A Sunny Wedding

Sun, expensive cars, Disney Land and thrill rides, love - put it all together and you have the perfect combination for a topnotch vacation.We all met in sunny, southern California to witness Marcus and Margo's wedding and to celebrate with them. The wedding was set in a chapel on a hill overlooking the Pacific. The sun glistened off the water and flooded the chapel with colored light from the stained glass windows. All of Margo's planning and hard work resulted in a beautiful wedding and reception afterwards. We are so happy to welcome into the family Mrs. Margo Secomb! Here as Colin, Mark's best man, who in his toast handed over to Margo his position as Mark's best friend. He did a great job!

"Away, away..."

Only a few more hours. Beka and I are pulling an all-nighter watching movies. Since I have to leave at 2:30a, I figured, why not? What better way to fortify yourself for a long trans-Atlantic flight than with a midnight showing of Pirates of Penzance?! "Away, away, my heart's on fire, I find my duty hard to do today..." For those of you who haven't seen the movie, I strongly recommend it. It helps if you watch it with the right company, though. If you need that company, Kait and I are volunteering right now! :) See you all in a few days!

Little Hands

Little hands - They belong to such little people. Every now and again you can catch a glimpse of the grown up in them, a mature face with that exact expression still passing across it. It is fascinating to look into their eyes in that moment and imagine their future, shaped by the present circumstances and lessons that are growing them. And at that same moment you see the innocence and the childish joy or curiosity that still binds them to their present reality. It makes your heart burst with the miracle of life and the great gift that life is.

Last night, we were gathered in the living room doing advent. The house was dark, and two candles were lit in the advent wreath. I was sitting on the floor with Nathan stretched across my lap. My hand lay on the edge of the coffee table to support Nathan's heavy head nestled in the crook of my elbow. His little hand reached up to the back of mine, barely bigger than the back of my palm. His finger bumped up and down my knuckle wrinkles, absently pushing them back and forth over the knobby bone. Such a little thing, but I was completely transfixed. What a gift children are: a gift from God, gifts for us to train up in the fear and admonition of Him. As we bowed our heads to pray, the miracle of this gift held me in wonder and awe. My eyes were closed, enjoying Nathan's weight in my arms. WHACK! Nathan swung one leg up to cross it over his other leg when the wide arc of his little foot smacked me right in my closed eye. "Ooh," I grunted (quietly, as we were still praying), as I grasped for the bruised socket that use to contain my eye. "Sorry," Nathan's loud whisper interrupted Darren's praying. So much for the moment.

Driving Like an Israeli

Israeli drivers are terrible. They are simply unaware. The whole road is their domain, and they aggressively, or obliviously, travel all over it. Driving aggressively isn't bad, exactly, but when you start to view a foot of space between two cars as an "opening," you're in trouble! The horn is the most valuable part of the car, and they use it with the opposite frequency that they use their turn signals. Of course, the roads don't always help as lanes can magically disappear, three straight-bound lanes can, without warning, merge down to one lane that has suddenly become a turn lane, etc. You can enter an intersection in one lane, and when you exit the intersection on the other side, it will be gone or you will be straddling the line between two lanes, trying desperately to decide which one is yours and where the cars on either side of you belong.

Last Saturday, I drove to church and was able to drive three friends home who either lived in Tel Aviv or were catching a ride from there. With each one, I found myself adopting the habits of those around me. You know how you sometimes have to run in somewhere for just a second (I promise!), but there is no curb side parking available. No problem for an Israeli! They simply turn on their emergency blinkers, stop in the lane, and double park next to the cars parked along the curb and run in fast. It's so common that few people even honk at them anymore, they just merge over into the second lane or wait for that free moment to whip around them in the oncoming traffic lane and continue on their way. Well, that's exactly what I did each time. I justified it because I never left the car so I could easily move if necessary and because there were two lanes and I parked in the far right one, leaving one lane for all the cars to move around me. Two of the girls were Israeli and didn't say a word about it, but the third girl was a student from the States who had only been here a month. As we sat on the road, blinkers flashing, her gathering her things, and us exchanging information, she kept asking if I was in the way where I was parked, and if would I get honked at. It's no problem - there's plenty of room for them to get around me is what I assured her. Oh, dear. These bad driving habits need to be left here when I come home!