Our son's 17th birthday is tomorrow, but since Dad can't be there tomorrow night, we had our cake early tonight after spending the afternoon shopping for presents and hanging out in the new hammock.
Midas thought the hammock was so cool that he insisted on getting on it, too. Albeit the poor dog couldn't quite figure out how to climb up, so Nick finally nudged him along :-)
The outcome of both the hammock swinging and the cake eating can be seen here.
Speli wanted an "Evil Dead" cake, but Mom got him on that one - HA!

posted by Elke at 8:44 PM

After spending a wonderful weekend at Maria Stefanopoulos and Mike Bedryk's wedding in New York, we had another exciting part to our weekend:
Greg visited JoAnne in Baltimore this weekend, and after going sailing and visiting Washington, DC, they came up to visit us in Downingtown.
We really enjoyed their visit, as you can see:

The sushi and sashimi we had were awesome, too! :-)

posted by Elke at 10:28 PM

Nick's company, Professional Casualty Association, had their annual picnic today. It is always a great bit of fun to hang with the comparatively few individuals from PCA than going to one of SAP's Überfests!

posted by Elke at 11:39 PM

Happy 20th Anniversary (two days late - August 14, 1986) to my Honey Nick and I!
I love you, Babe!!!

posted by Elke at 11:36 PM

Received an interesting newsletter tonight from Dr. Michael L. Brown's ministry, ICN Ministries.
Dr. Brown wrote the series of books called "Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus", which I think is great! Excerpts can be read by clicking here.

I do hope he doesn't mind me reprinting the text here because I thought it was so very well written:

HOW TO PRAY FOR ISRAEL AND THE MIDDLE EAST

By Dr. Michael L. Brown

August 15, 2006


As there is a temporary break in the hostilities in the Middle East, now is a good time to stop and ask: How should we pray for crises such as this? Should we pray for God to protect the Jewish people from terrorist attacks and for Israel's military efforts to succeed, or should we pray that God will have mercy on everyone involved – Muslim and Jew alike – bringing a permanent end to all bloodshed? Should we pray for lasting peace to come to the region, or should we pray for the Lord's speedy return, since that is the only way to achieve true and lasting peace? Should we pray only for the salvation of lost souls, or should we pray for God's prophetic purposes to come to pass?

Since our prayer support is crucial, let me offer some basic and practical guidelines that will help you to pray more effectively.

1) The current crisis is another birth pang, not the end of the world.
It is easy to overreact every time war breaks out in the Middle East, as if we were about to enter the final conflict and Armageddon was only days away. Without a doubt, the current situation is critical: It involves more than Israel and Lebanon, it is part of the larger conflict with militant Islam, and Iran, which could soon be a nuclear threat, is playing a direct role. And the human suffering is certainly great: Many lives have been lost; many families have been devastated; normal life for many will never return.

But this is not the end of the world, and we need to pray accordingly. God is at work, the enemy is raging, and the plan of redemption continues to unfold. This is not the time to panic; this is the time to dig in! "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains" (Matt 24:6-8). As the birth pangs increase in speed and intensity and duration, we will know we are getting closer to the end – which will really be the beginning of a whole new world. But, to repeat: This is just another birth pang, with many more still to come.

On the other hand, the devil is trying to bring about greater disaster and war before that final end, attempting to wreak whatever havoc he can and to destroy as many lives as possible. We should therefore pray for God's restraining hand in the Middle East, not allowing Satan's work to triumph.

"Father, do not allow the enemy to accomplish his plans and purposes. May Your will, and Your will alone, be done in Israel and the surrounding nations!"

2) Jesus died for the sins of the world, and every soul is precious in His sight.
It is certainly appropriate to pray that God will thwart the attacks of those who seek to destroy His people Israel, but whenever we pray, we must always remember God's heart for a lost and dying world. Every life is precious to Him, and Jesus died for Jew and Gentile alike. The Scriptures are totally clear on this: He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9), and He wants all people to be saved (1 Tim 2:4). Jesus is not only the propitiation for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).

In terms of our salvation and standing in the Lord, "there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, 'Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'" (Rom 10:12-13) In light of this, we should pray that God would use the current crisis to open the eyes of both Israelis and Arabs to the good news of the Messiah, and we should ask our Father for a great harvest of souls, for many new births to take place – even among the terrorists. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Jesus is still the one who saves to the uttermost (Heb 7:25).

So, pray for the gospel to go forth in love and power and compassion. Pray for divine opportunities for Jesus to be exalted in the Middle East. Pray that God would open up closed hearts and uncover deaf ears, remembering that it is often during times of crisis that people turn to the Lord. Be sure also to pray for those who are Christian in name only – this is prevalent in Lebanon – that their eyes would be opened to the truth. And pray that God would expose the emptiness of Islam, since many young people around the world are being drawn into it, especially in its most radical forms.

"Father, save a multitude of Jews and Muslims through the mercy of Your Son! In this time of displacement and upheaval and fear, turn people's hearts to You!"

3) The Lord has special purposes for the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

The Scriptures are totally clear in this regard too. Even though the great majority of the Jewish people still do not believe in Yeshua, the Word declares, "As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Rom 11:28-29). The Jewish people are still loved by God, still elect, and His promise still stands: No matter what sins His people may commit, He will not utterly destroy them (see Jer 31:35-37).

The Lord is still working to preserve and keep His ancient, covenant people, and He will still judge those who seek to destroy them or wipe them out. As He said through Jeremiah more than 2,500 years ago, "'I am with you and will save you,' declares the LORD. 'Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.'" (Jer 30:11) This holds true to this very day.

It is the Lord who brought back the Jewish people to the Land of Israel in the 20th century, an event of great prophetic significance (see Ezek 36:22-36; this passage not only applied to the return from the Babylonian exile; it speaks to our day and age as well). Just as Ezekiel prophesied, the Jewish people have returned to their homeland – for the most part, in unbelief, and therefore unworthy of God's grace – and, just as he prophesied, it is in the Land that God is having mercy on them and changing their hearts. He is doing it in ever-increasing measure, with more and more native-born Israelis coming to faith every year.

The Lord is still in covenant relationship with Israel in a special and unique way, which means that those who seek to wipe out Israel, who launch terrorist attacks against the Jews, who plot for Israel's destruction, are ultimately fighting against God Himself. Whether they know it or not, they are seeking to make Him into a liar, to prove His Word false, to destroy those whom God promised to preserve.

In light of that, we should pray for God to stand against those who seek to destroy His people, asking Him to frustrate their devices, but we must still never forget that the ultimate need of the people of Israel is a personal relationship with God through the Messiah.

We are mindful of the fact that every life is precious in His sight, and the Lord grieves over the death of a Lebanese child just as He grieves over the death of an Israeli child. He has compassion on all of His creation! But He does have specific plans for Israel, plans that will ultimately affect the entire world.

There is also a difference in the war being waged today when viewed from the perspective of Israel and from the perspective of the terrorists. As Israeli leaders have said on numerous occasions, for them, the death of every Lebanese child or civilian is a terrible tragedy, something to be avoided. For the terrorists, the death of every Israeli child or civilian is a great victory, something to be celebrated. Israel is fighting for survival, longing to live in peace; the terrorists are fighting for Israel's destruction, longing to triumph in war. Here is a link to an excellent, two-minute video that will help set the record straight, showing you what the media often fails to report: click here

So, pray for God to preserve Israel in the midst of the terrorist attacks, praying specially for His protection on all those who know Him and call upon Him in truth.

"Father, frustrate the devices of all who would seek to wipe out Your people Israel, and cause Your purposes for Israel to stand – in the region and the world. Remember Your covenantal promises, and continue to reveal Yeshua as the only Hope of our nation."

4) Yeshua will return to a Jewish Jerusalem that welcomes Him as King.

Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus spoke to Jerusalem and said, "Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" (Matt 23:38-39) In other words, "Jerusalem, you are about to devastated and destroyed, and you will not see Me again until you welcome Me as your Messianic King."

Yeshua will return to a Jewish Jerusalem when the Jewish people in Jerusalem welcome Him back. That means that Satan is trying desperately to keep the Jewish people from recognizing Yeshua as Messiah, he is trying to keep Jerusalem out of Jewish hands, and he is trying to wipe out the Jewish people. The devil knows that when a Jewish Jerusalem welcomes back Yeshua, it's over and done for him.

The Scriptures teach that, at the end of the age, God Himself will cause Jerusalem to be at the center of a great world conflict, out of which He will deliver His people (see Zechariah 12-14). That's why the battle for Jerusalem is so intense. And so, just as the ultimate reason for anti-Semitism is that the Messiah is a Jew and that God has worked out His salvation purposes for the world through Israel, so also, it is because Jesus will be returning to a Jewish Jerusalem that this city is the ultimate spiritual battleground. That's why God's people are called to pray specifically for Jerusalem.

The Scriptures are clear on this point too: "I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest till He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth" (Isa 62:6-7). We are called to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122) and, more specifically, to give God no rest until "He establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth." Jerusalem is the chosen city, but it is a city in desperate need of divine visitation.

Pray for God's purposes for Jerusalem to stand, for all attempts to wrest it out of Jewish hands to fail, for war and disaster to be held back until the appointed times, and for the eyes of the Jewish people – including the leadership! – to be opened to recognize Yeshua as Messiah and King. It's time!

To sum up, we are to pray for souls, and we are to pray for God's prophetic purposes to come to pass. We should pray for great mercy to be poured out in the region, for a great ingathering of souls, for the Jewish people to be preserved, for God's plans for Israel to come to pass, and for the lost sheep of the house of Israel to be reunited with their Shepherd.

"Your kingdom come, Lord! Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven! Your name be exalted! Preserve Jerusalem, Father! Make this city the praise of the entire earth! And prepare the hearts of Your people there to welcome back Your Son!"


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recently, I was on a Christian broadcast that airs live in Israel (broadcast by Daystar TV), and I was asked to say something directly to those watching in the Land. It was my joy to tell them that they are not alone, that in the midst of the bombs falling – bombs that have displaced more than one sixth of the nation's population – Christians around the world are standing with them in prayer and fasting.

Be assured, fellow-laborers, that you are making a great difference, and keep pressing in and holding God to His promises. He is faithful! And let us believe that the time to favor Zion is at hand, knowing that, as great mercy comes to Israel, extraordinary grace will come to the nations of the world as well. As Paul stated in Rom 11:13-16, "Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring! I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches."

Israel is still a people of promise, and the loving intercession of Messiah's people will speed the day when every promise is fulfilled. Hasten it, Lord!


Thank you, Dr. Brown, for your wonderful thoughts on how to pray for Israel!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May those who love you be secure. Psalm 122:6

posted by Elke at 11:02 PM

Tonight, my husband Nick and I walked our dogs around 10 pm (and a day after our 20th anniversary!).

As we were walking, we marveled at the beautiful sky with stars sparkling everywhere.
I was asking Nick how he thought God created the heavens.

I told him my theory was that God held a handful of sand and blew it out of His omnipotent hand, and as the sand grains tumbled away, they got bigger and bigger and bigger, and then they were stars. And just to keep us on our toes, God painted the Big Dipper for entertainment and to make us ask this exact question: How did He do it?

Needless to say, Nick didn't share my opinion - he does not think God would be so haphazardly blowing stars around.

Either way, they are beautiful and worthy of marveling at them.

I am reminded of Psalm 8:2-4:
"When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?"

And Psalm 19:1 says:
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

And a song came to my mind that I learned shortly after I met Jesus and He became my Savior - it really dates me as it is one of the 70s Christian songs:

"In the stars His handiwork I see,
On the wind He speaks with majesty.
Though He ruleth over land and sea,
What is that to me?
I will celebrate Nativity,
For it has a place in history,
Sure, He came to set His people free,
What is that to me?

Til by faith I met Him face to face,
And I felt the wonder of His grace,
Then I knew that He was more
Than just a God who didn't care,
That lived away out there
and .....
Now He walks beside me day by day,
Ever watching o'er me lest I stray,
Helping me to find that narrow way,
He is everything to me."

You can listen to it here.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star...!

posted by Elke at 10:47 PM

Happy Birthday to my colleague Roman!

posted by Elke at 4:21 PM

One of the more fascinating things I have ever done was the testing of my DNA. I had heard about the National Geographic's Genographic project on the Today Show.

The thought of finding out where my family comes from fascinates me more than anything you can imagine outside of knowing God more fully. I even talked my husband and my dad into getting themselves tested. Dads are important for women as we only carry the maternal MtDNA.

Knowing that God created mankind makes me not pay that close of an attention to where scientists say the origin of mankind was, or even more so when. I am fascinated by the journey my ancestors completed, and I can easily Biblically adjust the timelines and locations. The Bible suggests that the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived was somewhere near the Euphrates River (modern-day Iraq). The Bible also only records about 6,000 years of human history, but once again, the general hope was to understand how my family line migrated.

So after all the intro, here is my Mom's ancestral journey - from this side I get Haplogroup K.
Guess my Scandinavian first name is justified!
Somebody in the family line took a left turn to Germania a long time ago.


My Dad's side of the family tree was much more fascinating - his family line ends in the Mediterranean!! This is really funny since he is blue-eyed, and I would have never suspected.
I think Napoleon's soldiers left their mark in my family as they marched through Germany.
Dad is Haplogroup J2e1.


What I personally like the best is that both of the family lines crossed what is Israel today. Boy, that may explain my great love for the land of Israel and its people.

I always thought we might have Jewish ancestors on my Mom's side as her mother's maiden name is Nussbaum. I really could not prove with the genetics tests that we have Jewish ancestors. In my dad's remote genetic relationships there are some Ashkenazi Jews, but they are too far removed to be of significance. So it looks like that's not the case after all.

However, that doesn't stop me from feeling an immense affinity to Jews and the land of Israel.

Isaiah 62:1 talks about this:
"For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch."

In verses 6 and 7 of the same chapter, I have found what I believe to be my life's calling:
"I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth."

I believe God has asked me to be such a watchman for Israel - I know that as clearly as I know the sun will go down tonight and come up tomorrow morning.

So I will keep on doing what Psalm 122:6-7 exhorts all of us to do:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."
May it be so again soon. Come, Lord Jesus (Yeshua for my Jewish friends)!

posted by Elke at 6:04 PM

Okay, okay, so my colleague (and I would like to think friend) Roman pestered me into rethinking this whole idea of blogging.
To me, it has really been more of a personal diary, and sometimes I hope people who know me get a kick out of my warped thoughts *smile*.
So, Roman, just for you, I will totally rethink my strategy. Can't promise a newer blog approach would be less preachy as for me to "live is Christ and to die is gain" to quote Paul in the New Covenant book of Philippians.
So cheers to Roman - someone who makes me think about things other than my workday in the middle of the day (or at the end or at the beginning or in the middle of the night...whenever inspiration and Google Talk strike).
Keep at it - I love our conversations.

posted by Elke at 5:53 PM