30.6.07

Going Places With God

Hey Guys,
Lisa is back from Jerusalem! She survived the killer trip and arrived in Atlanta around 10 pm. This series of flights was extra bad because the original round-trip ticket took her into Boston (where we had expected to be). We couldn't change the destination so we tacked on a one-way flight from Boston to Atlanta. Here is the list of cities she visited yesterday:

Jerusalem Tel Aviv Frankfurt Boston Baltimore Atlanta.

Pretty good, eh?

(Change of Subject coming up)

While I was in Israel and taking classes at UHL, I had a couple lectures and a couple field trips with one of the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable teachers I have ever had the privilege of studying under- Todd Bolen. He's got a blog and a website for all you interested Beulah-lovers, and I have a couple of his compiled Israel photo collections (on CD). Most Excellent.
Several months ago he offered to send a limited number of copies of this book (Going Places With God) to anybody interested if they agreed to review it when they were finished. Lisa and I both responded, but I got the book because I was in the States and the books were being mailed from the West Coast. Lucky me. :-)

Here is the review. Careful, the first paragraph is a bit thick says Lisa. Apparently I shouldn't dump all the technical info about the book on you before I grab your interest. Maybe I just have great faith in your above-average intellects and attention spans.


Going Places With God by Wayne Stiles
A Devotional Journey Through the Lands of the Bible


Just finished a winner of a book!
It is a 90-day devotional using the geography of the "connecting link between theology and humanity", i.e. the land of Israel, to drive home spiritual lessons. Each day has a verse, a lesson, a short prayer to help you actually internalize, and a quote from some well-known and classic sources. Interspersed throughout the book are reference maps and photos of various places in the Land.

I have been to Israel, so each lesson brought to mind some vivid mental images- all the way from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to the springs of Dan, the desert hills of the Judean Wilderness, to the Temple Mount. But despite my familiarity with the subject matter, I found many fresh and unexpected lessons both from a geographical and a spiritual point of view.

The spiritual lessons were wonderful! It takes something more than just a good writer to make a devotional books more than just a feel-good experience. I found myself intrigued, educated, comforted, and more importantly, challenged to reach higher, trust more, complain less, and love God with my whole heart.

(I would be willing to farm out my copy, but I think Lisa or Daddy want it next. Sorry, go buy your own copy.)

29.6.07

Wooohoooo!

Lisa is coming home today! We'll be picking her up at the airport late tonight.

Sarah is coming home tommorrow!! We'll be picking her up at the airport late Saturday night.


What a wealth of sisters!