EducatingMe

Today is our day six and we spent it walking the streets of Jerusalem. We tried to make an earlier start of the day as there were about 40 world dignitaries here for the 75th memorial commemoration of the liberation of Auschwitz. The list included Prince Charles and our very own VP Mike Pence. Because the traffic was expected to be high we got out about 30 minutes earlier than normal. It was a chilly 35 this morning with intermittent rain. We all knew there would be much more walking today than in the past, so we bundled up and pushed forward. We hit so many sites of the city today and many of them we just for a moment. Roni, our friend and tour guide advised us early in the tip that we had several hundred year plus three to see in 10 days. Now the advice seems more like a warning...lol...we stayed moving today. Roni SHOULD have a PhD in history because we are filled with it all along the way. On the drive into the city center we were told that the town was built on the bedrock of Mt...

We are leaving the Sea of Galilee area today. Before taking off we had two brave souls decide to be re-baptized in the Jordan River like our Savior Jesus was by John the Baptist. If you know me, you know I love a good baptism. I tear up for young and old. To say I was pumped for this would be an understatement. Today was the warmest day yet at 49 degrees this morning. Water was much cooler than that. 9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Mark 1: 9-11  Our next stop was at Gideon Springs. You can find the story of Gideon in Judges chapters 6 and 7, the spring specifically in chapter 7.  At this spring Gideons men thirsty for days knelt and began drinking the water. Those that put their face in th...

Good morning and good evening. I will try writing through out the day today so that I am not falling asleep between paragraphs tonight. Father God I pray today that our eyes and hearts are open to you. Our first stop this morning was at the Mound of the Beatitudes. It was an absolutely beautiful place. On the way up you pass groves of Mango trees. We got quite an economics lesson on the way on the imports and exports of the country. I gotta say, the commercialization...probably the wrong word...lack of reverence...I don’t know...the place seemed a little off putting. In many of the places we have been to, there was an original house of worship that was destroyed by an event or war. In the same place another church or temple was placed on top. This space was original and placed in the late 1930’s. My favorite moment here at the mount was Pastor Smokey preaching to our group from Matthew 5 and 6. Our guide said something on the way up...he said you decide what is more important...the...

Day two was basically flying. We arrived in Israel at 4PM, but after grabbing luggage we headed toward Tiberius in darkness. This morning we awoke to the beauty of the Sea of Galilee. Western eyes keep us from fully expecting our Holy scriptures. There were fewer words 2020 years ago. Because of the fewer word there has to be translation and interpretation. Hill =2000ft or > and mountains are 3000 <. The same goes for bodies of water. The Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are smaller than some of our lakes back home.  I forget regularly that the Bible wasn’t written in my backyard. The men and women we read about are like ancient Lewis and Clark. Walking to and from over these hills and through swampy lands at times. In Capernium - Sea of Galilee modern Tiberius where Jesus reappeared to the disciples. Jesus called and made fishers of men. There is a holy site with dates in the 1st century....it now has a modern temple on top. I have heard this said before t...

Today was long. We all excitedly arrived at the church this morning at 4:15 AM for the long day’s journey. Tulsa to Houston was an easy leg. Your pastor talked some poor lady’s ear off the entire flight while many others enjoyed the rest of their night’s sleep. In Houston, we were already prepared for a slight delay, but it ended up being the “three hour tour”. Our aircraft was sent back to the hanger for unscheduled maintenance. We of course missed he connection flight in New Jersey because of this delay. The downtime, however, was actually nice. Many of us had never met before. We were essentially strangers traveling the world together. Having a church our size is a blessing and a curse at times. I had seen most of them at one time or another, but I did not have names ready on my tongue. We swapped stories and joked. I interviewed several about their expectations of the trip. The overwhelming response was that “we were about to walk the same road and same steps of our Savior...

Confession time: I am a portrait photographer. I am sometimes a second shooting videographer. I took a volunteer position on the media team at church where I learned more about cameras. I found myself directing shots as a video switcher pretty quickly after. I have helped direct and produce the church services to stream on our website. It’s a low scale and fairly low budget. Everything I’ve done in media I’ve learned on the fly. YouTube is my best friend. Our media director whom I might say was one of the best mentors in technology I’ve ever had, got an amazing opportunity to serve God and develop the media ministry many state lines away. In the weeks leading up to his ultimate move, I tried to absorb as much information as he was willing to throw at me. See, before this… I was his volunteer right-hand man. I say this just because the guy just let me help wherever. He carried the weight of the team on his shoulders...that is very clear now. He’s gone, and here I am. FBC Sapulpa ...

I am creative. I am creative, but not in a crafty let-me-art-all-over-the-place sort of way. I am “the ideas are a dime a dozen” sort of gal. I cannot paint. I do not bake OR cook (apparently those are NOT synonymous with each other). I love banners and beautiful digital displays, but I cannot just whip things up with multiple fonts and colors. I have no eye for what goes together. I do, however, love photography. I can capture those beautiful things. I can see an empty room or building and create 10-15 ways the space could be used. The businesses that could be run inside, and I can see the design style that should fill the space, but I am not the one to do it. I am an ideas person. I am your not so average thinker who cannot get the ideas out fast enough before they are fleeting. My iPhone is filled with “notes to self”. I have been collecting these digital scraps of nothing since 2015 when I first thought I might write a book. But, I am not a writer either. I could, however, ...