Texas Hospitality

 This past week we were 

blessed to travel to Texas.

Some beautiful territory in the countryside

 a couple hours out of Houston.

A wonderful place to gather

 on a warmer day.

 We were treated to some 

very generous hospitality

 by the Harvey family.

 This family has impeccable 

down-home Texas style, with a
generous welcoming heart for those who
come to visit. 

These arrowheads and artifacts 

were all found on the property 

during the construction of the ranch house.

Some of the artifacts 

have been dated to over 2000 years old.

There is no way I can do justice

 to this beautiful ranch in my own photos.

So, I will share what I found

 in the book on the coffee table.
(and no, I didn't get the cover or author)

Time to get to know folks a bit.
Relax and get some work done too.

Home on the range at the close of the day,
and a bit of peace in the quiet.
Respite comes in all sorts of ways.

Bible Marginalia-Unite My heart

Bible Marginalia Series- #277

Psalm 86: 8-13

Great is Your Steadfast Love

There is none like you...

there are no works like yours.

You are great and do wondrous things,

you alone are God.

Teach me your way, O lord,

Tha I may walk in our truth;

unite my heart to fear your name.

I give thanks to you, O Lord my God,

 with my whole heart,

and I will glorify your name forever.

For great is your steadfast love toward me;

you have delivered my soul

 from the depths of Sheol.

Lord, I find that so many times

 I have a divided heart.

Bring unity.

Bring focus.

Center my heart on you. Amen.

Supplies:

Alpha stickers

Washi tape

Gift tags 

Illustrated Faith tag

Colored pencils

Fine-point Sharpie non-bleeding pen

Bible Marginalia- Take Heed

Bible Marginalia Series- #276

Jeremiah 6

Impending Disaster for Jerusalem

A city and people 
that had no regard for God's Word.

They did not listen.
The word of the Lord
 is to them an object of scorn,
 and they take no pleasure in it.
How many times did I move away
 from a love for His Word?
Perhaps I set it aside for other things?

Dear Lord,
Let me take heed to your Word.
Help me to sense 
when I move away from paying attention.
Holy Spirit, bless me with the
gift of hunger for the feast of truth given
as food for our souls.
Amen.

Supplies:
Scrapbook paper
 Floral design cut from a greeting card
Alpha letters
Washi tape
 Colored pencils
Fine-point non-bleeding Sharpie pen

Bible Marginalia-Time to Pray

Bible Marginalia Series- #275

Psalm 109:3-4

Sometimes verbal abuse 
comes out of the blue.

Unwarranted.

Words of hate.

It can be us or our loved ones.

Attack mode.

David shares the experience here.

Time for prayer.

v. 21- But you, O God, my Lord,

deal on my behalf for your name's sake;

because your steadfast love

 is good, deliver me!

And we rest secure.

Supplies:

Washi tape

Envelope Wrap

Back Sharpie marker

Fine-point non-bleeding Sharpie pen

Bible Marginalia-His Word is HOPE

Bible Marginalia Series-#274

Psalm 130-
My Soul Waits for the Lord

Been thinking about this Psalm
 and the Hymn-
It is Well with my Soul.
Today a conversation crossed
 into the HOPE theme.
How do we bring HOPE
 to those around us?
Where do we find our hope?
His Word.
For with the Lord 
there is steadfast love.

It is well, it is well,

with my soul.

Supplies:

Napkin 

PPA- Perfect Paper Adhesive

Distress Ink- Weathered Wood

Shimmer Watercolors

Akashiya Sai Watercolor pens

Washi tape

Fine-point non-bleeding Sharpie

Die Cut

Colored pencils

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The Israel Visual Faith Community

On our recent pilgrimage to Israel 

we were able to once again meet with the 

Israel Visual Faith Community 

at the Dan Hotel in Jerusalem.

Members from our tour group joined us too.

 Thanks- Tina, Teresa, Jen, and Kathy.

Visual Faith Coach Diane Marra

 was thrilled to share a bit 

with the group gathered there.

Thanks to our friend Hadassah 

who gathered the group with the help of Renee.

 It was a time to listen and hear 

what their needs were for Visual Faith tools.

 It was an honor to hear the stories of the 

ministries they support 

and the women they mentor.

There was a group that joined us from 

Haifa- some live on Mt. Carmel.

I believe they are planning a "kidnapping"

  to have a Visual Faith event on Mt Carmel.

Thanks Diane for helping us 

to think and pray 

about adding Hebrew resources

 to our Visual Faith Ministry website.

Good News!

We know we have 2 more Visual Faith

 coaches headed to Israel!

Mere Christianity- Revisited

October 2006 was when I picked up

 my first C.S. Lewis book.

I had overheard a conversation

 at a Graduation reception 

as a Harvard graduate told the story

 of his "loss of faith" while at the University.

Then he was assigned to read 

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

He began to move back toward the cross.

Intrigued by this story,

 I put it on my stack of books to read.

A challenging read, yes,

 but some sentences 

just kept coming back over and over.

On October 15, 

I gave up my struggle to remember the words. 

In the middle of the night I grabbed a canvas,

 slathered paint on,

 and waited impatiently for it to dry.

And began to write...

the sentences that were turning around in my head.

And my heart.

I believe that this was an integral point

 in my understanding that I needed to 

SEE things to make the connections.

Over and Over again.

To SEE IT.

It has hung on a wall 

in my house ever since that night.

And as I pass by, 

a sentence or two will catch my attention.

And I remember......

Recently a daughter said she was starting

 to read Mere Christianity.

I asked if she wanted a reading companion.

Certainly!

Then I noticed how faded the 

Sharpie pen had become on the canvas. 

Time for a do-over.

 So - today- January 16, 2018, 

11 1/2 years later- I wrote over the words again.

Yes, we live in enemy-occupied territory.

He is NOT a tame God.

God cannot give happiness and peace 

apart from Himself, because it is not there.

Faith- the art of holding on to things

 your reason has once accepted, 

in spite of your changing moods.

Perhaps, this will last till 2030, 

another 12 years.

And possibly, my need to SEE and Remember

 will still be an integral part 

of how the Lord makes connections 

in my spiritual formation.

 I am thankful for the journey.

It is Well with My Soul

On this last Israel Pilgrimage 

we were able to visit the 

Horatio Spafford House.

Above is a wall in the room 

where we gathered to hear a bit of the story.

Horatio Gates Spafford (October 20, 1828,

 Troy, New York– October 16, 1888, Jerusalem)

 was a prominent American lawyer

and Presbyterian church elder. 

He is best known for penning the Christian hymn

 It is Well with My Soul, 

following a family tragedy in which his four daughters

 died aboard the S.S. Ville du Havre

on a transatlantic voyage.

Horatio and his wife Anna 

were well known in 1860s Chicago.

He and his wife were also prominent supporters 

and close friends of evangelist Dwight L. Moody.

Spafford invested in real estate north

 of an expanding Chicago

 in the spring of 1871. 

When the Great Chicago Fire of Chicago

 reduced the city to ashes in October of that same year, 

it also destroyed most of Spafford's sizable investment.

Scarlet fever soon killed his four-year-old son. 

Two years later, in 1873, Spafford decided his family 

should take a holiday somewhere in Europe, 

and chose England knowing that his friend D.L. Moody 

would be preaching there in the fall.

 He was delayed because of business.

 So he sent his family ahead: his wife and their four children, 

daughters eleven-year-old Anna "Annie",

 nine-year-old Margaret Lee "Maggie", 

five-year-old Elizabeth "Bessie",

 and two-year-old Tanetta.

On November 22, 1873, while crossing the Atlantic 

on the steamship Ville duHavre,

their ship was struck by an iron sailing ship 

and 226 people lost their lives,

 including all four of Spafford's daughters. 

Only his wife, Anna Stafford, survived the tragedy.

 Upon arriving in England, she sent a telegram to Stafford

 beginning "Saved alone." 

Spafford then sailed to England, 

going over the location of his daughters' deaths. 

According to Bertha Spafford Vester, 

a daughter born after the tragedy, 

Spafford wrote 

"It Is Well With My Soul" on this journey.

Following the sinking of the Ville du Havre, 

Anna gave birth to three more children.

 On February 11, 1880, their son,
 Horatio Goertner Stafford,

 died at the age of three, of scarlet fever.

 Their daughters were 

Bertha Hedges Spafford (born March 24, 1878)

 and Grace Spafford (born January 18, 1881).

 In August 1881, 

the Spaffords set out for Jerusalem 

as a party of thirteen adults and three children 

and set up the American Colony.
The society engaged in philanthropic work among
 the people of Jerusalem 
regardless of religious affiliation,
 gaining the trust of the local Muslim, Jewish,
 and Christian communities. 
After Horatio died in 1888, 

Anna and the colony moved to a larger location

 that is now the American Colony Hotel,

 on Nablus Road.

 In 1904, Bertha Stafford 

married Frederick Vester,

 a German member of the colony.

The house that is now 

the Jerusalem Prayer Center

 was the home where they lived for 25 years,

raising their six children.  

Anna and Bertha continued

 to lead the American Colony’s 

philanthropic efforts through harsh, 

troubled times in Jerusalem.

  The hardships of war caused great suffering

 in Jerusalem and the American Colony

 fed more than 2000 people

 a day in a soup kitchen, 

and treated enemy soldiers 

side-by-side in their hospital facilities. 
(Wikipedia)

After days of walking and lots of information,

 this spot was a respite to our tired souls.

We sang together and spent some time

 in the prayer room upstairs.

Imagine my delight when I saw 

sketchbooks and colored pencils

 waiting for prayer time.

 Time for Praying in Color.

It is Well with My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

(Refrain:) It is well (it is well),
with my soul (with my soul),
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
(Refrain)

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
(Refrain)

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pain shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
(Refrain)

And Lord haste the day, when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
(Refrain)

Music P. Bliss

The Bell Caves of Beit Guvrin National Park

Eerily vacant on a cold rainy January day.

The Bell Caves of

 Beit Guvrin National Park in Israel.

 The park attendant told us the park

 was closed because of the wind.

Our guide, Yossi, told him- "not for this bus."

Maresha is the Israelite city 
where Micah was from in the Bible.

Local  Carob in the woodlands

 of the Beit Guvrin area.

 Along the pathways in the park

Who lived in these after the mining?

Who did these walls shelter through the ages?

One of the new places to visit

 on our recent pilgrimage to Israel.

Always more to see.

Our guide Yossi brought

 musical delight to a gray day.

Listen Here:

The lighting was a challenge
 but it is worth a listen.