[Pardon the delay in this as Tuesday's arrival in Jerusalem was too soon to send and Wednesday's snooze-fest was ended by a loss of electricity. At any rate, here we go!]

Saturday morning at 2:20 we had our first fire alarm in the hotel. Having gone through a certain type of training (twice now) kept me calm and allowed me to help Shirin and Jasmine through the dream shattering ordeal. We walked out to the hallway to see others looking out of their door when the hotel manager apologized, turning off the alarm.

I tried going back to sleep, thinking of my "go to" bag in case a fire actually occurred. Twenty minutes later the second alarm went off, giving me the chance to make use of my "go to" bag which only contained our return tickets, passports, wallet, and car keys. We passed one of my personal heroes, a volunteer fireman, and knew all was well. Slumber continued until the third and final alarm went off at 4:00. I must say, the three of us showed a great response time and were the first ones out the door with our "go to" bag.

We'd been in the US for almost two months and had invested quite a bit of time stocking up on supplies joyfully supplied by our home church and arranging them in our luggage for our next term of service; however, I only took a small bag in the event of a fire. It's amazing how God reminds us of our priorities.

Anyway, how about you? Are you "hanging on to things" that could weigh you down in the event of an emergency? What are those things that are considered to be of utmost importance, items of almost irreplaceable value?

+ You continued to make use of http://tinyurl.com/e7rwh for daily needs and updates, especially as our time in the US drew to a close...thank you for praying!

+ You asked God to grant us safe travels last week as we made our way back to Jerusalem... we arrived safely with every piece of luggage; however, as we've looked through a few footlockers, we've noticed a few items missing (thanks to the good ol' American TSA - what's that stand for: Thieves Steal A lot?) BTW, I think I fell in love with Ramoth during our STAS since she was all I could think of on the plane ride back :*-)

+ You prayed with us that our initial days in Jerusalem would be uneventful enough to allow us to get somewhat re-situated... wow, talk about putting things back in order (provided I just don't drop from exhaustion <g>).

<T H I S  W E E K><

<>< Pray that we would be able to put "Humpty Dumpty back together again" (so to speak) as we begin readjusting to a new schedule.

<* Pray for the Uyghur of China.><

CALENDAR UPDATES

9-10, Ask God to use our final days for His honor.

* I had opportunity to share Jesus with the lady who began cutting my hair about thirty years ago; however, neither she nor her husband sensed the urgency of the message. Continue praying for them as they read and re-read His word.

11-12, Travel preparation and packing (ugh)

* Oh, how His grace and your intercession sustained us :-)

13-14, Farewells and travel safety

* All went well - thank you!

15, Safe, uneventful travel w/luggage

* Whoo-hoo!! You did it again :-)