a bus and taken back to the Moshav for dinner. Jesus would arrive in Jerusalem and be betrayed. He would suffer, and he would be crucified. The disciples did not understand what Jesus was about to do at this point. They prove that they don’t understand with the very next verses in Matthew when James, John, and their mother request that they might sit at Jesus’ side. Jesus responds with a lesson concerning greatness. He teaches that in order to be great in the Kingdom of God, they must become servants to all, “even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (v.28). It was as if the disciples were listening to Jesus tell riddles. They still did not understand. They could not see the cross, but Jesus could. In fact, there were several times during our hike from beginning to end when we could see Jerusalem from where we stood. Just think what it may have been like to be miles away from your death, but still to be able to look and see where it would take place. I would be simply terrified and yet Jesus used the time to teach his disciples. We continued on and began memorizing the second section of our memory verses:

29 And as they went out of Jericho, a great crowd followed him.30 And behold, there were two blind men sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 31 The crowd rebuked them, telling them to be silent, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” 32 And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” 34 And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

I am thankful that we had this passage paired with the first because it completes the picture of what Jesus was going to Jerusalem to do. He was still in Jericho when he performed this miracle, but he was in a hurry. His journey to the Passion Week had already begun and now there were two blind men bothering him to regain their sight. At first, they are told to be silent, but they continue to cry out. Keep in mind that they could not see Jesus. They only knew that he was passing by them because they heard. That is bold. After they cry out again, Jesus does what was unexpected from his disciples. He stops. He has compassion. He heals these two men. After they are healed, it says that they follow him. My teacher explained in class that he would not be surprised if they followed him all the way to Jerusalem. Jesus was not just going to Jerusalem to die. He was going to free a multitude of sinners from the bondage of death. He would open the eyes of the blind. The disciples were still blind, but even they would be give sight in due time that they might see the glory of the Lord and follow him.

We were almost to Jerusalem, and we were tired. We began to make our final ascent to the Mount of Olives. At this point we had been walking for about 8 1/2 hours. We had just walked 17 miles and now we had to walk the last mile at an intense incline. Previous to this hike, when I read in the Bible that Jesus traveled from Jericho to Jerusalem, it meant very little to me. I had no idea how tiring such a journey would be. I realized that Jesus was tired. He stayed tired for the final week of his life as well. Matthew 26:36-46 says that he stayed awake all night before his death to pray to his Father. The hour was at hand. He told the disciples to keep watch with him, but they fell asleep. We usually criticize them for sleeping on such a night, but which one of us can blame them, knowing how tired they must have been. Jesus even tells them that their bodies were weak. He knows that they were tired. He himself was tired. After finishing our hike, I went right to bed. If someone told me to take my rest later on, I am sure I would have acted as the disciples had. My flesh was weak and I would have listened to it in the same situation. For Jesus, death was before him. His flesh was certainly weak, but his spirit was willing. He willingly freed multitudes of men while he was tired. This was the walk to Jerusalem and this is our God.

For the past several years, I have not ceased to thank God for my brothers. I have been blessed to see you four boys grow into men. Our parents were always raising men though weren’t they? Sure you all wanted to name me Spike and throw me in the trash can when I was born and then burn me at the stake when I was 4, but after that, you made a pretty good impression . In the good times, you rejoiced with me. In the bad times, you let me cry to you and you cared for me. When I was sick, you and the brothers fed me dog food (I had to throw that one in). You cared for me and loved me, even when you were teasing. When our family was rich, you were faithful. When our family was poor, you were faithful still. I could not ask for anything more…except one thing.

As you make your way down the aisle tomorrow to get married, I have one request. Commit your life forevermore to doing the same things for Lisa. You have found love with her. Now, pursue love. Every day, pursue love. When she is happy, rejoice with her. Enjoy her presence in every moment. When she is facing difficulty, face it with her. Never let her think that she is facing life alone. When she is sad, let her cry for a time and then try to provoke a smile. When she is sick, don’t feed her dog food. Care for her. Come home from work early as much as possible. Don’t miss dinner. Sit down and listen to her when she needs to talk. Bring her flowers when you haven’t done something wrong. When you are rich, commit to being faithful. When you are poor, remain faithful. Always be patient. Sometimes, us girls need time in many things. Be kind to her. Take her on dates all the time. Speak to her with gentle words. Humble yourself and uplift her. When you speak about her in public only talk about how wonderful she is and how you don’t deserve her. Tell people that she is beautiful, funny, and smart, and that you can’t believe you are married to her. When she sins against you, forgive her and never bring it up again. When you sin against her, ask for forgiveness. Always seek to protect her. Trust that what she says is true. Hope and endure this life with her until you enter into eternity. The greatest of all these things is love and within love is all these things. So, pursue love with all your heart, soul, and mind.

I love you and Lisa very much! You truly are better together. I cannot wait to see you exchange vows and I know that you will seek to fulfill them and I rejoice with you from Israel. To God be the glory from this time forth and forevermore!

Love,

Em

who would have known

my ibex roommate and i near the Moshav

The whole group of TMC students on the Steps of Ascent outside of the Temple Mount

Sami Jo and I enjoying our lamb kabob's. We were HUNGRY!

Standing outside of the Holy Sepulcher with Haron, James, and Lydia

My Regional Explorations Class

Lina and I at some crusader ruins on Tsoba

Natalie, Sami Jo and I on our trip to Hezekiah's Tunnel

Just a few pictures…more to come : )