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!