Visit from the Grandparents

Tim's parents are visiting from Michigan and will be staying for three weeks! We kept it a surprise from Caleb and Josiah, and they were thrilled! They brought us lots of goodies from the States, which is a special treat. We took them to the overlook in our neighborhood and to the park where we have "recess" with our co-op. That's about all we can do in the first day when they are still jet-lagged! We've been having a wonderful time with them and look forward to the weeks ahead.

Thank you again for your prayers for Tim's health. We truly believe the Lord healed him. He went on his 3-day field study and slowly regained his strength, being able to fully participate. Please continue to pray for Tim as he keeps up with his school work. Being a student with five classes and being a husband and father of three kids is a bit overwhelming at times. Here are a few pictures from our first day with Grandma and Grandpa Becksvoort....

Tim and the kids with his parents at our overlook

Josiah and Grandma at the park

Caleb's dirt cake

Josiah's dirt birthday cake (notice the candles are cigarettes)

Abby took two naps on Grandpa and Grandma today.

Yesterday was our first official Homeschool Co-op Day. We went to a local park and did a lesson and craft on butterflies and symmetry, a service project (picked up trash in the park), ran through an obstacle course, and played on the playground. Here are a few pictures from our morning....

I'm working on finishing a post on Sukkot that I started a long time ago and am having trouble attaching a video. You can look for that in the next couple of days....

Update on Tim

Hello Friends and Family,

We are praising God today, giving Him the glory for Tim's healing! He went to the medical center last night, had some blood work done which turned out to be normal, and was referred for further blood work. But his fever broke this morning and stayed down for most of the day. He still felt slightly tired and achy, so we covet your prayers as he leaves tomorrow morning for a 3-day field study. We still don't know what caused the fever, but we are thankful that it is gone. Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support!

Urgent Prayer Concern

Hi Friends and Family,

Tim came down with a high fever yesterday, and it has only gotten worse. He saw a doctor today and was given antibiotics for an infection. So far, drugs are not helping the fever, and he may be seeking more medical attention tonight if it doesn't go down. He feels miserable. Please lift him up before our Heavenly Father, our Great God of Healing!

Thank you for your prayers,

Michelle

More on Sukkot

It's about time I finish my post about the rest of Sukkot! One of the things we learned about Sukkot is that it is a time spent in prayer for rain. We had our second rain this past weekend (the first was the morning that Sukkot began, but it was early enough in the morning that we were not able to experience it). On Friday, after Tim's fever broke, we went to the bakery for some challah (Shabbat bread) and pastries, then headed home. It began to rain, so we put on our shoes and grabbed the umbrellas so we could go for a walk in it. By the time we all got ready, the rain had stopped. But we went out in it anyway, hoping to have more rain.

This was taken at a vista near our house, overlooking the Old City. (No, it wasn't raining in the picture, but the boys wanted to use their new NEW umbrellas anyway.)

Beautiful!

While Tim was gone on his field study on Saturday, I took the kids on the 40-minute trek to church for our Shabbat worship service. The early morning had been cloudy, so I grabbed the umbrellas and rain jackets and stuck them in the stroller. The sun was shining by the time we left our apartment. As we walked down the street, I considered running back in to return the umbrellas and rain coats because it was so warm and sunny. Ten minutes into our walk, as we started the uphill portion of the trek, the clouds rolled in and it began to rain. The boys were thrilled! We had been told that, in Jerusalem, the sun can be shining brightly with no clouds in sight, and in an instant there can be a downpour. That was why I chose not to return the umbrellas and jackets. Boy, was I glad we had them along! We managed to get to church fairly dry.

A few more pictures of our Sukkot week....

One night we went to the Jewish Quarter and were able to partake in some special treats: cotton candy and popcorn!

Here we sit inside the sukkah that belongs to our favorite pizza place in the Old City.

We had an amazing week of learning and experiencing. Do you remember the palm fronds, willow, myrtle, and citron? Together, these make up what the Jews call their lulav (pronounced loo-lahv):

Tim went to the Western Wall and watched as many people waved their lulavs as they prayed for rain, recognized the omnipresence of God (by waving it in all cardinal directions and up and down), and beat their willow branches on the ground to symbolize God saving Israel from her enemies. We have a great video but are having trouble with it. Maybe another time....

Tim came home to tell us about it and taught the boys how to hit their willow branches on the ground, too.

The Western Wall on the last night of Sukkot - much celebration taking place!

We ended the festival of Sukkot by going to a local park to see the celebration called Simchat Torah - a time of dancing before the Law (the Scriptures). They literally DANCE around the Word of God! They hold up a giant scroll and sing and dance around it. So cool! We were blessed to be a part of this celebration.

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur was Saturday, September 11. It occurred to us this week that we never posted about this special holiday! It is the one holiday of the year when no one drives. Israel is also the only place in the world that has a holiday with no cars out on the roads.

Yom Kippur is a very quiet day. It is the day on which the Jewish people fast and pray, begging God to forgive their sins.

This is Hebron Road, the main artery between Jerusalem and Bethlehem (normally an extremely busy street) with no traffic on Yom Kippur.

Caleb and Josiah on their scooters in the middle of Hebron Road.

Tim couldn't resist - he had to experience sitting in the middle of the road reading a book.

After brunch, we went with our friends Keith, Laura, and Maryann to the Promenade and saw a family beating an olive tree to harvest the olives.

Our new dear friends!

Tim learned something through his studies that struck us about Yom Kippur. The Jewish people spend 25 hours fasting from food and drink and have many other restrictions on this day. They pray intensely for their salvation, essentially. They consider whether their names are written in the Book of Life. They beg God for forgiveness of their sins so they may be saved. What Tim learned is that, even after these intense 25 hours, some of them wake up the next morning still wondering if it was enough--whether or not they are forgiven. We are thankful beyond words that we can be assured of our salvation because of God's Son, Jesus Christ, who has fully paid for all of our sins - past, present, and future! Thank you, Lord, for the confidence we have that our names are indeed written in the Book of Life because of our Lord Jesus!

A Birthday to Remember

Thank you to everyone who wished me a Happy Birthday yesterday! It was fun to share a birthday with the first day of Sukkoth, and I had a wonderful day. We had our first date since we've been here, too. Tim took me out to a nearby restaurant where we enjoyed dinner together. Please say a special prayer of thanksgiving for our dear babysitters, Amy and Betsy, who are classmates of Tim at JUC. They volunteered to babysit for us, and the kids had a great time with them. It was a tremendous blessing to know we had someone we could trust to care for our children. They were an answer to prayer. (This was one of my concerns before we moved here.) God continues to take care of us in amazing ways!

Caleb and Josiah baked me a cake (with a little help): Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting - my favorite!

Josiah helped me make the frosting, and he got powdered sugar all over his feet! He had been sitting cross-legged on the counter when he spilled the sugar. Notice the chocolate corners of his mouth. He had just licked the cake batter spoon before helping me with the frosting.

The boys helped frost the cake with our homemade multi-colored frosting.

I can't get the video to appear here, so you have to look down below to see a video of them decorating the cake.

The final product!

I am thankful that, after a rough week with Caleb's homeschooling, I witnessed him reading to Josiah yesterday during their snack time. What a blessing it was! It brought joy to my heart. Thank you for your continued prayers for both of the boys as I work with them, and for me as I need an extra measure of patience and creativity!

Isaiah 65:17-25

The above passage is part of Isaiah's Messianic vision. It is a beautiful passage to read at any time, but a friend pointed it out to me during Sukkoth this year. Here's the connection: Part of (arguably, a big part of) the Sukkoth festival is the prayers for the prosperity of the coming year which, in antiquity, meant a prayer for rain so that the crops could be planted. Deuteronomy 11:10-14 conveys the idea that rain at the right time(s) of the year is important. Even the shaking of the palm fronds (part of the Sukkoth celebration) sounds like a gentle rain. So what brought Isaiah 65 to mind in this context? The first rainfall since our arrival here was the morning before the festival of Sukkoth began. Before they call I will answer... (Isaiah 65:24a). What a beautiful reminder of God's constant watchfulness and care for us!