He Sees, He Knows, He Cares

This past January while Zach and I were visiting Wheaton, we spent an evening with our friends and mentors, the Schuchardts (a Wheaton professor and his wife who we had become close to while at Wheaton). Among other things, we talked about having faith with tight finances, and Rachel told me she often clung to the mantra, "He sees; He knows; He cares." In other words, no matter how dire your circumstances may get (financial or otherwise), God is not surprised and never forgets about you. As we have lived very much by faith financially since being in Israel, I have often brought that phrase to mind.

Anyway, over the last few weeks I (in particular) have been stressed about our finances quite a bit. God has certainly provided for us in amazing ways to be here, but we still have some financial concerns and will need a little more income to be able to stay here long term. People respond differently to times of stress, but my reaction is to get incredibly proactive and just search frantically for jobs or money-making opportunities. While it's not necessarily bad to take some action like this, I recognize that I've tried to take the entire burden on my shoulders these last few weeks and have not hardly trusted the Lord at all for His provision. I certainly haven't rested and trusted that He sees, He knows, and He cares.

So last Thursday, God finally got my attention in a significant way through an email from our pastor's wife in Oregon. She told me to be careful not to suffer from "Sarah syndrome." Remember Sarah and Abraham? God promised that they would have a huge number of descendants even though they were both old and she was barren. After God promised this, though, a good 10 years went by and still no kids. So Sarah, presumably thinking she was just helping God accomplish His will, made Abraham and Hagar get together so they could at least have an heir (Ishmael). In His own timing, God was ultimately faithful to Sarah and gave her a son of her own (Isaac), but because Sarah tried to "rush" or "force" God's will, so to speak, she ended up having a bigger issue on her hands (the tension of Isaac and Ishmael).

I officially diagnosed myself with "Sarah syndrome" after going back to read this story, and the Lord very much convicted me of my lack of faith in His provision. (As a side note, I also love Psalm 46:10 in the NASV - "Cease striving and know that I am God.") So last Thursday I decided that for one week (minimum), I would do nothing proactive to try and make money for us. No looking for jobs online, no applying for scholarships, no seeking out part-time work here in Jerusalem. Instead, I would use that time to simply ask that the Lord would provide in His timing and in His owns ways -- outside of anything I could bring about with my own effort.

Fast-forward to this morning. After our church service, we were heading out when our pastor pulled us aside and said he wanted to ask us something. He started with, "So I have a job opportunity I want to run by you..." In short, he needs us over the summer to be in charge of running sound and getting the service set up while a few key people are out of town, and he offered to pay us generously for doing it. I almost could not stop smiling through the whole conversation not even because of the money, but because I was just watching the Lord answer my prayer as clear as day. He was basically saying, "You don't think I can provide for you without your help? Let me show you. I'll hand this nice job to you on a silver platter, and you didn't even have to lift a finger."

All of that to say, I see so clearly today that we serve a very personal, very active God who sees, who knows, and who cares. Praise the Lord for His provision and that He is still Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

We Call Her "Crazy Hair"

Post-bath mohawk

 

After today's nap

A Funny Discovery

I was transcribing a sermon the other day, and the pastor was preaching through John 20. Just for reference, here is the text:

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

One thing the pastor pointed out that I had never noticed (and thought was pretty hilarious) was the way John portrays himself in this passage. As you probably know, John is called "the disciple who Jesus loved" throughout Scripture, and, of course, he is the author of this passage.

Look at verse 2: "...to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved..." It's funny how instead of saying his name here he intentionally 'tries' to make himself anonymous while still letting everyone know that he is the one who Jesus loved. Maybe it's a funny translation thing, but it just struck me as amusing.

Even better, look at verse 4: "Both were running, but the other disciple [John] outran Peter and reached the tomb first." What a funny detail to add into this account, especially since John himself is the author! For some reason he just wants to make sure everyone knows that he, and he alone, is the speedier disciple. As if that mention isn't enough, he repeats this again in verse 8: "...the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first..." In light of the weighty theological significance of this passage, that detail seems so insignificant and arbitrary (especially to be repeated twice!) 

Finally, the last part of verse 8 says, "He saw and believed." Not "they," meaning both John and Simon Peter. No, John makes it clear that he is is the only believer here. Funny Greek-to-English translation? Maybe. But still made me smile at the very 'human' nature of our biblical authors. :)

A Perfect Day

So I wasn't really planning on doing a birthday post, BUT my husband made it such a perfect day for me that I had to share the details. :)

We had church this morning, and as an added bonus I got to pick out several of the songs and play piano for the service. I went early to rehearse, and when Zach and Charis arrived, they came bearing the following gifts:

Roses and a Happy Birthday balloon

After church we came home, and I asked what the lunch plan was (since he had already told me he had one). To my complete shock and delight, Zach announced he would be cooking lunch for us!! (Let's just say this is a first in our relationship! The kitchen is generally not his favorite place to be. :) A delicious lunch of macaroni and cheese followed, and I have to say I was quite impressed. It was delicious!

We opened presents after lunch, went to the park to take a walk with the little one, and then came home for family nap time (hello Sunday afternoon). Later, we ate at my favorite pizza place for dinner and grabbed some cheap McDonalds ice cream comes for dessert. Can we say perfect??

Thank you, my love, for making this day absolutely perfect. We needed it. ;) I love you!

Double digits!

Today we celebrate Charis turning 10 months old! This week has been one of the toughest yet with her sickness, but today she really started turning a corner and feeling better. Praise the Lord!

The big change this month is that she now has two bottom front teeth. :) Happy 10 months, baby girl!

Oops...Mommy forgot to wipe off the avocado from my face!

One of my favorite activities: crawling to the very edge of the bed so Mom and Dad can pull my legs back :)

I'm 10 months old!

Can you spot my teeth?

I'm gearing up to walk here in a few months!

A Little Sickie

Just popping in to ask for prayers for little Charis...she has really come down with a bad sickness for the last 4 days or so, and we are dying for her to feel better! Unfortunately the sickness culminated the other evening with a trip to the Emergency clinic where they measured her having a 105.0 fever. Thankfully her fever has broken and she is starting to be able to eat again, but you can pray specifically against dehydration over these next days. She's still not wanting to eat or drink much (a sure sign she's still sick!) and she obviously needs to. Thanks for the prayers!

Meal Planning

Okay, I am asking for a little help from all 16 of you readers. :)

I plan our meals every week so it's easier to get groceries and stick to our budget, but we are getting a little tired of the current line-up.  Here are some things to know:

1. Our kitchen is quite limited. We only have two stove burners, a crockpot, and no oven or microwave.

2. Meat-wise, we are pretty much limited to chicken and ground beef. Other meats (steak, roast beef, pork, even sausage/bacon) are either hard to find or really expensive.

3. We have great access to the huge outdoor market here (fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts, etc.) but very little access to customary American products (i.e. cream of chicken/mushroom soup, boxed meals, etc.)

All of that to say, I've had to be quite creative to vary up our meals a bit. Here are our staples: pasta (with ground beef, meatballs, parmasean chicken, or sauteed chicken); chicken wings (Zach's fav); chicken and dumplins; chicken noodle soup; baked chicken (on the stove); chili; chicken tortilla soup; burrito bowls; chicken quesadillas; taco soup; meatball subs; homemade mac and cheese; roast chicken in crockpot; bbq chicken sandwiches. That may seem like quite a few options, but I just feel like I am running out of ways to cook chicken! We of course add vegetables and side dishes to these, but that is the easy part.

Here is where you come in. Do you have any easy, wonderful recipes for chicken/ground beef that you make on the stove or crockpot? I am dying to try something new. You can post it here or send me an email and I guarantee we'll give it a shot. :)

And by the way, I think we'll be getting a small oven over the summer. Praise the Lord!

Part 2: Ein Gedi and Qumran

Where has the time gone? Yikes. We got back into the regular school schedule this week after almost three weeks off, and it seems like life has just flown by. So to backtrack a bit... here are some highlights from our day trip to Ein Gedi and Qumran last week.

We saw this little guy (a coney) right when we entered. This is one of the very, very few places in the world it can be seen.

Charis wanted to say hello.

Beautiful waterfalls

Gotta love the full clothing while sliding down the waterfalls.

Stopping for a little picnic

And then the hiking began! It was breathtaking ... in more ways than one.

Our view from near the top

Presenting an ibex (also a very rare species found substantially in this area)

See that little hole in the rock? That's where most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

All in all it was a fun trip and a wonderful Pesach break. Other happenings?

1. Zach celebrated his birthday on Wednesday! I'm pretty convinced that I get WAY more excited about his birthday than he does, but we still celebrated with homemade chicken wings (per his request), kicking a soccer ball around at the park, and a short day of class.

2. The littlest Bohler now has her first tooth! It took blood, sweat, and tears for it to finally emerge (okay, not literally, but it felt that way at times), but boy is she cute. Once it comes in a little more we will charm you all with some pictures. Her little personality has REALLY started to come out over these past few days/weeks, too, and she just constantly cracks us up. She is such a joy.

3. I have been working quite a bit (so the blog has been sadly neglected), but the working part has been a great blessing to us. We still hope to secure some other sort of part-time employment over these next few weeks to supplement what we currently have, so you can pray that something would fall into place there.

Shabbat Shalom!