Israel - part 3

View of Jerusalem from our hotel room. Unlike any other city we've ever seen.

The Western Wall (Wailing Wall). An amazing place. Note the men's side and the women's side. The protocol here is that you back away from the wall out of reverence when you leave, in order to always be facing it.

The Wall at night.

Loved seeing this bride and attendant walking the streets of old Jerusalem.

And yes, little boys eat popsicles in Israel, too.

Speaking of food, ever seen pink cauliflower? Neither had we. Not sure what the food is on the left . . .

New friends we made on the trip ~ The Moores and the Paarlbergs, both from Indiana.

The beautiful Garden of Gethsemane. This was one of those places where you pinch yourself to see if you are actually there! Our trip was filled with moments like that.

Still more to come . . .

Israel - part 2

It's hard to decide which pictures of this wonderful trip to show ~ which of the many experiences and memories to include. Have we mentioned that if you have never been to Israel, you NEED TO GO?

Yes, there are still camels in Israel. This one was available for a camel ride (and no, we weren't brave enough to hop on). We also saw camels roaming on the countryside as we traveled.





Here we are in a fishing vessel on the Sea of Galilee. Let that one sink in for a minute (no pun intended) . . .
Each boat held about 75 people, and our group tied about 8 boats together and held a worship service on the water. This was a life moment for Dick, as he got to play keyboards for the service.

Our bus traveled down these meandering roads. Definitely had us alert and praying! The land of Israel is so incredibly beautiful and diverse.




Yes, this is for real. A reminder that we need to continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6).





The ancient city of Beth Shan. In the background is Mount Gilboa, where Saul and Jonathan lost their lives in battle.




We're standing in front of the Jordan River, at the place where it is strongly suggested Jesus was baptized. The river divides the countries of Israel and Jordan. What you don't see in the picture are soldiers that were guarding both sides of the river. While we felt safe overall, there are always reminders of the unrest that continues to hover over this country.


But we definitely want to go back someday.


And if you haven't been . . . well, you know what to do.

Israel - part 1

For the past 2 weeks, we have been on an incredible journey (and that's an understatement) in the beautiful country of Israel. We were traveling with Chuck and Cynthia Swindoll and Insight for Living. 600+ others joined the tour, filling 14 buses. Each day would begin with breakfast, getting on the bus by 7:15, visiting 4-5 sites a day, back to the hotel for dinner, and then an evening of entertainment of some kind. Are you getting tired just thinking about that? No doubt, our days were full. But we really got to experience everything, and surprisingly, never felt rushed. And when you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this one, you don't want to spend your time doing anything else!

In the next several blogs, we're going to give a pictorial tour of some of the highlights of this trip. Here we go . . .




This is a photo of Caesarea by the Sea. Much of Paul's ministry was here, along with 2 years of imprisonment. A beautiful place on the Mediterranean Sea.







This is the Valley of Armageddon, where the final battles in Revelation will be fought. The valley is next to the city of Megiddo. Interestingly, there were other battles fought here through the Old Testament.





This is an area called Tavga. What makes this special is that tradition strongly suggests this to be the place where Jesus met the disciples after rising from the grave. The disciples had fished all night on the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus was grilling fish on these banks when they saw Him. If you remember the story, Jesus asked Peter "do you love me" on this particular morning. While we were there (also early in the morning) some fishermen approached in their boat, doing their early morning fishing. Can we say perfect timing? (Notice the fishermen's net. Remember when Jesus told them to cast it on the other side of the boat? Talk about scripture coming alive!)








Dick playing for Steve Green, with Chuck Swindoll in the background. This was in the coliseum where Paul, while imprisoned, was brought before Herod Agrippa as a prisoner and delivered his amazing defense (Acts 26).





One of the oldest gates to a city that has been found. The Canaanites built this, and it was (very probably) traveled through several times by Abraham.





A column still remaining in the city of Capernaum. Much of Jesus' ministry happened in this city.





These are the head waters of the Jordan River. Yes, THE Jordan River. Isn't this beautiful?


That's all we'll show for part 1. It's hard to really capture everything we saw and learned and experienced. And it's wild to think that just a couple of days ago, we were there! If you EVER get the opportunity to visit Israel, DO IT. It's
heart-changing and inspiring to watch the Bible go from black and white to 3D!