18 years photos of Jerrol, Charis, Bryant

Finally received my photos from Legacy Box. My children will not have to work as hard to preserve photos. Enjoy! To my children, if you can find a  song to add then this project will be perfect.

My time in Prison

As a visitor of course. After 7 months of pen paling to an inmate, I realized that I could visit her. My motivation? A bad diagnosis of cancer with her fear, a family that gave up on her and a scripture that says go visit the sick and those in prison.  You can only prepare so much for the experience of driving up to the fenced in compound, being processed to go inside, stepping in the walkway with the gate closing and entering the visitor area. I was careful to follow the rules and not wear blue (like the prisoners) but sadly missed the other color not to wear- green like the guards. thankfully a small house that assists friends on the outside had a small closet for those of us that would be turned away unless we changed our clothes to match dress code.  So, wearing not my own clothes, not having any of my identity items except license and a small purse of quarters, I entered in a place that i knew would only I would be for a short while. I tried to imagine day in and day out of not having freedom. I sat in the room which seemed forever waiting for admittance. I watched as families waiting and then finally greeted the mom or sister or daughter on the other side of locked doors. Finally it was my turn to enter. My new friend had not had a single visit in 5 years. My new friend had to wait 2 hours in a medication line for her pain medications. When she went to treatment for chemo and radiation, she had 2 guards with her chains, escort her. Can you pray that God will give her courage as she battles her cancer? she is so sick with nausea and vomiting. Can you ask God to comfort her and let her know He is with her in a special way?...thanks.....

Kona

Kona 2017

So when a winter storm decided to change our plans.......

Here is our video with pics...tried with music but then you can't hear the talking and we had fun scripting our intros

https://youtu.be/iUXwoysQ0xE

The Dog story

 So all of a sudden this desire to have a dog just materialized as well as all the reasons to not have one.

A co-worker had to show me a picture of a puppy that had just been rescued.

Those puppy eyes grabbed my heart. The foster mom named her Shasta. All we knew is she was found Los Angeles and was probably hit by a car requiring surgery. She couldn't walk.

So, when Tim and I went to see this dog we learned that she had surgery to her pelvis and femoral head.

So for 3,000 dollars the rescue organization gave this critter a chance to walk. You can see how the stars are aligning convincing us this dog is for us. That is too many coincidences between the name, and the injury that are similar to Tim's.

So we said yes we would adopt her. The next part of the story becomes painful as we began a journey

of a series of no's we would not be allowed to adopt this dog. A bunch of miscommunications, the foster mom did not think this dog would fit our home with small grandchildren and a dream went poof. After some grief and disappointment, my coworker who was involved felt bad for me after telling me about this dog. She decided to go back to her friend and plead my case. So we had a second home visit and a shock when the foster mom gave me the leash, puppy bed, puppy toys, and puppy food.

So Tizzy is now part of our family!!

Christmas 2016

The family

Some fun family moments

Family adventures

IsraeL 2016

Stop signs, ice cream and McDonalds are the same but not being close to war and having reminders of enemies all around. The closest we have ever been to war. We were in the Golan Heights on September 11 and our itinerary needed to be changed to avoid the civil war in Syria.

http://www.thetower.org/3911-days-after-israel-retaliates-against-syria-attack-another-rocket-strikes-golan/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/world/middleeast/israel-syria-warplane-drone-golan-heights.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FGolan%20Heights&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=0

 What is the oldest thing you have ever seen? This is the Canaanite gate of an ancient city named Laish under a protected canopy. It was constructed of sun dried mud bricks and is 4,000 years old. If you look closely, you see 3 arches. In Joshua 19:47 we learn that the Israelites conquered and possessed the city. Now called Dan after the name of Dan their father.

Excavations reveal 15 cities on top of each other all the way back to Egyptian occupation. This is the place where the story of dead King Saul and his sons were hung on the walls. An earthquake destroyed the city in the 8th century. Picture to the right are the bathrooms. Do you want to try it?

We are not sure which part of river Jordan that Jesus and Israelites stepped in. It's easy to imagine the scene of the stories that take place in this river.

This is the place of the discovery of the dead sea scrolls. Archeology, history and the accuracy of scriptures merge here.

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This is the place we took each step and read the Psalms of the Ascent.

ask me the story of what happened in my heart right here.

This could be the place where Christ was buried but when I went inside, I realized it didn't matter much which was the real tomb because our Lord wouldn't be in any of them

Walls, doorways, churches, all old, old, old.

Taking part in an archaeological dig from the dirt removed from the Temple Mount. We discovered pottery, glass, nails, and a coin from the roman period.

For Tim, contemplating Petra and the history was a special moment. He realized that this would have been the road for the frankincense, myrrh  and gold gifted to Jesus traveled on.

 

Masada

Herod the Great built palaces on the mountain and fortified Masada around 30 BCE.

The site was conquered by a group of Jewish zealots. in the year 72 the Romans constructed a huge earthern ramp and those living at the top of massada chose to commit suicide rather than to fall into the hands of the Romans alive.

 

Yes, we rode a camel but more importantly had the vision of life in Bible times. How do you survive in the dessert? how do you find water? In the tent we experienced what Abram's hospitality would have been like.

Grand finale is the city of Jerusalem. Built by David around 1004 and the center of the world.

7 gates and 2.5 miles around Old City that houses 4 people groups, Jews, Arabs, Christians and Armenians.  

Now grab some popcorn and enjoy the movie:

https://youtu.be/UjSNrAtYBwo