Shabbat Shalom

Dear Family,

Walking with the Lord is something that is never dull. When Aviel was born, I
had a unique feeling as if I had been born into a new life as well. There are a
few transforming moments we go through in life, and I have to say that this one
has encompassed every part of my life. Caring for this gift the Lord has been
so gracious to give us is a full time job. When we eat, where we go, how we
travel, and our schedules all have been influenced by this blessed boy. It is
so amazing to feel like our lives have been flipped upside down, but at the same
time we have never felt so right side up. The first thing the Lord commanded
was to be fruitful and multiply. Fulfilling this first command has been a
profound experience for both Callie and I. We see the light of the Lord in a we
we have never seen it before. We see how patient the Lord must be with us when
we experience how crucial patience is when caring for Aviel. Everyday he does
something new and we have to adapt to how Aviel is changing. Sometimes it seems
like too great a task, but when know the Lord can fill our weakness with His
strength. Please pray that Callie and I would continue to submit to the Lord
through all these new experiences.

Israel is experiencing relative calm after months of potential upheaval.
Nothing could have prepared us for what has transpired, but we sure got a
spiritual workout through all the intense prayer. We can already see an end to
this "calm" on the horizon. Israel, as a gesture to the Palestinians, have
frozen the construction of all settlements until September. The goal of this
freeze was to help jump start the peace process again. Netanyahu has
continually said that if there was no progress made before September, he would
order an end to the freeze and building would resume. With this deadline in
sight, everyone is starting to put pressure on this government to continue the
freeze and even extend the freeze to include East Jerusalem. Jerusalem, East
and West, are part of the unified capital of the Jewish people. No country on
this Earth would accept such a demand concerning their own capital, but for some
reason, it is fine to demand such a thing from Israel. Please pray that the
Lord would move upon this situation. Pray that Netanyhu and his government
would have wisdom in the face of this pressure.

As believers, we all have asked the Lord for a miracle at one time or another.
I know I have wanted the Lord to split the sky and work a miracle in my life,
promising that I will walk in the reality of that miracle. Many times when we
ask the Lord for a miracle, we expect that our faith will built up if we receive
it. The Lord drew me to a little passage in Luke that hit home in my spirit.
In Luke 17, starting with verse 11, there is a story about the ten lepers.
These lepers asked Yeshua to heal them. Yeshua's response was, "Go show
yourselves to the priests." Then the second part of verse 14 says this, "And as
they were going, they were cleansed." This struck me because they were asked to
take a step of faith BEFORE they were cleansed. They were not healed
immediately and then asked to go see the priests. Yeshua told them to go to the
priests before they had any evidence of healing. As they went in faith, their
healing became a reality. When we ask for our miracle, or even simply that the
Lord would direct us, we expect that if the Lord acts, it will happen
immediately. Then, having received from the Lord, we commit ourselves to
walking in the faith gained through the miracle. The Lord does work this way,
but I think we have neglected this other way of receiving the work of the Lord's
hand. He may be asking us to take a step of faith FIRST and then the answer
will follow. This is something that I am trying to take to heart and meditate
on. The danger of this is the possibility of acting in presumption. The lepers
received a direct word from Yeshua telling them to go. We must discern how the
Lord wants us to walk. Does He want us to wait until He moves, or does He want
us to take the step believing that the promised miracle will come? We can only
know this through an intimate relationship with our Creator, in which He can
speak clearly into our spirits. May we all know this intimacy and be able to
discern the direction He wants us to walk. Blessings!

In Yeshua,

Devin and Callie

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