The view from my walks

I have to say I'm enjoying my morning walks. Unfortunately my legs can't say the same. I don't think they've ever been so happy for a Sunday morning. The top 3 pics are from my route. The last one is the church down the street from us, St. Antoine's.

The picture on the wall is of Abouna Yaacob, a Lebanese priest who's now considered a saint. My neighbor explained who he was. She knew him, although I don't know how long ago he died. There are miracles associated with him. One is that a woman came from London to be healed of a large cancerous tumor in her neck. After seeing a vision of him it was gone.

This morning we visited a new church. Well, new for us. I had to drive down 2 different hills in first gear and I still had my feet on the breaks the whole way down. Fortunately one of the women there told me how to go back where I only had to deal with the hill going up from the church. They meet on the campus of a private school. It's on the steepest hill imaginable. At least the kids get to play in the playground after church. The Little Prince and the Diva had their first time on a seesaw today. They were in heaven.

They didn't care to go with the other kids for Sunday School so they stayed with me. It's a rather...charismatic (?) church so they were well entertained and their behavior wasn't bad. I'd told them they had to be quiet if they stayed with me and they were willing. I'm hoping that after a week or so in summer camp they'll feel a bit more comfortable. Plus they played with the kids after church and as they get to know them maybe they'll like the idea better. The Boss enjoyed Sunday School though so 1/3 of them did. LOL

I have to say it was nice to be able to enjoy the communion wine. After months of the homemade variety from our church in Kuwait it was a nice change. I wondered for a while if they would actually have words of institution. But after praying they distributed the elements, we held onto them, and then we ate the bread after he said the words of institution for the bread, and then the wine next.

The church was very different from what we're used to but we enjoyed it. It's a nice place for our summer worship. The man who preached the sermon preached from Revelation 7. He'd always imagined a rather small group making it to heaven. You know, the road is narrow. But then in this chapter it speaks of the multitude who are there. Yes, the way there is narrow but He's the shepherd who leaves the 99 to look for the 1. Yes, our way is narrow, not wide, but there will be a multitude with us.

9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (NKJV)