While they are working at the house...

Jill spent the day at their new house.  Al had the day off so he, along with several very nice people who volunteered to help them, stripped some quite stubborn wallpaper, did some mudding, sanding and painting.

The girls and I went to the zoo.  It was Claire's first time!

 She saw some animals she had only seen in books before.

Some were quite friendly.

???????????

Peter Pan, a lady pirate and some princesses decided to come to the zoo.

Flowers in the herbal gardens

In the Africa farm area, 2 little goats named Oreo and Snickerdoodle began to nibble on the stroller and at Claire.  Perhaps they could smell some graham cracker?  A worker came over to rescue us.

 Most of the time, Claire was just taking it in - hardly any emotion at all as you can see below.

 There's a little smile!

They say these are injured birds.  Wouldn't it be sad to taste the freedom of soaring in the sky and have to be cooped up in a cage?  I think this is how my Dad feels after his stroke put him in a wheelchair.

 There are those fairy tale characters again!

 

We asked and they told us they just felt like dressing up and having a fun day at the zoo!  I know they sure made some children happy!

On our way home, we decided to stop at the hospital to see Grandpa Pete and to cheer him up.  Dad fell last week and broke some bones.  It will not be an easy road.

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Later on, we went to the Smith's for an ice-cream social.  They were raising money for our VBS next week!  We were only too happy to help them out!  Ice-cream is my daddy's favorite food.  Wish he could have come along!

We had a wonderful day together!  Hopefully the house will be all ready for their move in just a couple of weeks!

Have you ever been inside a tomb? - May cemetery post

I need to get back to writing about our trip to Israel.  Seems like it has been so long since we've been there, yet it doesn't.  I am so very happy we went!  I would encourage every Christian to make the trip!  

After our trip to the Jordan river, we went to Bethany, the home town of Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha.

 Al decided to go into Lazarus' tomb.

coming out

Next we went to the museum in Jerusalem.  

The line was really long, but Jim has his connections, and pretty soon we were escorted past all the people and in another door to the museum.

 Model of ancient Jerusalem (1" represents 1')

 

 This is Samuel's altar

Roman soldier's helmet

 
This is a heel bone of someone who was crucified.  You can see the nail going through the bone.  Some people were crucified on olive trees; their legs would have been nailed from the side of the leg into the tree.

The ossuary of Caiaphas, the depository where his bones were placed.  His name is on the side of the box.

In the olden days, the body was prepared and placed on a shelf (like the photo below).  After a year, the family would go in and take the bones and place them in the ossuary.  The shelf would then be ready for another family member when the time came.  Graves were used over and over.   For Jesus' burial, Joseph of Arimathaea had a new tomb that had never been used that he gave for Jesus' body.  I wonder - after His resurrection, was it ever used again?  But then the Romans destroyed Jerusalem not long after that.

 This is a replica of a grave site that the following Scripture was found in.

The silver scroll above is the oldest Scripture ever found; from King Josiah's time, 7th century BC.  It has Numb. 6 on it.  I LOVE that verse because my Dad used to always say that blessing to our children when they were young.  Dad even said it at Jill and Adam's wedding.  That verse was found by this archaeologist, Gabi Barkay.



We were so privileged to be able to meet and listen to Gabi talk about how he found the silver scroll in this very location.