Let's Turn This Place Into an Irish Pub!

In the last two weeks I believe I reached a junction where my summer went from being, honestly, pretty lonely to being the summer I had imagined in my mind. The transformation commenced with a visit from a couple from Israel that my Dad knows, and truly this was such an honor having them stay in our home for a few days. There names were Moshe (Moses!) and Eitana Oren. I loved every minute with them, learning about everything from Israeli education and the army to Shabbat and what goes on at the synagogue and, of course, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We were reading Psalm 121 at breakfast one morning and upon recognizing the words began singing the Hebrew version they learned growing up! I found them to be very straightforward and honest people and they love to laugh and have a good time! After hearing all about their children and their experiences in the army (their youngest daughter, who is 18, enters the army this year and might train to be a pilot) I found my life to be so colorless and dull. They said their kids were taking turns hosting parties at their house every night while their parents were gone! Anyways, I know it was a blessing to me just to get to know them.

The day they left was particularly lonely, but everything has turned around since that day. I met three girls that are living in Bristol and interning for a Christian humanitarian organization based here. So far we've played a fun board game called "Ticket to Ride" and been out to the dam to watch the sunset and play ultimate frisbee ~ it's so nice to have a more lively social life once again. They are all very down to earth and non-intimidating, which is refreshing, and God is so merciful and good to provide their friendship in this time.

Yesterday was quintessentially summer for me - I met a friend from Gordon who happens to live in nearby Ashevill, NC and she told me about her experiences on the mission trip to India while we shared lunch, and then we walked around the Bele Chere festival downtown, an outdoor music and arts festival featuring local crafts, photography, jewelry, and plenty of street evangelists preaching messages of fire and brimstone. It was nice to be reunited with some Gordon kin and experience the free-spirited character of Asheville. That night my family went with some friends to a Scythian concert, and the experience could be likened to that of a rowdy Irish pub, without the booze of course, although there were several references to the beer-drinking section of the crowd. We were on our feet the whole time (they were very interactive), clapping, jumping and dancing to the rousing Celtic tunes and deep voices of Irishmen (actually they were Ukranian). It was SO MUCH FUN. I wish every day of summer ended with a live band and dancing.

The Lord is so good and I don't deserve his mercy. I'm slowly reading through the Old Testament, and I can only marvel at God's steadfast mercy towards the Israelites, even to this day, after all the moments he wanted to destroy them and their stiff-necked ways. I realize God is only seeking righteous people who will love Him with all their might and obey his commands, yet this is so incomprehensibly hard.

Love to you all on this beautiful day.