Walking the Line

Today we celebrate our 14th wedding Anniversary.  Needless to say, it has been an adventure.  We never would’ve guessed that day on the ranch that God would carry us to so many different locations.  We’ve lived in 3 states and 3 countries.  We’ve moved 10 times. 

We realized we have been married longer than we have lived anywhere.  Das ist bestimmt besser als umgekehrt!

After church services on Easter Sunday most of the church congregation stayed for an Easter BBQ.  We did the traditional Cypriot meal Easter meal…lamb!  Well there was a bit of chicken and pork mixed in there too.

Along with the meat mix there also was a nice people mix.  There were people from Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Kenya, Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Holland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Cyprus,  India, Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Britain, Argentina and a handful of Americans.  It was a great time of celebrating and sharing as we remembered what Christ has done for us all.

This morning I received an email from my sister saying to call my parents as soon as possible.  I knew what they would tell me before I called.  My dad’s mom, at 102 years, 8 months and 2 days, had passed away.  I’m so thankful for the two times that I was able to see her and visit with her while we were in the States last year.  We both cried hard when we said our good-byes, both of knowing it was most likely our last, but also hoping that she would continue to defy age and live a couple of more years.  Unfortunately, a few weeks ago she took a turn for the worst.  After having lived for so long, I was thankful that she gave us all an oppurtunity to came to grips with the fact that she wouldn’t live forever and yet didn’t suffer for long.  I’m also thankful that my husband and my children got to know her well and hear the stories of her amazing life.

Last night we went to an Orthodox “Good Friday” service.  They have a coffin for Jesus in the front of the church where people line up and pass by.  Normally they carry the coffin around the church or village afterwards but it started to downpour outside so the procession was cancelled.

 Saturday night they do a big bonfire and burn an effigy of Judas and prepare for the big feast of lamb ending the lent fast.  We will be grilling some Cyprus lamb on Sunday as well.

Last night at The Place they showed “The Passion of the Christ”.  Despite owning the DVD, I had not yet seen it.  I had heard so much about it that I wanted to wait until I was ready to see it.  I decided to last night.   I’m sure most of you have seen it by now.  It’s been three years since its theatrical release.  But because the crowd at The Place comes from such diverse backgrounds I wasn’t the only one who was watching for the first time.  I think everyone in attendance was moved.  The Lebanese guy sitting next to me wiped away more than a few tears and the British girl on the other side didn’t move for a few minutes after it finished, sitting in quiet reflection.  They were both believers, but there were also nonbelievers there.  Please pray that the message of Christ will sink in.  As far as my take on the movie, it was bloody to the point of distraction, but still impacting.

This afternoon, we were at the Anglican service.  Chris was one of a number of people doing dramatic readings from characters from the passion.  He was Judas.  He did a great job despite having been very ill the last couple of days.  You can read the transcript here: judas.doc  There was also Peter, Mary Magdalene, a street vendor, a water carrier, Mary and others.

 Tonight we will go with Rick and his kids to an Orthodox church in a village to experience Good Friday in yet another denomination.  

 Yes, that is a fish head.  He said the eyes were, “salty, crispy on the outside with something hard in the middle.”

Willkommen beim Blog Familie Hertzog.  Wir möchten sagen, dass es ok ist, wenn ihr auf Deutsch ein “comment” schreibt.  Wir freuen uns von euch zu hören.  Wir können noch Deutsch lesen, sprechen und (hoffentlich) schreiben.  Wir schauen sogar jeden Tag Deutsche Fernsehsendungen an.  Wir bekommen die Programme “Das Erste”, “SuperRTL”, und “DW-TV”.  Die Kinder sind sehr erfreut, dass sie wieder Spongebob auf Deutsch anschauen können.  Schönen Tag und Gottes Segen.