Pictures from a buffet dinner on the Sea of Galilee. They made fresh bread and Hummus at the stations above. You can see how big the bread is that she is holding up. I wanted to share one, but Robbie wanted us to each have one. If you can see Robbie above- her mouth is full like a chipmunk storing up for the winter. LOL. Every night we had salad, bread, and a lot of dessert. This buffet did have french fries. I was in heaven!! This was our first full day in Israel. Robbie's husband and mine had already text us and told us to catch the next flight back to Charlotte. We were kinda stressed from this, but our husbands did fine and we had the time or our lives.


I just wanted to share a quick scripture with you. Luke 22: 31- " Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you. Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." You can not be "Sifted" unless God gives Satan the OK to do so. Hard to believe, but what ever sifting we go through only strengthens us for our brothers. So take what you learn during the "sifting" and help someone in need.  God has a overall plan- and a plan for us. What we are going through now is preparing us for his kingdom. Jesus told Peter that he would pray for him. Just think, when we have trials and hear, "I am praying for you". Sometimes I think, I need more than prayer- throw me a rope!!! But remember that Jesus is at the right hand of God and that he is praying us through the situation. If you are calling Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour then Satan feels threatened by you. He will do everything in his power to destroy us. During the Sifting- we should pray more, read his word more, fast, etc. Draw near to God and he will draw near to us. I'll pray for you also,that God will strengthen you and keep you and your family safe. Be strong!!!
Saved by Grace,
Amy

It's snowing again

The snow falls like God's Grace...and once again I find myself looking for a corner to curl up in and not to take part in this race we call "Life."

Tension in this home is what brings back the pain......the intensely painful mothering failures......Have I damaged my kids? Has my own selfishness wounded my husband?

."Then I remember we are just dust.......This life is not about us......The Lord does expose our wounds...so I am laying my heart out for everyone here to see.....I am vulnerable and humble so I make this an offering to Him.....who has given me so much..... I am torn in places I never knew I could tear...........the broken worn out me....one who is a mother, teacher, writer, caretaker, wife, sister, daughter, friend, lover of Jesus.....completely and utterly worn out....not taking the time to just "BREATHE

I am craving the stillness, the quietness....of it all....craving the still small voice of Him whispering to me that everything is going to be all right....But instead He speaks the words from Luke 12:48 to me......and it is clear as a bell:

Robbie, for one who has been given much, much will be demanded.......and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.................Wow.......oh how I wish I knew how to lay it all down on the altar as a sacrifice to Him.................this blog is not about me.....it is where I can take myself lower.....making me more humble................. I want it to be all about Christ!!!!!!! As I blog the Lord gently nudges me....lay it out....lay out your wounds.....your torn out wounds......your failures and how you have lost your patience but with a gentle reminder how our Saviour never looses His...... and He never grows weary........

This place is about finding the beauty and the stillness in all the chaos in this thing called "LIFE." And I want to know what it is like to stand on Holy Ground.......to feel His peace even in my chaos......oh how I want to fall face down as Joshua did and say "what is it that my Lord has to say to me?"

Joshua 5:13-15...................13 Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14 “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord[e] have for his servant?”
15 The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
     So now what is it that the Lord has to say to me? To you????
It is so clear to me now why God laid on my heart the main verse of our Yahweh Sisters Blog site; it is what he has been saying to me to you?
Matthew 22:37-38.....
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 




      I know that I am a bit of a mess in this "Life, raising teenagers....it actually feels like I have pit bulls instead of daughters sometimes.........and yes it was me that told Amy that it is us 'WOMEN," who have the power to set the pace of our homes. It is us who controls the atmosphere....it is even US who sometimes causes the chaos when things are spiraling out of control................Did you know that "grace truly is contagious" ....        and when we don't lay it on the altar,  when we can't give up the control.... when I make the mistake of screaming at my kids and telling them that they are crazy, and I really do think my 15 year old is crazy....lol     It is then that I can sense the spiritual attacks and feel like Satan is up to his same old tired tricks of using my family members to get me to react and lose it.   It works when my daughter screams to the top of her lungs....."WHAT IF I DON'T BELIEVE IN  GOD?".........and I scream back:   "well just sit in the church and FAKE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! (yes I did say that.....)"

Yes words hurt and I have spoken harshly and I cried and they cried and I just pray that I haven't damaged my girls forever......

I cried out to God last night with everything in me and screamed like a crazy women that: " I don't want to do this anymore......I want to run and never look back.... I want to run to that stillness and quietness that I long for....

I cry out to God with weariness on how I have allowed the flesh victory today............Please Abba Father don't let the girls be confused ...let them know the power of your grace......your unfathomable grace......

pouring out my heart like dirty water,

in his grace,

Robbie

Peace at home

A wise friend, Robbie, told me that a "MOM" controls the atmosphere of the house. This is so true. When I am all to pieces, my family is all to pieces. We have three boys. For Christmas we got our eleven year old a "puppy". Well oh course he is cute, BUT a lot of work. He is like a new baby- goes to the bathroom every hour. Well one day in particular,  I was at work- I received several phone calls from my husband about how much work the puppy was, and that he had went to the bathroom several times in the house- yuck!!! I couldn't wait to get home.HA HA .  It is funny, when I'm home, the puppy doesn't have accidents, but that is another story. Also this one day in particular, the boys were destroying the house. I rushed home, pulled my car into the garage and was trying to mentally get ready to meet every one's needs. Well I didn't pull my car far enough into the garage- the garage door came down on my car, usually goes back up when it meets resistance, but didn't this time. The door caught a hold of my expedition and tore the garage door opener completely off the door. So instead of me creating peace in my house that night, I added to the chaos.  My husband was DONE. Instead of praying through it, I told my husband to put the dog on eBay to sell, the kids too if that was possible. I was DONE too. So instead of creating a peaceful night, I went to bed. The next day I left for work and had to manually shut the garage door, I ended  up shutting my finger in the door and cried all the way to work. Later that day I talked to Robbie, she laughed and again told me that I could, with God's help, change the atmosphere of my house. I tried it, and it worked. I loved on the puppy, and my family. I lit candles, fixed dinner, and most of all- bit my tongue. I kept my mouth shut, Girls- this is war. We have to put on our armor before we get up in the morning- the armor of God. Read our bible and pray. God did not promise that life would be easy, but that he would not leave us.
So today, try to remain calm. Pray for Peace. Trust and Love God. We will make it to the finish line. One way or the other. We maybe crawling, but we'll make it.
Love in Christ.
Amy

Cap...part 2

Sea of Galilee in the Back......

The synagogue was built in the pattern common in Galilee with lateral aisles along three sides, with three entrances with the open side facing JERUSALEM..........

Between the synagogue and Peter's house, archaeologists have found the remains of many homes that give us a good idea of the way Peter's home would have looked. It probably consisted of one room,  perhaps even divided by pillars that separated the living area from a pantry type room.  These homes were clustered around courtyards, where baking ovens would have been located. Their were no roofs left on anything. But the stone steps leading to them are still in place today!!! We were told through archaeological findings that the roof would have been flat, made of packed dirt and straw that would be supported by wood or stone rafters.

Early Christians made it easy to identify Peter's house by the most exciting discovery for us Christians:   131 inscriptions scratched into its plaster walls by pilgrims in Greek, Aramaic, Latin, and the ancient Semitic Language Syriac.........Many of the inscriptions bless the name of Jesus and ask for God's Mercy! This realization may have been the first site of the first-house-churches......this would be HUGE for us Christians because it would be a the very first known church in the Christian world.....wow......

Grinding mills for wheat, found in Capernaum......

Me and Peter.............

Thanks to the archaeologists who excavated the ruins of Capernaum during the twentieth century, we can almost picture the scene of a bustling town where fisherman are hauling in their catch for the day..and the women would be hard at work grinding grain, baking bread, or making clothing for their families. 

CAPHARNAUM............................THE TOWN OF JESUS.......part 1

"The people of the country call it Capernaum." Capernaum was a fairly large settlement on the Northwestern edge of the Sea of Galilee.... Capernaum became the home town of Jesus after Nazareth, and from the synagogue there He launched his preaching mission.......

This is the center of Jesus' ministry.......Capernaum means, "village of Nahum," Nahum means, "comfort or consolation."  The meaning should remain us of the many miracles of healing that Jesus performed in this vicinity........

It was a busy fishing town that was located near an abundant spring and well-watered fertile plains........

Archaeological remains of Peter's house..........

The doorways of the Capernaum synagogue, frames the modern Memorial of St. Peter, built over the traditional house of Peter's mother-n-law.......

A reconstructed colonnade stands tall among the ruins of the synagogue of Capernaum.........

Grinding mills for wheat, found in Capernaum.....

Beneath the Memorial of St. Peter are remains of Peter's mother-n-law's house........

This was truly a city of miracles.....and teaching...A place where men were called and they followed. It is the town by the sea that Jesus himself called "HOME." It is where five of the disciples: Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew-lived and were called, and chose to follow......

Reconstructed colonnade...............that stands tall in the ruins of the synagogue of Capernaum..........

Standing here in the shades of the old buildings...Our hearts cry out to want to know more.......more about our Jesus...Amy and I try to picture Jesus touching Peter's mother-n-law and commanding, "Be well," and in that very moment she was healed.......as the sun is beaming down upon us..we thought about the very words Jesus spoke here:   If one of these little children believes in me, and someone causes that child to sin, it would be better for that person to have a large mill-stone tied around the neck and be drowned in the sea......as we stood there if you listened closely enough you could hear the waves from the Sea of Galilee.....

This is also where the sick and desperate sought him out. It is also where those who were hungry in spirit came to feast on Jesus' words who was and who is the "Bread of Life." He spoke the most important word ever here that has been repeated throughout time....

"BELIEVE."

Also at Capernaum it is believed that this is where a demon-possessed man cried out, "Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us?"

Murex marine snail

The above pictures were taken of the Mediterranean Sea. The first two was taken at the bottom of Mt. Carmel. With the smoke above us traveling across the sky and over the Mediterranean Sea. I am not able to describe the site and all the colors I saw that day. I do know that with death comes life and Israel is "very alive" today.
One amazing thing we learned while in Caesarea was about the Murex marine snail. In Biblical times, they used  blue dye, from the Murex snail,  for their garments. There was a unique understanding that the fringe of a man's garment had a special significance. The blue coloring on the cord of their garment reminded the people of heaven. The "blue" coloring they used was from a hypobranchial gland of a Murex marine snail that ONLY lives in the deep water of the Mediterranean Sea. The "purple" was obtained from another variety of Murex snail that could be gathered in shallow coastal waters of the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas."Blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah" ( Exek. 27:7) " clothes of blue and embroidered work".  Recent findings in the Bar Kochba caves by the Dead Sea have explained to many Jewish scholars about the significance of the dyes used on certain types of cloths. The dyed woollen embroidery may be symbolic of the need for a divine infusion of holiness(blue) and royalty( purple) into the prosaic human stock of Israel.
Modern Research-
The production of blue yarn and cloth dyed in the traditional way ceased many centuries ago, when the supply of snails appeared to become extinct. Jews have never been able to accept any other kind of blue dye, so  to this day they have no blue cord in their fringes and tassels. A recent discovery about a year or so ago was that the Murex snail was not extinct after all and that it may be possible to resume production of the traditional blue dye. Some Jews have even gone so far as to see the revival of the heavenly blue as a sure sign of the advent of their Messiah.- All I can say folks is that Jesus is coming soon!!!!!
Blessings,
Amy

YESHUA BOAT........................

On a winter day in 1986, two Galilee Fisherman saw the outline of something odd while they were walking along the muddy banks of drought-plagued Sea of Galilee and called in experts. An ancient boat half-buried on the Northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee was discovered..................and it was quickly named the "The Jesus Boat" or in Hebrew; "The Yeshua Boat."

The boat was carefully removed from the silt and made it's first journey in 2,000 years, it floated once again on a canal from the Galilee to Kibbutz Ginosar where it was placed in a specially built conservation pool at the Yigal Allon Museum..........

Experts report after testing it they confirmed the boat was constructed and used between 100 BC and AD 70...........The boat was in an amazing state of preservation, thanks to being encased for 2,000 years in the mud....(wood-devouring bacteria could not breath in the mud...) It was completely waterlogged when found, and in order to keep it from crumbling into dust, it was immediately immersed in a giant tub.....Never before preservation's were attempted in order to preserve the boat and with great success the water-soluble wax bound the boat together perfectly........

The boat is about 24 feet long, 7 feet wide and a little less than 4 feet deep........It was built using the "shell first" technique, with mortise and tenon journey.....

A boat of this size would have had a crew of 5, and would have been able to carry about 15 additional people. It would have a working life of 20-30 years. Most of its planks were made of Labanon cedar and the frames were of oak.

Much of the wood had been recycled from older scrapped boats. It would have had a small deck in the bow and another one at the stern. It's fishing net would have been deployed from the stern deck.

Wood fragments were uncovered nearby, indicating that the boat was found in a place that had been a boatyard. This indeed is the type of boat that was used on the lake for fishing and for ferrying passengers when Jesus was preaching.........

Although Cedar and Oak make up the most of the boats planks and frames, there were still 10 other kinds of wood used......the picture is a listing of all the different types of wood used.........

A bowl discovered in the boat, whose form alone dates it back to the first century CE.......

As I pulled from my notes everything I could about Yeshua's boat.... I couldn't help but wonder if God is revealing little treasures of His existence all over Israel in hopes that His people will wake up and call out to him

I know that boat was not found by accident....It was there for 2,000 years....... God's timing is so different from ours. It had to be ordained by God..........for two brothers who were walking by the shores of Galilee like it was an ordinary day..... only to find a discovery on the shores of Galilee that has marked history forever...... another piece of the puzzle which God is allowing us to see little bits at a time......

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. "Come follow me, " Jesus said, " and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him........

Matthew 4:18-22.....

What are we willing to leave behind to follow Jesus????