The First Week Back

We have finished our Israel blog, but we have not finished our adventure.
I believe what we learned these last two weeks will grow and mature forever.
However, for now, I just need to get through the first week back!

The Doctor's Appointment
Anna-Lee was pretty sick in Israel. A bad cough and very run down. As I look through the photos I can see her gradually looking more and more tired.
So, our first stop on arriving home was the doctor's office.
She has been diagnosed with both pneumonia and mono.
The pneumonia is being taken care of with an antibiotic and she is now sleeping through the night with no coughing. Yay!
The mono, although scary sounding and perplexing, apparently is very common in kids. So common, it often gets overlooked as a flu. Sheseems to be improving on that front as well.

Jet Lag
I believe I am on Newfoundland time by now.
Wiped out by 7:30 p.m. and awake by 3:00 a.m.
So I have made it back across the Atlantic Ocean and only have a couple more time zones to go!
Anna-Lee is doing better, perhaps because she was so sick. She has slept through the night from day one.

Routine and School
Taking the week to recover is where we are at. Yesterday Anna-Lee got back to her ballet class, and picked up her clarinet briefly.
She's read a couple biographies, and done some artwork.
I am trying to get back into the habits of managing the household ie. thinking about what to prepare for supper, calling Para Transpo, and remembering to feed the cat.

Perhaps we will both surface a bit more next week.
 
 
 

Theatre or Airport?

I have to admit, it has been awhile since we've been to a movie.
Perhaps two or three decades.
Things have changed!
Other than the fact that there were 24 theatres in one place, Dave and I felt like we were in a high security airport, rather than a theatre!

First we were greated by about eight ticket agents behind security glass. They wore headphones and microphones to be able to be heard. Here I felt like I was at the Kenyan money exchange - although it wasn't behind a locked door.

Then it was on to finding the right gate - or rather theatre. 
Gate 1 -14 this way, 15 - 20 that way, and 21-24 over there....

Upgraded to first class, the seats have cup holders now, and are quite comfy. The sound is wrap around with noises from all directions. Those lovely red curtains that draw back at show time - still there, but now merely technology on screen rather than the real thing. No dry cleaning involved.

The movie - War Room. 
A movie on the significance of prayer.
Remarkably it is in its third week at our local theatre. I believe it was only suppose to run for five days. That is good news!

A Proud Mom

Today, I saw God's heart shine from my oldest daughter.

She was telling me that her friend was happy becasue she was able to wear high heels agian.

I know that doesn't sound like much but here is the story.
A few weeks ago a friend of Monica's was in a terrible car accident. She broke multiple bones and had major surgery putting her back together with screws and pins and such. It is a miracle she is alive.

Not only is she alive, but she has gone from bed, to wheelchair, to crutches to cane to walking on her own in a matter of weeks.
Now she is wearing high heels agian with the goal to dance at her wedding in January.

And Monica smiled - "rejoicing with those who rejoice."

Why is that amazing. Because Moncia would love to wear pretty shoes. Monica would love to be out of her wheelchair and make her way to crutches, then cane, then nothing, then high heels. It's been over two decades for her.

And yet she rejoices.

Only God could make a heart so beautiful.

Going Smart

I succumbed!
This week I got my first smart phone.

It makes me feel dumb!

My first text read - "This is complicated"

One niffty thing I do like about my phone is that I can speak into it and have it type out the text. This is good for someone who is visually impaired.
Dave also found a great accessibility feature that increases the font size and bolds it for me. 
All in all, this may work.

Of course, to use it in Israel, I will have to have Anna-Lee's help.
She has already mastered these things.

A Glimpse

It's been great to be back at Intercessory Prayer Monday nights. The last couple years I have been at my daughter's ballet classes, so I have had to put it on hold. This year, ballet is being held on other days.

Last Monday I had a brief "glimpse" of God. It was an impression, a brief picture and a concept all at once. It spoke to my mind and heart and spirit - all at once.

Here it is:
The picture was of the universe - well, a section of it. Immense, enormous, magnificent.
The words were "eternal majesty."
And the concept was "How can we have any fear, or worry, or doubt if we truly comprehend His eternal majesty. His eternal sovereignty. His eternal bigness. His eternal past present future massiveness. This is our God.
The heart and spirit of this just keeps coming. There is nothing that comes close to Him in who He is.
 Words cannot describe it.
 

Blue, black, red, white...

Sometimes I read an aritcle and it will peek my curiosity.
After curiosity naturally comes some research.
Here was the comment that took me on a little research tangent this morning.
"Be youself - everyone else is taken."

This quote in an article by Tim Elmore (a speaker and author on leadership especially for youth and young adults), came in his blog post observing how a huge percentage of older adults in "America" want to look young even when they most assuredly are not. 
This is contrary to many cultures around the world who embrace the wisdom and importance of the elders. 

Tim started talking about the dyeing of hair and the clothing we wear as one means to pretend we are still young.

So, I did a tad of research on the history of dyeing hair.
I came across another quote that I will leave with you to ponder - or not.

 Aesthetic tendencies drift with the cultural currents, but our drive to alter ourselves is constant.

Selah...


 

Potato Latkes, Sweat, and Lilah TOV

We began our first week of Grade 6 on Tuesday. With our trip to Israel fast approaching our days are filled with getitng ready physcially, academically and spiritually.

For part of school I decided to introduce Anna-Lee to various Jewish and Israeli foods - by having her cook them.
Our first item on the menu was Potato Latkes, so we grated potatoes and onions and we followed a 4 star recipe from some Jewish recipes online site.
It looked quite "interesting" as we mixed and stirred and finally fried it up. Unfortunately, our first recipe was a bit of a flop. We tried a second batch which was a bit better - cooked longer so was a bit more edible, but really, it likely wasn't the way it was suppose to be. Ah well, we had fun. And then made something else to eat for lunch.

We are also trying to get ready for the amount of physical exercise required. Sweat, sweat, sweat. It has been a hot week. Today we made a 5-6 km walk with a little hill at the end. - puff puff puff.
Anna-Lee of course was fine. She went swimming for 3 hours afterwards at her friend's across the street!

All in all, it's been a good productive week of school. We have learned so much history, and Scripture, and geography. We've read biographies of wonderful people who put their lives on the line to help Jewish people during WWII, we have prayed, and  even learned some Hebrew words!
LilahTOV! Good night! לילה טוב