General

Negev Garden Project

I just wanted you to take little glimpse of my garden project on our roof! With the concept of an earthbox, and since they don’t ship earthboxes to Israel, I created a type of earthbox — the Negev Box — that maximizes the yields of plants while at the same time conserves water.

The Negev Box (my created Earthbox) is 2 constructed of 2 black plastic tubs roughly 24 inches by 30 inches. This is a photo of the bottom box with 50cm cut PVC pipe cut 6.5 cm tall. It holds roughly 12 liters of water in the reservoir. At the side of the bottom box is a water drainage hole roughly 7cm from the bottom.

The 2nd box is laid on top of the bottom box with 2 large holes in the rear that hold a 2 liter bottle cut in half with slits down the sides of them. When the box is filled with soil each of these 2 liter half bottles act as a wick to draw water throughout the box. Additionally small holes are drilled throughout the box allowing the roots to have direct access to the water. On the bottom left corner is a 50cm PVC pipe with holes drilled at the bottom to allow the water to enter the reservoir underneath. This gray pipe is the only place the watering takes place. Once the box is filled with soil then the entire box is covered with plastic to prevent any evaporation of water. Each box depending on the plants they contain take roughly 3-4 liters of water daily.. ”

The plastic removed so you can see the moistness of the soil mixture. The soil is a combination of 60% sphagnum peat moss, 20% vermiculite, and 20% perlite. It’s nutritional source comes from organic fertilizer called Humus.”

Shade cloth covering 1/2 of the garden. It’s totally movable as the base is a 5 gallon bucket filled with cement with a 120 cm PVC pipe in the center. ”

Bases for the Shade Cloth. 5 Gallon buckets filled with cement with 120cm PVC pipe in the center.

A row of cucumber plants under the shade cloth. Each plant produces roughly 3 cucumbers weekly. And there’s 27 cucumber plants growing. However by the end of the season, we’ll probably produce a cucumber per plant daily as the vines grow.

Cherry Tomatoes, Basil, Oregano, Thessaloniki Tomatoes, Bell Peppers

The Thessaloniki tomato plants are yielding roughly 10-15 golf size tomatoes daily. The cherry tomatoes haven’t started yielding yet.

Lettuce is producing roughly 1 kilo (2.2 lbs) every other day.
Cucumbers beginning to ripen for harvest. Each flower will become a cucumber when pollinated.
The cucumber that got away. This 780 gram cucumber was hiding under some leaves! As you can see, my son Obi can’t believe how big it is!

That’s just a glimpse of our Negev Garden Project on our roof. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

My Wife’s Tips for Marriage

My wife wrote this earlier today and it was powerful so I thought I’d re-post it on my blog.

In honor of the anniversary of our tenth year of marriage, I awoke this morning feeling peculiarly compelled to write down the the top ten things I’ve learned in my first ten years of marriage. I am sure you could add many things— feel free! These are just things I have learned, personally. Whether you’re single and looking toward marriage or been married ten times longer than I, I believe these will be beneficial to read. My hope is that they will make you think and maybe smile. But most of all, that they will inspire you to hang in there and make your marriage last, against all odds.

The Top Ten Things I’ve learned in my First Ten Years of Marriage…..

1. You gotta LAUGH a lot : We are funny creatures– we all do the dumbest things sometimes. Don’t take stuff so seriously all the time. Laugh it off. It’s good medicine.

2. You gotta LET THINGS GO: There is always something hurtful that was said or done in the past. You may think you are 100% in the right, and you may very well be. Let it GO… and don’t ever bring it up again.

3. DO THINGS YOUR SPOUSE LIKES: Yeah. You know what they like… and you probably hate the thought of doing them. Get over yourself!! Surprise each other regularly.

4. Work every day on getting BALANCED AND HEALTHY: Physically, emotionally, spiritually and (ladies especially) hormonally.

5. BE TRANSPARENT: Don’t lie to each other! Pretty basic. Instead, purpose to tell each other everything from now on.

6. Develop your TRUST in Someone (capitalization in the word “Someone” intended) OTHER THAN your SPOUSE: He /she is only human and cannot possibly fulfill all our needs. Your Creator knows your innermost parts, your every thought, your every word before you say it. Talk to Him. He is listening.

7. GIVE: Give some of what you have to someone who needs it everyday…. your time, your money, your things, your talents… make it a lifestyle. You won’t believe how this makes things better.

8. LET IT ROLL! The Holy Scriptures have some very wise words — you should read them if you haven’t yet, and read them again if you have. One of my favorite Proverbs says “Blessed is the man who overlooks an offense”. (yes, I know it says “man” lol. But I’m pretty sure that includes the ladies too). Seriously though, I think sometimes we look for things to be offended by. Stop that! Let it roll… right off your back. Move on. Forgive and forget.

9. GET AWAY together. If you can afford it, make a habit of going away together for a few days every once in a while. If not, it can be as simple as taking a walk or a drive. But make a habit of getting away from the hustle and bustle of life to spend some quality time together… Look at each other in the eyes and TALK.

10. Last, but definitely not least—TILL DEATH DO US PART: This phrase is top, among some of most powerful phrases ever written or said. And most of us promised each other these very words on that blessed day, way back when. How quickly we forget! When did it become okay to break our promises, no less one so very powerful? Remind yourself daily of these words and hang in there. Don’t take the easy path just ’cause everyone else is. It’s worth the work!

*If this blessed you, please feel free to pass it on :) If you wanna chat about it, visit my website* www.rivkawhitten.com

Worthy Virtual Tours Bloopers

Of course whenever you are putting together a video, there’s bound to be a few bloopers along the way!

So here’s how my son wanted my attention while trying to put together a Worthy Virtual Tour.

Extreme Evangelism — The man from George Street

A reader of Worthy briefs sent me this inspiring video about how a man used a simple witness on George Street in Sydney, Australia reached the lives of people all over the world. If you have a few minutes, take the time to listen to this amazing testimony.

Be inspired, and keep on pressing forward for Him!

Today’s Media Summed Up in a Few Words…

A Harley biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a little girl leaning into the lion’s cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the collar of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.

The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.

Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A reporter has watched the whole event.

The reporter addressing the Harley rider says, ‘Sir, this was the most gallant and brave thing I’ve seen a man do in my whole life.’

The Harley rider replies, ‘Why, it was nothing, really, the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger and acted as I felt I should.’

The reporter says, ‘Well, I’ll make sure this won’t go unnoticed. I’m a journalist, you know, and tomorrow’s paper will have this story on the front page…So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?’

The biker replies, ‘I’m a U.S. Marine and a Republican.’

The journalist leaves.

The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page:

‘U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH’

That pretty much sums up the media’s approach to the news these days.

Until next time…

…just so you know what life is like in Arad

Last night, I posted a Facebook status about our night last night in Arad and it dawned on me — how much people really don’t know what happens all the time in our town for those who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Messiah. So I thought, I’d post a video that was done four years ago. Not much has changed and it’ll give you an idea of what we deal with in our little town in the Negev.

Until next time…

Hidden Treasure Trove

As I write the daily devotion each day, and I place a passage of scripture within the message — I find myself studying the Hebrew or the Greek of the Word, since I modify the verse slightly to make it easier to read for our worldwide audience, while at the same time making sure the translation doesn’t lose its meaning.  However, today I came across a verse whose meaning is so deep in Hebrew, there’s truly no way to give it justice when you translate it to English.

In Isaiah 33:6 it says this, ‘Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, And the strength of salvation; The fear of the Lord is His treasure.’

Now the word stability is the Hebrew word — em-oo-nah, the word is most often translated as faith — however, in this instance, the translators decided to go with the English word, stability. Next the word, strength could be easily be translated as wealth, or treasure. And the word salvation is the same root as the word Yeshua (Jesus).  Finally, the word treasure could easily be translated as “storehouse” or “treasure house”.

Now in Hebrew, the order of the words is different than the translation.  This verse could easily be translated, “And He will be the faith of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; The fear of the Lord is his treasure house.”

And even that translation doesn’t give it justice in the Hebrew.

Truly, it is the “glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of Kings to search out a matter.”

Until next time…