Well, I wasn't going to post again, but my mind is muddled so I'm going to work through it with you guys. We left Beit Sahour early. We were counting down the days really, we couldn't wait to get away from there. I am pretty sure now that I was extremely dehydrated. I was being so careful not to drink the water and we were running low on our clean water, so I was pretty ready to get back to Beit Yehuda too. My birthday was at the beginning of the week. Zach and Bri managed to surprise me with a cake, which is quite a feat considering I don't think I have been surprised but a few times in my life. So brownie points to all the people who managed to put that together AND keep it a secret considering I was living in the same space they were all cooking it in.
So now we have been at Beit Yehuda for a day or two and we are leaving...I am contemplating returning and what that will look likef. I feel like I have changed a lot but I have been away from home longer than this and changed before and it hasn't been a big deal, so really this shouldn't be different. Why is this time different? I guess because many things at home have changed without me. We have a new goat, chickens, and such. My parents are preparing to go to Zambia for a month this summer as missionaries. My dad has grown a beard. My brother is dating my best friend. And I don't even know where I fit into all of that anymore. Do I even fit into all that anymore? I have always been excited about moving on and doing new things and being able to meet new people, but something about turning 20 has really shaken me.
I knew when I left for college I would never really be able to "go back" I guess its just the more things that I do apart from home the more I realize I will never return. Its weird because my room at home looks the same as it did in high school. All my posters and horses and verses, they're still there. But nothing else remains. I have moved on. It is nice to be able to look back and see progress and know that I have moved on, but realizing that I am stepping out on my own more and more scares me a little.
One verse that has been one of my consistent favorites is Psalm 18:1-3. "The Lord is my refuge" now that I have seen Massada, the fortress and refuge that David could have had in mind when he wrote those verses, it is real to me how the Lord is my strength. I think though, that it is important to be able to look back and I feel that is what I am doing today. I am not scared because I don't know what is to come, but rather excited for knowing what God has already done so much and changed and formed me so much that I know He will continue to do big things in my life.
So here's to the last post on my Israel blog, and to moving forward, but appreciating the past. Thanks for following, I probably won't start up again until next fall so until then, shalom!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Look Mom, I'm a Missionary!
Hey guys, I know its been so long since
I last updated and SO MUCH has happened. I think the last time I
updated you guys was before our tour. So tour info: We saw 16
national parks in 10 days, I slept in random hotels ,saw lots of
great stuff, hiked, swum, and laughed. My cold got so bad I got put
on antibiotics. But...I'm better! So on that note... on to the next
part. (sorry I don't have time to type up the whole tour, I'll tell
you when I get back!)
CAUTION: If you are a worrying relative
(*cough* my mom and gramdma) you should read this carefully and do
not worry, but rejoice in that I will be home soon and I am not dead,
and Jesus is taking care of me. On that thought maybe you just
shouldn't read this...just kidding!
SO, I am just going to go on to after
the trip. The last day of our tour we had a farewell dinner. It was
terrible because We had filafal two times in one day so we were all
very grossed out and not hungry. As you might have heard I was sick
the entire tour, and by this time I am starting to get better, but
other people are starting to get sick. Anyways, so we had to get from
the Israel side to the West Bank or Palestine (our city : Beit
Sahour) to get where we are staying. This requires crossing a border.
A very controversial border. Our bus driver was Israeli, and was not
allowed to just drive over the border. So we had to get off the bus,
unload the luggage and supplies. Distribute it evenly. Walk across
the border. And get on another bus. We didn't have a Palestinian bus
until the afternoon before. So as we're crossing the border carrying
all of our luggage, we carefully distributed the boys evenly
throughout the group just in case (which ended up being a really good
idea) and we went through 3 turn styles completely loaded down with
our luggage. The entire trip came up to about 300 yards walking in
the dark through dark buildings and parking lots. The last 50 yards
of our journey was a walkway under an awning with no lights. We
walked (nervously) down this dark hallway. The front of our group
(and our only two adults) had dissappeared and left us at the last
turn style, so we were getting more nervous as we walked. We came out
at a road that dead ended where we were standing. There were 5 men
standing there selling strawberries (of all things at 9 o'clock at
night!). They were whistling and calling at the girls ahead of me.
The girls were dazed and had stopped at the end of the walkway, by
the time we got there we began to push them on, having spotted our
adults and the rest of our group standing by a sketchy bus up the
dimly lit street. We quickly walked toward the bus and dropped our
bags and were ordered onto the bus. The bus had no lights on it. It
looked like the tour bus from hell. There were holes in the seats and
the fabric was torn in places at the ceiling. We weren't sure what
else to do besides sit and process what we had just been through.
Little did we know our journey was just beginning.
After loading all the luggage onto our
sketchy bus and we cranked up to pull away, I noticed that all of the
buildings on our sketchy street were completely deserted, papers were
blowing across the street and only one street light was
working...THIS is physical evidence of political unrest. Of the
oppression of one power, the true life of Palestinians. As our
sketchy bus took us to our apartment/high rise, we were silent,
processing what had just happened and what might lie ahead for us.
We arrived and carried the smaller
luggage the 9 floors to our rooms, and used our light-less elevator
to ship the luggage like big momma up. We arrived and discovered we
had no blankets, were limited on food, water, and electricity, little
did we know HOW limited.
The next morning we woke up and most
of us went through the motions, with the slight change of having to
turn the water off in between bathing and such. By lunch, an
emergency meeting had been called. We were informed that we were more
limited than we had previously thought. We were ALREADY out of water,
and had ALREADY used up more than half of our electricity allowance.
We were told to go as long as possible without a shower and due to
electricity it would be a cold shower. The next day someone came down
with the stomach flu and due to poor diet and showering conditions
the germs seemed to have mutliplied. 4 people have now come down with
the stomach flu, and 12 have the cold. Not only that but, I seem to
be coming down with another cold.
Needless to say the professor (a
woman) in charge put her foot down, she said we were going to ration
things, but we sure as heck were not going to die here in the west
bank. So we were allowed hot water for certain times in the day for
washing dishes and for sick people to take a bucket and cup water
conserving shower. The next step was to send away the sick people to
local missionaries houses to get hot water, a warm bed, and rest to
hopefully quell the disease, and not to mention the all time low in
the morale of our group. So the few that were healthy ( or mostly
healthy) like me, got to stay and suffer AND clean—hoping to get
rid of the germs and find order in the chaos. The weekend arrived and
our new professors arrived and the nice lady professor left. We got
nervous, because we weren't sure if these were going to be budget
nazi professors who were going to once again cut away our rations or
if they were going to be merciful.
Palm Sunday was quiet, the new
professors slept most of the day and since Zach and Bri, my buddies,
were sick (with my chest cold—sorry guys) , and the only other girl
left in my room had the stomach flu, so I stayed back from going to a
coffee shop or exploring the city, such a sacrifice considering how
tired I was. We literally played go fish all Palm Sunday, I actually
didn't even know it was palm sunday until that night. That night we
met our new proffesors. GOOD NEWS! They are merciful! They told us
that Moody was going to pay—we were not going to die off. Of course
there were plenty of Apocalyptic, Secret Church, End of the world
jokes made before this decision but at least things were looking up
now. They also instituted some structure. We had previously been
eating variations of Pita for every meal—which was slowly forming a
giant knot in everyone's stomachs. They gave us scheduled meals,
cleaning schedules for the apartments, times for classes (not to
mention they lightened our load—academically ). Basically morale
was on the rise after this meeting. Unfortunately, non of our
germophobe attempts have quelled the spread of disease (meaning the
stomach flu and cold). We are making jokes about it slowly taking
everyone until no one is healthy. I mean come on, even our German is
sick, the Europeans WERE the last to go, however.
On a lighter note, Tuesday afternoon
we got our first tour! We went to Bethlehem which means we walked 2
miles up hill (60 degree incline) and had to send three people back
in a taxi because of a nose bleed and barfing—no joke we are soo
sick. I got to see Manger Square, and the Church of the Nativity, and
the grotto where Jerome translated the Latin Vulgate. It was cool,
but there were only like 10 of us by the time we reached the top of
Bethlehem. We had (SURPRISE!) filafal for dinner and shopped some. I
made a lot of friends. The Palestinian shop keepers are extremely
friendly, and I got some really good deals. Bri and I agreed that it
was because we were cute haha. The proffesors were nice enough to
splurge and get some of us a taxi back to our apartements.
The culture here has been super hard
to get used to. Mostly Muslim Christians which is not what it sounds
like at all. Meaning we have to be careful what we wear. NO
SHORTS/TANK TOPS. And we have to be careful not go anywhere without a
guy. The men here stare you up and down with no self reserve, its
very unnerving.
Ok, so trying to be positive, I am
taking an Independent Study these two weeks on Bethlehem (what an
opportunity right?) so I have no obligations to lectures, I just have
reading. So I took this opportunity to sit in on a class that I will
take my Senior year (why not get ahead?). Its nice to just enjoy a
class and not have to worry about the 12 page paper being assigned or
the reading haha. I am doing well. I take a shower every 3 days. Baby
powder has become our best friend (for greasy hair) and though
morale is still low and people are very moody and sensitive, I think
we might just survive until april 6th! Everyone has
started counting down, of course I am as well but I am also counting
my teen age years away. Next Tuesday is my 20th birthday.
Though I am excited, I am super nervous. I feel like I am on the edge
of the rest of my life, and somehow I feel as though I have to act
differently, or get more serious, or actually consider what my life
is going to look like seriously. As much as it gives me a knot in my
stomach (or is that the pita?) (or the stomach flu?) to think about,
I look back and see how much God has done in my life so far, and
realize how much he must still have in store for me ahead. Pray for
germs to die and iron stomachs for the next ten days as we battle
through sand storms and limited showers (or bucket baths as we have
been calling them). So take a long hot shower, flush your toilet, and
show little ankle for me! Love you guys!
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Movin' on UP!
So leading up to the race was a busy week of way too much class and homework. Friday night after the race I got sick and had to miss out on a final which I had to make up the next day...that was fun. Our new prof.s got here Saturday and Sunday and we were glad to hear that we were going to get both of those days off. Monday after being in class for all of a few minutes, our prof told us that our notes would be graded according to who took the most. So naturally people started getting really competitive to take the most. Some tempers flared. Some people looked like they were going to cry and there were the few us like me, who just sat back and watched it happen...and post a hunger games related facebook status. Needless to say after being berated by a ton of us, he changed it to a slight amount more tolerable.
Its been kind of nice here. We have 4 hour class days in which we learn about the life of Christ and then we get the afternoon off. One day this week me, bri, and zach all went into the old city and literally just wandered around. Another afternoon we went to the mall and ended up sitting in the food court and talking till dinner so we ate Israeli pizza hut. Which was a slight contradiction for me since, in LaGrange, you just don't go there. But it was better than NO pizza haha. SO FUN. Another afternoon, I went to the Biblical zoo, it wasn't super biblical, but I LOVE animals so it was quite the recharge for me, wasn't the same as seeing Prissy though.
Today (Saturday) We went to church (Kay-Hee-LAH), been there, done that, and it was fun. And then we had like 2 hours to study before having to recount the entire Life of Christ (OT references and interpretations) in order in 11 headings in 2 hours. Sadly to say Jesus never even washed the disciples feet in my essay world...You'll have to find some OTHER way to get to Heaven guys...sad day.
On a lighter note we are leaving in the morning (FINALLY!!) for our 10 day spring break tour, I hear rumors of archaeological digs, camel rides, Dead sea swimming, Bedowin tent staying, and so much fun stuff...looks like we're not going to sleep properly or eat on time or even walk at a normal pace for the next ten days. That usually means my next post will be a grumpy one, but lets hope (and pray of course) for high spirits, sleep on the stinky crammed bus and plenty of filaffal to eat :)
Israel is treating us well though, our group hasn't started snapping too terribly at each other yet...Prayers for safe travels, good attitudes, and INTERNET!! (probably spotty for the next week) See you guys on the other side!
Monday, February 25, 2013
Is the fun worth it?
Ok so i am pretty sure i left off before we left for Eilat (pronounced eh-lat). We left Thursday after having class in the morning and eating lunch. We were told it was going to be a 4 hour journey on our tour bus, but instead took a scenic route and arrived 6 hours later. It was a long bus ride, I thought some of us were going to lose it. At one point in the journey we stopped at a coffee shop and got a drink called glasspresso. A combination of the words Glida (ice cream) and espresso. It was really good, I finished mine and proceeded to sample from everyone else's as well. We arrived at like 7 pm at night and walked into to town for schwarma. It was good, but the outside temperature was much colder than everyone had expected. I got a little nervous because I was afraid it was going to maintain this temperature, but fortunately it did not. That night we realized just how small the rooms at the hostel were. 8 girls were placed in one room with only one bathroom, I saw that disaster coming.
The next morning we were up early for a "hike" and some volunteer work. We went to a national park in the desert called Timna park. The bus pulled up to a replica Tabernacle and we were given a quick debrief and sent to work on the Tabernacle. Some people were re-doing the back of the outer fence, some were washing the temple, some were wiring some poles to their original positions. I was using wire on a gutter like thing that hid the wires that gave the holy of holies air conditioning. So basically the entire time we are here, I am laughing to myself. I mean, air conditioning in the holy of holies (a tent)? While we were being debriefed a dog wandered up and sat at the feet of the manequin high priest, I thought it was funny. Not only that but when I finished my job, I went to help clean the tabernacle, they had "We are Never Getting Back Together" by taylor Swift playing, but not just playing, they had the phone sitting on the altar of incense in the blood bowl to amplify the sound, so funny! I just couldn't get over all the funnies. What once was a very holy thing, is now a wood replica which holds only the symbolism of today's temple (our bodies).
After we finished desecrating the Tabernacle we got a cheap lunch at the restaurant there. Then we headed out for a "hike." Why do I keep putting hike in parentheses? Because Sigler doesn't know what a hike is. He thinks that short walks down sidewalks are hikes, so we never know what to expect when he says "hike" to us. This theory rang true when our hike consisted of driving up to Solomon's pillars (just a rock formation) climbing up to the top and going back to the bus. I was bored and offerred to race people back to the bus, hoping to get some actual exercise in. Once we were back on the bus, we headed back to the shelter to change into swimsuits for snorkeling. we spent a couple of hours on the shore of the Red Sea snorkeling. I had never snorkeled before besides in our pool for pennies, and was sooo excited about this. It was super fun, even though the water was kind of cold. And we even saw the poisonous fish that we were told to avoid, the Lion Fish. That night we went back to the shelter for a little service and some quick fellowship (which in the south means we ate together :) Afterwards, a bunch of us escaped to the park and sat and talked for a while.
The next morning we went to church in a little Jewish church, and sang in Spanish, hebrew, and russian. It was pretty fun, but I was so tired I was struggling to enjoy it to the utmost. Afterwards we went and bought some meat, whcih everyone was excited about since the Hostel/Shelter is Kosher. After that we went to the beach for an over the fire lunch. It was super yummy, and we got to snorkel again until 5 that afternoon. This day, the water was freezing and when I got out I had the shivers for at least another hour. after that we went back to the hostel to get ready for the Purim party. Purim is a Jewish holiday that celebrates when Esther saved the Jews from annihilation. For some reason they dress up like halloween (I didn't catch why they do that, sorry). We threw some last minute costumes together and headed to the party. The church had a group put on a skit, and two of our guys put on a skit, it was pretty funny. Afterwards, me and my friends once again slipped away to walk around Eilat and enjoy our small amount of freedom.
The next morning we went to the Red Canyon for a "hike" but this time it was a hike. We walked out on top of the rocks and came back through or underneath the rocks, it was fun because we got to climb and goof off and burn some energy. After that we went straight to the beach for just one more trip out snorkeling. This time we saw bigger fish, it was pretty fun, but I got out early because I had volunteered to help with lunch, and wouldn't have time to shower or dry off. It was so nice to spend some time in the sun, even if it was only a little bit of time. Afterwards we went to the hostel to pack up and have lunch. This time when we headed out we told four hours, we knew to expect more. This time we stopped at the Best Ice cream place in israel. I got chocolate and cherry, and it was so yummy :) We finally got back after 5 hours of traveling adn were actually happy to be back in a familiar and bigger place. Afterwards we all got to looking at how much homework we have and I personally freaked out a little. While everyone else skyped their parents, i was trying to do as much homework as possible before it got too late. Needless to say I am beginning to doubt the worth of that trip after getting up at 8am monday morning for 10 hours of class. It is hard to pay attention and get something out of class when I have so much to do and I am so tired. But we must go on, and so we do.
This week I am asking for prayer, I have the jerusalem 10k on Friday and we haven't been able to run as often because of how busy we have been. Pray for patience for everyone and stamina for those of us running. Love you guys, hopefully more info later this week. I believer we are leaving Sunday for our 10 day spring break trip/tour. Unless the bus has it we might have to go without good internet for a while. hasta luego!
The next morning we were up early for a "hike" and some volunteer work. We went to a national park in the desert called Timna park. The bus pulled up to a replica Tabernacle and we were given a quick debrief and sent to work on the Tabernacle. Some people were re-doing the back of the outer fence, some were washing the temple, some were wiring some poles to their original positions. I was using wire on a gutter like thing that hid the wires that gave the holy of holies air conditioning. So basically the entire time we are here, I am laughing to myself. I mean, air conditioning in the holy of holies (a tent)? While we were being debriefed a dog wandered up and sat at the feet of the manequin high priest, I thought it was funny. Not only that but when I finished my job, I went to help clean the tabernacle, they had "We are Never Getting Back Together" by taylor Swift playing, but not just playing, they had the phone sitting on the altar of incense in the blood bowl to amplify the sound, so funny! I just couldn't get over all the funnies. What once was a very holy thing, is now a wood replica which holds only the symbolism of today's temple (our bodies).
After we finished desecrating the Tabernacle we got a cheap lunch at the restaurant there. Then we headed out for a "hike." Why do I keep putting hike in parentheses? Because Sigler doesn't know what a hike is. He thinks that short walks down sidewalks are hikes, so we never know what to expect when he says "hike" to us. This theory rang true when our hike consisted of driving up to Solomon's pillars (just a rock formation) climbing up to the top and going back to the bus. I was bored and offerred to race people back to the bus, hoping to get some actual exercise in. Once we were back on the bus, we headed back to the shelter to change into swimsuits for snorkeling. we spent a couple of hours on the shore of the Red Sea snorkeling. I had never snorkeled before besides in our pool for pennies, and was sooo excited about this. It was super fun, even though the water was kind of cold. And we even saw the poisonous fish that we were told to avoid, the Lion Fish. That night we went back to the shelter for a little service and some quick fellowship (which in the south means we ate together :) Afterwards, a bunch of us escaped to the park and sat and talked for a while.
The next morning we went to church in a little Jewish church, and sang in Spanish, hebrew, and russian. It was pretty fun, but I was so tired I was struggling to enjoy it to the utmost. Afterwards we went and bought some meat, whcih everyone was excited about since the Hostel/Shelter is Kosher. After that we went to the beach for an over the fire lunch. It was super yummy, and we got to snorkel again until 5 that afternoon. This day, the water was freezing and when I got out I had the shivers for at least another hour. after that we went back to the hostel to get ready for the Purim party. Purim is a Jewish holiday that celebrates when Esther saved the Jews from annihilation. For some reason they dress up like halloween (I didn't catch why they do that, sorry). We threw some last minute costumes together and headed to the party. The church had a group put on a skit, and two of our guys put on a skit, it was pretty funny. Afterwards, me and my friends once again slipped away to walk around Eilat and enjoy our small amount of freedom.
The next morning we went to the Red Canyon for a "hike" but this time it was a hike. We walked out on top of the rocks and came back through or underneath the rocks, it was fun because we got to climb and goof off and burn some energy. After that we went straight to the beach for just one more trip out snorkeling. This time we saw bigger fish, it was pretty fun, but I got out early because I had volunteered to help with lunch, and wouldn't have time to shower or dry off. It was so nice to spend some time in the sun, even if it was only a little bit of time. Afterwards we went to the hostel to pack up and have lunch. This time when we headed out we told four hours, we knew to expect more. This time we stopped at the Best Ice cream place in israel. I got chocolate and cherry, and it was so yummy :) We finally got back after 5 hours of traveling adn were actually happy to be back in a familiar and bigger place. Afterwards we all got to looking at how much homework we have and I personally freaked out a little. While everyone else skyped their parents, i was trying to do as much homework as possible before it got too late. Needless to say I am beginning to doubt the worth of that trip after getting up at 8am monday morning for 10 hours of class. It is hard to pay attention and get something out of class when I have so much to do and I am so tired. But we must go on, and so we do.
This week I am asking for prayer, I have the jerusalem 10k on Friday and we haven't been able to run as often because of how busy we have been. Pray for patience for everyone and stamina for those of us running. Love you guys, hopefully more info later this week. I believer we are leaving Sunday for our 10 day spring break trip/tour. Unless the bus has it we might have to go without good internet for a while. hasta luego!
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Taking the plunge
Ok guys, so I haven't written in a while because we haven't done a lot. Everyone had papers and projects due over the weekend so we really haven't done much worth blogging about.
On a personal and not just Israel note, I got word Tuesday that my great grandmother had died. I knew it was coming, but what I didn't know was how much it would effect me. The morning I got the facebook message, it hit me kind of hard. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough day. I don't usually share things like that until after, I like to deal with things before I can talk about it. Knowing my mom was on a mission trip in guatemala and I was here, and we would both miss the funeral, and my precious Grandmother would be upset, and I couldn't be there, and just all of this weighing down on me. But I got to go running twice that day (and we all know what that does for me :) It ended up being a good day, and I thank God for that, because my emotional state would not have been healthy if it hadn't of changed.
Later on thursday, I received an email telling me that I had gotten my dream job which I had earnestly applied for about 2 months ago. I have been waiting and waiting to hear from them. I sat down and cired (not sobbing but shed a few tears) simply because I had begged God for this job, unashamedly BEGGED him to give it to me. I applied two places and he gave me both. As of now, I am praying and seeking His will in what job to take, reguardless of what I want, I need to do what God wants me to, I'll update you on that later.
Friday night we had our own personal church service. Which I found very precious. Sunday we went to King David City on Mt. Mariah, (Zion) and walked through Hezekiah's tunnel. I have posted videos and pictures on facebook. We were told to wear shorts and water shoes, but we weren't told that we would be touring before we went into the tunnel so those of us in very little clothing were freezing in the 50 degree weather. Once we started descending into the tunnel we got really excited though.
On a personal and not just Israel note, I got word Tuesday that my great grandmother had died. I knew it was coming, but what I didn't know was how much it would effect me. The morning I got the facebook message, it hit me kind of hard. I had a feeling it was going to be a rough day. I don't usually share things like that until after, I like to deal with things before I can talk about it. Knowing my mom was on a mission trip in guatemala and I was here, and we would both miss the funeral, and my precious Grandmother would be upset, and I couldn't be there, and just all of this weighing down on me. But I got to go running twice that day (and we all know what that does for me :) It ended up being a good day, and I thank God for that, because my emotional state would not have been healthy if it hadn't of changed.
Later on thursday, I received an email telling me that I had gotten my dream job which I had earnestly applied for about 2 months ago. I have been waiting and waiting to hear from them. I sat down and cired (not sobbing but shed a few tears) simply because I had begged God for this job, unashamedly BEGGED him to give it to me. I applied two places and he gave me both. As of now, I am praying and seeking His will in what job to take, reguardless of what I want, I need to do what God wants me to, I'll update you on that later.
Friday night we had our own personal church service. Which I found very precious. Sunday we went to King David City on Mt. Mariah, (Zion) and walked through Hezekiah's tunnel. I have posted videos and pictures on facebook. We were told to wear shorts and water shoes, but we weren't told that we would be touring before we went into the tunnel so those of us in very little clothing were freezing in the 50 degree weather. Once we started descending into the tunnel we got really excited though.
It was a shockingly long walk but we made it, and then we explored around the remains of the pool of Siloam, it is sad that the Greek Orthodox church will not let the IAA (israeli antiquity authority) dig up the rest of what is there. But that is really the story of almost all of the Biblical locations, there is probably really cool stuff there, but no one will let them dig it up!
We are going to some sort of Museum today and Thursday we leave to go to our snorkeling spot. I am really looking forward to some 80 degree weather and some beach! Really cannot wait. Talk to you guys soon!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Not so Holy places
2 Chronicles 6 Solomon’s Dedication
Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud.
2 “I have built You a lofty house,
And a place for Your dwelling forever.”
2 “I have built You a lofty house,
And a place for Your dwelling forever.”
3 Then the king [a]faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. 4 He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hands, saying...."
The Shekinah Glory
7:1 Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. 2 The priests could not enter into the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. 3 All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lordupon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord,saying, “Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Holy, is the Lord God Almighty that he would leave his place in heaven and become a man, suffer, die, rise again, ascend, and send his Spirit to dwell in us!
Guys, I know I just wrote but we did my favorite thing today and I have to tell you about it!
This morning we started out for the Temple Mount, but it was closed when we got there so we ended up learning about the "Western Wall" and going to that. My Prof doesn't want us to call it the wailing wall, because WE aren't suppose to be wailing about anything. I think its ok to say what I am about to though. Just to get into the wailing wall, one must go through a metal detector and have their bag rummaged through. When I was walking up, my first thought was, "Is that really it?" In my head, the western wall shined and shimmered with God's glory, and it held a sort of awe. But in the wise words of my professor, "Its just blocks stacked up to make a wall that was a retaining wall for the temple, many many years ago, we don't worship it." So true, but still.
As we stood in front of the wailing wall and heard the chapters above, chills ran up and down my spine, and tears filled my eyes, not because I was mourning the loss of this place, but because I mourned for those who stood here and had no idea about the "big picture." I was sad for the people who worked here and lived here in this once holy spot, and did not even remotely know the sweet merciful God, that had once dwelt here!
In FIRE! He came to this place in FIRE! Can you even begin to imagine the awe and fear that one would feel, standing there? My knees would have hit the ground so fast, surgery wouldn't have healed it. The king of Kings showed a tiny peice of his power and allowed HIS PRESENCE to DWELL here! Can you imagine?!
Anyways you can understand my awe as I stepped up to the wailing wall (above). Lord! Your OWN people don't even know! Oh GOD! Bring them to you! Deliver your people! As a space cleared and stepped closer and placed a shaking hand on the wall. PEACE. His timing is perfect. He knows who will call on His name, HE knows. And yet He still loves.
We got to put a prayer on a piece of paper in the wall. What did mine say?
"Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is One. Take my life Lord and let it be consecrated to You. Lord, Deliver your people! Intervene and save your people! Take me for whatever I may be worth and help me reach your people! Love, Maribeth"
There is NOTHING like standing before that wall and thinking of my God is so vast a way....It was very precious and I wished to have stood there for the whole day. But alas, I had to move on.
To the Dome of the Rock. Here I didn't know what to expect, until I went through security. Outside the little mobile home which held the security scanners, lay BIBLES. A few of us were puzzled as to why, but I instantly got it..NO BIBLES ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT. Can you imagine? What would Solomon say? The Holy writ thrown out of a building as people attempted to enter the temple mount. I was immediately overwhelmed. This is the place where God dwelt, this is OUR place, OUR history. But no, the Muslims have taken over. there was a small corner of the larger mount where there were pillars left over from the 2nd temple era, and i felt that this was the only thing left to Jesus followers! How humbling, it is hard to believe that God's presence EVER dwelt here. a mosque and the Dome of the Rock, nothing Christian there. how sad to imagine it!
Well thats about all I got. People in our group got their Bibles back, it was still sad. thanks for listening to my vent, I guess it just really disturbed my spirit, idk. See you guys later!
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Praise the Lord and pass the Pita
Holy Smokes guys. the holy land is so cool! Ok so where I left off....The next day we had EIGHT HOURS of class...why? Because you can't tour when it rains, and it rained ALL DAY. So now, we all HATE rain with a passion!
The next day we left early to tour all day I got to go on top of the wall of Jerusalem and walk around! So cool right? We got to see the Christian Quarter and the Muslim quarter. It was so cool to see all around Jerusalem! At the end we came back down at the Damascus Gate which is Arab/ Muslim area. We were instructed to pull out our modesty kit (in regular terms: scarves) and cover our necks and shoulders as much as possible. The guys in our group were instructed to surround the women and this is how we were to walk through the "Shuk" or Arab open air market. I was fine until someone asked why we were to do this. Apparently last year, on this trip, a girl was minding her own business, but not covered up (without scarf) and an arab man walked up and gave her a bear hug and started speaking to her in Arabic. Apparently he thought she was a hooker. YAY.
We made it through the Shuk fine, of course there was that occassional creepy stare at our ankles that we got for those of us wearing capris but the guys were careful to surround and watch out for us. My nick name in the group is MBI (oh, haha like our school!) (I dont like it), but I am trying to get Mcbeth to catch on since the guys are determined to give everyone a brand new nick name. Anyways, during this escapade through the Shuk one of the guys steps up to my left side and says "Don't worry MBI, I will protect you" haha thank you, thank you very much!
After the Shuk, we had lunch at Beit yehuda and then..Surprise! 2 hours of class, so much for touring all day. After that everyone went back to their rooms and passed out for an hour before dinner. After dinner we had homework and locating toilet paper. Wait, did I just say locating toilet paper? yes, yes I did. Apparently they don't care if you run out toilet paper here. So we make late night runs to the public restrooms in the building to steal toilet paper...BAD TO THE BONE.
The next day, Friday (Feb. 8) we had normal class, but wait theres always a catch! At our half way break (two hours in) we went to another class to hear from our leader abour Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. So we sat in there (on accident) talking about and asking questions about what to wear and how to act that night for the Shabbat dinner. Apparently richer Jews, can afford to stay in a hotel so that their Shabbat is more restful. They have strict rules about not turning the lights on or off and not driving or cooking or standing to use the restroom. I mean it all sounds weird to us, but cant you think of a few people who just need a freaking Shabbat? haha. I do. What customs they observer and dont oberve pertains to who their rabbi is, kinda scary right? Anyways, we got the afternoon off, our first significant amount of free time and we did homework and I accidentaly took a two hour nap....obviously I needed it though. After that I got up and all the girls were prepping to look good for Erev Shabbat the opening night of Shabbat.
They have a giant meal and dress up and sing songs and light candles signaling the beginning. We walked in to our dining hall ( the hotel is created to accomodate these guests) and it was flipped into a nice dining Jew party. ha. They had all kinds of celebration dinner foods and breads, of course our tables were easily recognized...why? We had non-alcoholic wine at our table. haha of course...no fun for us! Just kidding.
We sat down, and our prof walked us through blessing our wine, passing bread around and blessing it and we ate. It was fun to experience so much culture around us! We enjoyed our first Shabbat, but it wasn't minutes after returning from dinner that we had changed from churchy clothes to sport shorts and tees and tennis shoes, to play SOCCER! So fun! We split into teams of three. unfortunately we played on the edge of our compound near a fence bordering palestinian people. I was the genius who managed to boot the ball over the fence...twice. sorry guys! At least I got a goal or two in, right?
Ok this next day takes so much explanation, I HAVE to shorten it. Sorry! my hands are cramping from all this typing and my eyes are slowly coming to a close. Saturday we headed out to a Messianic Jewish congregation church-thing. The service was completely split into jewish and then translated into english. It was SO hard to follow, but SO FUN you guys! You just don't even know! I was eating up every ounce of it I could get. After two hours though my brain was so done. Afterwards they had a luncheon which ended up lasting 3 hours. You can imagine how DONE we were after that. But we headed out to Jericho instead. I posted pictures on Facebook, but the hills were brilliant as we descended from a couple thousand feet above sea level to a couple hundred below. The verses from psalm were ringing true in all our heads about the mountains surrounding jerusalem and the grass withering and the flowers fading. there is nothing like watching scripture come alive before your eyes!
We finally got to Jericho and HOW HUMBLING it was to stand before the ruins of a once powerful city! Our leader brought along a friend archaeologist to describe what we were looking at and we hopped a couple of fences (im pretty sure it was pretty illegal) and got ABSOLUTE INSIDER information! Guys! ONCE IN A LIFE TIME doesn't begin to describe this stuff! It was amazing! next we loaded up the bus for herod's winter palace ruins. That wasn't as impressive since it was far away because of a very convenient road block, but there was a wonderful sunset that we got to take pictures in front of.
Sunday! We went to a SOUTHERN BAPTIST church y'all!! It was so fun! Some of our group did music and Sig preached! There were two guys from ALABAMA in the congregation! SO fun :) oh, and free food after services seems to be a very very good theme around here! We had pre-packed luinches and headed out to the city once again. We took a detour for ice cream and then headed to the rockafeller museum which the security guard was closing. NOT A PROBLEM. Our leader knows everyone! We got a personalized (speedy) tour from the security guard of the museum! It was so cool! I can't remember everything that was there, but one thing was an ACTUAL tomb from Jericho that they found in the ruins...SO COOL.
After that we spent two hours in a library FILLED with ancient biblical texts that PHDs from all over the world travel there to take advantage of...SOO COOL! Then we were left in the middle of the city and told to find our way...it was easy.
Sorry for all the rushed entries, but I am so crunched for time! I HAVE to go to bed now, but I heard about all of you guys praying for me from my parents and I wanted to thank you so much! I SUPER appreciate all of the support! Love y'all! Laila Tov (Good night)
The next day we left early to tour all day I got to go on top of the wall of Jerusalem and walk around! So cool right? We got to see the Christian Quarter and the Muslim quarter. It was so cool to see all around Jerusalem! At the end we came back down at the Damascus Gate which is Arab/ Muslim area. We were instructed to pull out our modesty kit (in regular terms: scarves) and cover our necks and shoulders as much as possible. The guys in our group were instructed to surround the women and this is how we were to walk through the "Shuk" or Arab open air market. I was fine until someone asked why we were to do this. Apparently last year, on this trip, a girl was minding her own business, but not covered up (without scarf) and an arab man walked up and gave her a bear hug and started speaking to her in Arabic. Apparently he thought she was a hooker. YAY.
We made it through the Shuk fine, of course there was that occassional creepy stare at our ankles that we got for those of us wearing capris but the guys were careful to surround and watch out for us. My nick name in the group is MBI (oh, haha like our school!) (I dont like it), but I am trying to get Mcbeth to catch on since the guys are determined to give everyone a brand new nick name. Anyways, during this escapade through the Shuk one of the guys steps up to my left side and says "Don't worry MBI, I will protect you" haha thank you, thank you very much!
After the Shuk, we had lunch at Beit yehuda and then..Surprise! 2 hours of class, so much for touring all day. After that everyone went back to their rooms and passed out for an hour before dinner. After dinner we had homework and locating toilet paper. Wait, did I just say locating toilet paper? yes, yes I did. Apparently they don't care if you run out toilet paper here. So we make late night runs to the public restrooms in the building to steal toilet paper...BAD TO THE BONE.
The next day, Friday (Feb. 8) we had normal class, but wait theres always a catch! At our half way break (two hours in) we went to another class to hear from our leader abour Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. So we sat in there (on accident) talking about and asking questions about what to wear and how to act that night for the Shabbat dinner. Apparently richer Jews, can afford to stay in a hotel so that their Shabbat is more restful. They have strict rules about not turning the lights on or off and not driving or cooking or standing to use the restroom. I mean it all sounds weird to us, but cant you think of a few people who just need a freaking Shabbat? haha. I do. What customs they observer and dont oberve pertains to who their rabbi is, kinda scary right? Anyways, we got the afternoon off, our first significant amount of free time and we did homework and I accidentaly took a two hour nap....obviously I needed it though. After that I got up and all the girls were prepping to look good for Erev Shabbat the opening night of Shabbat.
They have a giant meal and dress up and sing songs and light candles signaling the beginning. We walked in to our dining hall ( the hotel is created to accomodate these guests) and it was flipped into a nice dining Jew party. ha. They had all kinds of celebration dinner foods and breads, of course our tables were easily recognized...why? We had non-alcoholic wine at our table. haha of course...no fun for us! Just kidding.
We sat down, and our prof walked us through blessing our wine, passing bread around and blessing it and we ate. It was fun to experience so much culture around us! We enjoyed our first Shabbat, but it wasn't minutes after returning from dinner that we had changed from churchy clothes to sport shorts and tees and tennis shoes, to play SOCCER! So fun! We split into teams of three. unfortunately we played on the edge of our compound near a fence bordering palestinian people. I was the genius who managed to boot the ball over the fence...twice. sorry guys! At least I got a goal or two in, right?
Ok this next day takes so much explanation, I HAVE to shorten it. Sorry! my hands are cramping from all this typing and my eyes are slowly coming to a close. Saturday we headed out to a Messianic Jewish congregation church-thing. The service was completely split into jewish and then translated into english. It was SO hard to follow, but SO FUN you guys! You just don't even know! I was eating up every ounce of it I could get. After two hours though my brain was so done. Afterwards they had a luncheon which ended up lasting 3 hours. You can imagine how DONE we were after that. But we headed out to Jericho instead. I posted pictures on Facebook, but the hills were brilliant as we descended from a couple thousand feet above sea level to a couple hundred below. The verses from psalm were ringing true in all our heads about the mountains surrounding jerusalem and the grass withering and the flowers fading. there is nothing like watching scripture come alive before your eyes!
We finally got to Jericho and HOW HUMBLING it was to stand before the ruins of a once powerful city! Our leader brought along a friend archaeologist to describe what we were looking at and we hopped a couple of fences (im pretty sure it was pretty illegal) and got ABSOLUTE INSIDER information! Guys! ONCE IN A LIFE TIME doesn't begin to describe this stuff! It was amazing! next we loaded up the bus for herod's winter palace ruins. That wasn't as impressive since it was far away because of a very convenient road block, but there was a wonderful sunset that we got to take pictures in front of.
Sunday! We went to a SOUTHERN BAPTIST church y'all!! It was so fun! Some of our group did music and Sig preached! There were two guys from ALABAMA in the congregation! SO fun :) oh, and free food after services seems to be a very very good theme around here! We had pre-packed luinches and headed out to the city once again. We took a detour for ice cream and then headed to the rockafeller museum which the security guard was closing. NOT A PROBLEM. Our leader knows everyone! We got a personalized (speedy) tour from the security guard of the museum! It was so cool! I can't remember everything that was there, but one thing was an ACTUAL tomb from Jericho that they found in the ruins...SO COOL.
After that we spent two hours in a library FILLED with ancient biblical texts that PHDs from all over the world travel there to take advantage of...SOO COOL! Then we were left in the middle of the city and told to find our way...it was easy.
Sorry for all the rushed entries, but I am so crunched for time! I HAVE to go to bed now, but I heard about all of you guys praying for me from my parents and I wanted to thank you so much! I SUPER appreciate all of the support! Love y'all! Laila Tov (Good night)
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