Laid to Rest

Yes, it is a sad day in the Lemonds' household...no more Duke ball, Andy Griffith or Dog Whisperer! We said goodbye today and Jay really wanted to have a ceremony...such a tragedy. We said goodbye to....DIRECTV!!!!

In all seriousness, Jay and I have decided to cut off our directv (and will be effective as of 12 midnight tonight) for multiple reasons. We have felt convicted for a long time about how wisely we spend our time. We have come to the conclusion that TV plays a bigger role than it should and honestly there is not one good thing about it. Although we don't watch anything "bad," TV (for us) is not good for several reasons:
1. It takes so much time away from quality family time. How much closer do you get to someone while both staring at the tube???
2. Instead of watching tv, what else could we accomplish? Read a book, take the kids to the park, exercise (much needed for both of us), memorize some scripture, etc. All are more beneficial than watching tv.
3. TV has so much influence of the world, and none of which has eternal impact. So technically it is just a waste of time.
4 Although this isn't the reason, it will save us $80 a month so that we can apply that to debt.
5. We want to teach our children that tv is not the only form of entertainment. I want my children to grow up playing outside, using their imagination, reading books, etc. and not thinking that you always have to sit and watch tv for fun. Cartoons all day can't do much for the brain cells! There are many biblical principles I am responsible for teaching my children and I want to be diligent in them. To teach my children to love the Lord and revere the WORD is my ultimate goal as a parent. I will be held accountable for these things.

We decided this a while back and decided to wait (per Jay's request) until the end of March Madness..haha. So we knew that coming back from Israel would be a good transition time and today was the day. In fact we haven't turned on the tv (except to check weather once or twice) since we returned. I will say that there is freedom in it. We have spent alot more time together and our relationships are better. And this is the goal for our family...that we all would glorify Christ in our lives and for now, this means sacrificing something that could be an idol.

"Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial." I Corinthians 6:12

By the way, we do not feel as if everyone should do this. It is our own personal convictions. However what in your life is PERMISSIBLE but not BENEFICIAL? Is it most beneficial to the kingdom or has it become an idol to you? Consider these things and allow the Lord to speak to you through His word.

Day at the Lake

Today our family went to Arkabutla Lake to enjoy the beautiful weather. The beach was flooded so we enjoyed the playgrounds instead. Here are a few pictures from our day...

Brayden received these balls from their Pap and Roxie...he is a happy man!

This is dad after he went geocaching with his GPS...

Karis hugging her doll she received from Pap and Roxie...

Dad and the kids playing hop-skotch

To see all the pictures, click here.

Just some of our favorites...

There are so many stories and things that I want to share about our trip and will very soon, however my pictures have just finished uploading and jetlag is consuming me right now so I will wait until tomorrow for that. But for now, enjoy some pictures from the Holy Land. I have posted a few but please click on the link below if you want to view all 500. They are captioned so that you will know what they are in case you are interested.

Israel 2008 Album 1

Israel 2008 Album 2

We are alive!

Just wanted to let you all know that we are alive for those who are asking....we arrived home Monday and things have been crazy since then trying to get unpacked, fighting jetlag and trying to spend time with the kids. I have been trying to upload all of the 500 pics we took and hope to have them up by tonight. They are being stubborn! I will try to post as soon as I get them up so that you can see them! Thank you all for praying...we needed them. :)

The last few days of Israel

Well I wasn't able to post yesterday due to our evening adventures so I will attempt to quickly update the last two days....

Friday, we started off the day by snorkling....toughing out the waters of the Red Sea.  I will say that all the girls chickened out at the last minute except for me and Kerrie Curbow.  After having said that, I will be the first to say IT WAS ONE OF THE SCARIEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE!!!!  We went at about 9:00 am and the water was FREEZING.  The waves were very strong and we crawled out to the end of a pier and just jumped in with nothing but a mask and a snorkel (no flippers and no life jacket).  We were told NOT to touch the buoys along the path because they had coral reefs growing on them so it was like we were stuck out in the ocean just treading water in lots of waves.  For a second, I totally panicked.  I jumped in first before anyone and once I did there was no turning back!  I tried to look at the fish underneath and water got in my mask and my snorkel so I was left feeling like I was in the middle of the ocean and I was about to breathe my last breath.  I was picturing in my mind the headlines, "Girl goes to Israel on a mission trip and dies...snorkeling in the Red Sea!"  I finally got control of myself and calmed down and then I was able to swim and look at some of the fish.  The ones I did see were absolutely beautiful!  I love going to aquariums and this was up close and personal. There were so close that I felt as if I could reach out and touch them. Of course when I tried, they swam away.  We finally made it to the next pier (that was about a football field away that we had to swim) and I was never so glad to see those steps than anything in my life!!! Overall I was glad I did it but I will probably not do another snorkeling adventure like that one again.   

We then toured Solomon's mines and then we saw a replica of THE ARK OF THE COVENANT.  It was neat to see what I have tried to picture from the scriptures from so many years.  WE left there and rode camels in the dessert.  The ride lasted about an hour and a half and we rode all through the mountains to a lookout mountain where we could see another country (Jordan). It was very peaceful.    We then went to our Bedouin tent where we would spent the night.  It was a very large tent (almost like an open air log cabin).  It slept about 9 rooms and all 15 of us slept in one of them.  That tells you how big it was.  Everyone just got mats and made their pallet on the ground.  They also served us dinner along with many others.  I think they ended up serving 90 including us.  They just had round tables on the floor with mats beneath the tables (similar to a Japanese restaurant where you sit indian style).  It was Shabbat (Jewish holiday) so alot of families were having their celebrations.  They turned off the electricity at 11:00 and everyone went to bed.  We all slept ok until a baby started crying at 6 a.m.  It was a great experience!

Today, we had a 2 hour bus ride to the dead sea.  We did float in the dead sea and laid out at the beach for a couple of hours.  We came back to the hotel and took showers and that brings us up to this point.  We are about to eat dinner and then our tour guide is doing a Passover meal with us so that we can experience it .  We are all looking forward to that.  Tomorrow we are going to Masada, En Gedi, and Qumran (where the dead sea scrolls were found).  We will then shower at a beach and then get on a plane for 12 hours.  We are hoping to sleep the whole way!  We are loving this and learning so much although we are missing home and the kids!  We can't wait to see them!  We will not have internet any more until we get home so until then, we love you guys and can't wait to share about 500 pictures with you!  :)

Greetings from Eilat, Israel

Tonight we are in a very nice hotel sitting in the lobby drinking cappuccino after a very long day.  We hiked ALL DAY and it was a blast, but we are exhausted. This morning, we were still in the wilderness for a hike that lasted all morning and we climbed some mountains and searched for all kinds of fossils that date back to early A.D.  We ate lunch at a Bedouin picnic area and then climbed some cliffs this afternoon that was much shorter, but more intense.  We have driven south and we stopped at a lookout place where you could see 4 countries from this one spot (Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia) and overlooking the red sea.  Tomorrow I will not be able to update because we are camping out in  a Bedouin tent.  Tomorrow a.m. we are going snorkeling in the Red Sea and then tomorrow afternoon we are visiting Solomon's mines.  By the way, just a random fact...do you know why the Red Sea is called the Red Sea?  It is blue upon looking at it but the mountains surrounding the Red Sea are a brown and red granite so when it reflects off of them, they tend to have a red glow sometimes.  Our tour guide told us that today.  He is an American Christian but has lived in Israel for 30 years.  He married an Israeli pastor's wife and they have raised their family here (4 kids under the age of 7).  I must say he keeps us on our toes!

Update from the middle of nowhere!!!

Shalom!  I have just walked (with Kerrie Curbow and Kathe Tapp) to a nearby park near our hostel to find free wireless internet.  It is kinda comical...we are sitting on a stone driveway because it is the only place we are getting a signal.  We don't even know what town we are in anymore. We have been so many places today that we can't even keep up.  Today has been one of my favorite days.  We started the day at 8:30 at Beer Sheva which is the town where Abraham and Isaac's family lived.  The first covenant was made here as well as a war in 1917 by the Germans and Turks.  Then we went to Ben Guirron's home (the first prime minister of Israel and died in 1973...don't worry....I didn't know who he was either but apparently he was a big wig)!  The next stop was one of my favorites of today...the wilderness of Zin.  This is where the Israelites wandered in their 40 years and within 100 yards (and possibly the exact spot) where Moses strikes a stone and it becomes water (you would be amazed if you saw this wilderness)!  We hiked about 1-2 hours and over 500 steps to get to the top of this canyon and then looked out over the whole thing....breathtaking!!!!  Then we went to Avdat, the place of one of the first Messianic Jew churches and we found old pottery and glass from Roman time period.  It was called Nabetean pottery and apparently it is very expensive pottery.  It is also the trade route of gold, francincense and myrrh.  The last stop we went to was a Bedouin tent.  We just stopped at a random bedouin community off the side of the road and they brought us into their home and served us tea and coffee and the women made us homemade bread!  It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life!!!!  We asked the lady to take a picture with us and later we were told that she felt honored that we asked her.  It made our day!  We are staying at a youth hostel tonight at the edge of a cliff and it is beautiful.  We are about to eat dinner and off to another busy day tomorrow.  I can't remember if tomorrow night is the night we are camping out so if so, I will obviously not update.  But it might not be and as long as I can get the net, I will update.  Pray for safety on the hikes (another one tomorrow) and that we don't dehydrate. It is very dry here and during the day it gets really hot.  I hear that yall are cold at home...sorry.  We will try to send some sunshine and warmth your way! :)

Belated update

We are still alive...but touring has been really busy and we are now staying at a different hotel every night for the remainder of the trip and the internet has been hit and miss. I have only a few minutes (using someone else's internet) to describe to you what the past two days have been like....WOW! Yesterday (Monday) we went to Hezekiah's tunnel, Pool of Siloam, Old City, Temple steps, Southern wall, and the Church of the Sepulchre(sp?). It was alot of walking in one day. We spent the first half (about 8-noon) prayerwalking the old city, ate lunch and then did all the touring. It has been so neat to see how God has used my personal quiet times to relate to what all we have seen. Today (Tuesday) we have seen the Garden of Gethsemane, the Temple Mount (dome of the rock), Caiphas' house (possibly one of the coolest sites for me), Samson, the scene/place of David and Goliath, Pool of Bethesda, the Western Wall (wailing wall) and the Road to Emmaus. David and Goliath was really cool too...I brought back some stones from the creek where he was. I also collected some mosaic tiles from the Garden of Gethsemane if anyone wants one!!! Anyway the Lord is doing some amazing things but I am very limited for time...so I will have to tell you all later. It is getting late and we have a really long day tomorrow. I will try to blog again tomorrow night (if we can get internet) and try to catch you up some. We are having a great time and the Lord is working within us in an amazing way! We love and miss yall. Please continue praying for us.

Our last day of work

Today was a very tiring day.  We are not sleeping very well due to jetlag (not being able to go to sleep at night and then waking up at 1, 3, and/or 4 a.m.  We worked a full day today at the House of Prayer and it was a very productive day although it left us all exhausted.  The guys finished all the yard work including pulling up huge cactus plants, tilling the ground, mowing, weedeating, etc.  The girls finished painting 2nd and 3rd coats of paint in the apartment of the prayer house (which had 14 foot ceilings).  We ate falafels for lunch which was a new adventure.  They are like a pita bread sandwich stuffed with humus, chick peas, cucumbers, lettuce, tomato and who knows what else.  They eat very healthy here and Jay and I are loving it.  They were delicious!  We walked down to a Jewish market to find some dinner tonight and we ended up eating a chicken shwarma this time and then we walked around the market for a while looking at the shops and things.  We came back early tonight and showered and all are going to bed early.  We have a long day tomorrow....prayer walking all morning until lunch and then we start touring Jerusalem tomorrow afternoon.  

The thing that has intrigued me more than anything while being here is the diversity of religions.  We are in the Holy Land and Christianity is such the minority!  We have been working right next to a Muslim school and it is right in the middle of a Muslim community as well and then 2 blocks up, there are devout Jews and their community.  You see some very strict followers of their religion and then you will see those that aren't.  However all of them do not know the Father and are working hard to fulfill the law and have no freedom in Christ.  I am so thankful that the Lord allowed me to experience Him in a way that I am not bound to the law and have freedom in Him.  However we have been amazed at how devout these people are to their "religion."  We are hearing the Muslim call to prayer all day long and it convicts me every time of how committed we SHOULD be, yet we lack the stamina and desire to do so.  If Christians were as devoted as these other religions, how much more effective would we be in sharing Christ with others????  I have been very saddened by their distorted view of God, however, encouraged and challenged at the same time.  Please pray for us tomorrow as we will be walking for hours as we encounter all of these people groups.  Pray that the Lord will open the hearts and minds of Israelis and that He would give us the wisdom, strength and words to say as we come into contact with them.

Our Shabbat

Today is the Sabbath "Shabbat" day in Israel and it was such a neat day.  We started the morning by all sleeping in a little which was much needed.  We went to the Narkis Congregation which is a church in the area.  We attended a class before worship that was taught by David Bivin.  He is an author of several books from what I am told.  We went to worship and celebrated and worshipped with people from all over the world...including Finland, South Africa, Iraq and Germany.  Worship was indeed sweet.  We then went to our work sight and ate lunch "schwarmas" and then began our ministry work.  Most of the girls started painting the prayer house and the men worked out in the yard gardening.  We got alot accomplished and enjoyed the fellowship while we worked.  For dinner we walked to an Arab restaurant that was delicious.  Jay and I ate the best lamb we have ever had!  After a wonderful day we are now back at our apartment and many are playing "farkle," the game of the trip.  It is pretty eventful and fun!

A really cool story about the prayer center we are working at...Horatio Spafford in 1871 lost a son and then soon after suffered financial ruin in a fire (he was a successful lawyer).  Two years  later he sent his family ahead of him on a ship across the Atlantic for a vacation and was going to meet up with them after he finished some business.  The ship collided and all 4 of his daughters drown.  His wife survived and sent him a telegram that simply stated, "saved alone."  He then wrote "It Is Well With My Soul."  What an incredible testimony.  Then he later had 3 more children (one who later died) and one of his daughters (Bertha Spafford Vester) came to Jerusalem as part of the American Colony.  She purchased what is now the JERUSALEM PRAYER HOUSE that we are working in this week.  How cool is that!  Click on the links to get the full story...it is really neat! We are off to bed and will update again tomorrow night after a full day of ministry.  Please continue to pray for open doors for us.

Greetings from Israel!!!

Hello everyone!  Shalom!  Greetings from Israel!   We are technically 8 hours ahead of you guys so my dates and times may be confusing.  Our flights yesterday were uneventful, praise the Lord.  I thought it would be a long flight when before our first of 3 flights, the flight attendant said, "Be prepared for a very rough flight...the flight here was horrible." When the flight attendant says that, you know it will be bad.  But the Lord answers prayers and it was not bad at all.  We arrived here at 3 p.m. yesterday which was about 7 a.m. Memphis time.  We are staying at the Baptist House in Jerusalem.  About the time we got here yesterday they started celebrating their Sabbath so everything was shutting down but we did get to go to a really cool restaurant (don't know the name, it was in Hebrew).  We (all 13 of us) are staying in a 3 bedroom apartment here for the next couple of days and we will be doing some manual work (painting, gardening etc.) for the Prayer Center here in Jerusalem.  I will have to give the you the story behind this prayer center later....really cool!  We are working with some mi*****aries here that have twice been retired from their work and the Lord still can't keep them away from here.  In their 70's they have such a heart for the Lord.  We enjoyed getting to talk to them and hear their stories last night at dinner.  They say that we are a God send to them so we will see what He has in store.  We are going to church in just a few minutes and excited about that.  We miss you all from home.  Please continue checking for updates (as long as we have free internet that is).

Prayer Team for Israel

Thanks to the following for praying for us while we are gone.
We can't wait to see how the Lord works!

Prayer Team

April 11th- Stephanie S./Nancy S.

April 12th-Jan and Mark/Todd and Jennifer

April 13th- Candace/Michelle

April 14th-Kevin and Cindy/Jessy

April 15th-Nancy L/Sarah L

April 16th-Mike and Jane/Allen and Jonathan

April 17th-Brian and Paige/Chris and Ashley

April 18th-Levi and Lindsey

April 19th-Faith L/Jeri Ann S.

April 20th-Brandon and Mary Beth

April 21st-Matt and Megan

Women of Faith

This past weekend I went to Women of Faith with some ladies from church. It was such a refreshing time to get away with some friends without kids hanging on our legs! The times of testimony were so refreshing and the worship was incredible. Nicole Mullen was there and her songs are so God centered (as they should be) and it allowed me to worship so sweetly. It was a true celebration of who God is in my life. The Lord spoke to me about so many things including the sin in my life. He has reminded me that my tongue is like a raging fire and it MUST be kept under control! Thank you to those that were praying for our time at the conference.

My mind is in 14 different directions as we plan to leave the country. I am trying to tie up loose ends at work, home, pack myself and the kids (they are staying with both sets of grandparents), and spiritually prepare myself for what God has in store for us on our trip. Please keep us in your prayers as we are gone. I am in the process of developing my prayer team and should be sending that out soon. Thank you for taking the time to pray for us!

Oprah and her beliefs

I was sent this link by my mother-in-law recently and Jay and I are both shocked at the "lostness" of this woman.  It has brought a new shock to my system that there are truly people beyond my "realm of friends" that truly don't believe or have a relationship with Christ!  I will confess that I highly disagree with Oprah and will not be conformed to her belief system.  There is ONLY ONE GOD and his name is Jesus Christ and without BELIEF, you can not truly know HIM.  You will be shocked!  It makes me mad to some degree and then I realize that this woman is lost and she needs to know the joy and peace that I know and it is only through Christ that it can be found.  Take the advice at the end of the video..."Christians, turn off the tv, and PRAY!"

Click here to see the video on Oprah's Beliefs

Happy Birthday Aunt Jessica

Happy 18th Birthday Aunt Jessica! We love you! Hope your day was great. See you on Wednesday!

A few random thoughts...

Nothing major to post although I do have some very random and various things on my mind tonight.....

1. Jay and I are watching American Idol and we love David Archuleta! He is such a cutie I just want to pinch his cheeks! His voice is amazing and we want him to win!!!!

2. I spent most of my evening tonight at the doctor AGAIN with the kiddos. Last Wednesday night, Karis got a virus and had fever for several days and still has the yucky nose, cough, etc. Then Sunday night Brayden had a 103 fever but then it went away. He woke up this morning with another fever...the virus and congestion led to an ear infection!!! I am so ready for my children to get better. On a happy note, they have been so much fun lately despite the sicknesses. Brayden is talking all the time and saying 3-5 new words a day. Karis is such a little lady and growing up way too fast!

3. I have been following an awesome blog called Confession of a CF Husband. It is about a girl with Cystic Fibrosis and was getting ready for a lung transplant when she found out she was pregnant. Despite what the doctors said, they went through with the pregnancy and had many complications but the baby was born and is growing steadily. TONIGHT as I am typing this, the mother is in surgery getting her long awaited lung transplant. Please pray for her and follow her story. It is amazing!

4. I am going, along with a bunch of ladies from church, to Women of Faith this weekend in Little Rock. I am so excited about the conference and just getting to hang out with the ladies (with no kids). Jay will be staying at home with the kids! :)

5. The Lord has been showing me so much about himself through the book of John. This week I have been studying John 18 when Jesus is officially arrested and he is literally hours from his death. It is so neat to see the providential hand of God in all the happenings before the cross. I have developed such an appreciation for all that Christ endured the days and weeks before the crucifixion. The timing on this is neat because I am leaving to go to Israel in 8 days, which leads me to my final thought....

6. JAY AND I AM LEAVING FOR ISRAEL IN 8 DAYS!!!! I have a ton to do before we leave and I am not emotionally prepared for this yet. It has crept up on me and it is very hard for me to leave the kids behind for 11 days. I am thankful to our parents for tag-teaming the kids this go round. Karis and Brayden will have the time of their lives and probably won't miss us, but we will miss them!!! However I am very excited about getting to serve with my husband on this trip as he leads. Please continue to pray for our trip. See earlier post for specific prayer requests and I will be contacting several of you in the next day or two about being a part of our prayer team. Thank you!!!