Because I Love to Blog

Because I love to blog, I am going to keep blogging.

Tonight I came across a site called Etsy, which promotes upcycling by selling trashion (etsy.com). Basically, someone with creative gusto turns something ready for the bin into something uniquely stylish and cool. I love it! I found out about this through my wonderfully amazing Dinner at Your Door authors, who graciously gave me a necklace made by an eco-friendly artist named Millie Hilgert (misscourageous.com), who is based out of Boise. Because I love my necklace so much, I am going to post a picture of it in the morning. Isn't this inspiring? I can definitely see many of you creating all kinds of beautiful works of jewelry art like this! Get busy. Life is too short for only dreaming. (I hope that lit the fire under you.)

Merry Christmas to James and Marlene in Cairo

Since we all miss James and Marlene, whether they be our aunt and uncle, grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, brother and sister, or son and daughter, all of the Lindsays wanted to say hi and that we love and miss you! Here are some pictures and videos from our crazy Christmas party Saturday night at Julia's.

Christmas in Bethlehem

The Pyramids Live

The Western Wall

Jalike One Dove

We found this Hawaii Pidgin translation of Mark 1:9-11 at the River Jordan where they do baptisms. It was our favorite of all the languages! Yes, partly because we couldn't understand the other translations, but mostly because this one's hilarious. Enjoy!

Waiting all Morning in Jerusalem

Our story in the video didn't really cover all the details, but the whole reason we needed a cell phone was to get in touch with Mandy so we could meet up in Jerusalem once she got her medicine in Tel Aviv before our flight left to go back to Egypt. Mandy had a cell phone that could get texts, so we spent all morning trying to track Shadi down to use his cell phone to text Mandy to see if she'd gotten her medicine and find out where she was. Shadi kept saying, "Five minutes. Five minutes." That really means thirty minutes. Then he said he'd come get us at the Windmill, but then we gave up and decided to walk to his store (which he said was near the Pool of Siloam). Then when we got to the Pool (since we couldn't find the store), a man there called him twice for us. Forty-five minutes later Shadi got there. His phone didn't work to text Mandy either, so we bought a SIM card. Still no luck. That's when Lori pulled out her phone. Success!

So much for our last day touring the city, but at least we had some more adventures! :) We think we found the Sultan's Pool on the long walk from the Windmill to Shadi's store, and the whole way there was really cool, like stepping back in time before the hillsides were covered with apartment buildings. And Lori got back her cartush necklace from Egypt that she didn't even know she'd lost! That's a whole other story. So is the one about not getting into the Dome of the Rock and finding the Via Dolorosa where Christ walked carrying the cross and the church in honor of the crucifiction. Amazing places!

Hezekiah's Tunnel After Hours

The second we flew in to Jerusalem, we hurried to find a bus to get us to the Western Wall before sundown so we could see the Jewish celebrate the beginning of shabbat (the Sabbath). We found a shuttle bus, jumped in, sat while keeping an eye on our luggage visible to passersby through the open trunk, and waited. And waited. And WAITED. We had to wait until all of the seats on the shuttle were full, but soon we were off. It felt like we were anywhere but Jerusalem. It just didn't sink in, couldn't sink in yet. Some days it unsinks . . . sinks out? It's like your feelings negate themselves, and you forget where you are. But then you let yourself think deeper again, and you're back. Back to Jerusalem.

After watching the Jewish men sing and dance, and after joining the Jewish women on their side of the wall (Strangely they don't sing and dance! It seemed like church on our side and a fiesta on the men's side. What do you expect?), we went in search of Hezekiah's Tunnel and the Pool of Siloam. Dusk turned to dark as we walked the streets of the Arab side of town. Good thing we learned Arabic in Egypt! Salamo alecum. Is mac ey. Shukran. Afwan. Ashara. Quais. Soon we came to the end of the road and spotted some cool looking archways and ruins, and headed up a little hill to take a look. Then a group of little boys came running to tell us we'd found the right place!

Shaddi soon came out, one of the pool's tour guides, and offered to take us through the tunnel even though it'd closed an hour before. He said the gates would be locked, but he knew how we could "get down inside easily." Super! We'd brought clothes we could get wet in, so we headed back up the hill to the pool entrance we'd passed on our way down the street.

Then there was the 20 foot gate we needed to climb to then easily drop down in, as Shaddi had promised. We laughed in disbelief, especially because the other side drops down even farther onto stairs going down, but we climbed it no problem! Mandy was our scout and tried it out first to make sure Lori and I could handle it. Thanks, Mandy. :) Once we got into the Pool of Siloam, I felt like the hard part for me was over, but Lori gets claustrophobic really easily so her challenge had just begun. Luckily, just knowing that there was no other group of people behind us helped her know she wouldn't be trapped. Until Shaddi told us the story about when a man got stuck inside and died. Nice, Shaddi.

We had so much fun in there! The water was up to our shins—much lower than we'd expected—so we really didn't get that wet. Once we reached the locked gate at the end of the tunnel, we turned around and headed back to the entrance in the dark. Very cool experience to feel like your world could be upside down and you wouldn't even know. It reminded me of being underwater in the ocean after getting smashed by a wave.

He is Risen!

You know how sometimes if you let yourself think you could just start sobbing uncontrollably? So you don't think. You don't let yourself. No one wants to let their emotions surface, so it's easier to just block them. But in those moments when you do let yourself think, you change. Thoughts lead to conclusions and inspirations and impressions and gratitude. Let your thoughts go—go deep, deeper than ever before—every once in a while, and your perspective will change. The Tomb did this for me. It still does it for me even now as I'm typing. Allow yourself to think. Let yourself remember. What is worth fighting for in your life?

International Friends

Joann: We love this little lady we met in Egypt. She's from Virginia and she rocks! She is my hero and taught me so much about what it means to know God.


Shaddi: Lucky for us we met this Arab friend in the City of David (just beyond the Western Wall) in the exact moment we were looking for the Pool of Siloam. And what do you know? He's a guide to that very same pool. A very cool, fun guy who really actually liked hanging out with us! He got us into the locked tunnel and hooked us up with dinner and breakfast for the next morning even though we didn't know how to accept. What guy really wants to pay for everything?? We felt really bad and insisted we at least pay half. He informed us that we're not in America and in Israel some guys are just nice. Thanks, Shaddi.


Cyprus Missionaries: We love you, elders! They made our trip so entertaining and were super nice and patient to take 50+ pictures of us on our trip to the Turkey side of the island.


More missionaries: We love these couples, Sister Vought, and Sister Erickson!! They are hilarious, spiritual, great shoppers, and great picture takers, and were so welcoming to us!


Teeder Swing Thing: Throughout this trip we've made friends with all sorts of statues, rocks, and playground equipment. We had SO much fun on this thing that the elders gave in and started playing on the playground too.


Robert, Jane, and family: We met them in Bethlehem while buying nativities from their shop. Eventually we went to their shop and home, and Robert drove us to Shepherd's Field! So nice! And their wood work is amazing. Jon and Dee, I really think you'll love to see the pictures of their shop. You should totally move to Bethlehem and go into business together! :) I'd visit you.


Basset: He finally agreed to about 45 shekels (about $11) per pair of Jesus sandals and even threw in a free 5-shekel purse for each of us because he felt bad that he didn't go as low as we'd wanted.


Neils and Lissi: These two are a new extension of our families. We love these Greenlandian people! We met them Saturday night in Jerusalem at Lions Gate, saw them again Sunday morning on our way to Bethlehem, and then ran into them again Sunday evening on our way to the bus station to Tiberias! They're going to visit us in Utah, and we're going to the Grand Canyon. Anyone want to come with us??


Señor España: We don't know his name, but he was our neighbor in Damascus Gate Hostel in Jerusalem. He's from Zaragoza and has an awesome Spanish accent.


Little people: On our way to see the fisherman boat from Jesus' time, a woman with a shopping cart full of kids passed by. Aren't they so hilarious! We made friends quickly and then said good-bye. Their names were all in Hebrew, so I have no clue what they were. One was Amber in English, but it sounded nothing like that in Hebrew. Brad, how do you say the word "amber" in Hebrew?