Work awaited Jerry and Boaz at the house they had been working on. Joining them was Marius, son of Boaz, who had just learned he secured a "real paying job" with a local dish network company. He'll soon be leaving home, beginning his new job first week in January. So now the guys are pressed to get as much work done as possible. The project they work on now is laying tile. Hard work, but the finished product will be lovely. The photo of Jerry in the house is old, that room is now completely tiled, along with 85% of the house. Wahoo!
Something else Jerry has been working on, is Boaz's website. Already established, Boaz wanted to add and change some things, so Jerry has been very helpful to Boaz. Much of Jerry's downtime has been computer work, not only with Boaz, but also with a man we met in Alfe Menashe, Steve Kramer. Steve and his wife Michal are from New Jersey, and made Aliya many years ago, and raised their 2 sons (now adults) in Israel. Steve needed a website, and Jerry has been working with him to make that happen. Before the American elections a few weeks ago, Jerry was working for a group in Phoenix, building and updating their website, which he still does now and again.
We've been privileged to be a part of the Dreyer families birthday celebrations of late. . . there was a family gathering for Boaz' birthday early in the month, and their two younger daughters came, Carolyn is single but seeing a particular guy who came, and Erica and her husband Danny, and their little baby, Amit, came, and of course Marius was already here. Recently their oldest daughter Karen came with husband Leandro, and their little girl (age 2) Shoham. Carolyn lives in Tel Aviv, the other two daughters live about 30-40 minutes drive from here. This weekend we will be celebrating Marius' birthday, with a big outing to a National Park, not too far from home. We'll have our last opportunity to visit with Boaz & Rinah's children, whom we love as if they were our own. Actually, it makes us homesick to know our own children aren't here with us! The birthday plan for Marius is to bring the ingredients to make Chamin, a big special cook pot filled with all sorts of things, chicken and veggies, cooked on an open fire right there on an open flame. We are so looking forward to this outing! We hope the weather holds for us, as lately it's been just beautiful during the days. We know winter will eventually arrive in Israel, but we hope we’re enjoying Arizona winter by then. Actually, Israel is suffering from a serious drought. . . if the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnerett) drops down any more, the damages could be irreversible. We constantly pray for rain.
The Dreyer household has had their problems with colds, bronchitis and the like, and we are doing our best to stay as healthy as possible! But not feeling well didn't stop Boaz and Rinah taking us to a birthday celebration of a friend of theirs yesterday, in Be'er Sheva. Held on Shabbat, which typically means nothing is open, this restaurant is secular and was open. We were two of about 13 people, and all conversation was in Hebrew. Interestingly enough, watching the animated faces I could imagine the kinds of conversations these friends were having. Israeli's are very animated, using hands and loud voices – kind of Italian, in a way. Every now and then someone across the table, who knew we did not speak Hebrew, would translate for us, and that was such an act of kindness. One man read something of some length, and read it again for our understanding… it was a most compassionate piece, and I complimented him on his writing. He said he takes no credit, as Charlie Chaplin was the author of the piece he read.
One of the more interesting (and costly) things we did a couple of weeks ago, was package up things we didn't want to load our suitcases down with. I fastidiously put all sorts of things for ourselves, and gifts for the family, in a large box. It was tight as a nutshell, and heavy as Jerry's tool-box. We groaned when we saw how much this precious box of cargo weighed, and cost, to send to our son Joel. All my most favorite precious things I bought were in this box. Thankfully, nothing was breakable, but we did have a plastic jar of date honey included, which I regret to this very day not putting it in a plastic bag. I was a bit paranoid as when the young girl finished labeling the box, she put it on a counter behind her, when only minutes later, in slow-mo, I saw this box lean over the side of the counter and come crashing onto the floor. Of course, I cried out to catch the postal clerk's attention, but she didn't understand my jabbering and frantic waves in time to do anything about it. I could see that things I carefully arranged in perfect tidy order went askew and imagined the bottle of date honey splitting open and coating my favorite things. I sent a much smaller box to our friends in New Zealand, which they do have, minus 2 small rocks from Israel I wanted them to have. Apparently the New Zealand Customs people didn't want rocks from Israel in anybody’s home. After what seemed an eternity, we heard from Joel that our box arrived in perfect order. Praise God!
As I write, the IDF continues its War Games, but when I use those words to our friends, they will remind me of the days when they weren't Games at all, but the real thing. I need to remember to use my words with caution, as not to offend. Jets are streaking across these deserts, below radar, rattling windows and brains alike. I hear them coming, run outside to see them, and by that time they are already out of sight. Now, that's fast. At night we hear the tanks having artillery practice. We always wonder if they know something we don’t, and of course, they do. So, we praise God that they are looking out for Israel, and every inhabitant. They will be sharp as tacks should the situation arise, and surely it will. We’re thankful that our Heavenly Abba’s words:
"I will lift up eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip – he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm 121:1-3
He is watching out for His precious children here in the Land. Israel is bordered by countries that abhor Israel – this tiny piece of property is sought-out to be annihilated by its enemies. It is the history of these people, and they are used to it…hate it, but they are used to it. This photo depicts a sad new scene to Israel, a fence or barrier that separates Moslems from Jews. It is a fact, that Israel is a place of unrest, but our God is greater than any fence, and He alone can create peace when there is none.
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