The journey continues...

This blog has been abandoned for a long time, but the journey continues at my latest blog.

You're most welcome to join me there! "Those who look to Him are radiant, their faces will never be put to shame." Psalm 34:5

Top Ten Things We Did Today.

(by Michelle and her Mommy Dearest:)

1. Ate a tasty breakfast with incredible people from all over the world!
2.Drove to Bethlehem to see where Jesus was born. (Thank you, Mrs. Hames, for driving!)
3.Took a walk beneath ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethesemene
4. Were blown away by the stunning vew of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives
5.shopped at an Israeli grocery store!
6.Found out that going to Jordan from Israel won't be that difficult!
7.Delicious lunch at Christ Church Guesthouse with some folks from Holland.
8.Scrumptious dinner at Christ Church Guesthous with Jane and Paul Hames!
9.Got to put the books we brought on the shelf. Sounds wierd, but so much fun!
10.Got to help out in the kitchen of a ministy that God has used to encourage and strengthen the hearts of many over the past 200 years!

Flying over a sea of clouds!

The following was written in my journal about four hours ago....

Yikes! I'm on a plane to London. It's really hard to believe....the plane left about 11:15pm, and now it would be 3:30am American time.

What an adventure this is! My mom is sleeping beside me, and the whole plane is quite dark. I couldn't sleep much, so I watched Kit Kitterage on my own personal TV screen.

Now everything is quiet, and I opened up the window and I think we are flying over the sea! It's just begining to get light (it's probably about 8:00 in London, which is still a few hours away) and how strange and wonderfully sureal it is to hear nothing but the hum of the plane, and to look out at the darkness which is gradually growing into a morning blue.

At first I thought I could see the land ahead of us, but it wasn't getting any closer! Then I realized it was only the wing of the plane:)

***

It's definately getting lighter now, a beautiful blue-ish, misty grey outside, disturbed only by the bright light flashing at the tip of the wing and the pale, shimmering stars in the fading darkness.

***

I thought earlier that what I saw beneath us was the sea, but now I realize it is actually a sea of clouds! Simply breathtaking! And how amazing that it is already mid-morning in England, and we are flying into the dawn, rather than the dawn flying into us...everything is so beautiful!

I think I am finally beginning to believe this trip is for real! And I can't tell you how terribly thrilled I am...

***

Ah, how beautiful! Now there is a pale peach light breaking sofly on the glorious sea of cottony clouds, gently accenting their rippling beauty. It is almost like we are flying over a field of early morning snow, piled high and rippling with soft snow drifts. The whole sky and clouds below is soft and blue and bright, yet somehow still asleep.

The light dawns so slowly that I almost cannot notice it. I am only aware that there are now details on the wing, whereas before it was just a black sillouette against the sky.

Now the clouds are thinning out a bit, and they are quote more like the lumps of cotton I picked with with the neighbors around the block jsut a few weeks ago. Little bits of cotton floating in the sea...that's what it looks like! And futher out there is what appears to be an island of white softness that would be so lovely to sleep upon!

***

I switched on my TV and it announced that there is 1 hour and 53 minutes remaining on the flight...so I could get two hours of sleep, but oh! How could I sleep amidst such what such beauty is taking place? How delicious the clouds look...how magnificently soft. But I really must get some sleep!

***

Well, I shut the window for two minutes but opened it again to take a few pictures. I just couldn't bare to keep that window shut! And WOW! How brilliant the sky has become in only these few moments! It is even more angelically bright and soft, and just above the horizon of clouds there is a brilliant streak of violet-blue that fades into a pale, rosy orange.



There are big patches of clouds now, and so whispy! The pale light in the distance makes the tips of the plane burn with a glorious gold.

***

I managed to get a few minutes of sleep, and oh how lovely! Opening the window after laying my head down for a bit is just like waking up from you warm bed and stepping outside to find the world painted with the gloriously brilliant white of winter's first sweet snowfall.

It's so strange how it's gone from 11:15pm to 9:20am in only about 5 hours!

***


I would tell you more, but our internet time is just about up! Later I'll tell you about our walk about London....until then, farewell!

More than words

"A hope and a future..."

So October is getting closer....and on the 25th of that month I will be on a plane to Israel, if God's willing! It is sometimes difficult for me to articulate how I feel about this upcoming trip. But Larry Norman, at an encouraging blog I've been reading lately, wrote about how he is going on a trip to Martinique. He wrote what I wish I wrote! He puts into words so clearly the thoughts that are blundering about in my mind, reminding me of the truth that remains despite my anxious feelings or the circumstances I find myself in...the truth and security found in Christ. How refreshing it is to be reminded of that truth!
No matter what happens, God is good.

One of my favorite verses recently has been Psalm 116:7:

"Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you."

Yes, he has been good indeed! And in Jeremiah 29:11 I have the promise that he will continue to be good to me.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

God is good. And that is what I was reminded of when I read this post by Larry Norman earlier today. You can read it too, and be reminded of a God who gives us a hope, a hope that's bigger than the small scope of this world and the mountains we face. It is a hope won for us on the cross, and secured for us in the power of his ressurection. What a hope!

"I keep flitting around emotionally on what it will be like in Martinique. First and foremost my battle is trust God that everything will be for my good out there, even if everything doesn't go according to my plan! He promises me that and I know, in my sane moments, He will never, never, never, never break His word.

After that everything kind of just falls into place. I really, really, really will miss my friends and family I think. Yet again I know I shall not lack anything that I need, and hopefully this time will help me bring my wants closer in line to my needs.

So often life is a battle of the heart and the mind. In fact it always is really. Bringing my heart in sync with the truth and not letting it be brainwashed by all the messages this world sends out is really hard. Specifically this means not believing that I have to control everything or that friends, and family are God's greatest gift. They are great but not the greatest. God is the greatest gift. He will never leave me nor forsake me, He will be the strength of my heart and my Portion forever."

-Larry Norman
http://willingwriter.blogspot.com

Mere Dreaming? Or something else....

Somethimes when I think about my upcoming trip to Israel, I can't even believe it will be happening. It's too good to be true. Other times, I wonder if I must be crazy or something. My relatives seem to think so.

But a few days ago I stumbled upon a post by a new favorite blogger, Kath Arnold, that simply blew my mind. What a refreshing reminder! A reminder of what counts. Of what is real.

But read it for yourself, and be encouraged!

"Yes, once again I am ‘borrowing’ the internet from my old house, it’s very kind of them. And once again I feel the need to write something on this screen. Mainly to vent a few thoughts I’ve had in the last couple of days. These thoughts fall neatly into one sentence: Heaven had better be real. It affects everything. If there is no resurrection, if there is no world better than this one, if there is no reason to live beyond myself then all the decisions I and my mates are making right now are stupid ones. It makes no sense for my brother to head half way around the world, it makes no sense for one of my best mates to be in Ethiopia, it makes no sense for me to have left a brilliant place and lovely people and have moved out. And there is more, it makes no sense for me to have spent all my 20s doing jobs that pay little money in the belief that eternity matters more than right now. It makes no sense for me to have not spent time seeking to build perfection here (alright I have spent lots of time trying to do that but it hasn’t really worked out…), it makes no sense for me to be moving in with 3 other people, 2 of which I don’t know all that well and trying to be family with them.

If Christ has not been raised we are to be pitied more than all people. Why? Because these decisions are utterly foolish if there isn’t more to this world than all we can see, taste, hear, smell and touch.

7And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Phew. And so we carry on. I’ll carry on waiting for the dust to settle on my emotions and my random headspace right now. We’ll carry on working through the hard sorting out stuff of moving and trust that Someone else has schemes and plans that we can only wonder about. We are just creatures in the hands of One who really does know better than us. Mere dreaming? Or the result of an empty tomb 2000 years ago…?"

Because you've been so anxiously waiting....

Michelle Le Cuisinier: Episode 2