Author: Earlene Rich

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Itsik

Itsik & Sharon

Y’all!

Y’all just won’t believe…

I mean, maybe you will, but how could you believe that this would be possible?!?

*chill girl… take a deep breath… just tell the story…*

This morning, Aaron and I took another quick trip to Tiberias. We were to drop off a care package for a Holocaust survivor and then stop by the dry cleaner to pick up a few jackets for our host family. Then, we had tons more work ahead of us… nearly all day was already scheduled with other tasks that we committed to helping with.

We had dropped off the clothes at the dry cleaner a week ago, so we pretty much knew how to get there. We wanted to park in our “regular” parking spot (since it’s off the main street and we knew how to walk to the dry cleaner from that parking spot.) However, when we got there, the lot was full. Overflowing. Lots of angry people about to be late for work and vying for each spot that came up empty. We decided to just park on the street down a short distance from our regular spot. We turned down the street and accidentally passed *the only* parking spot on that side of the street. We were so frustrated because that meant we had to drive all the way down the street, turn around and hope for better odds on the other side of the street. We were wasting valuable time for an errand that we only had a few minutes to complete before our next appointment.

We drove all the way down the street, used the roundabout to come back down the other side and there was all the parking you could imagine in just this one spot down the road. We quickly park the car and as Aaron is parking, he looked over through my window and said, “Hey, there’s a juice stand here.” Which rung a tiny bell in my memory because my dear friend Julie back in Colorado had mentioned a juice stand that we should visit while we were in Israel.

I look out my window and was literally floored. IT WAS THE EXACT PLACE!!! We agreed that we would go get the dry cleaning and come right back to the shop to grab a juice and say hi – hoping that the people inside didn’t think we were crazy. The dry cleaning took only a few minutes and we were back in front of the juice stand.

We stepped up to the counter and tentatively said, “uh, my friend Julie said we should stop by here…” Suddenly, it was like we were back at home and had just bumped into a few of our dearest friends. Itsik rolled out the red carpet and he and Sharon whipped up the best tasting juice combo ever in existence! Due to our tight schedule, we couldn’t spend much time chatting, but we quickly decided that these people personified love and joy. They were so excited to see us, to have a chance to spend time. They asked us to stay. Taught us some Hebrew phrases and were impressed (or pretended to be) that we already knew some of the names of the fruits and veggies that they were using in the juice.

What are the odds that we would end up in front of the exact juice stand where the people there have such a close connection to our dear friend back home? What are the odds that we would end up there, that they would be open at 8:30 in the morning in the middle of COVID-19 restrictions when so many other small businesses aren’t operating? That our regular parking spot wouldn’t be open and we would miss a parking spot on the other side of the street when we were specifically looking for a parking spot? I’d say, when you serve HaShem and He is ready for you to meet someone, the chances of it happening are 100 percent.

I was blown away. In the middle of our hectic schedule, on a day that was already jam packed with things to do and places to be, He reminded us of His love and His provision for us on this journey. He reminded us that He is directing even the most mundane of our tasks and the least exciting moments to bring us into alignment with His goals for our time here. Who am I that He would love me like this? And, why does He remind me of it over and over?

Is there any response other than overwhelming gratitude… especially knowing that we do not deserve His affection or His attention?

When was the last time He did something like this for you? We would love to hear about it!

And, to Itsik and Sharon – please continue to share your joy, love and light in these dark days. You brought the brightest light to our day and probably even our week in just five minutes’ time. You are a blessing. You are the people that I strive to be every day. Thank you!

P.S. Julie, I miss you! Thank you for mentioning Itsik’s place, showing me the picture (because that is how I recognized it) and raving about the amazing people here! Your friendship is literally opening doors in your absence. I’ve never met anyone who works so hard while they are sleeping!

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Water

I wanted to wait before even launching into the topic of this post. I wanted more “proofs” and more examples of His goodness before publishing any of these thoughts. But this one has been on my heart quite often over the past few days, so here we are. I will write and you might read.

On our last Shabbat with our congregation in Denver, we were blessed to have a crowd of our dearest friends praying over us. These people are spiritual giants to us; they are so full of grace, power and His Spirit. They have traveled many roads that Aaron and I have yet to glimpse, let alone experience. We have written these prayers down and are revisiting them often so that we can remain grounded in His promises and in the blessings of those who love us.

One of the people who spoke over us was Ron Lundquist, a dear co-laborer for our Messiah. He offered one word for our path which was “water”. He noted that when he first met us a few years ago, I was just putting my toe in the water and testing to see if this was the path HaShem wanted for my faith and for my spiritual journey. He noted how far we had both come since then. Sticking with the water theme that HaShem had put on his heart, Ron described that there would be times we would launch out into the rapids. We would be in the river of God. We would hoot and holler like rapid runners, full of joy as we were moved along in the Spirit. And there would be times that He would bring us to the side, to the still waters to rest. These would be times of refreshing and as long as we listened to the Spirit, we would be sure to always be in His river.

The three weeks leading up to our trip to Israel were like the rapids. It was fast-paced as things changed at a moment’s notice. One minute our raft was pointing down the river with a few bumps along the way. The next minute we had turned a 180 – still moving in the right direction, but traveling downstream by the seat of our pants and holding on for dear life! HaShem threw open the floodgates and we were riding on His waves of provision all the way to the doors of Israel!

As soon as we arrived here, we were pulled to the side and into the still waters with Him. He strategically sent us into a 14 day quarantine with very little that we could contribute to life around us and with nothing to offer the people He loves. He dragged our raft to the side and out of the rapids so that we could refocus on Him and learn what it is like to depend on others for everything. It was humbling – not something my independent, “High C” character liked at all. Just when we thought we were ready to be pushed back into the rapids for another wild adventure, He plunged all of Israel into a three week lockdown throughout the fall feast days (Yom Teruah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot, respectively, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles.)

We settled in to the still waters for the long haul, coming to terms with the fact that we were restricted to a certain distance of travel from the house (1 km unless grocery shopping) and, even if we could get to other places, they would likely be closed. However, exercise is permitted for any distance from your home. So last Friday we took a hike down to the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee to many of our US friends). On our way there, we were surprised to discover the beauty of Ein Poriya – a place where living water flows from the rocks and gathers into a shallow pond. Although the destination we had in mind was a bigger and far more impressive body of water, HaShem reminded me that sometimes the unexpected water along the journey can be just as meaningful. Which is exactly where we find ourselves at this time in Israel – close to the fullness of the journey we planned, but currently sitting in the unexpected still waters of His presence.

As we enter Sukkot in just a few days’ time, our prayer for you is that you find His Presence overwhelming. Sukkot is a time of remembering how God provided for Israel and how He dwelled among them (“Immanuel” – God with us). It’s a memorial of His Presence going with them day and night protecting them and giving direction for their journey. It’s a reminder that, even in the unexpected deserts of our walk and regardless how turned around we may feel, there is One who provides living water.

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COVID-19

No 2020 blog would be complete without mentioning the impacts of COVID-19. In a few ways, our lovely adventure through this year has been changed from the “original plan”. But what does that really mean? Only that His plan has continued to proceed unhindered. As it is written in Isaiah 22:22 and repeated in Revelation 3:7: “what He opens, no one else can shut; and what He shuts, no one else will open.” The door to Israel was clearly announced as a priority for us in late 2019 and, although there were times in 2020 where the door was literally closed to everyone who wasn’t Israeli, the timing of His plan for us did not significantly change in spite of the worldwide pandemic.

It will be hard for us to rewind the cogs back to March 2020 and adequately explain all the things that we experienced. However, the thoughts we had and the things we felt then are similar to what many of you went through as well. Part of this blog entry is more of a journal for us to remember in the years to come all the things that happened. Even now, some of it fades from memory. There will be some sentences in this post that you read and immediately think of as “old news.” Those are likely the spots that we chose to write just for us.

In mid-March 2020, the President declared a State of Emergency due to the coronavirus disease. This worldwide plague that was just a brief headline in November – December 2019 became a real problem within just a few short weeks for America. Aaron had taken a four-week sabbatical at his place of employment (an awesome perk for employees who had served ten years at the company) and was preparing for his first day back. He took the day to head to the mountains with his dad for one last day on the slopes before going back to work. The next day – while he’s back in the office and getting back in the groove – the news announces that Colorado’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 has arrived in Summit County which is where Aaron and his dad were skiing the day before. All Coloradoans who were in Summit County over the past few days were encouraged to quarantine, so Aaron notified his supervisor and prepared to spend the next two weeks working from home in quarantine.

Meanwhile, I was starting to experience the hectic and uncharted waters of COVID-19 at the City of Littleton (where I worked). We were in the middle of our annual audit, preparing for our auditors to arrive on-site. In a normal audit season (February – April), I would work 60-70 hours a week for two or three months. On top of that, this year we were told to prepare to all of our staff to work from their homes with barely a 24-hour notice. We were scrambling for meaningful ways for employees to stay connected, engaged and be productive as well as ensuring that they felt safe and continued to stay physically, emotionally and mentally healthy. Payroll laws were changed and needed to be analyzed, understood and implemented quickly. And since I worked in the finance department, my team was also tasked with figuring out how this pandemic would affect the financial future of the City and how we would need to adjust our spending in the near future (read “impact the livelihood of our co-workers”) to offset the negative impacts of lost revenues.

Within just a few days of the President’s announcement, our normal routine was upended. We could only leave the house for groceries or work. I was in the office no more than two days a week and Aaron was told that he would be working from home indefinitely. We had to find a new way to work, a new way to spend our non-working hours, a new way to work in close proximity and tight quarters, and a new way to engage with people whom we were used to seeing face-to-face. We had to find a new way to worship, a new way to learn and a new way to serve.  

During this time, our world changed. Shelf-stable foods and meat were being rationed at the stores and you couldn’t find toilet paper, hand sanitizer or disposable masks anywhere! Entire countries shut their borders. Travel, tourism, restaurants, movie theaters, gyms, parks, museums, and churches closed down. Cities prepared for significant loss of life. Families were having to say goodbye to dying family members over the phone, through closed windows and via online video chats. Many elderly who did not have the technical skills to communicate via online means and many who did not have internet were suddenly disconnected from their family and friends. Families lost their children, their sisters, brothers, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunt and uncles. We started wearing masks everywhere, checking temperatures twice daily and using more hand sanitizer than we could imagine. We stopped hugging, touching or being close to others in an effort to stay safe and keep our families and friends safe.

In the middle of the chaos, we realized a few things immediately:

  1. We needed our jobs in order to fund the trip to Israel in the manner that we strongly felt He was telling us it was to be funded. And, in the face of nationwide unemployment spikes (the unemployment rate went from 3.5% in February up to 14.7% in April and the number of Americans who have lost their job is estimated near 50 million), neither of us had lost our job.
  2. Since the pandemic impacted the way that we all live, it also impacted the things that we value and our openness to course-correction. People around us became more focused on the people they love than the things they owned. Many of us who needed to see things in a different light and make life changes were given the ability and the mindset to do it.
  3. Although international borders were closing and travel, even locally, was severely restricted, we could tell that His plan for our year had not changed or been deferred.

And so, we continued to make plans and set wheels in motion. We realized that travel to a kibbutz that specializes in tourism was no longer an option. We met up with the family who would become our host family in a virtual meeting and a few things were confirmed for both us and them. This was the first post-COVID outbreak “yes” we received in response to our needs to travel and stay in Israel.

In late May, we turned in our resignations from our jobs and both received approval to continue working until mid-August. In June, Israel announced plans to re-open its borders to tourists in late August. That timeline was no surprise to us as that’s exactly when we were planning to leave the U.S. and come to Israel. We continued forward, buying plane tickets and sending a deposit to our host family. We booked the UHaul and moving companies for the weekend of Independence Day, and completed the move with no trouble. In mid-August, after our long month of saying goodbye to Colorado and all the friendships we had built there, we headed to Missouri.

On our drive out to Missouri, our host family contacted us and said that is was looking very unlikely that we would be able to travel to Israel on a three-month tourist visa at the end of August. This meant that we would need to complete the paperwork for a volunteer visa which requires a trip to an Israeli Consulate. This would allow us to enter Israel and probably result in a delay of less than a month of our previously planned date. We were shown great favor through this time. We completed the visa paperwork within a week (including getting new passport pictures taken, a special trip to the doctor, and new health insurance), had it reviewed by our pals in Israel in two days, received approval to pick up our visas in three days and, 48 hours later with visas in hand, were ready for our trip to Israel.

Our arrival in Israel ended up being only one week delayed from the original plan. In less than a week of our arrival, Israel announced a nationwide lockdown which will begin at 2 pm on Friday, September 18 and last for at least three weeks. During this time, travel will be restricted, businesses will be closed, and we will only be able to travel 500 meters from our Israeli home. We are praying for a swift healing in this nation, for the number of cases to recede and for those in Israel to be awakened to a new zeal for their Messiah during these times. We strongly believe when Messiah comes, He will choose a time during the fall feasts (known to many of our friends as the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles.) That is the time of year that we knew we were to be here and here we are.

It is clear to us that He opened a door, very briefly, for us to enter the Land and that He has shown us favor in many ways – not the least of which was ensuring our prompt journey to the Land so that we could participate in the things He is doing here. We are now waiting for Him to make Himself more real to us than He has ever been. And waiting for His purposes to be revealed to us so that we can complete the tasks He has reserved for us here.

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Timing of Resignations

Now that we are in Israel, we are going to go back and add a few more details which we haven’t had time to do previously.

Once we had heard the word and realized that the pieces were falling into place, we started discussing the timing and when to resign from our jobs. Some of our trusted friends and counselors advised us to give the required two weeks’ notice and no more. Aaron and I both have jobs that allow for the employer to ask us to leave as soon as we give our notice. For our budget, we knew that staying employed through August 15th would be best due to many reasons:

  • Our apartment lease at nearly $1,700/month was through the end of July
  • We would need time to wrap up our tasks and allow our employers to find a replacement to keep our teams up and running
  • We did not want to be sitting around in Denver just waiting for our apartment lease to be over and not have any money coming in for our trip or moving expenses
  • We wanted our trip to Israel to last through the fall festivals, so leaving earlier in the year was not our preference

We want to make it clear that, although we knew HaShem would provide a way for us to get to Israel – with or without the funding in place – we also strongly felt that this was to be a sacrifice for us and that we were not to ask others to fund this trip for us. As such, we developed a budget and decided that anything we received from others would not pay for the trip or for moving, but would go directly to Israel and supporting a ministry and/or specific people with need in the Land.

We decided that we would give our employers six weeks’ notice and allow Him to guide the direction of our path based upon the reaction of our employers. If they decided that we should leave the same day we gave notice, then we would count it a blessing in being given more time to prepare for our move and more time to spend with our family and friends in Colorado. If we were kept onboard, we would count it as a blessing that He still had purpose for us at our respective places of employment and we would leave them in the best place possible on August 15th. Therefore, we went forward in the year with the plan to turn in our notices on July 6th. Then, COVID…

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The Whirlwind

Monday, August 31 – According to the original plan, we would be leaving for Israel tomorrow. We have already pushed back our flights by one week, so our new scheduled departure date is Sept 8th. Our volunteer visa information has been sent to Israel. Our contacts think we should be approved within a week. We are praying for the doors to be opened. We get to spend some time tonight with our friends in Marshfield, Missouri for dinner and for some great fellowship.

Wednesday, September 2 approx. 1:00 p.m. – We just received word that our visas have been approved! What a quick turnaround. However, in order to make our flight next Tuesday, we will need to show up in person to an Israel Consulate to pick up our visas and provide more paperwork. The nearest consulate is a twelve hour drive away. The consulate closed for business just 30 minutes ago, so we have to wait until tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. to call and try to get an appointment. Timing is crucial to make our flight. We have to call in and get an appointment before we leave Missouri. Then we have to make the 12 hour drive down to Houston (we’ve already looked into the flights and they are way too expensive at such short notice), get some sleep so we don’t look like crazy people, and get in to the Consulate and approved on the first try within their three hour window for business hours Friday morning. If we are not approved, we will have to move our flight again and likely repeat the trip to Houston within a week. Monday is Labor Day, so an appointment on Monday is a no-go and our flight leaves St Louis Tuesday morning. We are praying fervently for favor and for us to be able to get an appointment Friday morning.

Thursday, September 3 approx. 12:30 p.m. – We have an appointment for tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in Houston. After three dropped calls, we received the answer we have been praying for! The first time we called, they said that the earliest we could get in would be next Wednesday, but that our paperwork would take longer than that to process (normally 30 days!) so we likely wouldn’t be able to get an appointment or approved until mid-September at the earliest. While we were getting more information, the call dropped. When we called back, we were given mercy we don’t deserve and the gate keeping us out has been opened! We have an appointment for tomorrow! We were given more paperwork to complete so that the consulate can work on our approvals today and we will be given an appointment tomorrow to provide more documentation. We are packing the car and leaving Missouri now since we have a twelve hour drive that we need to complete and still get some decent sleep before tomorrow morning!

Friday, September 4 approx. 1:30 a.m. – We have checked in to the hotel just two blocks from the consulate. We arrived in Houston with no problems and the car trip was smooth sailing. We have been blessed that there is a hotel with an open room, within walking distance of the Consulate and there’s a Starbucks en route! Ha!

Friday, September 4 approx. 9:30 a.m. – We have arrived at the Consulate, checked in and are now waiting to see if we can get in today. Our names are not on the list.

Friday, September 4 approx. 10:00 a.m. – We have been called up for an appointment. While we are waiting, the family in front of us in line (who have been here for 30 minutes already) start to tell us that this is their second trip to the consulate with paperwork to send their son to school in Israel. Their first trip, they brought all the documentation that it said they needed and were sent back home to Dallas for more. That was after waiting weeks for their visa to be approved. I’m getting a bit nervous about our chances, but still praying for favor and for His will to shine through.

Friday, September 4 approx. 10:45 a.m. – It’s our turn! They have our paperwork and are reviewing it! We are waiting. The previous family was told to leave the premises for an hour while the consulate does some more research into their matter. Another family has been brought in while we wait.

Friday, September 4 approx. 11:00 a.m. – We are approved! After a small snafu with Aaron’s documented approval to fly (they accidentally printed the first copy with the wrong name on it!) we have been approved and are leaving the embassy. Headed back to the hotel to grab our car and our things and then off to Dallas for the evening. Why Dallas?!? Because that’s where Brenda and Isaac (Aaron’s younger brother) live with their two little girls, so since it’s only four hours away and it is mostly “on the way” we are going to stop by their place to see them. We haven’t seen them in over a year and had thought that a trip to see them was out of the realm of possibilities. Know what else is awesomely planned? Aaron’s dad just happens to be in Dallas visiting them right now too. Know what else is cool? He didn’t know he was going to be there until Wednesday – the same day we found out that we needed to get to Texas for the weekend. Me thinks Someone has planned the whole thing. We are overjoyed to the point of tears for this immense blessing. He didn’t have to put these last few things in place, but He did. You ready for one last cool thing? It’s Shabbat. And we get to celebrate it with people we figured we wouldn’t see until 2021.

Saturday, September 5 approx. 12:00 p.m. – Now leaving Dallas with full hearts and all the paperwork we need for a flight to Israel on Tuesday. We have an eight hour drive back to Missouri and can start packing Monday for the flight.

Tuesday, September 8 – My mom gave us a ride to the airport 2 hours away, but as He tends to do He already had her scheduled to visit my sister so it was a pre-planned trip for her already. We are now waiting at the gate for our flight from St Louis to Newark and from there to Tel Aviv. More pieces have fallen into place the last couple of days. We have received some questions about how you can get in touch with us while we are in Israel. We will have internet access (it’s not a third world country!) You can reach Aaron at his email aaronrich011@gmail.com and you can reach Earlene at her email at eph41@hotmail.com.