Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow! Yes it certainly has been a long while since my last post. Just wanted to write and give an update on the current happenings in my life.

It's official, my sister and I are going to be Aggies!!! Come Janurary, we will be moving down to College Station to attend Texas A&M! We are so excited and very honored to be given this privilege. We will be able to continue our aspirations in archery since we will become part of their team, both training and competing. This is an incredible blessing since we were wondering how we were going to mesh school and archery at the same time. The situation for both at A&M is ideal. Mandy and I are convinced that the Lord is leading us this direction and are looking forward to the upcoming changes in our lives, finding out where He will take our paths.

We just returned a couple weeks ago from a two week tour in Israel! It was an amazing trip! One of my favorite parts of visiting Israel is meeting up with old friends who have become like family to us... both from the U.S. and from Israel. We traveled to Tel Aviv first, visiting Joppa, Caesarrea Maritima, Mt. Carmel, Meggido and drove through Nazareth on our way to the Sea of Galilee. We stayed in Tibereas while we toured the Galilee area where we saw Caesarea Phillipi, Capernaum and the Golan Heights and drove down to the Dead Sea where we floated in the water that is 1/3 salt. We went to Massada (a favorite stop)and Qumran, then started our accent up to Jerusalem! This is one of the most exciting moments of the trip! In Jerusalem we were busy bees! We saw the Holocaust Museum (very heartbreaking), Bethlehem, the Pools of Bethesda and St Anne's Cathedral, the Western Wall and Rabbinic Tunnels, the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount, the Jewish Quarter, the Garden of Gethsemane.. and then he climax --The Garden Tomb. This is the site that protestants hold to as the site of the crucifixion and resurrection. Regardless if it truly is the site or not. We gather there in commemoration of the ACT of our Saviour rising from the dead, sealing our hope of salvation under the New Covenenant. We had a very impacting mini church service there and took communion.

Upon returning I began reading "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom after finishing reading "Discipline -- The Glad Surrender" by Elizabeth Elliot. I finished "The Hiding Place" earlier this week and was both moved and challenged by Corrie's life, faith, courage and focus on the ultimate goal of knowing and sharing the intense love of Christ. He faith infiltrated EVERY phase of her life and sustained her through her experiences in prisons and a German concentration camp. Her testimony is incredible. That she was able to stay alive and keep both hope in her situation and love for those around her (including her persecuters). I highly recommend both books I mentioned above. "Discipline" is an excellent book on the marks of the life of a disciple of Christ. It is a challenging book but as usual, Elizabeth Elliot speaks directly to her topics rather than wasting time trying to be appealing in her approach. She is candid and honest. And for those of you who know Mandy, I have grown to really appreciate the direct approach. ;-) I am just beginning a book on the life of William Wilberforce that is a quick read (hopefully) and highly inspirational. For any of you who have not seen the movie, Amazing Grace, you must! It is also on the life and the slavery abolition work of Wilberforce in England.

That it all for now. I am wishing all of you who are reading a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving Day! We have SO MUCH to give thanks for in this country. Even if the election didn't turn out the way we had hoped, we still live in a free nation and enjoy liberties and abundance far beyong what most others elsewhere can imagine. God is still on the throne, Christ is still above all else, and we who recognize Him as our Saviour, could never offer enough thanks to Him for the gift of redemption from our sin! We have a God who is good, faithful and true! And One who is directly and intricately involved in our individual lives, showing us His grace, mercy and love day by day. No matter who you are or what you HAVE, we have GREAT reason to give thanks to our God on this day and every! Be blessed!