Week #40 Theme: Found in Israel 2

We bought some sprigs of greenery - olive and rosemary - from this chap at the entrance to the Mount of Olives. For awhile, I carried the pungent sprigs in my handbag, and they were a reminder of the place where Jesus spent some agonizing and crucial hours. 

Found in Israel 1 Theme: Pic #7

One absolute delight of this trip has been to experience it with my twin sister, Anni. When I found some caramel cookies named Twins in a corner store in Madaba, Jordan, I wanted to buy them because I immediately knew with whom to share them.
                                                           (Photo credit: Nolan Bechtel) 

Found in Israel 1 Theme: Pic #6

I find the coffee pots and tea pots in these Middle Eastern countries so fascinating!

Found in Israel 1 Theme: Pic #5

We really enjoyed our visit to Nazareth Village, a living history type place where locals depicted life as it would have been back in Jesus' day. The young shepherd named Abraham pretended to be looking for someone to take over his job. Ken gladly posed for a pic with Abraham, but he is quite content with his present occupation; he'd rather be an apple farmer than a sheep farmer. 

Found in Israel 1 Theme: Pic #4

We visited a shop in Bethlehem that specialized in olive wood carvings. This was one of the largest nativity sets among the hundreds in different styles and sizes. One could ooh and ah for some length of time in such a store!

Found in Israel 1 Theme: Pic #3

One of the themes that has come through clearly in the teaching our group is getting from Amer, our guide, is the "down-to-earthness" of the gospel. Jesus' coming was/is for all men and women, no matter how lowly in status. I was reminded of this when I saw the bare foot of a bronze shepherd as part of a unique altar in the Church of the Shepherds' Fields, Bethlehem. (Incidentally, this altar also had a maple leaf engraved on one side, since it was donated by a group from Canada,)

Found in Israel 1 Theme: Pic #2

The first full day we were in Israel we had a ride on the Sea of Galilee in a type of fishing boat similar to what Jesus and the disciples would have used in their day. The weather was beautiful and water was calm. In the midst of this tranquility Ken & I, along with Mom & Dad S, Nolan & Annette, and Myron & Mary sang "Master, the Tempest is Raging". It was hard to imagine the Sea being a setting for the storms recorded in scripture, but our guide explained that the serenity can change in a very short time. We were grateful for a sunny day and clear skies for our time in northern Israel. 
                                                     (Photo credit: a fellow traveler)

Week #39 Theme: Found in Israel 1

The pics this week will be glimpses into our Israel Trip experiences. Currently Ken and I are on a tour to the Holy Land. While we were in the northern part of the country surrounding the Sea of Galilee, we had Peter fish one day for lunch. It was wholly delicious. I guess Peter fish is a nickname for native tilapia. Since the locals pronounced it "Peetah fish", it seemed like we had both pita fish and pita bread for that meal.  

Fall Scenery Theme: Pic #7

Martin's Family Fruit Farm orchards stayed colorful far into the Fall this year. How could anyone wander through a sunlit corridor such as this and not pause? Pause to waken, to wonder, to worship...

Fall Scenery Theme: Pic #6

I'm with Anne on this one: "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." (Lucy M. Montgomery)

Fall Scenery Theme: Pic #5

I love how this pic turned out. The dry corn leaves and tassels fluttering in the wind seem to have taken on a rather mystical silvery shimmer.

Fall Scenery Theme: Pic #4

It was so much fun to do the Fall display in front of our house this year because we had a newly-facelifted porch floor on which to arrange it.

Fall Scenery Theme: Pic #3

I'm not exactly sure why the sight of acorns in fall should be so nostalgic for me, unless it is the memories they invoke of tall, sturdy oaks that dropped their seeds at the edge of the baseball diamond in our school yard, the way some schoolmates used to call them "aircorns", and how we used to add the nuts as choice morsels to the outdoor soups and stews we concocted in our woodsy play kitchens...

Fall Scenery Theme: Pic #2

When I see harvest-time fruit clusters, wild or otherwise, snatches of song or verse come to mind. Such as: ..."all that liberal autumn pours from her overflowing stores..." (by Anna Barbauld in Praise to God, Immortal Praise hymn)

Week #38 Theme: Fall Scenery

Here in southern Ontario, the vibrant colors of autumn are past and we have already had our first snowfall of the season. (it didn't "stick") This week on my blog, I plan to post pics that are reminiscent of the more brilliant sections of the months marked as Fall on the calendar.

Children 2 Theme: Pic #7

Brother's youngest son (a few years ago)

Enthusiastic chap

Nighttime chore boy

Job goes better with flashlight

Illuminating chicken coop.

Children 2 Theme: Pic #6

Kitten-lover in 

Idyllic setting;

A farmerette

Relaxed and 

Radiant,

All set to nurture pets.

Children 2 Theme: Pic #5

A pastor's son

Not lacking in the cuteness department

Doorman at church sometimes

Races around with his young friends

Expressive

Children 2 Theme: Pic #4

Camping enthusiast

Attracted to water...

Rapt focus on

Trapping minnows

Even though they

Retreated rapidly every time.

Children 2 Theme: Pic #3

A sweet soul...

Meditative stance...

Youthful intrigue...

Children 2 Theme: Pic #2

Carpenter, chemist, cook,
Homemaker, baker, waitress, florist,
Instructor, pilot, and firefighter
Lined up
Dressed up 
Representing future occupations:
Entertaining church social last 
Night.

Week #37 Theme: Children 2

Kin.

Adorable.

Inquisitive.

Solitary Theme: Pic #7

At the Faithful Women's Seminar (Deeper Life Ministries) in Ohio this Fall, I had a beautiful stage from which to speak. The decorating ladies had arranged such a lovely, artful display of flowers, lace and other feminine touches beside the speaker's lectern. I thought the pink rose bouquets in the blue glass jars were positively stunning. 

Solitary Theme: Pic #6

Do you see what I see? Some reeds, along with their reflections, made interesting shapes at the edge of Beaver Lake. When I spotted this sideways heart in the water while at the dock for my morning rendezvous, it felt like I'd received a love-note from God. Doesn't that look like His signature? 

Solitary Theme: Pic #5

Yesterday Ken and I attended the dedication of the Zion congregation's new church building. (Zion is a sister church to Grace, where we attend.) The old Zion church building had beautiful wooden structures and features which the church members wanted to preserve by incorporating them in the new church. This huge clock in the sanctuary of the new building is one of those pieces. It used to be an ornamental part of the overhead trim work (and likely had a functional aspect that I don't know about), hanging as the central point of the auditorium ceiling. It was fashioned into a clock, the brainchild and major work of Phil Roth and finished by Chervin Custom Woodworks. I love the way it was designed, in keeping with the beautiful decorative theme chosen for the integrated items.

Solitary Theme: Pic #4

My daughter's "little sister" came to our house one evening with her favorite stuffie. The bear had suffered a broken leg from too many dangerous antics on the stairs. Someone's remedy was to devise a cast of the Kleenex variety, which had a most remarkable and speedy healing effect. 

Solitary Theme: Pic #3

We were hard-pressed to find a whole sand dollar while we were at the Pacific Coast on our trip out west this past summer. This is the closest I came to spotting one in its entirety. Sand dollars intrigue me. They're a species of sea urchins which are very flat. A sand dollar (the keyhole type) legend points out that various features such as five holes (four nail holes and one spear hole) and five dove-shaped pieces inside the shell symbolize the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The five-petal flower shown here represents the Easter lily and the five-point star in the center of the flower depicts the star that the Wisemen followed to find Baby Jesus in the stable..

Solitary Theme: Pic #2

"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." Psalm 17:8

Week #36 Theme: Solitary

I love the look of many colorful leaves in the fall - whole branchfuls shimmering in the sunlight, layers of fallen ones to rake up (and maybe even dive into), wind-swept mounds to crunch through on a walk... But there is also much to love about the look of a single leaf: a rain-washed jewel sparkling on the grass.

Up North Theme: Pic #7

People who grew up in the North or worked on missions up North or for some reason have lived there for a time, talk about its singular beauty. Whenever I visit the North, I get more glimpses into the reason why.