Yad Vashem (...a memorial and a name)

We happened to visit the Holocaust Museum here on Sunday. It has taken a day in between for me to be able to write anything about it. Overwhelming is what it became. So much information, so much truth, so much horror, so many stories. We walked the main hall that was divided into many corridors that gave the history of what led to the holocaust, the breakdown in each country that allowed the nazi's to become the power in the nations they conquered, and the victims stories. As we walked along and read the stories along the way the realities of the horrors that came upon the Jewish people in Europe really came to life when I would stop to listen to the survivors tell their stories themselves. Emotions still raw, memories still vivid. The display cases holding possessions of victims and survivors families. So much to take in.

At the end of it all you are taken to an overlook that has a view of the Jerusalem forest and it leaves you with a sense of the hope that the land of Israel is for the Jewish people. As we walked out of the museum complex on the arch there was the scripture from Ezekiel 3:5 Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.

Trusting

My heart is exposed, free to feel pain, joy, love and so much more.

It seems to beat in silence but yet it seems so loud.

What is it saying? Can I trust the beat of my heart?

Can I follow it where it leads?

What is this that I hear? A song, a beat much louder than mine.

Oh, how I long for my heart to beat in that much louder tune.

Oh, how I want to sing the song Your heart sings.

The song you sing it sounds familiar.

A tune I have heard for many years.

The song is the song You have sung over me.

As I focus in, I recognize the faint beat of my heart in tune with Your heart.

Israel

I can hardly believe the fact that I am in the nation of Israel. As we adjust to the culture and the time change we walk around the cities of Tel Aviv and Jaffa getting a sense of the people and this nation. Coming in to this time I am so amazed that God has provided for us and given us this opportunity. I anticipate the Lord to guide our steps during this time and create the connections needed to set up outreach opportunities. He is good and I know that He has all things good for those He loves. Make sure to read the Awaken Israel blog to keep up with the day to days of this time in Israel.

From servanthood to sonship

So, this season in my life has been quite interesting to say the least. Around the first month of the year I had a moment during a set in the prayer room where I felt the Lord saying to me that I am His daughter. For some time I know that God has been telling me this over and over again. For me I thought that yeah, I am His daughter but do we really understand that we are God's children, that what Jesus did on the cross was not only allow us to be able to approach the God of the universe but to be considered His sons and daughters?

Take a moment and think of how your parents make you feel. I know that some of us did not necessarily have the best parents but even on their best days think about how they made you feel, what they did for you, most of the time without you asking. What words did they say to you that made you feel like the most special, most important person in the world. Now, think about how the most perfect person, the most loving, gracious, kind and gentle person in the world is your Daddy God. He speaks over us daily, He dances over us, He songs over us. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. We have been given access to the same inheritance that Jesus received. Wow!

That is what God has been bringing me to, a place of understanding. Taking it from a thought in my mind to the reality of the word in my heart. That He will take care of us like parents take care of their children. He will provide for us like parents provide for their children. He will encourage and strengthen us, give us time to grow in what we are learning, have patience for us to make the right choices, cheer us on when are needing a boost of confidence. He is the almighty God but He is also our Father, Abba.