Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Visiting the Sorek caves in Israel


We just came back from a wonderful vacation in Israel. On our last day we visited a very special place, close to Hebron, the Sorek caves. It had been on my 'places-to-visit' list for some years, actually ever since I wrote Breath of Life. The main character in this book is called Sorek.

At the time of writing I purposely picked that name. I wanted a name that was unknown, yet biblical, so I searched for weeks until I came upon a verse in Judges 16:4, Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. I immediately liked the name Sorek. I found out that the name appears only once in the Bible and that it has a prophetic meaning. Exactly what I needed for the main character in my book.

The Sorek caves are now part of the National Park system in Israel. After a long search in the mountains south of Jerusalem we found the entrance to the park. Upon arrival we noticed that a couple of school buses had gone ahead of us. Hundreds of Arab and Jewish students came to admire this underground miracle as well. We walked down a natural stairway and descended into the caves where it was warm and humid (exactly as I had described the womb in Breath of Life) and at first it appeared dark. After our eyes got used to the darkness, however, we became aware of the incredible sanctuary we were in. Because of small orange and pink spot lights the cave's shapes, forms and colors looked like a scene in a science fiction movie... it felt like we had arrived on another planet. Wow, awesome! Indescribable...

Following a small and slippery pathway we wandered through the caves. After the school children left it was so quiet, only drops of water falling... It was truly amazing to be there. Sorek has his origin in Israel, that makes him a very special child!

Seventh Month of Tishri
"Is it truly possible to become so overwhelmed by our natural circumstances that we forget the power of the Living Word? I was complaining about the darkness, and forgot that He overrules everything, even darkness! Darkness has no power over the Real Light. Let’s reverse that today: the Real Light overpowers the darkness. I’ll leave you with the words David wrote about this subject. You can find this in Psalm 18:28, You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light."

Monday, October 22, 2012

And the winner is....

Ancient streets in Ein Hod, Israel
It's been kind of quiet at my blogging desk for the last few weeks... I am still traveling in Israel and enjoying a good vacation. The weather here reminds me of Southern California where we have spent many beautiful winters. Flip flops and shorts... that's about all I need :)

Anyway, thanks for all the lovely reactions to my birthday give-away. It was fun to see how most of you were able to give excellent one-word descriptions of your blogs. I was amazed!
This morning I asked my husband to pick a name, and the winner is... Susan Reinhardt. Congratulations, you will receive a copy of the first book in my series on the Ten Commandments, Sacred Sabbath. I received the message for this book in 2004, which seems ages ago now, but I believe it is more accurate than ever. Enjoy!

I'll be back to blogging next week. Shalom from Israel.

Tuesday, October 02, 2012

Another milestone

Believe it or not, but I will turn 50 this week. Never thought that day would come so fast after my 40th birthday. It seems the last few years accelerated, but maybe that was because I've been busy ;)

Anyway, for one thing, this special day will be a good moment to give away some goodies. My upcoming book (My Neighbor's House) hasn't been released yet... so I'll throw in a classic: Sacred Sabbath, God's way to multiply our time and restore our joy. This book contains a serious message for America as well as lots of encouragement for the church as it is.

You don't have to sign up for anything, just leave a comment and a link to your own blog (a little promotion never hurts) and use ONE word to describe your blog!

I'll ask my husband to pick a winner, or two, and I'll send you the book when I come back from my trip to Israel. Happy blogging....