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!!!