Skip to main content

Bethlehem Walk 2015


Hi, so this week is an awesome week because this week is Bethlehem Walk.  Every year, over 300 people from many different churches in the area participate in a reenactment of the reason we celebrate Christmas.


Welcome to Bethlehem...

Travelers walk through a city of Bethlehem, set up with period shops, like a tapestry shop, candle shop, blacksmith, carpenter, tunic shop, spice shop, basket shop, meat shop, bakery, and so much more.



And, as you walk through, you hear about the oppression of the people as well as the hope for the Messiah.  You will even hear "rumors," such as the story of Zacharias and Elizabeth having a baby in their old age.



And then you walk through some scenes from the story: The Inn, the shepherds' field, the manger, the wise men, the dedication at the temple, the sermons and miracles, the cross, the tomb, and then thinking about what you are going to do now that you have heard this story.  At the end is hot chocolate and cookies and people available if you have questions or needs or you want somebody to pray with you for anything.






 It's is awesome and wonderful, and I enjoy it very much.  We have already finished the first two nights, and there are three more to go.  This year I am working in the tapestry shop and in the scene of Mary at the manger.  Here's how far we got on our primitive loom in the first two nights:


And here is a picture of what our booth looks like.  The people are missing in this picture.  So you have to imagine them.  There are 2-4 people working on the big loom.  There's one sitting down and working on a little lap loom.  And somebody is standing to the side, spinning wool into yarn or flax into linen.  And sometimes there is a little tiny girl out front with a basket of yarn, shouting "Finest wool in all of Bethlehem!  Two shekels!"


This is a close-up of one of our weavings from a couple years ago.  Pretty neat, huh?




 So, there is a snap-shot of what my week is like this week.  A little piece of my life.  And I wish you were here!  Merry Christmas!

Comments

  1. Wow, that looks amazing! It must make the whole story come alive. I like the weavings too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Jessica, it's amazing!
    ~Savannah Perran

    ReplyDelete
  3. I LOVE the walk to Bethlehem! I been there about 3 times!:D
    ~Hannah
    the3musketeerssite.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodbye and God Be With You

It's rather fitting that some things come to a close on this day -- the last day of the year. I submitted my last entry into the Rooglewood contest this morning.  I can hardly believe it took me until the day of the deadline to send it in because I'm usually earlier than that.  And, even with the extra time I took, I still felt a little bit like maybe I could have done better if I had more time. But there was no feeling of regret when I hit "send."  Mostly it was just a prayer that Rooglewood would hear the heart of the message when they read it and that maybe, if I win, they could help me bring the full potential out of my little story.  And there was also a feeling, after working on these stories for more than six months, that it felt good to close that chapter and move on to the next one. I did it.  I wrote them.  And I'm really proud of them. Last year, the act of hitting "send" on my contest entry catapulted me into an anticipatory state....

The Countdown: Eight Days

Eight days.  Do you know what that means?  Barely over a week.  Tomorrow will be one week from the announcement date. Are you excited? I am. So, today, I want to talk to those who wrote something for the contest, whether or not you entered it in the end. What made you start writing your story?  What was the first inkling of an idea that tickled your brain?  What was it that you liked about your premise?  As you wrote, did you have a favorite character or a favorite scene?  And are you glad you wrote it down?  Do you feel like you learned and grew in your ability as a writer as you tried out things for this contest? And, if your story isn't included in this year's Rooglewood anthology (either because you didn't submit it or because it didn't fit with the other four stories selected), what will you do with it?  Will you market it elsewhere?  Or will you lock it away in a drawer?

Rooglewood Countdown: 12 days

     For the next 12 1/2 days, as we do our final countdown until March 31st, I'm going to do 4 posts asking about something you would like to see in the Snow White collection.      There are so many ways all of us, writers and readers alike, can win in this contest.  Maybe a familiar name makes it into the final five -- hurray!  Maybe a story in your favorite genre ended up in the collection this year -- woohoo!  Maybe you finally get to read a winning story about an evil king and his Snow White son -- how awesome!      So, in celebration of all the many things we can root for, I want to know some of the things that you think would be cool to find in this year's set of winners.      Without further ado, here is my question for the day: What is a point of view you would like to see in this collection?  Would you like a story written from the prince's perspective?  A story from Snow White's p...