Back from Israel!

I intended to write a few weeks ago to say that we were going to Israel on a tour with Lee's family and a few other church families, but if you've ever tried to pack and prepare a family of 4 for such an event, you know that time gets the best of you. Anyway, we're back, and what an amazing experience it was! The most difficult part was being away from the girls, but we were so thankful that my parents wanted to keep them for us. And after hearing so many of their stories, it is clear that the separation was much harder on me & Lee than the girls.

About the trip...where do I begin?!? We were there for nearly 2 weeks, and it was absolutely incredible. It totally changed the way I read the Bible. So many stories have been brought to life for me because I've now seen where they happened. Our guide would let us walk a while, and then we'd stop and find shade, and have a 20-minute faith lesson and talk about where we were, what happened there, and read from the Bible how it happened. I loved that part. The theme of our trip could be "we learned with our feet." We hiked 6-12 miles a day, sometimes in 100+ degree heat. But it was worth it because I now GET a lot of things that I didn't before. The best example of that for me is from day 3. We actually hiked around in the area that the children of Israel were for most of their 40 years of wandering (above photo). It's a giant crater (God-made), and NOTHING lives there. I've always been quick to judge them for complaining and wishing to go back into Egypt and the slavery from which God had delivered them. But after doing our own 3-1/2 hour version of wandering, I totally get it. Especially knowing the lush, fertile land they came from. As difficult as it was for us, I kept asking myself as I was walking, "How on earth did they do this for 40 years? In sandals? And with children??"

My favorite part of the trip was the day we spent in Jerusalem going through the day, as Jesus did, the day He was arrested. We started on the Mount of Olives, and took our time walking down and into the Garden of Gethsemene. Then we continued down the steep, winding road down the hill, through the Kidron Valley, and then ascended up to the Temple. It was about 1/2 a mile. Then we walked through the Lion's Gate that He walked through, which was the gate that the people would bring their sacrifices through. This is where the people were waving palm branches at Him and saying "Hosanna, Hosanna!" They were expecting him to go in through the King's Gate, establish His kingdom, and rule them. Instead, He knew He was marching to His sacrificial death. Then we walked to the place where He was scourged outside of Pilate's palace, then we walked uphill to the place where He was crucified. I was surprised to learn that it wasn't "on a hill far away" as the old hymn says. He was brought through the busy business district and the cross was right in the middle of town, for everyone to see. This is how the Romans did everything: all-out. This day was very emotional for me, and extremely impactful.

I could go on for hours as there are so many other amazing stories; but I'll just leave you with some of my favorite images. I would LOVE to talk about it some more, so please ask if you're interested!

view from the Mount of Olives of the Temple, Dome of the Rock (built by the Muslims), and surrounding wall .
an olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemene. Could have been there when Jesus was.

Caves of Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947.

hiking down Mt. Arbel

North side of the Sea of Galilee, looking across to Tiberias. The north side is where Jesus did the majority of his ministry & miracles.

Place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.
typical ancient tomb. Jesus' would have looked very similar.

valley where David killed Goliath

Ein Harod: spring where Gideon narrowed his army from 10,000 to 300 (Judges 7:1-7)