Five Minute Friday! As hostess Kate Motaung describes it in her post for today,
"We write. Free and fast, in five minutes flat."
For more details, or to join in, click through the link at the very beginning of this post.
As you've probably deduced, the prompt for today is Visit.
START
My grandmother. One of my most-loved family members. I remember spending a lot of time with her when I was growing up. My sister and I spent many weekend nights at her house. We'd visit--still in our church clothes--every Sunday afternoon. Somewhere there's a picture of me, wearing my favorite dress and sitting on the brick edge of the porch in what I didn't realize was an immodest pose. (I was about ten years old.)
But kids grow up and move away and have their own lives. We now live about a 45-minute drive from my grandmother. I miss seeing her regularly, but our Saturdays are always busy and our Sundays are for going to church and resting. It's a weak excuse, I know.
Lately I've had an extra draw to see her. It's going to take most of a weekday and some extra effort, but she's so worth it. I want to tell her just how precious she is to me. I want to see her smile. I want to share our hearts.
STOP
Wow, that five minutes went fast! Have a great weekend, and I hope to see you next Friday!
For many, many years, my dream tourist destination was Rome. I studied three years of Latin in high school, and the classes included quite a bit of ancient history. We read works of the great poets and great orators. We even sang Christmas carols in Latin. (In a public school!) I wrote my senior paper on the assassination of Julius Caesar. So I wanted to see the Colosseum and all the other places I'd read about. Although my trip to Europe with my sister took us to northern Italy, Rome was just too far away to include in our short visit.
However, since I've become a believer, I've been more interested in visiting the Holy Land. I'd like to walk where Jesus walked, to see the places He saw. Now that I've heard about the Jesus Boat, I would definitely include a stop at the museum which displays the boat, now recovered and restored. While no one can prove that Jesus ever saw, let alone sailed in, this particular vessel, it has been established that it's the same kind of boat that was used on the Sea of Galilee at the time of Jesus' public ministry. I'm not sure, though, that I'd take one of the commercial sails on the Sea.
Maybe a tour like this one would be the best way to see everything. (No endorsement is given or implied, as I have no experience with any tourism company.) I don't know ... I don't think finances will allow us to take this trip, but it would be my dream destination.
In 1986, when Israel was four years into a severe drought, a pair of fishermen found a boat buried in mud near the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They called in a team of archaeologists to study the findings, and what followed is told in "Jesus Boat: Witness to Prophecy." I received a copy of the DVD, at no cost to me, for review purposes.
From the back of the DVD case:
The astounding prophetic rebirth of Israel is told through the discovery of an ancient and unlikely artifact found under the shores of the Sea of Galilee. A first century fishing boat, identical to the boat Jesus sailed upon with his disciples, was destroyed in the years Israel was destroyed by the Romans, but found 2000 years later in a series of astonishing events that even scientists called a miracle. Mirroring Israel's own story of devastation and survival, the boat from the time of Jesus, would rise against all odds and float upon the Sea of Galilee once more as the oldest surviving freshwater boat in the world. Featuring commentary from some of the great theologians of our day including Franklin Graham, Joel Rosenberg, Jay Sekulow, Skip Heitzig, Chuck Smith, and more.
I had never heard of the Jesus Boat (which some call the "Sea of Galilee Boat") before this DVD, and I found the story fascinating. While no one can prove that Jesus was ever in this boat, scientists have dated it to the first century. Archaeologists believe that it is the same type of boat used by fishermen, including the apostle Peter, during that time. The boat is on display at a museum near the discovery site.
The story of the boat, which was destroyed then restored--even the challenges in recovering, restoring, and preserving the boat--parallels the history of Israel, which is also summarized in the beginning of the DVD. It was all very intriguing to see the intertwined stories.
Quite a bit of biblical prophecy is cited to support the fulfillment of that prophecy. Verses from the gospels are also used to show the importance of the Sea of Galilee in the public ministry of Christ.
I believe that all references to connecting Jesus with this boat were qualified with words like "might have been" or "could be." (I'm picky about that kind of thing.) One statement which made me uncomfortable and skeptical was about a thundering rainstorm prompting at least one expert to ask the Lord for permission to recover the boat.
Overall, though, I'd recommend this DVD if you're interested in the history of Israel and this important archaeological find.
Links for more information:
The "Jesus Boat" movie website (see the trailer and still photos, order the DVD)
Five Minute Friday! This week the prompt is KEEP, and it just happens to fit in with a post I've been thinking about writing. In fact, I wrote the first three sentences yesterday before I had to start doing something else.
START
Imagine that you have to evacuate your home quickly, and you will not be able to return. Assume that all people and animals are out and safe. What five things would you grab on the way out?
I'm going to cheat a little bit here, because I know that my husband would pick up the important things like financial paperwork and insurance papers. That wouldn't be a fun post, anyway. My five things are sentimental ones:
Our scrapbooks. I've documented every important event in our lives in these books, and they're irreplaceable.
My family history notebooks. My sister and I have spent many hours gathering this information. Some of it is irreplaceable because it came from relatives who are no longer living. I especially treasure the old photographs and a note from my father-in-law.
Quilts. We have two handmade quilts that are precious. My sister made a quilt for my son. It's not only special for that reason, but it's cool that she used fabrics that are suitable not only for the preschooler he was then, but also for the young man he is now. And my friend Meri made me a smaller quilt to use when I'm reading. It's a great match for our family room furniture, but mostly it's precious because she made it.
Old greeting cards. I just sorted through boxes of these and discarded a few. But I couldn't part with some from my childhood, some from special people, some from relatives who aren't with us anymore.
My engagement ring. I don't wear it often, because I'm always banging it against something. However, it's precious to me because of what it represents.
