Beautiful Little People

Faith Nelson! What an artisan! The details you put into your little people are fantastic! Thank you so much...

When I arrived back home from Lebanon, I had a bubble mailer waiting for me from Faith. I opened it excitedly.

Some weeks back, her family had a contest (http://youredoingwhat.blogspot.com/2008/12/and-winner-is.html) for putting captions on some funny family pictures. I thought one up, and actually won! Imagine that!

My prize for winning the contest was a free little person made by Faith. She asked me what I wanted my little person to look like. I really couldn't decide on who to ask her to make this little person look like. (Faith makes little clay people to look like real people. She makes a little person from a picture of someone.) So I asked her to decide what my little person would look like.

I never dreamed what she would do. I was so amazed with what she sent. And so was Jackie. He promptly took pictures. Here they are. Be amazed along with me.

I still can't believe you made a whole nativity set for me, Faith. It will be one of my favorite things to set up this coming Christmas, believe me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now, lest you not be amazed, following is another picture, with a dime placed in front of the figures so that you can see how tiny these people are, and what manual dexterity Faith must have to make them.

For those of you who like my set, you can get one very inexpensively from Faith. Here's her ordering site: http://www.panivinoranch/littleclaypeople.html.

Pictures of the Lebanon trip

I thought I would share a few of the pictures that I was able to take while in Lebanon.

This was a "sandwich" vendor. The day that I went with Jason and Sarah to get Jude circumcised, we stopped here for lunch. The cook is making a sandwich. He puts chicken (shaved from the roasted vertical stack on the right), french fries, and salty dill beet pickles in flat bread and rolls it up! It costs 60 cents, USD. They are right tasty!

Brenda and I went to the Souk together. Here we are sharing a cup of Lebanese coffee together. I'm not sure I should say that we enjoyed it, since it is very strong and bitter. No cream or sugar. But I did enjoy sharing the experience with Brenda. She was a very compassionate, able birth assistant. I am thankful for her and for her life.

Above is a building in the ancient port of Byblos, mentioned in most history textbooks. It was very otherworldly to be in these ancient cities.

My favorite picture of Beirut, taken from a mountain just east of the city.

The corniche, where I walked and worshipped the Creator. I enjoyed those walks so much!

The street on which Jason and Sarah and Jude live. They live in an apartment to the left just in front of the SUV (which is their vehicle).

The lighthouse at Tyre, and the ocean just beside it.

Jonathan, Anna, Joel, and Ethan, British expatriates in Tyre. I enjoyed their love of life, their love of people, and Anna's peach and pear crumble!

Left to right: Will, Dennis, Bri, and Emi. Thanks so much for adopting me for a couple of days!

My favorite picture of Jude! He's looking straight at me. I talked to his daddy yesterday, and found out that he now weighs 11 pounds! It's amazing how fast they grow. He has gained four pounds in four weeks. Wow.

Miriam and her family. Brahim, then Miriam, Rabab, the dad (didn't interact with him very much, so don't know his given name), and Mohammad. They live two floors up from Sarah and Jason. Papa told Miriam to cook well so Sarah's milk would come in and nourish Jude. So she brought food down every other day. Thanks so much, Miriam. I'll never forget you.

At the Hippodrome. This was a place where horses raced, from Roman times. It was huge, of course. I'm standing in front of part of the stands. At the north end of it is the Via Romana, or the Roman Road, which led into Tyre. Since Jesus went there during his lifetime, I probably walked along the same road He did.

One more of me (sorry). I'm sitting in the grandstands at the Hippodrome. Isn't that incredible?

Praying at the Hereri mosque in Beirut. I am the one on the left, completely unaware that a picture is being taken. The young woman who invited me to pray with her is the one in the center with the white skirt on.

Fosiah on the left, and Safa on the right. Both dear friends of Sarah and Jason. Fosiah sang a lullaby in Arabic to Jude one night. I wish I had taped it. It was tenderly sweet. Both women have been Arabic teachers to the Kerners in the past.

And, finally, a picture of what I didn't see, a cedar tree. They are very few, and hard to get to, and there just wasn't time on this trip. Maybe next time....

Thanks for letting me share these pictures!