Israel... a look back

In just two short weeks, we are planning-Lord willing-to travel to Israel with a group from our church... I was thinking back today about our first trip to the Holy Land in 2006 & how it profoundly changed me. I'm so excited for those that are traveling with us & will experience it all for the first time & I'm excited to see what God has planned for us this time around.

Here are my thoughts-written for our church newsletter-way on back there in 2006:
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
                                                                 -1 Corinthians 10:31

Israel left me speechless. Almost a month since we have returned, I am still trying to find the words to express how deeply my soul was touched by this place.

I’m not by nature an emotional person. My husband and children lovingly refer to me as the “ice queen”. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if I am without feelings, I am just very rarely moved to tears. So as I continue to filter through my thoughts and experiences of Israel I find myself in unchartered territory. You see, everything I witnessed in Israel had something deeply emotional and intensely spiritual lying just under the surface. I experienced this as I walked around the Sea of Galilee and saw the parables of Jesus come alive before my eyes and encountered it again as I beheld the beauty and majesty of the city of Jerusalem from afar, for the first time. But by far the most life changing experience for me was learned not from the land itself but from one that makes his home there; our guide.

His name is Ilan Barkay. His skin is suntanned from the many hours he spends in the desert and he wears hiking boots and a crocodile Dundee hat like a mantra. He holds degrees in geography and Israeli history and is so skilled at his craft that he made every stone, stick and leaf we came across, utterly fascinating. I have to admit that I was so mesmerized with his knowledge that I found myself chasing him all over Israel; literally running some places so that I wouldn’t miss anything he had to say. I guess it was pretty noticeable, because on the last day as we were standing around waiting for the rest of group to catch up, he said to me with a smile, “This is a walking tour across Israel… you have ran the whole way.”

We found ourselves on that last day having dinner at a kibbutz run by Messianic Jews. As we listened to a dear Jewish brother tell of their ministry to the Jewish people, I was struck by how few Jewish believers there are in Israel. Here in a place where even the land bears witness to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! My mom must have been thinking the same thing I was because she turned and asked Ilan, “Are you Messianic?” “I am a reformed Jew.” was his quiet reply. With all his wealth of knowledge, all the fulfilled prophecies, parables and revelations he pointed out to us along the way, he did not fully know Jesus. In that moment, I grieved in my spirit for him and determined to pray for him.

As Chuck and I took in those final moments overlooking Jerusalem, I resolved to change this same thing in my own life. I don’t want to be full of knowledge and void of truth. My hearts desire is to be so overwhelmed with our incomparable awesome God that my life cannot help but bring Him glory!

                                             -The First Union Church Spark 2006

Caleb... in the Middle

No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.

-1 Corinthians 2:9

This is Caleb. He calls me Mumma. I call him Bubs. This Bubs. He's in the middle. Smack dab in between his big brother Josh & his baby sister Hannah. He wears the 'middle kid' title like a boss & likes to frequently remind us with a smirk, that no one hears him or notices him or cares about him mostly cause he's... you guessed it... in the middle.

When Caleb was ten we took a family trip to Niagara Falls. After we had taken in the majestic beauty of the falls we found ourselves wandering around a gift shop close by. I, the consummate reader of course, was very carefully reading facts about the falls strategically placed around the store. It came to no real surprise that I quickly became completely engrossed in a story about a boy who had survived going over the falls. Unbeknownst to me, Caleb was trying to get my attention. You know the kind...

"Mum. Mum. Mum. Mumma. Mum. Mummy. Mum. Mum. Mum."

He may have even pulled on my sleeve. I don't know for sure because. I. was. reading. okay?

Finally he gave up & as we climbed into the car to go back to our campsite for the night, he finally let it all out...
"You never hear me."
"Who?"
"You."
"Me?"
"Yes."
"What are you talking about kid? I hear you. I'm talking to you right now."
"Yeah but back in the store... I wanted this cool Niagara Falls football. I tried to tell you but you didn't listen."

OWCH... truth is I hadn't heard him. I was too busy reading Niagara Falls facts I could have googled when I got home. I felt bad. I super felt bad later when we returned to the store for the football & it was closed.

Now years later, sometimes it still bothers me. So much so that one year, I tried to find one online to buy him for his birthday. Years later, he still brings it up... mostly in jest now... when he thinks I'm not listening.

Honestly, I listen much more than he thinks I do... I listen when he tells me all about college, about his classes & professors & projects, & his roommates. How he hates math but loves his construction management classes. I listen when he tells me all about his job, his boss & his coworkers, his hilarious mishaps on the construction site & how he loves every second of what he does. I listen when talks about his Courtney, how she's so cute & funny, how he loves her so much & can't wait to marry her. I listen to all the things because... NIAGARA FALLS that's why.

In listening I've learned a lot about this boy. I've learned that he's a hard worker. He'd rather swing a hammer in below zero temps than sit in a trailer & order people around. I've learned that he tends to be a rule follower & while he often thinks in very black & white terms, he has a very sensitive heart. Especially for those that are hurting. I've learned that he thinks about ministry & wonders how he can do it without being a pastor. I've learned that he thinks deeply & feels deeply. That he's kind & compassionate to a fault. He's been known to pick up homeless people & drive them places, ** to carry water & granola bars in his trunk to give to out to the hungry. That he's the first to hug his little sister when she's crying & works really hard to be the kind of man his fiancé needs. That he is a good man. The kind Jesus is proud of.

Coming up in just 15 days, Caleb in the Middle, will be turning twenty-one. In keeping with true middle child form, Hubs & I will be out of the country & unable to be with him on his actual birthday. So we are making a special trip to Fargo this weekend to hang out with him & his girl. I'm looking forward to seeing him & hearing him. Cause that Caleb in the Middle... is also hilarious.

"The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian."  

-Brennan Manning (The Furious Longing of God)

 
**Ummm... just in case you were wondering, I've actually told him I don't want to know about this picking up homeless people anymore but he should tell his dad in case we have to search for his body in a ditch.