2,000-year-old Residence Discovered in Nazareth

The remains of a 2,000-year-old residential building from the time of Jesus were discovered this week during an archaeological excavation by the Israel Antiquities Authority near the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, according to the Israel Board of Tourism.

The ancient structure, consisting of two rooms and a courtyard, includes a rock-hewn cistern in its center which was used to collect rainwater. The structure was found underneath a 600-year-old wall dating to the Mamluke period. Fragments of Roman-era clay and chalk vessels were found inside the building and are believed to have been used by the ancient Hebrews approximately 2,000 years ago.

"The discovery is of the utmost importance since it reveals for the very first time a house from the Jewish village of Nazareth and thereby sheds light on the way of life at the time of Jesus," says Yardenna Alexander, Excavation Director, Israel Antiquities Authority. "No other settlement remains have been discovered that are attributed to this period."

Manheim Steamroller Night

Christmas Memories

On Christmas Eve we had make-your-own-pizza night, supervised by my sister, Mary. Then we braved the treacherous roads to catch the 11 PM service at Watermark, where my brother-in-law is on staff.

On Christmas morning my niece and nephew cooked. Yum! Around the table with my sister Carrie's family we shared something about Christmas for which we're thankful. We acknowledged the loss of their husband and father. Then we watched a couple of videos with him in them.

My sister Mary's family joined us for a huge meal with 14 around the tables. Food, glorious food!

Afterward people hung out, played Wii down the street at Mary's, or worked a puzzle. We ended the day watching A Christmas Story (the one about the red BB gun). After Mary's family left, we watched and discussed The Star of Bethlehem.

Today the three sisters got our nails done, and Mary took us to lunch for my birthday. Tonight we went to the Manheim Steamroller concert with Carrie's family. It was a dress-up affair, and we took photos. Those will have to follow later.

What a blessing to have family together. We feel so blessed!

Christmas Preferences

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both, but prefer wrapping with self-tied sparkly bows.

2. Real tree or artificial? I grew up on a Christmas tree farm, but my husband and I finally went with artificial because of allergies. Once we found out it didn’t help, it was too late. It’d already been purchased.

3. When do you put up the tree? This year, Thanksgiving weekend. Usually later. I like earlier.

4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime around mid-June.

5. Do you like eggnog? Bleaach. My husband drinks mine.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? The family gift someone gave us of a “hot fudge sundae kit.” Picture seven people building their sundaes with caramel and strawberries and whipped cream and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.

7. Hardest person to buy for? The dads.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My daughter. She gives us her list around Halloween.

9. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Equipment for the bar we don’t have, complete with martini coasters.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail with a newsletter including family photo inside.

11. Favorite Christmas Movie? Unedited Holiday Inn.

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually around Thanksgiving.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yup.

14. Favorite thing to eat and drink at Christmas? To eat: Grammy’s cheese ball. The kind with nuts and parsley. To drink: Hot chocolate with marshmallows. Or rather, eat marshmallows with hot chocolate on top. To make: Decorating sugar cookies.

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Colored.

16. Favorite Christmas song? Tie between the entire Handel’s Messiah and O Holy Night.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Usually travel to see family in cooler climes. There’s something wrong with sunbathing weather while Bing Crosby’s crooning. This year for the first time in decades we’re staying in Texas and everyone is coming to us.

18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? There are…Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Dixon; Donder and Cupid and Comet and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all? Rudolph. It feels off a bit, but I think I’m close.

19 Angel on the tree top or a star? Star.

20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? One on December 24—sometimes jammies for our girl. It’s easier to get kids ready for bed if the bedclothes are a present. On "the day" we have a big breakfast and the kids go nuts while we wait to get dishes done.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Highway traffic backed up at the mall.

22. Favorite thing about the Christmas Holidays? Lyrics about Christ the Lord playing everywhere I go—a friend’s house, the department store, even the grocery store.

Merry Christmas!

Life Since Saturday

Sunday - Worshiped with our sister church in Mexico; Gary preached; we all distributed Christmas boxes to kids and adults; crossed the border back into the U.S.; found out my mother-in-law lost her husband of three years while we were gone; went to San Antonio for the night; saw the Alamo and beautiful Christmas lights on the Riverwalk.

Monday - Drove home; collapsed; enjoyed an authentic Chinese meal made by the family of my sister, who used to live in China.

Tuesday - Visitation at the funeral home.

Wednesday - Funeral; enjoyed the hospitality of my friend Linda, who cooked us great tortilla soup and took us caroling in her neighborhood.

Thursday - Up most of the night with my husband, who had a migraine that three shots wouldn't lick. Took my brother-in-law to the airport. Watched the weather that says we expect up to a foot of snow on Christmas. Plan for tonight: fifteen for dinner--make-your-own pizza night--before heading to the 11 PM service.

Christmas is not just about good times. It's that God came down to enter our world. Immanuel = God with us. We are not alone!

(P.S. It's now snowing!)

Mexico: Special Delivery

Saturday night we delivered our church's gift boxes to everybody (kids and grown-ups) at the mission church of Iglesia Kerigma, our "sister" church in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. But first the mission kids put on a Christmas program, and Pastor Chuy and I, along with my daughter and her guitar-playing friend, sang "Feliz Navidad." The crowd stood and sang with us and clapped along, rocking the house. When we finished, they yelled for an encore! So we quieted down and ended with "Silent Night." They sang in Spanish and we sang in English, just like I imagine heaven will sound, with voices raised from every tribe and nation.

Images from Mexico

Headed to Mexico

Last night my sister, Carrie, and my two nephews arrived--with niece Julia to follow after finals in a few days. Our friend Jon Simkins, who drives the limo for Interstate Batteries, picked up my family and my younger sis and drove us out to meet their flight.

Spending their first Christmas without husband/dad is tough, so we wanted to surprise them, spread a little joy, add a celebration to this time.

When we walked out of the airport with bags in tow, there was this big, green machine parked on the curb in front of us. And Carrie said, "Wow! Look at that!"

I said, "That is cool, huh? Let's see what it's like inside." And I walked right over to the back door and opened it. My nephew told me later he was thinking the people inside might not like that very much!

A few minutes later, we were rolling down the highway holding sparkling grape juice and toasting their arrival. And Carrie said, "This is pretty fun!" :)

Today Carrie and the boys and I went to the live Christmas caroling event at Dallas's exquisitely decorated Adolphus Hotel. The Plano Civic Choir closed with Handel's "For Unto Us a Child is Born" and the grand finale, "The Hallelujah Chorus." Glorious!

Tomorrow Gary and our girl and I leave for a few days in Mexico. We're driving Christmas boxes down to our sister church in Nuevo Laredo, leaving my sis and her kids to have the run of the house--and time with my other sis, who lives six blocks away.

Would you partner with us by asking the Almighty to open doors of opportunity? For safety? Team unity? Comfort for my family? For all of our peace and joy? We'd be grateful!

Wordless Wednesday

New Resource

Years ago the average plantation had a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker. Today we buy our meat pre-cut, our rolls already baked, and our candles by the pack. But that doesn’t mean we have it easy. We have to run to the bank, pay the car registration, get the oil changed, serve on jury duty, shop for better cell-phone rates, grocery shop, investigate green energy, hem a new pair of pants, change a light bulb, work out, and hunt down school supplies—all in a day’s work. My husband and I often lament how much time it takes to co-manage our contemporary “plantation.”

Enter Kathy Peel, founder and CEO of Family Manager. She helps families run their households. And in her latest book, The Busy Couple’s Guide to Sharing the Work and the Joy, Peel provides tools (like advice, charts, checklists, and questions to consider) for dividing household duties, stretching the family dollar, meal planning, family team building, and integrating faith habits into your family's routine. In every chapter her hubby adds his two cents as well.

The book bursts with great advice. It's also just plain interesting. For example every page includes a statistic such as, “According to a 2009 Consumer Reports study, 35 percent of Americans rarely, if ever, use coupons. If you aren’t clipping coupons for items you buy regularly, you’re missing out on a tremendous opportunity to cut costs—about one dollar per item on average.”

My favorite tidbit: "A massage may boost your immune system." You know that's right.

Wishing You a...

Happy Chanukah!

Bioethics in the News

Today the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity sent this list of recent news stories relating to bioethics:

‘Ethical' stem-cell work advances
Several Massachusetts firms are forging ahead with ambitious stem-cell research plans, circumventing the heated debate over embryonic research by using other, less-controversial methods. (Washington Times)

27 more hESC lines head for OK
Twenty-seven human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines are ethically derived and should be approved for use in research funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), a committee advising the NIH director recommended today (December 4). These findings come just two days after the approval of the first 13 lines earlier this week. (The Scientist)

Researchers launch phase II trial of stem cells and acute heart attack
The second phase of a clinical trial testing a new stem-cell-based therapy on injured heart muscle has been launched by researchers at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. It is the only study site in the Texas Medical Center. (ScienceDaily)

Would you choose your child's gender?
Genetic screening techniques that allow parents to choose their children's gender are now more accurate than ever and are becoming increasingly mainstream, but experts are divided over whether the technology should be used in this way. (CNN) [I can see doing this pre-conception if one gender is more likely to carry a genetic disorder known to be in a family's gene pool. But I get nervous about sexual discrimination.]

Is it right to pay women for their eggs?
The fertility watchdog is to look at offering more generous compensation to egg and sperm donors as a means of tackling the severe shortage of supplies for those desperate for a baby. (BBC)

Scientists find way to block fearful memories
U.S. researchers have found a drug-free way to block fearful memories, opening up the possibility of new treatment approaches for problems such as post traumatic stress disorder, they reported on Wednesday. (Reuters) [What about blocking memories of a bad relationship? Would you do it? What if you fell in love with the same jerk a second time because you didn't/couldn't learn from experience?]

Genetic Research Spurs Fight Over Patents Tied to the Body
The mapping of the human genome has created enticing possibilities for the early detection of grave diseases. Genetic research, however, has run headlong into a tricky legal issue: Should human genes ever be the subject of patent protection? (Wall Street Journal) [Sure, as long as the One who designed and made those genes gets all the money.]

Wrong surgeries a product of poor communication
Mix-ups both inside and outside the operating room lead to procedures performed on the incorrect patient or wrong body part, a new study says. (American Medical News)

The Silent Scream: Misdiagnosis in Disorders of Consciousness
The widely publicized case of Rom Houben, a Belgian man who was inaccurately diagnosed as being in a vegetative state for more than two decades, highlights the serious problem of misdiagnosis in patients with disorders of consciousness. (Bioethics Forum)

Camilla

When Camilla arrived from Amazon, I shuddered at its bowling-ball weight and inch-and-a-half spine bearing 900+ pages. (One blogger refers to such works as "rectangular doorstop[s] containing infinities.") So much for my goal of plowing through two or three books in a week. At this rate, I’ll be ready for examinations in 2015. Fortunately, the story engaged me enough to make me forget the discomfort of a treadmill for several of those hours of reading, though it took me two weeks to finish it.

First published in 1796, Camilla features the matrimonial aspirations of three sisters—the daughters of a country pastor, including the ever-worthy, Camilla—and their female cousin. Camilla and her childhood soul friend, Edgar, grow in esteem for each other until their affections blossom into full-grown love. Yet a long, lo-o-ong series of misunderstandings continues to keep them apart.

I kept wanting to tell these young people, “Communicate already!” But of course teens of marriageable age in that day could not just meet under some tree and talk unchaperoned. In that way we’ve come a long way, BFF.

Wildly popular when it released, Camilla reveals Fanny Burney’s profound insight into the human heart and her skill at developing lovable, virtuous characters—not an easy task. Her wisdom and humor make for delightful reading. Highly recommended, though its weight makes it unsuitable for anybody's carry-on bag.

Facts in Fiction

Today one of my interns asked this question:

Can a character in a novel eat at McDonald's in the booth next to Brad Pitt while listening to her favorite group, U2, on her iPod after just having seen James Cameron's Titanic? I'm thinking that the answer is yes with stuff and places, but for some reason people seem to be a bit trickier.

Generally, McDonald's, U2, iPod and movie-makers love the free advertisement. Sometimes they even pay novelists or script writers for "product placement." Think of Ray-Ban paying celebrities to be seen wearing their sunglasses, and paying them even more when somebody runs a photo of said celebrity in Ray-Ban glasses. So from a product-maker's POV, you're fine. In False Positive we included places like Starbucks, restaurants such as Dallas's Star Canyon, and products like Chanel No. 5.

But you're right--it gets a bit trickier with people. Yes, Forrest Gump meets JFK, and we know JFK never met Forrest, because Forrest is somebody's made-up creation. So if it's obvious enough to make readers smile, knowing it never could've happened, I think you're okay. Seventy years ago Upton Sinclair created his eleven historical-fiction novels, the Lanny Budd series, in which the illegitimate son of a tycoon keeps showing up in the center of history’s momentous events. In the process he interacts with Mussolini, Hitler, Göring, Goebbels, Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. In historical fiction you can do this, but you're generally constrained by the actual events.

Herman Wouk's WWII novels, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, included numerous fictional people interacting with political figures who actually lived. Historical fiction is built on such interactions.

The main concern with real people, especially if they are living, is over slander/libel or hacking them off and getting yourself sued. The publisher usually decides how much risk they want to take here. Having a living person do something he or she didn't really do might raise legal questions that a publisher wouldn't want to face. Still, I'd write the story how you want it, and as long as you don't make a person look bad or slander him or her, I think you're probably okay. The general rule of thumb comes back to "do unto others..." An advertiser wants people to talk about the product. But a private citizen may or may not appreciate appearing in somebody's story--depending on how he or she gets portrayed.

If I were writing the scenario you described, I'd try to find out what restaurants Brad Pitt actually frequents so that even if he himself read the work, he would say, "That's possible..." instead of "That's crazy! I would never eat there. I have way more class than that..." And I would limit what Brad does in the scene to something in character for him. I would not have him get in a fist fight. Now if the celebrity in the restaurant were Russell Crowe...

Rethinking Orphan Care

When possible, it appears that leaving an orphaned child in the impoverished home of a relative and providing that grown-up with funds is better and less costly than placing that child in an orphanage. We still need orphanages, but only as a last resort. For more, go here.

Welcome to Our Home

Come on in! It snowed yesterday. (Look closely in our back yard, and you can see it falling, even though it didn't stick.) The kitties slept at the end of our bed. We put away the puzzle finished on Thanksgiving. And we enjoyed the tree, especially the gold ornament Gary's step-dad carved.

350+ Comments

Earlier this week Dan Wallace wrote a blog post for Parchment and Pen criticizing the narrow-mindedness of many so-called liberals when dealing with evangelical scholars. So far more than 350 comments have followed. To get in on the discussion (even if only to lurk), you can read about it here.

Twelve Ways of Christmas

At what other time of year can we walk into the mall and hear music that directs us to worship Christ the Lord? When else can we stroll through business offices and see strings of cards depicting nativity scenes? Let’s take advantage of the seasonal opportunities, keeping our focus on the reason for the season. Here are some suggestions:

1. Find a devotional guide or plan out a Bible reading schedule to carry you through Christmastime with daily meditations on the first advent, incarnation, virgin birth, and Davidic lineage. If you haven’t already, memorize the Christmas story in Luke 2. "And it came to pass..."

2. Pray. Make a list of the people in your life who are in physical and spiritual need. Pray for them.

3. Correspond. When sending cards, remember the child you sponsor. He or she might like Christmas stickers and an explanation of the celebration. And while you're at it, take one card and send it to : A Recovering American Soldier, c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20307-5001.

4. Decorate. Let your Christmas tree serve as a reminder that Christ hung on a tree so that one day we might be invited to eat freely from the tree of life. Place your crèche in a central location, but leave the cradle empty until Christmas morning—when you make a grand celebration of the baby’s arrival.

5. Invite. Ask friends to join you in attending a Christmas production. Invite neighbors over for dinner and share about what Christmas means to you. Take a child shopping with you to buy toys for underprivileged kids.

6. Give wisely. For the people on your Christmas list, select gifts that matter. My parents prefer donations to NW Medical Teams.

7. Give of yourself. USA Today reports that 30 percent of Americans spend $750 or more on Christmas presents; 19 percent say they’ll shell out over $500 for gifts; and 22 percent will buy $250 worth of stuff. A mere 8 percent expect Christmas spending to be less than $100. Instead of laying out so much cash, consider meaningful gifts you can create. Make a gift certificate for three hours of free childcare for a neighbor. Write your life story, and give copies to your kids. Get your parents’ home movies transferred to video or disk, and give copies to the whole family. Give an old family recipe in a basket full of all the ingredients. Record yourself reading a favorite story and send it to your grandkids. Make a homemade book about Josiah, the eight-year-old king, for your favorite eight-year-old.

8. Give food. Take a basket of Christmas dinner food to someone in need. If you have children, take them with you (or borrow a neighbor's kid) and talk about the One who said, “It’s better to give than to receive.”

9. Clear your shelf. If you have ten different versions of the Bible, send a few to the Bible League. They can send five Bibles overseas (to people longing for them) for the cost of printing one.

10. Clean your attic. If you have extra bedding, pillowcases, or coats, send them to the Gospel Mission nearest you. Rather than saving it all for later, put it to good use now.

11. Invest. If people ask what you want for Christmas, provide the name of your favorite charity and ask them to make a donation instead of buying you another pink lampshade.

12. Go. Spend time visiting shut-ins or teaching literacy. Build bridges of love so you can cross them with the good news.

News Relating to Sanctity of Life

It's my day to post over at the Tapestry blog. Today's entry is about recent news events relating to the sanctity of human life. We saw a very interesting development reported today, for example, relating to adult stem cells and human skin. Check it out.

Open to the Public

Joni Eareckson Tada will be speaking in the chapel at Dallas Seminary on Monday, December 14, at 1:00–2:15pm. A question and answer time will follow from 2:25–3:40pm. Participants for the Q & A panel will include DTS professors who have participated in the new class, “A Biblical Theology of Suffering, Disability & the Church.” A special disability dance group, 16 girls, ages 5 to 13, will perform at 3:25 pm.