Autumn is a Beautiful Time of Year

 Coming back from Israel where all the buildings are white stone and the nearby desert is white, the rocks are close to a white color and there aren't a whole lot of trees or water, it brought pleasure to my eyes to be greeted with a feast of colorful deciduous trees alongside the deep green evergreens in our neck of the woods.  Add to that the placid waters of lakes and streams and you have the makings of a soul burst.  Autumn does that to me... stirs something deep in my soul, thanking the Creator for the beauty He gave us to enjoy. 

Fall is also a busy time around camp when all the cabins are empty and we hurry to accomplish renovation projects and other outdoor projects like repairing heavy equipment and vehicles.  John is quite a jack-of-all-trades.  It amazes me all he knows how to do.  Though he doesn't especially like to repair equipment or vehicles, it saves a lot of money, so he dives in to see what he can do.

Joanna and John are also busy training the sled dogs using our two four wheelers.  It's quite a sight to see a string of 18 dogs pulling Joanna on the fourwheeler.   She says they are doing great and love to be out running again.

I always wish autumn could last a bit longer, both to enjoy the beauty and accomplish more projects around camp, but I guess we'd burn ourselves out eventually.  We need winter to come along so we can take a LONG nap.  :)

The Steps Are Done

For all of our guests who have stayed in cabin 8 on the waterfront and been waiting for these steps to be completed, you can now celebrate.

For years John has been planning to make some stairs from cabin 8 directly down the bank to cabin 8 dock for the ease of our guests so they wouldn't have to walk all the way around via cabin 9 and then over to their dock.  It was on the list, but kept getting preempted by other more pressing tasks at hand. 

A few weeks ago the steps became a reality as John purposefully worked for three or four days laying them out and building them.  It's even a nice place now to sit and look out at the lake.  These steps will also be a big help to those who are elderly or have difficulty walking.  And John was happy to be able to cross this job off his to do list.  Now on to the next project!!

Trip to Israel

                                          Street in Old City of Jerusalem
 

                                         Church in Old City of Jerusalem

                                         Singing at Jaffa Gate with other folks from convocation

                                          Outer wall of Old City of Jerusalem last built by the
                                         Ottomans in the 1500's.  This wall was built and torn
                                         down twenty times in history by different people groups.

                                         My friend Colleen from Ignace who went with me to
                                          the prayer convocation.  We are at the conference
                                         place which is a Kibbutz with a large hotel and meeting
                                         center.  It overlooks Jerusalem.

                                          On way to Old City

                                             I.D.F.  Israeli Defense Force man in Old City

                                          Dome of the Rock- Holy site for Muslims. (Gold
                                           dome).  The only remains of the Jewish temple,
                                          the outer western wall, known as the Wailing Wall.

                                         Western Wall.  Jews come here to pray.  

                                          Desert just outside the Jerusalem city limits.  Bedouins
                                          live here and raise sheep or goats.

                                          Date palm trees near Dead Sea

                                          Dead Sea-454 meters below sea level.  Jordan is
                                         across the sea on other side.

                                            Sunset in Nazareth

 

                                          View from my hotel window in Jerusalem on Yom
                                         Kippur, the Jews most holy day of national repentance.
                                         They do not allow any driving on the highways.  Amazing
                                        the way they honor God.

                                         Sea of Galilee

                                          Colleen and I shared a meal of St. Peter's fish at
                                          the Sea of Galilee.  Pretty bony and not very tasty
                                          compared to Walleye.  Guess I'm spoiled.

                                            Beautiful bougainvillea near Sea of Galilee 

                                         View toward Sea of Galilee from Mount of Beautitudes
                                        where Jesus gave his Sermon on the Mount.

                                         Structure built at Mount of Beautitudes

                                           We went out on a boat on the Sea of Galilee

                                           Boats at Sea of Galilee

                                         View from Mount Carmel where Elijah proved 

                                          Last meeting together in an open air arena on the south
                                         end of the Sea of Galilee.  All the nations are holding torches
                                        signifying the carrying of God's light and salvation to their nation


What an amazing trip I had to Israel!!  I went with my friend Colleen from Ignace for two weeks in September.  The organization we went to be with is called Jerusalem House of Prayer for All Nations.  They have maintained praise, worship and prayer for Israel and all the nations for twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, from their ministry headquarters on the Mount of Olives for at least 27 years.   Every year during the high holy days of celebration for the Jewish New Year, they host a convocation inviting believers in Christ to come as prayer delegates from all the nations of the world, convening in Jerusalem, the City of the Great King.   I'm still processing in my mind and heart all the challenging messages,  divine connections and encounters, new friendships with people from 150 nations, and the touring to the Holy Sites.

 Hearing what God is doing in each of these nations, the persecution taking place, the returning of Jews from all the nations back to their homeland,  all gives a person such an expanded perspective of history past, present and future.  God is faithfully fulfilling His word.  It doesn't matter what nations and rulers and authorities say they are going to do, God is sovereign and He will have His way.  And it all centers around Israel, the epicenter of the world.  The Bible says in Genesis 12:3  that God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.  It is so important that our nation supports Israel, so that our nation will also be blessed.  How we must pray for our governmental leaders, that they will honor God, seek His wisdom, and bless His people.  It's the only way our nation will be able to be great again.

We are seeing that everything that can be shaken will be shaken.  There is chaos everywhere you look in the world.  Hopefully, it will cause folks to become broken and humble and seek the one true God, Jesus Christ the Messiah, Savior of the world.  He alone can take what's broken and make it something beautiful.  He loves us like no one else ever could, fulfilling our deepest needs.   May He fill our land with His glory.