sunrise in the east

This peaceful Sunday morning finds me sitting at the kitchen counter soaking up the last cool breeze of the day, talking with our gracious host, and trying fruitlessly to update my old phone.  The sound of children laughing drifts though the open window, mixed with the sound of the buses. Every few minutes a bird will dash from fruit tree to fruit tree.  The sky is huge and today is blue, I haven't seen a cloud yet, but the sunsets and sunrises are a brilliant orange.   Palm trees that look like giant pineapples adorn the sidewalks.  Bats two feet long come out at night to enjoy the multitude of fruit.

It has been five days now since we arrived and those five days have had many discoveries. One of the most unexpected is the bread. Spending my young years in Eastern Europe I learned to l.o.v.e. fresh made bread in it's multitude of honey colors. Thanks to Israel being a melting pot of many countries that each brought their best with them, the bread of my childhood fills every store.

Other discoveries would be simply meeting everyone. Of course everyone is sweet and kind. Our hosts speak English and have opened not just their guest apartment but their entire home to us.  Also Mr Host has started stocking the fridge with homemade soda water because he knows I like it.

Saturday was our first Shabt (or Sabbath) which (as I'm sure you remember) goes from sunset on Friday till 3 stars come out on Saturday (currently 7:30 pm).  Saturday morning we went to church for the first time. There were people there from Israel, Burma, Ethiopia, Zambia, Kenya, England and the Philippines.   Dan preached to the adults meanwhile tried telling the story of Noah's ark. As my brother put it these kids are "professional Christians" and trying to tell them a story they knew so well was pretty difficult. But I want to rise to the challenge, my heart is for kids just like them. Kids that know the Bible so well but may have never met God.
Returning home we tried to stop at big mall in search of toilet paper. everything was closed until 8pm, we'll never make that mistake again.

Jesse has had the hardest transition by far. What with the lack of sleep on the airplane and his days and nights being flipped and out growing his old bed and learning to sleep in a new one he has had a rough time.  He did sleep last night though, only waking up twice, and is now happily napping. Hopefully we have turned the corner and sleep will again be his night long friend.

We are excited to be here, and know we couldn't have done it without all your help.
Thank you :) Toda!!