This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

First thought: Rabbi mentioned recently that most Jewish people basically only read the Torah, not even the Prophets and Writings.

Second thought: Today at Torah study we finished reading Deuteronomy, the last book of the Torah. Deuteronomy ends with Moses ascending Mount Nebo to look over into the Promised Land before he dies. It's not until the book of Joshua (not in the Torah) that the children of Israel even possess the land promised to Abraham in the book of Genesis.

The mountain where God gave the land covenant to Moses. (taken by Jacklynn)

Does it seem amazing to anyone else that the story that many Jews read and are familiar with doesn't even include the fulfillment of the promise that is fundamental to their existence and identity? I realize that they know how the story ends, but still. Taking the land has not historically been their emphasis, yet they possess this awesome sense of the faithfulness of God. I guess I am impressed with their long-term perspective, their delayed gratification, their faith.

Ezra Bear and the etrain

For part of last week we had the awesome blessing of having Ezra Gharst (affectionately known as Ezra Bear, Bear, or Bear Bear) stay with us. Since I was painting with Tom, Eric took on the role of Mr. Mom - and he made it look effortless. While they were on their last outing together, I asked Lauren to capture some photos, so everyone could see Eric in action.




Appropriately, their last afternoon activity was a visit to a coffee shop.



This one's my favorite.

When it was time to take Ezra home, we both felt a little sad and realized that we would miss our new little buddy.

Brandi's Wedding

Eric's aunt, Sandy, shared some of her photos with us, so here are some good ones from our time at Brandi's wedding. First, here we are at the Black Bear Restaurant in Green Mountain Falls, site of the rehearsal dinner and the best meal I've ever eaten in my entire life. No exaggeration. It was an amazing, gourmet, five-course meal. Ruble has exquisite taste in food, so I shouldn't have been surprised. But I was, perhaps because I'd never had anything like it before. Wow. It really made up for the fact that I almost froze to death during the rehearsal.


Here is the site where the wedding was actually held. The rain kept up, but it was a beautiful backdrop for the kilts and Braveheart music. A sunny day really wouldn't have been as perfect. And their Anglican priest who married them was hilarious. He obviously knows them well, which is always fun. And at one point he took of his prayer shawl-like garment, and when he put it back on, he kissed it like Jews do when putting their prayer shawls on. Very interesting.

Here we are, looking perplexed before the wedding starts. We didn't have our camera, so this is the only picture I have of us from the actual day.

The happy couple and their first dance. Brandi's dress was beautiful, and Ruble's kilt actually looked very dashing. It's not for everyone, to be sure, but he pulled it off nicely. Brandi's dance with Wolfgang was to a German rendition of a song from Fiddler on the Roof.

On Sunday we spent some time with Tom and Sandy, Eric's aunt and uncle. First, we went to

Manitou Springs, to look at caves where an indigenous group used to live. Then we got really adventureous and drove to the Royal Gorge. I was the only one who had never been there. We decided to skip the park with the bridge (since it cost $24 per person to get access to the bridge) and instead hiked a small trail down to the edge of the gorge itself.

We loved the time with Tom and Sandy. They live in North Carolina, so we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. They also have a villa in South Carolina, which is where Eric disappeared to last year, if you remember. Anyway, they are always a lot of fun, and this trip was no exception.

The Garden of Our God

Since we basically forgot our camera the whole time we were gone, this is the only picture we have so far of our trip to Colorado Springs. When I was finding the picture to upload, the title read "Eric in the Garden of Our God". That's how we like to refer to it, at least.

It is a beautiful place, and the wedding (of Brandi, Eric's sister) was movie-worthy in its beauty. Hopefully we'll have some more picture to prove it. We enjoyed the time with family, long-time friends, and even some Kansas City folk who made the drive out for the big event. Now Ruble and Brandi are hiking through the North Island of New Zealand, no doubt loving every minute of it.

We also had a great time with our friends Dave and Heather Lucas, who took us to a live broadcast of Adventures in Odyssey, and Daron and Heather Jamison in Hays, who graciously let us stay at their house with their adorable daughter, Basha.

Like I said, no more pictures for now, but there's a brief recap in case you wondered where we keep disappearing to.

My Dad

In case you've never met him, this is my dad. I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been praying for him over the past few weeks. It means a lot that you've all been praying, even those of you who don't know my dad super well. The L-rd has done amazing things on his behalf, and we're very thankful. Please continue to pray for his full recovery.

The Name Game

I'm in serious need of help. I need some name ideas for the online bookstore we want to do for Rabbi. See the poll to the right. If you have new names, which is what I'm really interested in, just leave them as a comment. Promising ideas will show up in the next poll.

Pictures from the Israel trip are slowly trickling in. You can check it out for yourself here.