warning :: random stream-of-conscientiousness may occur!
Recap Of What We Saw
We saw and did so many amazing things. Too many to try to post about, or explain in detail. The intricate detail, scripture and history involved behind each place we saw … honestly, I’m still processing it all myself.
We visited Old Testament, New Testament, Jewish history, the Holocaust, Israeli landscape … and trust me, that’s a compact, nutshell version!
Traditional & Believed-To-Be
We heard those words a lot. You see, sometimes, at some places it’s hard to know what really happened where. Scholars, archeologists, and historians can do their best to make the best judgment, but in many cases, there isn’t a way to be 100% sure.
We walked the Via Dolorosa … the said place that Jesus walked carrying His cross. Which led us straight into The Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church was built around Calvary … where Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected.
I don’t know … this place was INCREDIBLE. Incredible to imagine … Jesus was here. He hung here. He died here. He rose here.
But … it was crowded. Wall-to-wall-you-couldn’t-breathe crowded. I kept praying, talking to God, asking for a feeling or whisper from Him … but honestly … I didn’t feel it.
We left this incredible, incredible place and I gently asked Taylor if she was feeling anything. If any of this meant anything to her or if she was getting anything. She answered with more conviction and honesty of any 15 year old I know, “I’m really not. I’m trying, but it’s just so crowded, it’s hard to feel it.”
Oh amen Taylor, amen!
{you can see those images in my facebook gallery}
Expectations
The problem is, my expectations were SO high! I mean, the land Jesus lived … how could I not have high expectations from this trip? I expected to eat, sleep, tour, and breathe in Jesus.
I feel defeated to say that just wasn’t the case.
This is the Holy Land … I thought I’d find God at every turn.
Moments Of Blessing
~ At one point, our tour guide read some scripture from the Bible … in Hebrew. The language Jesus spoke … the words and way He would’ve spoke.
~ Touring the museum of the Dead Sea Scrolls. I was interested, but also just browsing through … like you would a museum. When I came upon fragments of a scroll from this verse that stopped me cold in my tracks:
Write them down and tie them to your hands as a sign.
Tie them on your forehead to remind you, and write
them on your doors and gates.
{Deuteronomy 6:8-9, NCV}
~ When Taylor whispered to me on our last day here, “Thank you for taking me on this trip.”
My Health
Praise God that I stayed relatively healthy throughout the entire trip. We did a ton of walking, early mornings, and late days. I had my ups & downs, but overall, I seriously couldn’t have asked for more! So thank you! for all your prayers!
The Conflict
We had a tour guide that lives life on the side of cranky … at one point, someone asked for more information or concrete-type answers about the Via Dolorosa. He answered roughly, “People just want a “place.” A place they can see and touch. Christians shouldn’t be asking for evidence. They should be happy to have a place.”
I overheard the conversation and thought to myself … “I don’t need a place.” Everything we’ve seen and done has been absolutely wonderful! But I don’t need a place.
The other thing about this crab-filled guide … I was struggling with wondering if he wasn’t taking something away from me. I’m human and have human feelings just as anyone else does … I get annoyed, upset, and even angry. And as a Christian, I really struggle when I don’t love “everyone.” And this guy was not a hugable, lovable kinda fellow! So in some ways, I wondered if he ended up blocking God’s voice to me. Silly, right?
A Tour Is Just A Tour
Please don’t get me wrong. This trip has been an incredible, incredible experience! To imagine Jesus walking some of these streets. Or the prophets living in this land. The City of David in Jerusalem … or the En-Gedi, the Spring of David … the hills and water source it’s believed that David used and hid from Saul. Amazing. Awesome. Wow. {Wonder of Wonders … I remembered Cyndi!} :)
But …
The Biggest Blessing Of All
I realized … I don’t have to go to the land of Jesus to find Him … because my Savior lives right inside of me.
We had a visit to the Garden Tomb. A traditional or believed-to-be place of the crucifixion. I’d now seen 2 places believed to be the place of crucifixion and resurrection. How in the world does one know what to believe?
Let me give you some facts about the place known as Calvary, or Golgotha {which means “place of the skull” in Hebrew}. Here’s one scripture for you … “And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull … ” {Matthew 27:33}
The Via Dolorosa didn’t have a skull anywhere near. But look at the photo below … do you see two eyes … a nose? And please realize, my photo doesn’t really do justice.
An actual tomb was also found. And inside the tomb, and empty place. I LOVE the sign inside this VERY small room.
Lastly, scripture tells us there were gardens near the place of Calvary. The “Garden Tomb” is nothing but a garden!
We had a different guide once inside the Garden Tomb. And he let us know right off the bat that he was a faith-filled-Jesus-loving-believer who had Jesus living inside of him! Chill bumps all over the place my friends!
I don’t know … but I’ll tell ya … there was something about this place. I felt the Holy Spirit like I hadn’t felt during our whole trip.
After the tour of the tomb {which was just a small, small room}, we went to an upper place for communion. It.was.incredible!
And Then
Our last day in Israel, we visited the Western Wall, also known as the wailing wall. Tradition has you write your prayer requests or notes to God and stick them in the wall. That morning, I wrote out 3 pages of prayer requests to put in the wall.
When we got there, it was crowded, hot, hustling and bustling. When I finally made it to the wall, I put my prayer requests into the wall, bowed my head and prayed:
Father God,
Thank you. Thank you for loving me enough to send your only Son.
To live inside of me. So that I don’t have to go to a foreign land to
find Him … all I have to do is call out and He is there.
And that, my friends is the blessing that will last me a lifetime!
More vacation photos here, here, here, here, here and here.
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