The Path of Shalom - Homeschool Blogger

A Creature From Science Fiction?

Tue, 6 Feb 2007 10:18:00 -0600

No, this is one of the strange creatures of the deep. It is an annelid worm found at a deep sea vent. You can see more here. Now how can anyone believe in evolution with such a variety of unique creatures upon this planet?

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse. Because, knowing God, they didn't glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Rom 1:18-22)

But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God's wrath through him. (Rom 5:8-9)

Love and shalom,
Serena

Shalom - Peace Be Unto You

Mon, 29 Jan 2007 16:43:00 -0600

(This is an excellent article on the meaning of shalom by Clarence Wagner of Bridges for Peace.) I found it here.

One of the first words you learn when visiting Israel is shalom. That’s because it is used to say “hello” and “goodbye” to someone - somewhat like aloha is used in Hawaii. When you think about it, to wish someone “peace” is a very nice thing. And, if shalom only meant peace, that would still be great. However, in Hebrew, shalom has so many more meanings than the word “peace” in English, which simply means, “freedom from strife and disorder; harmony; and to be quiet.”

Interestingly, English seemingly gets its definitions from the Greek. The Greek root word is irene. It is the same as a lady’s name, except that it is pronounced EE-ree-nee. The basic meaning is a harmonious relationship between people, nations, etc. It can also mean peaceful, as in quietness of surroundings or the heart. The limitations of the English and Greek meanings for the word “peace” are obvious when we see how different words have to be used in these languages (and other languages, as well) to convey the varieties of meaning packed into this one Hebrew word. For example, in the Septuagint, the Greek word soteria, which means salvation, and not irene, has to be used to convey one of the meanings of shalom, which is “salvation.”

The Hebrew Root of Shalom?

The foundation of almost every Hebrew word is a root composed of three consonants, and each root has its own fundamental meaning. The other letters that fill in around the three-consonant root to make a word can be varied in many ways to make other words. However, something of the basic meaning of the root always remains in the meaning of all the other words. The root of the word shalom is sheen-lamed-mem (µlv), transliterated in English as SH-L-M. Its basic meaning is “wholeness” or “completeness.” Literally hundreds of Hebrew words are built from the root SH-L-M, and all of them have some connection to this basic meaning. For example, ShaLeM means “complete,” and is also the name of the city of Melchizedek mentioned in Genesis 14:18 (transliterated in English as “Salem”). SheLeM means “peace offering,” which was part of restoring a broken relationship with God; SheeLeM means “he paid,” that is, he completely fulfilled his obligation.

Hebrew is very efficient and has a relatively small vocabulary, approximately one-tenth that of English. One word can often serve a variety of functions. One sees this with the word shalom, which is usually translated as “peace,” but means more simply “tranquility” or the opposite of war. A quick look at a number of Bible passages shows other meanings of the Hebrew word shalom - meanings that have not always been conveyed well in translations in other languages. In some of the references you may not see the connection, but the word shalom is present in the Hebrew. Let’s look at a few of them:

FRIENDSHIP: The shalom between friends has to do with trust (Jer. 38:22), familiarity (Jer. 20:10), or in a relationship of “peaceful understanding” (Zech. 6:13), where the word for “peace” is prefixed to the word for “friends.” Psalm 28:3 mentions those “who speak shalom but harbor malice in their heart,” and Psalm 41:9 speaks of betrayal by a “man of shalom (peace).” Both passages contrast friendship with treachery, not peace with war. Similarly, in 1 Kings 2:13, when Bathsheba asked Adonijah, “Is your coming shalom?”, she was not asking if he had come peacefully. Rather, she was asking if he had come with friendly intent. Although he answered, shalom, he was lying. Even though he did not come in war, he did not come with friendly intent, but rather with treachery in his heart. When Yeshua (Jesus) used the expression, “son of shalom (peace)” (Luke 10:6), He was referring not to a peace-loving man, but to a friendly, hospitable person.

WELL-BEING: This usage of shalom has to do with one’s total well-being, including his health and prosperity, which are gifts from the Lord. One sees this meaning in 2 Kings 4:26, where the Shunamite woman was asked by Elisha’s servant if it was well with her, her husband and child. In the original Hebrew text the question was simply, “Do you have shalom?” Today, one hears this same familiar usage in modern Israel when you inquire after a friend’s well-being by asking, “ma shlomcha?”, literally meaning, “How is your shalom (well-being)?” And, if you want your friend to convey your regards to someone else, you simply tell him, ”dreeshat shalom,” which means, “Ask about the shalom (well-being)” of that person. The Psalmist is clearly addressing the health aspect of this meaning of shalom when he says, “There is no soundness in my flesh ... no shalom in my bones” (Ps. 38:3). Shalom in this passage is not translated as “peace,” but as “health” to convey this meaning.

SAFETY: We read in Judges 11:31 that Jephthah tragically vowed that if he returned from the battle “in shalom,” that is, in safety, he would sacrifice to the Lord the first living thing that came out of his house to meet him. Shalom here is used with the same meaning in Isaiah 41:3, “He pursues them, advancing in shalom (safety) ...” Yeshua used the word shalom in the same manner in a teaching recorded in Luke 11:21, “When a strong man fully armed guards his own dwelling, his belongings are in shalom (safety).” Isaiah draws a direct connection between righteous living before God bringing shalom, as safety and tranquility, when he says, “The fruit of righteousness will be shalom; the effect of righteousness will be shalom (quietness) and confidence forever. My people will live in dwelling places of shalom, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” (Isa. 32: 17-18).

SALVATION: Shalom is also used as a parallel to other biblical synonyms for salvation, such as tsedakah (righteousness) in Isaiah 60:17, and yeshuah (“help”) in Isaiah 52:7. This passage from Isaiah 52 receives added significance when we realize that the words which literally mean “peace” and “help” were intended as synonyms for salvation: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger announcing shalom, heralding good news, announcing yeshuah, telling Zion ‘Your God is King!’”

The Apostle Paul understood the “shalom, shalom” of Isaiah 57:19 as a reference to salvation, not just peace. In his explanation in Ephesians 2:13-18, he makes this clear when he says of Messiah Yeshua, “For He Himself is our shalom (salvation),” who brings together the Jew and Gentile into one (vv. 14-15); and, “He came to preach shalom ... for through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (vv. 17-18).

One finds the same implication in the angels’ song recorded in Luke 2:14, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth shalom to men on whom His favor rests.” Even the well-known verse in Psalm 122:6, “Pray for the shalom of Jerusalem,” would be understood more fully if shalom were translated “salvation” rather than “peace.” However, we must keep in mind when considering this passage that the word shalom, like all Hebrew words for salvation, refers to physical as well as spiritual deliverance. The Hebrews did not compartmentalize things as neatly as other cultures do.

Throughout the Newer Testament, persons who had association with Yeshua, either directly when He ministered, or indirectly through spiritual salvation, were described in terms of shalom in all its varieties of meanings. Zechariah and Simeon, for example, expected this shalom (Lk. 1:79; 2:29); the angels heralded it (Lk. 2:14); people who were healed were told to “go in shalom” (Mk. 5:34; Lk 7:50); the people sang about it at the Truimphal Entry of Messiah Yeshua into Jerusalem (Lk. 19:38); and when Yeshua wept over Jerusalem, He lamented that they did not understand that His coming meant shalom (salvation) for them, and they had missed it (Lk. 19:42). Before Yeshua’s death, He bequeathed shalom to His disciples (Jn 14:27; 16:33), and on the day of His resurrection “the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Yeshua came and stood among them and said, ‘Shalom be with you!’” (Jn. 20:19-20). In fact, He said this phrase three times in this passage (cf. Jn. 20:21, 26). Various Newer Testament leaders spoke of salvation as the “good news of shalom by Yeshua HaMashiach” (Acts 10:36), the preaching of shalom (Eph. 2:17), and the “gospel of shalom “ (Eph 6:15; Rom. 10:15). It was declared that the “God of shalom” brings salvation to the whole man - body, soul and spirit (I Thess. 5:23). Man’s participation in the shalom of God through Messiah’s finished work of redemption is also mentioned frequently in the Newer Testament.

As you can see, shalom is a very flexible word and can refer to much more than peace as merely “freedom from strife and disorder; harmony; and to be quiet.” Yet, all of the many meanings of shalom, including friendship, well-being, safety and salvation - clearly reflect various aspects of “completeness,” the fundamental meaning of the Hebrew root SH-L-M.

Shalom in Our Everyday Life

The secular Western culture of today displays a typically Greek orientation to the concept of peace. It sees peace as a condition that persists within the individual as a state of being that is emotionally felt, internally generated, and having no influence of a divine being.

However, in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Older Testament), the writers thought just the opposite of this. They did not conceive of any human condition as occurring independently of God’s controlling will and presence. This awareness of God gives a sense of wholeness and success to the business of living, which is marred only by human inadequacy and sin. They believed that God is the creator of peace in heavenly spheres, high above all human affairs, and that the pledge of shalom and its realization appears as human prosperity and wholeness of life (Gregory, 1976). You can see this concept in The Lord’s Prayer, when it says, “Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as in heaven” (Matt. 6:9-10). The term shalom is often used to describe prosperity of a material sort, which for them was associated with God’s covenantal promises or the manifestation of God’s presence.

Prophetically, shalom is a major part of the Messianic promise of future blessing that provides salvation on all levels. It is shalom that is promised for Israel, which would also extend to the rest of the world. The prophets wrote of a coming shalom that is accompanied by restored relationships, spiritual restoration, a cessation of war and conflict, and physical comfort. God promises to Judah and Israel: “I will bring health and healing to it: I will heal My people and will let them enjoy abundant shalom and security ... I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against Me ... Then this city will bring Me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and shalom I provide for it” (Jer. 33:6-9).

What Does This Mean to Us?

The ultimate shalom that we can have now is that shalom which is found in our relationship to God, that manifests itself spiritually and materially.

On the most basic level, the shalom of salvation is a doorway opened freely by the Lord for us to walk through so that we can enjoy His shalom in every way. In Messiah Yeshua, our shalom (salvation) was purchased, if we choose to accept it. Paul says, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making shalom through His blood, shed on the cross” (Col. 1:19-20).

Afterward, we can find true spiritual and emotional shalom, as well. Paul gives us the formula: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the shalom of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua. Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of shalom will be with you” (Phil. 4:4-9).

Finally, we can know real material shalom as well-being and a sense of “prosperity” that exists for us no matter what our material circumstances suggest. Paul says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:11-13). It is a deep-down contentment in the Lord where His Presence with you is a shalom that can carry the believer above temporal circumstances.

On all levels, it is this supernatural “shalom that passes all understanding” that is often witnessed by the world and draws men to the God of shalom. Most believers have had those experiences where circumstances dictated hysteria; yet through prayer and trust in the Lord, His presence brought a supernatural shalom and sense of well-being, assurance, safety and the hope that all would be well.

That kind of shalom can only come from God and cannot be conjured up. This is something worth celebrating.

In the days of the Temple, of the many offerings made unto the Lord, one was called the shelem or peace offering. These were offered by those who were at peace with God. They were made as an expression of gratitude to God and to have fellowship with Him (Lev. 3). An ox, sheep or goat was sacrificed: its blood poured over the altar, the fat burned as a sweet savor to the Lord, part of the flesh given to the priest and the remainder eaten at the sanctuary by the sacrificer and his friends (Lev. 7:15f; Dt. 12:1,17f). Also, a meal offering and drink offering were made along with the meat offering. The meal denoted the fellowship which existed between the worshiper and God and was a symbol and pledge of friendship and shalom with Him. This offering was a joyful public acknowledgement of relationship with the Lord, which showed their thanks to Him as their Source.

Today, outside the circle of those who have faith in the God of the Bible, God is not seen as the Source of their well-being, prosperity, safety or salvation. Most humanists see themselves as the source of their own destiny, and God is left out of the equation. Yet, most of them do not have genuine shalom in their lives. Real inner shalom and contentment is not something the ways of the world can provide for people. This must come from our Creator, Redeemer and Teacher - the God of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel.

For a world crying for shalom, Messiah Yeshua is the answer to overcome the inner turmoil so many feel today, “for He is our shalom.”

When Yeshua was talking to His disciples about the time when He would go to be with the Father, He promised them His shalom. He said that the Holy Spirit would come to be their Comforter and Teacher. He would remind them of all the things He had said to them (Jn. 14:25-26).

Then He said, “ Shalom I leave with you; My shalom I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid” (Jn. 14:27). It is interesting that He told them that He stressed He would not give them the peace of the world; that is fleeting, temporary and inconsistent. Rather, He promised them the shalom of God, which is the essence of salvation, wholeness, well-being, friendship, safety, prosperity, health, tranquility and contentment. Who could ask for more?

Don’t wait any longer. If the shalom of the Lord that passes all understanding is ours for the asking, then let this day be your day to experience this great gift of the Lord.

Shalom from Jerusalem,

Clarence H. Wagner, Jr.
Bridges for Peace
International Director

Getting Settled

Sat, 7 Oct 2006 11:45:00 -0500

We have been in the "new" place now for a week. We ended up moving in by Wednesday night and had the duplex all cleaned up by Thursday night with a small carload of stuff to get on Friday morning. We finished getting our stuff out of storage on the first. We had the help all last week of a recently retired man and his pickup truck from our fellowship. On Wednesday night we had his help and one other pickup truck and got almost everything out in four trips and two with the car. Rick and I had to go back so he could get some papers done that were due the next morning. That was one grueling day! On Thursday we took down the computer and moved it and the computer desk. They were pretty much the last of the stuff. What a relief!

The day after we moved in, there was some activity at the front of the trailer. We found out that the landlord was putting a covered front porch on it. There wasn't even any steps up to the front door. We weren't too concerned since we will mainly use the back door anyway. Our friends across the road said that he didn't even do that when his own daughter lived in the place. It is big enough to sit out and watch the world go by.

I've been having to do the usual projects to make my stuff fit like putting shelves in the kitchen cabinets and laundry room. There were huge spaces with no shelves, so I got wire shelving, plus made use of some lumber I had and got busy and made some. Then I got the kitchen and laundry settled. I just have bedrooms to do now. By the end of next week, we will be all settled other than curtains on the windows and that should get done pretty soon.

Our daughter, Rachelle, left for Iraq the beginning of the week. Please pray for her safety. It is hard that she will be over there for another year.

Well, that is all the time I have to update right now. I'm glad for those of you that stop by and check on me. May G-d richly bless you all with His shalom and joy!

Love and shalom,
Serena

Moving - Again!

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 22:35:00 -0500

Life is crazy around here again. Since we are staying here in this area for Rick to go to grad school, we realized we did not have to stay in this very small duplex apartment until after he graduates. Then we found out about a 3bd/2ba mobile in the SW part of town. It is across the road from one of the families in our fellowship, it has lots of shade, a huge yard, a covered deck off the back and much more space than this little place. Even though it is more rurally located, it is almost a mile closer to the university. Our bedroom also has a bedroom door, which is awfully nice after not having one since we moved out of the mobile we were renting until the end of April. I think most of you moms and dads out there would agree. The landlords are really nice and are even letting us move in without a deposit. I am so looking forward to moving, though everything is in upheaval again. It is even crazier with it being in the midst of the High Holy Days and with the trip to Florida this last week to get my son and bring him home.

Speaking of the trip to Florida, it was really nice, though Arielle's baby did not cooperate and be born while we were down there. Joelle and her son got to go with me. Actually, we rented the car in her name because she had the good insurance so we didn't have to buy the rental car insurance, cutting the cost considerably for the trip. That means that Joelle did all the driving and I was the navigator. Since she is a good driver, but gets nervous with other peoples' not so great driving, it was a wonderful arrangement - at least in my opinion. We had to leave my youngest daughter home with Daddy since there was not enough room for everyone coming back from Florida if she came with us. She loved having all the daddy-time and going to classes with him and doing the food bank with him. She even got to spend the night with a friend on Thursday since that is Rick's marathon day at school. He has a stretch of classes that go from 3pm until almost 9pm with only enough time to get to the next class. That is besides his noon class and picking up for the food bank before that.

We decided to drive all the way home on Thursday, instead of stopping on the way home. We got home at 2:30 in the morning and then Joelle and I both had trouble going to sleep because of the late night caffeine we had ingested (cappucino for me and dark roast coffee for her) and so it was a short night for us. We had to go get Gaelyn in the morning from her overnight and I had to take Joelle and Tobey home in the afternoon. I got back just in time to eat and get to our Erev Yom Teruah service. We had a great time blowing the shofars and were back for our normal service this evening with a yummy dinner, too. In 10 days it will be Yom Kippur and then in 4 more days it will be Succoth. Yom Kippur starts on the night of the 1st of October and we will be finishing moving out of this place in the morning that day. We are already taking loads of boxes over, but we will have help that day with pickup trucks and manly bodies to get the furniture all moved over. That is going to be just wonderful after Rick and I have done almost all the moves we've done the last 2 years all by ourselves. (We did have help unloading the truck when we moved to the last mobile and I was so grateful for it at the time.)

All I can say is that G-d is SO good! May He richly bless y'all with His shalom and joy!

Love and shalom,
Serena

Still Here!

Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:24:00 -0500

I've been busy and also just haven't had the motivation to post on my blog. I know I've got things to do here, but there is just so much life to live in the "real world." We found a fellowship here in our town. It is Bethavara Hebrew Assembly. Presently there are 50 or more people meeting together on Saturday evenings. We are quite encouraged. They had been meeting in a mobile home and outgrew it and got a storefront downtown. That is when we heard about it. I guess they were being incognito since they didn't have room for visitors in the mobile. Well, they've been getting them now and if the rate of growth keeps up will outgrow this meeting place in a short time. It is one of those places where you feel "at home" and we are glad that we have been led to it.

Rick is graduating in December. He will have a degree in psychology, but decided that pursuing becoming a professional counselor did not fit him in the context in which he would be forced to operate. The ONLY thing that sets a person free is the BLOOD and the CROSS of YESHUA the MESSIAH. The ungodly philosophies of ungodly men will not bring true freedom. They might give a bandaid, but the root of the problem will not really be touched. Since his other love and desire has been to teach, he is going to put the psych degree to good use in special education. We don't like public schools and won't send our children to them, but there needs to be a witness. Contrary to some stuff said in the blogs about how unmanly it is for a man to be a teacher, there is a real need for men in the schools. There will be children to fill the public schools no matter what we believe about them and many of those children do not have good male role models in their lives. Our children are not mature enough to be "missionaries" in the public school, but adults can be, just as "tent makers" are a witness in countries that a missionary cannot get into. When Rick graduates he will be going into the Master of Arts in Teaching (Special Education) at the university he has been attending. Since he did not take the education track, he needs to get the stuff to get certified as a teacher. We are glad for some clearer direction on all this. We also know that it is all subject to change, too, but have shalom that this is what we are to do.

We just made a quick trip to where Arielle lives to take our son, Jared, to see his dad. He was supposed to fly down on US Air on Friday and when his dad went to pay the unaccompanied minor fee on Wednesday, the airline informed him that they don't take unaccompanied minors on flights with a layover. He couldn't get any flights within 3 hours from us that weren't layovers so his plans fell through. Rick suggested that if he paid for the rental car and the gas, we would bring Jared down and come and get him when the visit is up. So we left after Rick's one class on Friday morning and he had picked up the food for the food bank. I got to see Arielle and her family on Friday night and my other daughter, Lael, and her family on Saturday night. Lael lives less than 20 miles from Arielle. We got to visit some dear friends Saturday afternoon since both Lael and Arielle had prior plans that couldn't be changed at the last minute. It was a good trip, though quite tiring since it is 600 miles one way.

I wish I had a picture of Arielle. She has a huge baby belly. She got her dad's skinny genes, so she is tall and slender and she looks like she has a bigger ball than a basketball under her clothes. She is hoping and I am hoping that she will not go the whole 2.5 weeks that she has until her estimated due date. I got to feel the little one moving and really enjoyed seeing her son, Vincent. He had a great time playing with his aunt and uncle and had no time for any of us big people - even his dad when he came home from his night shift. He is quite a handsome little fellow and quite a charmer, but he sure can pitch a fit when he doesn't like something. Arielle will be quite busy when the baby is born - for sure! Maybe by the time we go down to get Jared, we will have a new grandchild to meet. I'm hoping!

May G-d bless y'all with His shalom and joy!

Love and shalom,
Serena

Are you discouraged? Having a bad day?

Fri, 4 Aug 2006 17:17:00 -0500

Then you need to go here and watch the video. I'm sure it will impact you because it is just incredible!

Love and shalom,
Serena

First Day in Canada

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 16:40:00 -0500

Welcome to Canada

We entered Canada the evening of June 6. We then started looking for a motel to stay in. We checked on a couple in Magog at the top of Lac Memphremagog. They were more expensive than we wanted to pay. Actually, who wants to stay in Magog anyway? The roads were more difficult to figure out than ours since they were in French and they don't have all the billboards that we have. We finally went to Granby because we were getting closer to Montreal and it was getting late. We stayed in Motel Granby. We found out later that Granby's claim to fame is its casinos. We still paid more than we wanted to stay but we were getting our introduction to how expensive it is to live in Canada.

We went onto Montreal in the morning. We arrived almost 2 hours before our appointment to meet the manager of the apartment complex so we could get in (they aren't open on weekends). I had to go to the bathroom so bad and we didn't know where anything was and everything was in French. We decided to start walking around the block and see if we could find a restroom. The first building we came to looked like a public building. It was actually a school of fine arts we were to find out. As we were going in the door a woman came in with us. It turned out she is the weekend receptionist/security and she directed us to the public restroom. She was very friendly and helpful, even allowing me to try and phone the apartment manager, Wendy, from the phone there. I was only able to leave a message and tell Wendy that I'd try to phone again later. Nataly told us how to get a map of the city by going to the Metro (the subway) and getting a map from them. We took off on a walk to explore our new surroundings since we had quite a bit of time to kill. We did find an entry to the Metro even though it wasn't the one Nataly had directed us to and got a map. That was very helpful and we about wore it out by the time we left Montreal. When we got back to the school of fine arts, Nataly said she had received a call for us. I phoned Wendy and she said as soon as she was done with her dinner, she would meet us.

We waited outside the apartment for what seemed forever. Rick checked the door and saw that Wendy had already arrived. She showed us our apartment that we had reserved. She seemed like she was hoping we wouldn't like it. It was really small. It had a room that was the livingroom/kitchen, a small bedroom with no door and a small bathroom. There was a loveseat and they had set up a rollaway twin sized bed in the livingroom in between the desk with the TV on it and the loveseat. The table was probably 2 foot by 3 foot, if that and there was one chair to it. There was another desk with 3 big drawers in it in the bedroom just like the one in the livingroom. It was really small, but we did not want to go looking for anything else and knew we could survive it, so we went ahead and rented it for the $850 Canadian that they were asking. Then we unloaded our stuff and worked on packing it away. We put the basket carrier out on the small balcony and the canvas bag with our camping stuff in it. The street light in the picture is right outside our bedroom window at the bottom of the window. We were on the second floor and on the corner of busy Rue Ste. Urbain and Rue Milton. We were on the edge of the downtown district. Our building was only 11 floors high and shorter than others in the area. Tha apartment goes from where the children are on the balcony over to the street light. You can see that it was very small.

Our Little Apartment

Rick had talked to someone about how to get to Walmart since we needed to get some food and things to eat it with. We were hoping to use our gift card that we had been using along the way on the trip. We still had some money on it. We found our way to Walmart, though it was a stressful experience driving in a city we did not know where everything is in a different language. The directions weren't the best, but we did make it there. It was as busy as any Walmart in the states on a Sunday afternoon. There was a Wendy's nearby, so we opted out to eat first since we were all starving by then. The Walmart was not a SuperWalmart (they don't have any there) but we were able to get some basic food stuffs and some plates and bowls to eat on. Since there were not enough dishes in the apartment and I didn't know if I could get any more, even though Wendy said give her a list of what we needed, I got some of those heavier plastic disposable plates and bowls. I could reuse them and throw them away when they got in bad shape. (One package of each lasted for our whole time in Montreal.) We saw Arabs, Hasidic Jews and other nationalities while in Walmart. We also got introduced to the high prices we would be paying for food. We weren't able to use our US Walmart gift card because of the exchange rate.

When we got back to the apartment, we worked on finishing settling and figuring out how to arrange it better so we could get all 3 children in the livingroom. It was supposed to have a hide-a-bed, but only had the loveseat. That became Izak's bed. Gaelyn got the rollaway and Jared got the twin-sized airmattress on the floor in between the loveseat and desk. (We moved the desk/chest of drawer thing down so we had room for the rollaway against the wall the next day. Then it was wall-to-wall bed when we had it all set up at night.) Our first day in Montreal was ended and we were done in and all "hit the hay."

Love and shalom,
Serena

Today

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 21:37:00 -0500

We had a hell of a day yesterday taking our son Jared to the Atlanta airport. Other than picking him up the end of the month, I will be perfectly content to never see it again. The customer service was horrible for someone there for the first time and even though we were there an hour before flight time, he missed his flight. The lines for security were soooo long. In the process of running to try and get there before the flight left, I managed to lose my driver's license. I had it in my hand with his boarding pass and my pass to be out in the secure zone. I didn't want to mess with my purse through security so only took my driver's license. Anyway, it was a very stressful day and a very hot ride on the way back as the temps got into the mid-90's and humid before the storms.

A Cherohala View

Today, Rick decided he wanted to go somewhere instead of just staying home. He asked me where I wanted to go and I said the mountains. The much nicer weather today was the drawing agent to get out. We decided to go on the Cherohala Skyway again. It is one of the prettiest drives we have been on and this has been our 4th time since we moved to this area. It goes over a mile high and the temps there were actually cool and we had to partially close our windows. We picked up stuff at the grocery store on the way for a picnic lunch and enjoyed it with a beautiful view.

Here is a link to a slideshow of the Cherohala Skyway. If you ever can go on a drive over it, I highly recommend it. We decided to come back a different route this time (usually we go through Murphey, NC). We came back on US 129 heading towards the Maryville area. Now that was beautiful, but it was a stressful road to drive on. It has bunches and bunches of hairpin turns and no guard rails. There are drops for hundreds of feet straight down the mountainside in some spots. It may have been our last trip on that particular stretch of road. There were motorcyclists galore on it and even filming crews to film them as they made their adventurous trek. You can read more about that here. Even though it was not as pleasant as the Cherohala, we still had a lovely Shabbat today enjoying the beauties of our Father's creation.

Love and shalom,
Serena

Le Grande Aventure (Part One)

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 15:08:00 -0500

On the Way to Canada

Since our lease was up on the 2 bed/1 bath mobile we were renting, we decided to put everything in storage and rent something else when we got back from our trip. I can tell you I was hard to live with for that last couple of weeks, trying to pack things for the trip and also move out of the mobile. Talk about stress! We had bought a basket carrier to attach to the top of our 1990 Toyota Camry and one of those canvas bags to put stuff in. We had our camping equipment to pack and enough stuff to live in Montreal for a month. I needed to take clothing for both warmer and colder weather. We moved most all of our stuff into storage on the Sunday before we left and then basically camped out in the mobile until we left on Friday. I was trying to get a bunch of sewing done and we had the place to clean up to leave as we like to leave a place. AND I had the packing of what we needed for the trip to do. Rick had finals that week and was pretty busy with studying and helping with everything but the sewing. I did not get all my sewing projects done. Oh well, that's life when you wait and try to do too much in the time you have to do it. Maybe some day I'll get over being a procrastinator (though I'm better than I used to be in that area.)

We put all the stuff we needed to pack in the car and on top in one room and then moved it as we cleaned each room. I packed most of the camping stuff in the topper other than the sleeping bags and the air mattresses that we needed on the trip. Then I worked on packing the trunk and the car. I had to cull what we were taking and reduce the number of clothes we were taking. You should have seen that Toyota. I bet people don't know how much can be crammed into one of those little cars besides five people. I did the packing because I inherited the ability to put a lot of stuff into a space from my dad. Rick happily conceded the job to me and was the carry it out to the car guy. Our landlady came to inspect on Friday morning and was glad to refund the deposit since everything was clean and in good shape. (We really needed that for the trip!) She even prayed over us for our trip. The children and I went to do laundry while Rick had to take his last final and then we made our last trip to storage. We could barely shut the trunk of the car and everyone had stuff packed around them and under their feet, but we were on our way!

We drove to NE Tennessee the first night and stayed with our friends, Chris and Beth. We met them on the blogs and count them as precious friends. We stayed with them until Sunday and then headed out for Rick's home area in the west panhandle of West Virginia. We drove through Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio to get there and stayed that night about 50 miles to the west in Cambridge, Ohio. The next morning we headed over to the panhandle and Rick's hometown of Wellsburg. All of it was very interesting to me as ever since we had left our friend's place in NE TN it was all new territory to me. Rick was in for a shock when we got to his old hometown and he wrote about it in his new blog, Crimson Commentary. The neighbors who had been a refuge to him while growing up and had kept him from starving fed us lunch and we had a wonderful visit with them. Then we drove around and saw some of the places that were important in Rick's life while he was growing up and visited a cousin and an aunt of his. We went onto Pittsburg that evening, since we were getting together with Rick's girls, Alana and Erica, the next day and we had a really good coupon for a motel not very far from them.

The Neighbors

We met Alana and Erica on Tuesday morning and we had a picnic in the park. We hadn't seen Caila since she was a baby and we hadn't ever seen Patrick, Alana's children. Gaelyn and Izak really enjoyed playing with their neice and nephew, who are more like cousins. The time went fast and they had other commitments in the afternoon, so we went back to the motel just before it started to rain.

Gaelyn and her sisters.

The next morning we headed for Fort Necessity on our way to the other panhandle of West Virginia to meet an internet friend and her family that I have known online for about 6 years. We had a beautiful drive through that part of Pennsylvania and enjoyed Fort Necessity.

Outside the stockade at Fort Necessity

We stayed with Bob and Misha in the eastern panhandle that afternoon. They have 6 children and the older 2 boys were about Jared's age and they had a great time together. Gaelyn had fun playing with the younger ones and I got to enjoy holding their baby. The children all went to Awana together that evening. We found our now "in real life" friends to be very hospitable and warm and enjoyed our time with them. The next morning we left for New Jersey where we were going to stay with some more internet friends we had not met yet in real life - Chris and Dawn and their family of seven children. We had a busy day on the way planned with stops at Antietam, Gettysburg and driving through Lancaster county in Pennsylvania.

Antietam

We found our friends, who live outside of Trenton, to also be gracious hosts and we enjoyed our fellowship with them. Our children had a great time playing together and we could hardly visit over all the noise. Dawn also had a baby that I got to enjoy holding. They let us use their computer to check our email and Rick found out that he had got all A's for the spring semester. He was not expecting that as the Research class had been very difficult and he thought he would do good to get a B. It was a first in his life and I'm proud of how hard he is working on his studies.

The next day we headed for New Hampshire and the Atlantic coast. We drove around New York City on the furthest out interstate loop and then went through Connecticut and Massachusetts before getting to our destination in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. That was one of our longer travelling days, but the children did really well in the cramped conditions, in fact they did very well the whole trip. We really tried to not have real long days and we stopped pretty frequently because of the "sardine" situation in our car. The next morning we visited Fort Constitution and went up a little ways along the Maine coast to see a lighthouse and say we'd been to Maine.

Fort Constitution

Fort Constitution lighthouse

Lighthouse at York Harbor, Maine

The children and I took our shoes off and we played in the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. BRRRR! It was cold, but a delightful memory was made. We really liked the New Hampshire/Maine coast and the old Cape Cod houses. We had sun in the morning, but as we made our way back across New Hampshire we got into rainy weather again(we had a fair amount of that on the trip). We drove through the White Mountains and I told Rick that I could be persuaded to live there in spite of the cold. They are probably the most beautiful part of the Appalacians I have seen. They reminded me just a little of the Rockies, as they were more rugged than the more southerly Appalacians that we are accustomed to seeing. We then drove across the northeast corner of Vermont and entered Canada early in the evening of June 6th.

Playing in the Atlantic Ocean

One of the things that I really enjoyed about the trip was the feeling of going back in time as the scenery kept going back to an earlier spring that we had experienced weeks ago. We saw dogwoods blooming all the way to New York and even lower Connecticut. I did not realize they bloom that far north. They had just finished blooming in our area as we set out on the trip. We had just transitioned into the more summer green in the trees and by the time we got that far north, we were back to the very early spring green colors. I love spring and this year I got to experience the longest spring I probably ever will get to enjoy.

I will try to write about our time in Montreal soon.

Love and shalom,
Serena

Back Home

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 11:59:00 -0500

Hopefully, we will be back online the 13th, but we are home. I'm using a computer at the university right now. We travelled almost 4500 miles and are all travelled out. We are moved into a duplex apartment until my husband graduates in December and we go onto the next part of this great adventure of life. I'll update when we are online at home again. It was a good trip, with its difficulties, too, but G-d took care of us and provided. I'm looking forward to blogging again. I have quite a lot to recount of our almost 2-month adventure to Canada and parts of the US we had not seen before. I can tell you, though, I'm glad to be home.

Love and shalom,
Serena