Israel Day 5

I can't believe it's day 5 already. Over half way thru our time here. I don't want to go back.

We headed to Galilee and a new hotel room.

Possibility of being Zaccheus's Tree. It's at least an old Sycamore :)

I'll try to remember later to write what we were told about the story - a lot of new info to give a different perspective.

The likely crossing of the Israelites coming into the Promised Land and where Jesus got baptized/anointed.

The Garden Tomb... A must visit. A wonderful garden and a great message. The hole on the upper right of the door is where they left a spot for the spirit to leave the body (which they believed happened on the 3rd day after the body died)

And the best message of all:

Israel Day 4

First stop was Pater Noster - a church built by Helen, Constatine's mother. It has the Lord's Prayer in tons of different languages - ones that I would never even imagine. For instance it has it in Zulu...

And they have it in Cherokee and Swahili and French and English and lots of others too.

We got to see Jerusalem as it is today. What a beautiful landscape.

And the Golden Gate where Jesus will walk in whenever He comes again...

Church of Gethsemane

And the ancient old Olive trees

The inside of St Ana's church - has amazing acoustics!

And then we got to travel the path Jesus may have been taken to the hill where He was crucified.

My favorites were St Ana's and the Garden of Gethsemani. We got some wonderful reflection time in the garden and I loved singing praises to God together with my friends in St Ana's Church.

From left to right,

Katherine, Rachel, Me & Leigh

Israel Day 3

Quick update... then bed for me.

This is a picture from Massad of the dead sea in the background

The model of the Masad plauteau.

The caves of Quman - where they found all the ancient scrolls.

Psalm 23

"Though I walk in the shadow of death... I will fear no eveil, For thou art with me."

We got to visit the desert outside of the city where Jesus would have spent 40 days & nights.

I loved seeing the cross in the middle of the desert.

The Desert

The valley is to the right of my right shoulder.

Israel Day 2

The Knesset - a gift to the Israel Parliament. It's got some cool graphics/art on each section of it.

A fig tree...

A great lesson for us. If you remember the parable about how Jesus cursed the fig tree for having no fruit... The fig tree was dead the next day. What astonished the people was that most fig trees grow under harsh conditions and are a strong & resilient tree, so for a fig tree that's growing just fine, it doesn't just die.

A lesson to be persistent and work at producing fruit no matter the circumstances.

We were lucky to be able to see a fig tree with some figs on it... if you look carefully you should be able to see them on the tips of the tree branches.

Another picture of the Israel country side.... just so you can have an idea of how hilly it is.

We got to visit the Israel Museum where they have a miniature replica of Jerusalem. It is absolutely amazing and one of the most amazing sites. It took them 4 years to complete.

The miniature of Jerusalem's temple (I believe Herod's time period)

A statue showing Jesus's misery after being taken from the garden, beaten and questioned.

A possible site of where Jesus was held at some point before he was taken to die. At that time it was custom to tie a rope around the prisoner and throw them into the pit/cistern. The rock floor was jagged at that time and not a soft landing spot.

I can't imagine being in pain, misery, having been questioned and more, then thrown into this pit. Jesus went thru it all for our sins... we put Him there with our sins. What a powerful message of what our sins can do and how much of a sacrifice it was for Jesus!

Oh Lord thank you for your sacrifice! Thank you for loving me enough to go thru hardships and torment for my sins!

Israel Day 1

Israel... I finally arrived after so much anticipation!

As soon as we got to Israel we got on our tour bus and headed for Bethlehem.

On the way, we got to see some of the scenery of Israel. To my surprise, it's a very hilly country side. The streets go up and down plenty and even some go back and forth up the hill side. I tried to get a picture of the side of a hill, but it's not as clear as I'd like. You can see where they've had to dig into the side of the hill and make into large steps of sorts.

As we arrived to Bethlehem, we saw the tower to the church that was built over the site where Jesus was born. The church was dedicated to Mary.

This is the entrance to the church... inside they have lots of lights/chandlers and murals. It's quite an impressive site compared to what you see outside, but seems extra gaudy (sp?) as well.

I got to have my picture taken inside the courtyard.

And one last thing... hopefully will make you laugh :)

We saw it just down the street from the church

Cappadocia Weekend

My weekend to Cappadocia was awesome. We had a lot of fun hanging out together as women and being able to learn more about God thru one of the ladies who came to speak. We learned about where our "home" is (Where God wants us & Heaven whenever we die). It was a good reminder that we can look forward to our next home.

We got to worship in one of the old cave churches on Sunday morning and the picture below is one of the walls.

Cappadocia itself was gorgeous with the snow that was on the ground. I got a couple f pictures of it for you to see as well.

Enjoy :)

Just got the official news...

I get to go to Israel!!

The chapel has a trip going and God's been wonderful enough to work it out that I get a chance to go with my friends who are going.

I've also been trying to go to a 5:30am workout that is a lot of cross-fit type things - it's hard work and way too early in the morning, but good strength work-out without just lifting weights, which I like. I want to go in the am, so this is going to stay nice and short.

A lot of women from base are leaving for a woman's retreat tomorrow, so please pray that people's hearts are open and that God keeps everyone safe.

Always great to hear from you. Love you dearly friends!

Good night.