Today was a day with friends. After a morning drive, we enjoyed lunch at the home of an Old Testament professor and his family. To this point, our relationship had been through books (me reading his) and email, and it was a great privilege to spend the afternoon with him, his wife, and his daughter and son-in-law who are both PhD students in biblical studies at a prestigious university in Ohio. The highlight for our kids will probably be the backyard swimming pool. I enjoyed his outstanding collection of ancient artifacts (a virtual museum at home!) as well as photos of Israel from his earlier years. But I was most impressed by his submission to the Lord through decades of physical suffering. This is a man who is gifted in so many ways and who no doubt realizes what he could have “accomplished” for the Lord if he had his health. I was encouraged by his humility and patience, and I am praying that the Lord will enable him to complete a large project that will be of immense value to the church (a two-volume work on the relevance of each of the laws of the Old Testament to the believer). There is more that may come out of our visit, but if this is all, I will always be thankful for our time with them.
Our friend Becky joined us for lunch and the afternoon as well, as this professor was the one who brought her to Israel the first time. After we took a goodbye photo (but not on my camera; I don’t have any pictures from the day), we drove through a bit of “Amish country” and stopped at a store that caused more sorrow than anything else. The prices at this “scratch-and-dent” store were so very good but Kelli could only purchase a couple of small items because of the lack of space in the car.
We then located a Cracker Barrel and treated Becky to dinner. This is a special time in her life as she is only a few days away from flying back to Israel to pack up her things and resign her long-time position at IBEX. She served us/them well for 11 years and she will be missed. It is good for us to be able to visit her as she makes this difficult transition.