Celebrating Our 35th Wedding Anniversary

A few highlights...

 

Steve & Laurie Oct. 8, 1977

 

Jerusalem in 2007 - Laurie, Avraham and Steve

 

Home grown - Charlotte, NC Nov. 2010

 

Charleston, SC  June, 2011

 

Being together...as we lead in worship

of our Lord Jesus...

through the years. (Photo from 2012)

 

 

 

We give thanks to the Lord for the 35 years of marriage He has given us. We have been able to share our love with our children (Josh, Ben, Hannah and Christen), our daughter-in-law Chelsie and son-in-law Andrew, and grandkids Daniel, Logan, Dylan, Jensen, and another in April, 2013.

 

Joys included leading worship along with several church worship teams; traveling to Israel on many tours, and enjoying holidays with our parents, my seven siblings and families, and Laurie's two sisters and families.

 

Living in five states (Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Florida and North Carolina) has given us the opportunity to see the new and appreciate the old.

 

For all this and more, we give thanks for 35 years together as one.

 



 



Christians flock to Jerusalem for Feast of Tabernacles

Christians flock to Jerusalem for Feast of Tabernacles

Tuesday, October 02, 2012 | Ryan Jones

Israel Today

Jerusalem is once again flooded with Christians supporters from around the world who have come up to the holy city to mark the annual biblical festival of Sukkot - the Feast of Tabernacles.

Over 6,000 Christians are reportedly attending the main Feast event hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem at the Jerusalem Convention Center, while many hundreds more are participating in celebrations put on by the International Christian Zionist Center and Vision for Israel.

With the current threats facing Israel, and an expected increase in pressure for the Jewish state to make sweeping concessions to the Palestinians, the focus of the Feast celebrations this year is decidedly more political than in recent years.

The annual gathering of Christians for Sukkot is a double blessing for Israel. First, it is a clear demonstration of the strong support Israel enjoys among hundreds of millions of Christians around the world. Second, it is the single largest injection of tourism revenue for Israel every year.

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23411/Default.aspx

Happy Succot! (Hag Sukkot Sameach - Happy Sukkot Holiday)

Israeli Archaeologists Unearth Solomon-Era Reservoir

By Julie Stahl and John Waage

CBN News

Monday, October 01, 2012

 

    Solomon-era reservoir

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Archaeologists digging beneath Jerusalem's Old City have discovered a huge reservoir near the Temple Mount.

 

"One day we found an opening in the bedrock ," Eli Shukron, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, said. "I put my hand inside to look to see what is going on and we found a huge water cistern."

 

The cistern dates back to the First Temple built by King Solomon and is one of the largest ever from that time found in Jerusalem.

 

It's situated close enough to the Temple Mount that experts believe pilgrims used the water for bathing and drinking.

 

It could have also supplied water for everyday activities on the temple itself. Shukron said the man-made reservoir shows that ancient Jerusalem needed more water than came from a natural spring.

 

"Not all the water coming from the Gihon Spring, a lot of water coming from water cistern that we found like this here in this area," he explained.

 

The cistern looks like a cavern dug into solid bedrock. It is about 40 feet long with a width and height of more than 15 feet.

 

Plastered from top to bottom, it could have held some 66,000 gallons of water.

 

"The water comes from a tunnel in the Tyropone Valley… and from the valley they move the water into the water cistern," Shukron said.

 

A small pool of fresh water still exists there today and each new discovery like this helps fill in the picture from thousands of years ago.

 

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2012/October/Israeli-Archaeologists-Unearth-Solomon-Era-Reservoir/