The trip that keeps on giving: Easter reflections

Good morning!  I decided to spend a little extra time in devotion this morning since I had to work yesterday, which was Good Friday.   I spent zero time reflecting on all that took place on the day that my LORD was crucified.  It left me feeling like I didn't honor Him properly.  See, I love Jesus deeply.  If I let my obligations that I have in this world come between me and Jesus then I am not giving Him the honor that is due!  Maybe a good example is how I remember my sweet mother-in-law, Linda.  She died of cancer about 8 years ago.  On her birthday and holidays I take time to remember her, talk about her with family and maybe look at pictures.  That doesn't mean that I don't think about her almost every day!  She was a part of my life for almost 20 years!  She has made a huge impact on how I love others, mother my children, cook my meals ( I use a lot of her recipes) and much more.  If I let my world obligations get in the way on her birthday and didn't take time to reflect on all she means to me then I would feel like I didn't honor her.  So, this is where I am with Jesus this morning.  I can't say I didn't think about it yesterday because I did.  I just didn't reflect on it properly. If I had then I would have ended up on my knees praising God for His amazing sacrifice.  And that didn't happen.
I decided to start with reading the account of the crucifixion in all four gospels.
As I read the testimonies in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22 and John 18, I was overcome with all that Jesus suffered for us.  I was overcome by not only the physical but emotional suffering.  Have you ever been betrayed by someone you love and trust?  It is so hurtful. What about abandonment from someone who pledged they would be with you till death?  Anguish of knowing suffering and death are right around the corner?  Being wrongly accused or have your character totally misinterpreted? Humiliation from being mocked for all you know is true?  Feeling like your life has no value in the eyes of others?  Being spit on, punched, slapped?   All of these were suffered by Jesus.  He knows how we feel!  Then there are the physical sufferings of torture that I can not even begin to comprehend!  The Romans placed a crown of thorns on His head and then began to beat Him in the head with a staff.  That must have felt like nails being hammered in His skull.  He was beaten, flogged, and then crucified.  Jesus suffered beyond comprehension.  When they were done torturing Him, He was unrecognizable.
So why call it Good Friday?  Was it good that Jesus suffered?  Died?  Well, no.  If the testimony of all Jesus did stopped there it would have never been called Good Friday!  But the story doesn't stop there.  We have eye witness accounts of those who followed Him and over 500 other people that Jesus arose from the dead and appeared to them!  He conquered death and assures us if we believe we too will be raised from the dead.  He paid the penalty for our sin! What a price that penalty cost Him.   He gives us the chance to be in God's presence and favor!   Let me tell you.  I did end up on my knees giving God praise and thanksgiving for all that Jesus did for me.(and you!)

That is the reason I celebrate Easter.  That while I was still a sinner Christ died for me.  That all who believe will not perish but have everlasting life.  Please do not let the world taint what we are celebrating this weekend.  Go to church.  Offer praise and thanksgiving.  Reflect on what Jesus did for you.  Invite the greatest love into your life!

Every time I read the bible my trip to Israel gives me great visuals.  I would like to share a few pictures from the time of the last supper till the resurrection.
The first picture is a window from the upper room.  This room is where Jesus and his disciples had the last supper together.  It is a very large room.  It could easily hold 100 + people in it.  We also read that the disciples hid here after the crucifixion and later it became the meeting place.  This is the site of the first Christian Church!  No fancy light show, pounding music, or great entertainment.  Just people who love Jesus reflecting on all that He had taught them.   In this room they found evidence that when the disciples would pray they would not face the Holy Temple but would face the opposite direction which is the site of the crucifixion and empty tomb!  The room was too dark (it was sunset when we arrived) so I didn't get a great picture of the inside.  This stained glass window wasn't there when the disciples were but it is till beautiful.

 The second picture is of an olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane that is about 1800 years old.  This garden is where Jesus prayed in anguish and was betrayed by Judas.  Judas brought with him 300-600 armed soldiers to arrest Jesus.  Notice the new life that springs out of the dead trunk.  Even the trees still tell the story of Jesus!

 This next picture is inside of the Church of all Nations.  The church was built around the rock that Jesus prayed to His Father "remove this cup but not my will your will be done."  This church is absolutely glorious and surreal.

 Next is the empty tomb!   It is hard to get a good picture of it because of the lighting in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The hill was carved out around the tomb so the tomb is standing alone with a building around it for protection.  They then built the church over the tomb AND over the hill where Jesus was crucified.  You can walk from Calvary (which is upstairs in this huge church) to the tomb (which is downstairs)  to the basement which is the bedrock of the mountain.  It is fascinating.  Mark and I saw the grooves in the rock where the wood crosses would have been placed. There were 3 that we could see.  We saw so much physical evidence to what we already knew was true.

 I love this picture.  Read Matthew 27:51-54!  This is from the earthquake that happened when Jesus died! See the crack in the mountain??   Gives me chills.

I pray that you will take a significant amount of time to ponder all the things God has done for us.  He deserves our honor, glory, worship, devotion, love, and time.  He gave His all for us.  What we have to offer to Him is so small in comparison! 

God Bless and Happy Easter. 

Mount of Beatitudes

So many thoughts to sort out!  We have been in Galilee and northern Israel for 4 days.  I didn't take my computer because the internet was not great. The wifi did let me load photos from my phone so hopefully I will get a chance today to go into Facebook and label the pictures.  We love northern Israel!  It amazes me that this tiny country has so many types of topography.  Don't get me wrong northern Israel is still full of hills but it is a lot greener and doesn't feel as congested.  Jerusalem is a huge city with tons of tourist so it is nice to escape to Galilee.  We stayed at a lovely resort called Ma'agan Eden on the southeast shore of the Sea of Galilee.  We loved our resort!  We could see Tiberias from our beach.   Tiberias is a large city located across the water with tons of night life and lots of shopping.  After visiting several sites we are exhausted and a little overstimulated, so it was nice to go to this quiet resort.
Before we got the resort we had been to several sites.  Each day is filled with Old and New Testament reflections.  As we drive or hike we are constantly identifying landmarks on our maps and then reading about the stories that took place there.  Tuesday we started off with hiking up to Tel Beth Shan.  We oriented ourselves with Harod Valley and pointed out Mt Gilboa across the way.  Here we read the story of Saul's and his sons death on that mountain.  Beth Shan is the town that they hung the bodies of Saul and his sons on.  They displayed their bodies on the outside wall and because it was up on a hill, and along a major international road, the whole world could see what had happened. Then men from from Jabesh-Gilead came and stole the bodies back.  Our instructor pointed out that Saul was a Benjamite.  Benjamites were almost completely wiped out and had not enough women to build up their tribe so they went and stole women from Jabesh Gilead. This town also called upon Saul to save them from the Ammonites who wanted to pluck out their right eye.  Some scholars believe they called upon Saul here because he had family in this area. That one of Saul's descendants was one of the women who were taken from this area to be a Benjamite wife.  We often think that once these women became wives to the Benjamites that they lost all contact with their previous family but that would be contradictory to how the middle eastern culture.   Women tended to keep connections to their families after moving away to live with their grooms. That was something I had never connected before and that it makes sense and would at least one of the reasons Saul was willing to travel to save this town.  Below Beth Shan lay the ruins of a huge Roman city Scythopolis. This city was destroyed by a huge earth quake.   Rome would often set up these large cities in the regions to seduce the people into their culture.  Rome would build large theaters, fine roads, steam baths, and market places that had tons of luxurious items.  They would use theater to push their agendas (sound familiar USA?) and desensitize them to their many gods.    It would start a slow fade but after a couple of generations Yahweh would be completely forgotten or at least another god among the hundreds Rome worshipped.  NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN comes to mind!  The more I think about this the more I wonder why we pay for cable?  900 channels of crap! We pay people to entice our children and offer a counter culture.  We pay so they can desensitize us to their agendas?  Why would we do this??   It was pretty cool to climb and play on the ruins of the city.  The theater would have been 3 tier and  sat 7, 000 people.  Archeologists have determined that theaters in that time were designed to seat about 10% of the population. Scythopolis is a reminder to me to not stray and be enticed by the seductions of our culture.  God has defined what is right and wrong.  We are not judging others when we choose to be faithful. That is God's job.  Our job is to just be faithful.
Our last stop was on the Mount of Beatitudes by the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  We read Matthew 5 and discussed what it meant. Some suggested it was Christ offering comfort to those oppressed by Rome and we touched a bit on social justice.  I don't think social justice is wrong by any means and we certainly can use this to remind us to care for the poor,  but Mark and I shared how we were taught it was a building block of what Christians needed to become in order to be a follower of Christ. Each one of these "blessed" areas build off one another. They are to be found in those who give their life to Christ and then list the consequences that will come once you do.  (You don't sign a surgical waiver without knowing the risks and benefits of the surgery.)
Blessed are the poor in spirit (those who realize that sin has separated them from God)
Blessed are the those who mourn (those who are grieved by their depravity and repent to God),
Blessed are the meek (those who have self control and don't sin), Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for righteousness (those who want to draw closer to God and devote themselves to daily study and prayer),
Blessed are the merciful (being Jesus to the world),
Blessed are the pure in heart (being in the world but not of it), Blessed are the peacemakers (helping others come to God),
Blessed are the persecuted for righteousness sake. (if we implement all of these above statements we will be mocked and persecuted because that is how the world reacts to truth)
Rick Wenneborg you just taught a small class at the Sea of Galilee! I think maybe even a few to come because our instructor liked that thought.

Action, Solitude, and the World

If you are following me on Facebook you can see the pictures of our travels for the day.  I would say our focus for the day was on how the Jews had different sects of Judaism during the first century. 2 of them being near the Dead Sea and the other back in Jerusalem. First we went to Masada.  Masada is Herod's luxury fortress overlooking the Dead Sea.  It has a phenomenal view!   It became a hideout for Jewish zealots during the Jewish revolt against Rome in 66AD or around that time.  These zealots were able to live off of the ginormous amount of food and water storage that King Herod had at his palace.  The zealots thought if they lead their violent revolt that God would come in and win the battle.  Rome built a siege ramp to this huge fortress.  When the zealots realized that their fate was death or slavery by the Roman's they killed their families and then committed suicide.  Nearly a thousand died at Masada.
At Qumran we learned about the Yahad (which many think are the Essenes). The Yahad were a commune out in the wilderness that basically lived like monks but with families.  They had rigid "life style" rules to adhere to.  Their philosophy was that if they just removed themselves from the world and lived a pure life that God would fight the battle for them. They too were taken over by Romans.  They hid the Dead Sea scrolls to save them but they could not save themselves.
Back in Jerusalem you have the Sadducees who just try to adhere to the way Rome wants to govern them. They didn't think it is so bad because Rome offered many luxuries.  Surely God would understand.  They did not do well either.  The Romans completely destroyed the Temple and I am sure the priests too.
These 3 separate sects all had part of what God wants from his people but not all of it.  I do believe that God wants us to take action and defend His ways but not to the point of killing anyone who doesn't agree or convert to your way of thinking.  We need to be able to discern when to draw closer to God and let him guide us. Not isolate ourselves from the world.  It is hard to be in the world when our only interactions are with people in our christian community.  We ARE to have Christian community and fellowship but not at the expense of not sharing the gospel message.  We can't conform to ways that go against what God has already judged.  We are to be in the world but not of the world.  Ending our time in the Dead Sea today gave me time to ponder how we need to balance seeking God, taking action by sharing the Gospel with those we know, and not conforming to the ways of the world.  Balancing these 3 things is what Christ has called us to do.  I know that I need to keep myself in check. I think if I had to identify with one of these groups it would probably be the Essenes. I have a tendency to want to stay in my safe little Christian bubble.  Or maybe the Sadducees who enjoy the guilty pleasures that I know probably are not what I should be watching or doing.  This was a good reminder that behaving this way doesn't usually end well.  Be salt and light.

God still grants miracles!

Saturday, Oct 24th
This is the 3rd entry I've made today.  Our week has been so crammed and I have been fighting a sinus infection so I really haven't felt like doing much of anything when I get back to our room!  I am feeling much better today but yesterday was a rough day!  We started with a gorgeous hike in the Sorek valley. The academic lesson of this hike was to show us why an army wouldn't choose this valley to march across to the coast.  Let me just say...lesson learned!  It was a fun hike but it is not easy to get down the hillside.  If I had to describe the mountains in Israel (that we have seen so far) I would say they are maybe the height of the Appalachian's with the rockiness of the Rocky Mountains, then add a few million more rocks and maybe a couple million truck loads of stones and you would be close.  IT IS ALL ROCK!  It was a great hike but I was really starting to feel sick at the end of it.  My head was throbbing and I was just exhausted. I dragged myself on the bus and rested till the next stop.  We were headed to the Elah Valley to see where David and Goliath battled.  It was a different hill top than the last trip and had some great ruins on top. I was excited to see the different perspective. The only problem was it was about a mile and a half hike up a unshaded dusty road and it was 93 degrees outside. The bus driver refused to take us up the road so we had to hike the whole way.   I made it about a mile and then I felt like I was either going to have to stop or pass out.  I was so hot, exhausted, and light headed.  This was the hardest thing for me. I didn't want to disappoint Mark! We are on the trip of a lifetime and here I am sick and unable to finish the hike.  I insisted that Mark keep going and he did make it to the top!  Me and another couple decided to cram under the shade of a lonely tree on the side of the road. I did not conquer my Goliath =(  From there we went to Lachish for lunch.   After eating and taking some exedrin I was starting to feel better.  Mark and I quickly explored the ruins and got back on our air conditioned bus!  The last part of our day was in Ashkelon which is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.   Yeah for the beach! I was feeling so much better and we couldn't wait to get our feet in the sea! That never happened. I had just finished writing Mark and Tina 25 years in the sand and snapped the picture when I heard someone scream "Steve is being pulled out in a riptide!"  I look up and see our travel companion being sucked out into the Mediterranean.  The tide was strong and the waves were huge and Steve was getting smaller and smaller in the distance.  A younger guy from our group tried to get to him but the waves were too strong. Even the police and the others on the beach couldn't go out. We were helpless as we saw Steve waving his arms for help.  Mark looked at me and said I can't watch this! We both dropped to our knees in the sand and began to cry to God.  I mean literally crying and praying for 10-15 minutes. (although it felt like much longer) We didn't look up...we just pleaded for God to perform a miracle and bring Steve safely to shore.  We prayed for miraculous strength on his part to overcome the waves.  We didn't lift our heads till we heard cheering. I can not stress enough that this is a miracle.  We knew when we dropped to my knees that the only way this guy was coming out of the water was if God saved him or they found his floating body.   Steve made it half way back in and then one of our other guys and an Israeli could reach with a life preserver. They drug him in.  He was so exhausted that he couldn't walk and could hardly breath. They had to carry him to the ambulance.   God had answered our prayers!! I felt God was with us in that moment.   We are thankful for all of you who are praying for our safety and want you to know that God hears our prayer and He is still performing miracles!

Jordan, Jericho, and Joshua

Friday: Oct 23rd.
I am so excited to have been able to go the Jordan River! It was such a cool experience.  As our bus pulled up you can see Christian monasteries on both sides of the river.  Aubrey explained to us that the Jordan River separates the countries of Jordan and Israel.  We were at the lowest part of the Jordan so this was likely the place that Joshua would have used to cross over into the promise land.  It is also likely to be the place that John the Baptist would have brought people to be baptized.  So many thoughts are running through my mind as we discuss all these things. Looking at the Jordan River and imagining Jesus being baptized.  Why did Jesus need baptized?  He was without sin.  He was God in flesh, perfect in every way.   I don't think anyone really knows why it had to be done.  As we are watching people go into the Jordan and being baptized, being cleansed of their sin, their sin being left behind in the water, it reminded me of something I read or heard once. Maybe his baptism is symbolic.  Jesus who is without sin to lie in those waters that are full of sin.  The sin that was left behind by others now is all on Him. It is an interesting image.  Sitting on our Israeli side of the Jordan looking across the river we see a Jordanian group of Christians come to the river.  They start seeing Standing on the Promises of God.  I couldn't help but get teary eyed.  I thought this is what Heaven will be like.  Every tribe, every nation coming together to Praise God!  The rivers and oceans might separate us but Christ brings us together.  One LORD, one faith, one baptism.
We hopped on the bus and went to Jericho and shopped a bit.  We saw the wall that came tumbling down!  Every day we spend time talking about Joshua.  Mark and I have thanked God many times on this trip because we studied Joshua last year in our Wednesday night bible study!  We feel God used that study to prepare us for this trip.  Mark and I have felt that God has always gone before us.  Of course we also are thankful for Rick who leads us through the Old Testament every week.  Mark and I were able to view all the cities we discussed in class and the route that Joshua took when he marched through the land.  In our minds we had pictured a much larger distance but they are all so close to one another!  This is how these cities run along the hill side...Jerusalem then Gibeah of Saul, then Ramah, then Mizpah.  That would translate for us like this....Springfield, then Chatham then Auburn then Virden.   We ended Friday where Joshua ended in Gezer.  Joshua asked for the sun and moon to be still here and they did. God granted him a miracle to accomplish his will.  I believe God still grants miracles today.  We experienced one on Saturday.  I will explain in my next blog....stay tuned!

Away to a manger

Today is Sunday.  Our day of rest!  We are so thankful for it.  We have been going from sun up to sun down all week. JUC is such a great program.  It is an academia approach to viewing the Holy Land.  Our lessons are filled with biblical, cultural, and topography lessons.  I highly recommend the program for anyone who is interested in spending significant amount of time prepping for the tour with map work at home, who can handle long hikes on tough terrain, and long days.  It is worth all the energy exerted but it is not a "tour and shopping" trip!  We do get a couple of free days to shop and visit museums around Jerusalem and usually 15-20 minutes to shop when we are at locations outside the city.  Today is one of those days!  Mark has been informed we will need to convert a significant amount of money!

I am so behind on blogging.  Last time I came with Olivia it was a requirement for the course we took and so each night I would force myself to sit and type out what we had seen and what I thought about it all.  This time since it is not a requirement and I am with Mark, I seem to do this verbally at night and then we pass out from exhaustion!  So, what that means is I will be going through my photos and notes from several days.  Buckle up!  

I believe I left off with our New Testament day that ended at the Holy Sepulcher.  Our next day (Wed Oct 21st) started off with views of Jerusalem from Mt Scopus. This is located to the north and has lovely views of the beginning of the wilderness. In the distance we could see Anathoth the home of Jeremiah the prophet.  I have never really studied the prophets of the old testament much.  I know some key messianic verses but beyond that have never associated their message to Israel as a message to me.  I think I am very wrong.  The warnings that they give and the fact that Jesus refers to them in his teachings makes me think the old testament is a vital part of the new testament so much richer in meaning.  Just as the land here gives me visuals to help me understand the history I read about in the bible, so does the old testament give us visuals for the new testament.  

Our next stop was the Mount of Olives. The mount of Olives is actually a range of what we would classify has large hills.  There are 3 distinct ones from the view of the city.  One mount is covered with tombs and the other two were more olive tree groves.  They sit across the central valley from Jerusalem.  The Garden of Gethsemene is located on the second hill.  We read about Jesus crying out in prayer to his Father to take this cup away from him but that if not he would be faithful.  It always makes me emotional to think of that moment that he chose to give His life, His blood for mankind. For me. What a gift.  There are several churches on the Mt of Olives.  One is shaped like a tear drop to remember when Jesus wept for Jerusalem.  We went into the Church of all Nations that is located in the Garden of Gethsemane.  I love this church because there is silence.  You have an emotional experience based on quiet time with God. Based on reflection.  Not based on music, lights, or a praise team.  The church sets the mood to make it feel like it is night time in the garden.  No one speaks. We just walk around to different parts of the church that have art work on the walls and huge alabaster stained glass windows depicting crosses.  As you walk up the middle isle you come to an alter and huge rock protruding from the floor.  This is where Jesus cried out to his father.  It literally brought me to my knees.  I had to kneel and touch the ground and offer my thanksgiving and praise.  

Same day we drove to Herodium and looked at his magnificent palace. it is a cool place filled with tons of archeological information from the time of King Herod up to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.  We climbed in cisterns, tunnels, and around the palace.  It is huge!  We were able to see the shepherd fields from top and reflect on how the hillside developed the character of David as king. This area outside of Bethlehem would have been where he would have been tending sheep.  Protector, Leader, Warrior.  All are needed to survive in this land.   Next we went into Bethlehem.  We made a quick stop to the shepherd fields where the angels appeared to the shepherd (remembered as the place.  Hard to find any archeological evidence of angels appearing!)  A quick trip and we were at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.  There is documentation from 1st century that this is where Jesus was born.  This is huge!  There would have still been family in the area to confirm that yes, this is the place.  No one disputed it. We were able to go into the room and see the manger (which is made of stone and not wood)   It was a permanent fixture in the "storage room" of the house.  The animals would have been brought in when the weather was bad.  Since it is stone it would not have been moved in and out as it would have been way to heavy.  When Mary and Joseph came to stay with their relatives there was no room in the "guest room" (other relatives were already there)  so they put them in the room with the manger.  I love this thought more.  God didn't desert them and let them fend for themselves as the Savior of the world is being born.  He provided them with a house full of family support.  Joseph didn't cut the cord!   Every woman in the family and likely some neighbors as well were acting as midwives to make sure Mary and baby were taken care of.  That is the how it is still done today in some areas.  They value birth and life as a gift from God and would have surrounded them to help.  LOVE IT!  Think about it.  How did the shepherds find them.  They come into Bethlehem and ask one maybe two people. Everyone knows who had a baby because it is a community effort in those days.  I wish I could upload some pictures to go with my blog but unfortunately my computer isn't cooperating.  I am trying to put them on Facebook.  

OVERWHELMING (In a good way)

Tuesday afternoon was our first day out in the city and by the time we made it back to campus we had hiked over 7 miles!  You know as I type this 7 miles doesn't sound like much, but since it included about a billion stairs my body was pretty sore by the time I plopped onto our bed at 8pm!  We are having an amazing time!  We started off by  quickly walking through Old Jerusalem to not only orient ourselves with the maze but to take a look at Hezekiah's Wall (the Broad Wall) We were staring at a structure that is dated some 700 yrs BC! It is an amazing feat for Hezekiah's to enclose this part of the city and protect his people from Assyria.  The rest of the day was hiking down the Tyropoeon Valley to the City of David, walking through Hezekiah's tunnel,  and sitting on the stairs of the pool of Siloam. 

  My thoughts and emotions are all over the place.  Hezekiah save the day by protecting the city and its water supply.  

The "Large Stone" ruins which could have possibly been David's palace(as it is dated 10th century BC) and the Burnt house are evidence of the destruction brought about during the Babylonian invasion about 100 years later.  God used the Assyrians and the Babylonians to bring judgement to His unfaithful children.  God had given them the promise land and they had renewed their commitment to follow God in Joshua 24 and in verse 13 Joshua reminds them what God had promised them. " I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant."  Of course God's promise came with action on their part and when they had turned their back on God and His ways over and over again Zephaniah predicts that they are about to be evicted from the promise land.  

“On that day,” declares the Lord,

    “a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
    a loud crash from the hills.
¹¹ Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
    For all the traders^[c] are no more;
    all who weigh out silver are cut off.
¹² At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
    and I will punish the men
who are complacent,^[d]
    those who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good,
    nor will he do ill.’
¹³ Their goods shall be plundered,
    and their houses laid waste.
Though they build houses,
    they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards,
    they shall not drink wine from them.”

First thing I thought as we reflected on this is HOW COOL!  Our Wednesday night bible study had just finished Joshua.  God's Word is never studied in vain.  It also brought me fear to think of God's judgement and how he used other nations to bring it.  I felt an urgency for our nation.  We need a revival of faithful believers! We ended the day climbing back up to the Old City through an underground tunnel that was probably how sewage filtered down the hill under Herodian Road.  It was so stinkin' awesome! (pun intended) 

Today was FABULOUS!  We went to my favorite places.  The 1st century road, temple steps, and the Church of the Holy Seplecher.  Mark and I sat in awe as we thought about the fact that we are sitting where God in flesh walked and sat.  Where He emptied himself for mankind to save us.  To think that everyone in His time thought that God's presence was in the temple but He was standing right in front of them.  Fully God. Fully human.  Mark and I standing where the creator of all things once stood. There are no words to describe it. I am more emotional this trip.  Maybe because I'm not as worried about where we are going or getting separated from the group and just enjoying the moment.  Our time at the church left us astonished.  We touched the actual rock that Jesus was crucified on and saw the empty grave He left behind.  It is just the most magnificent experience!   We ended the day on the roof top of the upper room where Jesus ate his last supper and likely appeared to the apostles after his resurrection.  This is where the first church gathered, the day of pentecost occurred, and possibly the Jerusalem counsel met.  OVERWHELMING!!!  In a good way!  We are so blessed to be on this journey together.  I cherish the memories we are making!  I can't wait to come back with Otto ;-)