Tag Archives: Israel

My Book Overview

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This picture from Unsplash.com portrays how I feel as I research.

Work continues on my book, Jesus Gets Hand-Me-Downs. So today, I’m sharing the plan for this “book.”

Jesus Gets Hand-Me-Downs has become too long for a book aimed at young readers. Therefore, I’m reinventing the chapters and making them small books that are easy to hold and within the attention span of younger readers while it is interesting to older readers. I’m planning on at least fourteen of these little books.

The first book, subtitled At the Well, is close to completion. It is approximately 3,000 words. The general theme is sharing, sharing our possessions, sharing our history, and sharing our faith.

In addition to the story, features in the book include:

Common Hebrew and Aramaic words with their meaning and pronunciation.

Information about the culture at the time of Christ’s birth.

The story of the founding of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Family structure.

Biblical history.

My biggest challenge is learning the skills necessary to put the book into a format where potential publishers and beta readers will see my vision for the books. I’m also being challenged by all the rabbit trails the research takes me on.

I’m looking forward to sharing the results with you.

Israel Food Memory

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This month rather than post a recipe for the food I loved in
Israel, I chose to post a fun memory about food. Now, I’m fairly sure this is
not traditional Israeli food, but thanks to my grandsons, I’ll always connect
it to Israel.

When our oldest grandson was thirteen, we took him on a trip to Israel. He
quickly made friends with another thirteen-year-old boy on the trip.

When they went downstairs to breakfast at the hotel the first morning, they
discovered a favorite breakfast. Pancakes with chocolate syrup. Maple syrup was
available, but it was promptly ignored in favor of chocolate.

These two teenage boys went back for helping after helping. Sometimes it was
hard to see the pancake drowning in the syrup. In fact, they didn’t eat
pancakes with chocolate syrup, they ate chocolate syrup with pancakes.

A few years later, we took our second grandson to Israel. His favorite
breakfast — pancakes with chocolate syrup.

To both boys’ disappointment, when they got back home, Mom did not serve pancakes with chocolate syrup.

    Impressions of Israel – A Symbol of Interest

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    Grafted In Symbol

    During one tour, we peeked through a locked grate to see a little bit of the catacombs below Jerusalem. A few hard-to-see symbols were on the wall.

    When we asked why this entrance was locked, we were told there were a lot of symbols in this portion of the catacombs. Neither the Catholic Church (which owns a lot of property in Jerusalem) or the Jewish authorities wanted to see these symbols.

    This “Grafted In” symbol dates back to the first century A.D.

    Romans 11:17 says “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root,”

    The top of the symbol is the menorah used in the Jewish Temple representing the Torah, the Light of Judaism.

    The middle is the Star of David, representing the Messiah (Yeshua). Yeshua is the son of David who will rule over the Kingdom of David.

    On the bottom is the fish (ICHTHUS) recognizing the followers of Christ (the Christians).

    Note the base of the menorah and the tail of the fish join to form the Star of David. This means Yeshua (Jesus) grafted his followers into the faith and promises God gave to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

    I wear this pendant most of the time as a reminder to myself that everything God promised to His followers is also promised to me.

    There are many, many places in the United States where this can be purchased. The one I know the best is Jerusalem of God in Greeley, Colorado.

    First Arrival

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    Impressions from Israel

    It was 2005 when Roy and I traveled to Israel for the first time. Roy had a lot of experience traveling outside the United States, but international travel was a new experience for me. We traveled with a dance group from our daughter’s church. Jennifer was a member of the Israeli Celebration Dancers.

    I doubt it is unique to have some travel jitters. But I didn’t expect what happened when we landed in Tel Aviv.

    As the plane touched down the passengers clapped and cheered. Was it the joy of being back on land or the joy of being in Israel? I’m still not sure.

    Seats off kilter
    I can’t let go!

    Trouble attacked when it was time to leave the plane. I could not let go of the arms of my seat. Fear glued my hands in place. I refused to leave the plane until it returned to the United States.

    I was terrified I would embarrass myself or my country. Not sure why or how, but I was sure the embarrassment was real.

    Not even sure what that means.

    Jennifer and her friend gently pried my fingers from the arm of the seat, while Roy reassured me. They held my hands as they guided me off the plane. Roy walked close behind us. I think he was there to support me, but it might have been to keep me from running back to my seat. We were the last to leave.

    We returned to Israel three times since they helped me off the plane. All three times I felt like I was coming home.

    Now, I view times of terror during new experiences as a barrier trying to prevent me from receiving a blessing.

    As I write my book titled Jesus Gets Hand-Me-Downs, I find my impressions of Israel put me in touch with my characters in the story and my movement on the path to publication.