‘god is overloaded with prayers’

Or so believe the people of Haiti, if a recent FOX News report is accurate.

. . . . . .

Many Haitians blend Catholicism with animistic Voodoo practices,

so they are turning to Voodoo priests.

Voodoo priests who, evidently, are too afraid of tumultuous “natural forces”

to contact the “spirit world”.

. . . . .

Watch the report. May it be incentive to pray for Haiti.

To pray for those who are turning to Voodoo priests,

for the Voodoo priests who try to control the “spirit

world”, that they would instead turn to the God who

can never be “overloaded” by anything, who has

interceded and continues to intercede because of

his love for us in Christ.

israel and haiti on my mind

We heard about Haiti when we were in Israel.

They said 40,000 people dead.  They said “Haiti turned to rubble”.

But it didn’t really sink in until we returned home.

Maybe our capacity to be overwhelmed was already overwhelmed by everything we were seeing and experiencing in that amazing place 7000 miles from home.

Whatever it was, something about the experience of being in Israel and actually seeing the places that I had previously only imagined as I read my Bible … well, something just changed.  An internal lock was sprung.

I don’t know how to explain it but the same way that Israel arrested my mind, captivated my attention – now Haiti has similarly arrested and captivated me.

Words are lacking to adequately explain, so for the time being I will leave that thought as it is, incomplete.

. . . . . .

Allow me a postscript, in order to point you to your own exploration of this odd parallel universe my mind, heart, and prayers never seem far from these days.

First, follow the links below to a series of emotionally devastating photo essays on Haiti, brilliantly assembled by the people at one of my favorite photo-media websites, The Boston Globe’s Big Picture (the most graphic images are blacked out):

Haiti, Earthquake in Haiti

Haiti, 48 Hours Later

Haiti, 6 Days Later

Haiti, “Faces of Haiti”

Second, check out a wonderful slideshow of photos (all taken by Beth) that Beth has posted on Picasa from our first full day in Israel.  Below are a couple of my favorites, just to make the end of this post a bit less dreary than the start:

View from Mt Carmel over the Valley of Jezreel (also known as the Plain of Armageddon)

Tile mosaic in Herod's Palace, located at Caesaria by the Sea. Mosaic is from same structure as the famous "Praetorium of Herod" (where Paul was held prisoner in Acts 23).

These are all the salad options we could eat with our falafel gyros at the first place we ate lunch - the food was this-blows-my-mind good

back from israel and abbey’s 11 month-day

Beth and I have made our way back from our ten days in Israel.

We are still too tangled up mentally and worn out physically do do our trip justice in a series of blog posts, but, in the meantime, we can pass along a little Abbey tidbit for you.

. . . .

After ten days, ten days spent with Grammie and Nana, Beth and I found a more active and energetic Abbey exploring her little world.

I will leave the talking to the video because, honestly, I don’t feel very clear headed.  So, that said, here is a little video from earlier tonight:

Oh, and lest we forget ….

Happy 11 months Abbey!

baby’s got a new trick

Its a long way from being perfected, but its pretty cool none-the-less:

lee’s favorite facebook finds

Its a lot of fun to log on to facebook and flip through pictures of people you love every now and again.

Here are some photos of Beth that are some of my favorites:

This next one is a drawing by Beth’s cousin, Josiah, circa Thanksgiving 2003:

. . . . . .

If I missed any of your favorites, feel free to post a link.

If you have photos that might become my favorites, especially embarrassing photos, please upload them and tag them . . . don’t delay, upload today!