Tel Aviv...and stuff

So, last Sunday we traveled to Tel Aviv with our athletic teams to compete with other private schools in the country. The school we went to is called AIS...(I don't know what it means yet, I forgot to ask.) I personally think it means All Israeli Shekels...cuz' the place is amazing. The school cost 20 million to build...so do the math on what in American dollars you have to pay to go there. All the foreign diplomat kids, American kids, etc. attend the school. My joke of the day was, "Hey, their pool is just a little bit better than ours." That's right, they have an outdoor pool. Real grass...Real wooden basketball floor...and the most amazing playground ever. Jealous...no. Just realizing that things we take for granted in America and with a society that has so much and does so little with it. (That is a blog for another day, let me continue.) Our kids share 1 gym.
Our soccer field is the roof of the gym..pea gravel and cement..or the blacktop. No Joseph, we don't practice slide tackling too much...and we travel in a tour bus. So as you can probably guess...these trips are precious. Lots of fun - hanging with students outside of class. Competing with other kids from all over the WORLD..and my family right by my side...To say it was a great day would be an understatement.

Part of the fun of the trip to Tel Aviv...we stop at the mall!! For my family..it was a taste of familiarity. For lots of our students...the only time they get to go to a mall...One thing I have learned about malls...They are the same everywhere. With some subtle differences. Every store in Tel Aviv had a Hebrew name...Nothing in English...Our goal was in 30 minutes to find coffee..(I were exhausted from staying up watchin' the Tide whup on the Swamp Rats)...and a crock pot. We had decided we needed a crock pot after the third week of coming home from school saying, "Lets just eat cereal..." Hahahaha! No just popping down to McDonalds here..10 American for a happy meal...Ronald can go soak his head in kosher pickle juice. So as we scanned the Hebrew horizon of the Tel Aviv mall (three stories of glorious American indulgance) Tracee looks at me and says, "K..Where's a home store...?" So what do u do in a mall?...That's right ... walk.

So we did...we walked...to the end...Tracee was getting worried, she said, "Really want a crock pot"...I..being the male hunter gatherer..said.."I'm going to find..don't worry."...Cuz' malls are the same...I walked to the end of the mall. What is it ladies and gentlemen that we find at the end of the mall...That's right..Sears..or JC Penny..and we found the Israeli home store..It's name? couldn't tell u...but we did snag a crock pot..or in Israel, a slow cooker...you betcha! 6.5 glorious quarts of one...for 35 American...and made some friends. (For the record, I now know just how thick my accent is, cuz i haven't fooled a soul here...everyone knows i am from the south somewhere..hahahaha)..We then found the ice coffee stand...and were on our way.

Driving home that night...through the hills and valleys where the sun stood still for Joshua, I couldn't help but think that we were gonna make it. We navigated the countryside together. Navigated the mall..(small win, but a win none the less)...Navigated a check point..and made it home unscathed...I have a wonderful family, a wife that is a helpmate, and two beautiful girls that help us see things with wonderment. Everything is new..different..and even if we start following the wrong tour bus on the way out of Tel Aviv..(hahahahaha)..I know that we will be there together to hold up each others hands...when there are battles to be fought we will fight them as a family on our knees in prayer...and if the sun needs to stand still for us...we serve an amazing God that will do that for us...and He will help us find a slow cooker on sale when we need one....

Mr. Jonathan...also known to Jessi as.."The greatest daddy in the world..."

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