We are home. We’ve actually been home nearly a week now. Last Sunday, the airplane conveniently landed at LAX and a bit ahead of schedule at 6:00 AM. This arrival time allowed me an opportunity to leisurely get home, clean up, and make it to church. What a blessing it was to be “home” and yet have no responsibilities. I thoroughly enjoyed the worship and having the opportunity to hear Byron Siemsen preach.

I had a good rest on the flight home. On our last day in Israel most of the group went on a hike in the Judaean wilderness. I decided to rendezvous near the end. Then I forgot that I had decided not to go on this hike for a reason, joined in and successfully twisted my ankle. To help keep swelling to a minimum, I took Advil, which makes me drowsy. With one of the very few empty seats on our flight next to me, I was rested and ready to go once we cleared immigration and customs in Los Angeles.

Thank you for praying for us. There was evidence every day of God’s hearing and answering prayer for the entire group. We praise Him for blessing us, and I would like to offer my thanks for your investment in us. In addition, I want to thank you who were able to send an occasional email. It is always nice to hear from “home” and I tried to answer each one while we were away. Then there have been the phone calls from others this week to express their “welcome back” wishes. So many have been very kind, and I thank you all.

This year, I had a computer with me and was able to send an email note just about every day. It was good for me to debrief at the end of each day instead of cramming all that information in my head until we were home. I know I wouldn’t have done it if I was writing it by hand. I have already started to go through those notes to correct all of my mistakes. Will those who did not receive the email have an opportunity to read the notes? Yes, if you would like to! At some point we’ll show slides at the church, but a date has not yet been set.

Can I change the subject? In the prayer section, we asked that you pray for Shirley Fryer, but the details there are fuzzy. Here is the latest word from Shirley:

“The doctor said I definitely needed the (heart) valve replaced and a double by-pass, he also said due to my age and the condition of my health he gave me 99% chance of no problems. He said if you were trying to get someone to have a heart attack, I have the perfect set up. I go in Monday at 11:00 am and they keep me overnight in an INN and they come get me Tuesday am. I would be in the hospital for 5 days and would take 4 to 6 weeks to recuperate.”

I know you will want to be praying for Shirley and Loren and their family.

In our Bible reading I am in the middle of Exodus. The last verses of chapter 19 have what I think is an amusing encounter between God and Moses. This sets the stage for giving the Law, the Ten Commandments. God has “come down” to meet Moses “on the top of” Mount Sinai (19:20). In the middle of this meeting, God tells Moses to “go down” and warn the people to not come up (19:21-22). Instead of obeying immediately, Moses argues with God that the people won’t come up because “You already said so” (19:23). I don’t think Moses wanted to make that long walk down (and knew that he and Aaron would also have to return “up,” 19:24). Verse 25 says Moses went down. My question is, “did Moses do this all in one day?” (and remember he was 80 years old at the time). I don’t know the answer. However, in the opening verses of chapter 20 (where the Ten Commandments are given) Moses, the people of Israel, and even we are given enough assurance and motivation to do anything God might ask. “I am the LORD (God’s personal name meaning “I am the One Who causes all things to be the way they are”) your God (Might, Strength, Ruler, Judge) who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” We also were once in bondage to sin, slaves with no hope of deliverance, but He who controls everything has redeemed us, has set us free…to hike up and down any mountain He asks of us.