Dead Sea Scrolls

Karen wanted to line all the shelves with non-skid material for travel before she put her dishes away. Hopefully we will avoid having a cabinet full of broken pieces after we go rolling down the next highway.

This past week we took advantage of a wonderful opportunity. On loan from Jerusalem there is an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Science here in Raleigh. It took about 2 hours for us to take in the entire exhibit. There were about 25 stations where we viewed artifacts and listened to archaeological and historical information presented through audio headsets. The story of how the scrolls were discovered and eventually relayed into the hands of scientists where they could be studied and preserved is nothing short of amazing. Also we were briefed on the culture of the ancient dwellers of Qumran where the scrolls were found.

Eventually, we were actually standing in the room where 6 fairly large fragments of scrolls were displayed. Just gazing on these ancient documents in their glass cases and being in the presence of such cherished words which had been hidden away for safe keeping was beyond description. The literal English translation was posted above each document. There were excerpts from Exodus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Psalms, and also some other instructional documents on how to live in purity before God. The most amazing thing was that virtually nothing has been lost in the translation of the Bible. The translation of these ancient documents reads exactly like a page from my own Bible. I wept.

Mel once viewed the main display in Jerusalem when he visited the Holy Lands.

The link to the exhibit we experienced is:

http://www.naturalsciences.org/scrolls/about.shtml

The other highlight of our week was the sonogram of our little Abigail. She is active and growing, they estimate here weight at a little over 5 pounds. She is about the size of a sack of sugar and just as sweet. We are counting the days with Amy and Josh until we can hold her in our arms

Very, very early Sunday Morning Josh drove Amy to the hospital with contractions. Josh took along "everything" he thought they might need for labor and delivery and going home with a baby. He was quite loaded down, but it turned out to be a false alarm and they were headed home in a few hours.

Sunday was also National Ice Cream Day established by President Ronald Regan, ( I always liked that man). So after we all took a nap, we made homemade ice cream and spent the evening playing Clue. A fun time.

Today, Amy's former co-workers at the New Hope Preschool gave her a baby shower. The actually brought the shower to her. I'm glad we could be here for this one.

It has been very hot here, 97-100 degrees, and very humid. Outdoor activities are out of the question, and in the evenings, it doesn't cool off much and the mosquitos are bad, too. So we play games, read, and otherwise occupy ourselves indoors. We are still tweaking our little home. I actually found a way to rearrange the furniture even though the sofa is bolted down. Mel likes it and we have a tiny desk in one corner now.

We are parked several miles outside the city limits of Raleigh and there are several fruit and vegetable stands along the back country roads we travel to Amy & Josh's house. We are enjoying fresh tomatoes, squash, green beans, and the yummiest watermelons I've ever tasted.

We love you and miss our friends and family in Texas and Colorado and look forward to seeing everyone soon. God Bless you all. We pray for you every single day.

Your are in our Hearts,
Karen & Mel