The Final Summit by Andy Andrews

Great historical figures, and one ordinary man, convene to answer one question: "What does humanity need to do, individually and collectively, to restore itself to the pathway toward successful civilization?" Each of these characters has met with Gabriel, the archangel, at some point in their life and "travelled" through time. Now they are all gathered together in some unknown heavenly place to determine the answer. And if they don't answer it in time, mankind will be destroyed.

There are many reasons I would never recommend this book to you. Mainly, it contradicts the Bible in many areas and takes liberties that border on sacrilegious. At one point during the discussion the text reads, "Many of us made it in [to Heaven] by the skin of our teeth - a decision at the last moment - and would rather not be reminded of how close we came to the alternate destination." To even suggest that a person can barely make it into heaven by what they have done reveals a lack of concern on the handling of God's Word by watering it down to something people want to hear.

The book was obviously written to appeal to a broad range of readers, which ultimately will confirm in a person's mind that humans control the world, not God. This is a feel-good, go-get-'em book that will motivate people the wrong direction. In fact, God is not even mentioned - not even as the answer to man's problem.

Even the writing style bored me. The dialogue was tiresome and his perception of famous people didn't even interest me.

Don't waste your time on a humanistic-themed book that will lead you in the opposite direction of a book based on the truth of the Bible.

I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

What Israel Looks Like

I obviously still having trouble putting Israel into words. But here we go.

The terrain of Israel varies so much. It's such a small piece of land, but it is so diverse. What we came to understand on this trip was how important the diversity of this land is.

The Mediterranean Sea was similar to other oceans we've visited. The beach was sandy and you had to go down cliffs to get to it. There were palm trees and tropical birds. Buildings and communities are very close together. 

Here I stand on Mt. Gilboa (2 Samuel 31) overlooking the Jezreel Valley. This valley has seen international traffic for thousands of years. It is the only way for travelers to get through this country and sort of connects Asia with Egypt. This valley will continue to see lots of action in the future, too. As you can see it is very green and fertile. We saw many, many crops growing all over Israel.

My favorite terrain was in Dan, formerly Laish. It was beautiful with a large natural spring and felt like Colorado hiking. This was in the northernmost part of Israel, bordering Lebanon and Syria. 

The Sea of Galilee is surrounded by mountains, or the hill country. I don't have any really good pictures of how mountainous it is. It sits below sea level and is green and pretty and fertile. 

Next we saw the wilderness. Think of where David hid from Saul in caves - rocky, steep incline, jagged cliffs, winding caverns, and barren. This is where the Dead Sea is - water that gives life to nothing. Not beautiful, but definitely amazing.

From there we moved to the Negev. Dessert everywhere. No more jagged cliffs like before, but rolling hills of rocky sand and dirt. This is where the Bedouins live, and the camels!

Before our eyes the terrain changed dramatically. The Shephellah is an area of rolling hills. Again, lots of crops seen growing around here.

Finally, we went into the hill country and we felt like we were traveling in Colorado, on a much smaller scale of course. Jerusalem is build on these limestone hills and there isn't a flat spot to be found!

Now you can see we saw a little bit of everything. Next up: placing Bible stories with the locations!

Getting over the bump

You would think I would be blogging up a storm. I have pictures from Israel to share and stories to tell. I have a house we are getting ready to buy. There is a lot going on and I should be sharing it all with you. But I don't have the words.

Instead, I found myself in this daze; frozen while life kept going. I think I may have woke up today though, and am back among the living. Ready for the next thing.

It was fixed [mainly] by coffee dates with my best friends. It was refreshing to hear about their lives and laugh and talk with them. I rarely let myself think that in a few months we will be 7 hours apart. [What will I do?]

No matter how thick the mud that my mind and heart work through, I am continually thankful for 2 things. My God who allows me to rest contentedly in His plan and my husband who I love more and more each day.

Next: a series of posts on our trip. I hope you enjoy them.

Back in the USA

(Trekking up Masada with the Dead Sea behind)

For the past week, Hubs and I have been traveling through Israel. And although we counted it as a vacation, my brain was working overtime, as this lived up to its description of a "study trip." As we come back home and get back to our responsibilities and normal demands of life, I can't help but cherish the 8 days where the majority of our time was devoted to studying and understanding God's word.

People told us that this trip would be life-changing. Although I didn't doubt them, I didn't understand how. Now I can confidently say that this trip will change how I read and understand the Bible in every aspect. Words I skipped over before such as "Kidron Valley" and "wilderness" have new meanings. Sequences of events make more sense. And areas and regions can now have reference points in my mind. As I look through my pictures, they just don't do the trip justice in my mind. The trip was far better than pictures will ever be.

(Posing with an Israeli soldier and a policeman)

You may have heard there was a bomb in Jerusalem. It was the day we entered the Jerusalem. We actually commented on the slow traffic as we drove through a West Bank checkpoint [ends up it was because of the incident]. We were all safe; and really, honestly, truly - I always felt safe. They don't want to kill Americans. They want to kill Jews.

(A big pile of delicious pita bread, which tasted exactly like naan.)

Of course, being in a culture completely different than our own, does make one excited to return home.  I am excited to eat meals that are not under the Kosher guidelines. It is nice to have plug-ins that are familiar and hair dryers that actually have some power to dry my hair. It's nice to understand everyone around and not wonder what exactly I am eating. And, I am very thankful to not hear that loud Moslem call to prayer "mooing" 5 times a day. Most excited, though, am I to pick up my lovable pups and those big floppy ears.

(On Mt. Gilboa with the Jezreel Valley behind)

Every believer needs to take this trip. And I would boldly say THIS trip. With Dr. Bookman as their guide, they need to spend the money to learn about the Bible in a new way. And I'm only saying that because it is worth it in a life-changing way. Understand the whys, the hows, the whens so that you can grasp more of who God is and what He has done.

Again

I watched this again. You should too.

Birth

Having been a biological sciences major, there really isn't much that grosses me out. Except maybe eyeballs. And fat off of meat. But bodily functions and blood and guts - I am completely okay with.

For weeks I had been looking forward to the puppies coming. This was the mom's first litter and I was going to be able to watch the birth! I wanted to see what it is like, since I may do this in the future. We got the text late one night - she was in labor.

The next morning, we got to watch 3 of the 6 puppies being born. And it was an experience. She was a great first time mom, setting to clean the puppies off and chew the ambilical cord off right away [that thing is made of some thick stuff]. Her teeth would get so close the the puppies that you thought for sure she would accidently gnaw off one of the tiny legs in the process. However, she knew what to do. She would lick up all the blood and fluid and even the placenta [I did gag at one point watching her eat it up. Still makes me gag a little]. It was completley amazing to think that a few hours earlier, she had no idea that little puppies would appear from her behind and now she was carefully taking care of them.

Those little puppies can sure make some noise though. One was loud enough, but as more and more came the crying and whining got to be pretty obnoxious. Finally, the puppies latched on to their mom for sustainance and the noise was gone.

I took some videos of our experience. In this first one, the mom is cleaning up her two puppies. Then I pan down so you can see the blood still oozing from her behind.

In this one, the mom moves her little pup back to the warmth of her body. You can't really tell, but she picks them up in her mouth very gently, considering she has very sharp teeth.

And here is the actual birth of one of the puppies.

And here she is doing her phenomenal clean-up job on the just-born pup. The licking also stimulates the puppy to breath and move.



Is it worth it?

Ninja Master Prep Professional

Richard first saw the infomercial for this. After I watched it, I knew I needed this. Our blender was dead and I didn't have a food processor. I put it on my "want" list and waited. Then my birthday came around and I actually used my birthday money [for the very first time] on a kitchen product.

The blades are in the middle of the container, instead of at the bottom. And these blades are sharp. I have slice my fingers open at least 3 times. But when I make a smoothie, there are NO stray chunks of fruit - which I detest, and it isn't a pain to use or clean.

The cool thing is that the Ninja does so much more! I made some "dirt" last week, and used it to finely chop oreos. It was simple and a huge time-saver. I've also chopped chicken and onions up in this thing. And, I can't wait to use it on sauces.

This Ninja set is available at Bed, Bath & Beyond (so you can use a coupon) and is totally worth it.

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The Kindle

I love books. The physical pages; the tangible look of it on my bookshelf. And I know that sometimes scares people away from the Kindle, but I also love my Kindle.

This is the kindle I have. Of course now they are smaller, faster, cheaper and cooler. When going on vacation, I love to take lots of reading material. Now, I load up my reading material on my Kindle and am not lugging around pounds of heavy books. I have used the Kindle for book studies I've done with friends, and it works. I make notes and highlights. It is sometimes hard to know what page the others are on, but I do believe they have fixed that problem in the newer versions.

I have a case for my Kindle so it feels like holding a book. I love that it isn't back-lit so it doesn't hurt my eyes at all. And I know there is a e-reader out there with color, but do I need color for reading a book? I think not.

If you love to read, especially for enjoyment, you would probably love a Kindle.

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Furminator

It's amazing how much fur a dog has clinging to its body when you look at how much fur accumulates throughout my house. I would much rather it accumulate in the trash can, which is what this tool can help with.

I could furminate Ransom all day long. The fur just keeps coming. Piles of black fur mound up in the trash can as I run this amazing tool through his coat. Although this does not eliminate the shedding, if done everyday, it cuts down tremendously.

Since I hope for more dogs in our future, the furminator is a must to remain sane through the shedding.

Totally worth it.