Jerusalem Marketplace

The tribe of Zebulun: (B): Peter, Lizzie
(F): Levi, Ellie, Lacey, Madison, J'Sun, Luke, Bao

The last two years we have had phenomenal VBSs. Last year was the Sea of Galilee and was the same form as this year's Jerusalem Marketplace. The kids are divided into tribes for the week. They wear tunics and get to experience all about the Jewish lifestyle as it was when Jesus walked the earth.

During tribe time they learned about family traditions such as touching the mezuzah. The mezuzah was a small parchment that contained the Shema, a Jewish prayer. When leaving and/or entering the home, members would touch the mezuzah and kiss their fingers as a way to keep the prayer at the forefront of their minds. The kids even attended synagogue and wore their own yamakas.

Each day they had an opportunity to visit the marketplace where there was a candy shop, a bakery, a basket shop, a pottery shop and more. They made tamborines and shakers at the music shop and dradles at the carpentry shop. At each shop they had to pay one gold coin for the service they received. There was even a tax collector, a beggar and a fierce Roman soldier.

Throughout the week there were dramas of the disciples and people who had heard and seen Jesus. And each day we spent time talking of Jesus and the things that He taught. It was so neat to see the body of Christ come together to serve the kids. We're really looking forward to next year.

Rabbi Scott at synagogue

synagogue

the beggar

a shop in the market place

the well

roman soldier

A surprise visit from Jesus.
"Is that really Him?" uuuuhhhhh......

Love and Thunder

All over the quiet plains, beneath the snow on the high mountains, rustling through the cattails that congregate along the water, you can feel the presence of a promise. On cold nights when you look at the sky, sometimes your breath catches in your throat at how bright the night can be. The dark spaces between the stars aren't as dark as you thought they were; not nearly as dark as the tree line on the horizon, and as you stand there shivering with your hands bunched in your pockets suddenly you remember that you're standing on a rock in the middle of space. Suddenly the notion that there's a Someone who made it all and knows us all no longer seems quite so far-fetched; indeed, it seems too good to be false.

But here we toil and we till the hard earth, where even the warm times with friend and kin are lonely because we know they won't last long enough to quiet the ache. Our sadness points to Home the way hunger points to the feast, the way the light of the cratered moon is always facing the sun, always pointing to where the dawn will come like a pillar of fire when this rock we walk on turns again to burning. All over the quiet plains and the cold stone cities full of dying and shame the promise is not drowned out by the weeping; it is declared by it.

God died as a man and rose again, and the sound of the fiery blast of Death exploding shook the firmament. Throughout the wail and shudder, over the shriek and moan of man the thunder has sounded and sung, and it is both the answer and the promise. It sings still, and you can hear what it says if you listen: Love never dies.

by Andrew Peterson; singer, songwriter and author

Solitude Cabin

Here are just a few more pictures and updates from the middle portion of our vacation. We spent four days and three nights at the Solitude Cabin at Pine Lake Christian Camp in Eldora, IA. The Solitude Cabin is intended for pastors and other people in vocational ministry to come free of charge and experience a little solitude; either by themselves or with family. There is no TV, no Internet, no radio.

Many of you who are familiar with Eldora might wonder how we stayed busy, but each minute was full! We played at the park in town and a small play area at the camp, built a fire and had Georgia's first s'mores experience, went to the book shop, the fish store, the ice cream store. There was another little shop we visited where you could buy all sorts of cool things made by people in the area. I bought a super cute apron made by a woman in town and hair clips for the girls made by someone from Dike, IA. The gal who owned the shop refurbished old furniture and had things from scarves and purses, to unique teas and wines. It was a lot of fun. My dad told me about a little outside chapel on the outskirts of town. I've been to Eldora many times and had never heard of it. But we followed his directions and low and behold, came across the Chapel on the Hill.

Here are a few snapshots:

The 4th

Thought I had better post some pictures from the Fourth of July before it's like, October or something. We spent the holiday in Williams with my family; it was the tail end of our two-week vacation (more to come in future posts).

Williams puts on quite a celebration for the Fourth, even though it's a town of less than 400. They have a huge parade and then fill the park with kiddie activities like a train ride and jump house. I remember going to it as a kid myself and it was always a lot of fun. It's funny to be on the mom-end, watching Georgia do everything while I snap pictures from the sidelines.

This was also Georgia's first year experiencing fireworks. We weren't sure how it'd go since she is afraid of loud sounds like thunder, trucks and motorcycles. We were skeptical, but as it turns out, she loved them! She loved telling us what color each one was and she would put her little hand on my arm and look at me and say, "Again?" as if I had the power to make them go. I wish I did. :)

Collecting candy from the parade with a little help from Aunt Celia

Kiddie train ride at the Williams park

Swim time at Granny's house

Daddy and Lola

Lola, Granny, Gramps, Celia, and Georgia

Snow White or Sleeping Beauty?

If you know Georgia, you know that she loves all the Disney princesses. Cinderella, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, etc. She is also starting to take notice of the prince in each of these movies, too, and gets very excited when each of them gets married. She has told me on several different occasions that she wants to marry Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid. Look out, Ariel.

A new game that she has started playing with Andy goes a little something like this:

Andy gets home from work and Georgia is very excited to see him. She lifts up her arms so that he'll take her hands and then she suddenly goes limp so that he can lower her body to the floor. Her eyes are closed and she is 'sleeping.' Andy says, "Oh no! Sleeping Beauty fallen asleep! I'll have to kiss her to wake her up." Then he leans down to kiss her and she suddenly is alive again. It's pretty cute. But the other day while they were playing this, I heard Andy say his line about Sleeping Beauty, and Georgia, with eyes still closed so as not to be out of character, whispers, "No, I Snow White." Oops! Sometimes it's just so hard to tell.

First Haircut

I know you might not believe it, but Georgia recently had her hair cut for the first time (minus having her bangs cut around 18 months old). She's almost two and a half and up until now, her hair never really needed cutting because it's so curly. But it was starting to get a little shaggy and hard to comb through, so I knew it was time.

In order to save a trip to the salon and a few dollars, I did it myself. I kept telling myself that it's really difficult to screw up curly hair, but that didn't stop a few tears from rolling for fear that I was butchering her goldy-locks.

To keep her still we put Beauty and the Beast on the computer and promised her an ice cream cone after it was finished. It worked really well, despite the few times I got in the way of the movie and she told me, "Move, Mom, move!"

Funny face before

From the back; before


Watching Beauty and the Beast


All done!

Mom makes good on her promise

All in all I think it turned out pretty nicely. She was a good customer.

Finally Back

I'm baaaa-aaaaaack!! Did you miss me? I've been missing you, too! I finally have a minute to update - both the girls have summer colds so we are staying home from church today.

It's been a crazy few weeks and I'm flooded with events of the last month to talk about; I don't even know where to start. I need some time to sort through all my thoughts and all my pictures. But I can whet your blog-appetite by showing a super cute picture of my now-5-month-old daughter. Time is flying by so quickly. She is weighing in right around 17 lbs.



Stay tuned for more to come!