"Even the darkness is not dark to You"

Sometimes He just reaches in, right to the heart of where we are, right into the depth of the darkness that surrounds us, and takes a hold of us. It's not when we expect it and maybe we don't even know the darkness is closing in, but He doesn't care. He sees the darkness but is not afraid. After all, He has already conquered it. He reaches right into it and pulls us out into the light.

"If I say 'surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You."

-Psalm 139:11-12

The key part of this is that He has overcome the darkness. Forever. It's finished. He gave everything to win back our hearts from the darkness of this world. He loves us that much. There was no way out for us, so He gave us one. The best one. The one thing that could ever bring us back into the beautiful light that is His love. He gave us Christ.

"In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."

-John 1:4-5

So why do we live in darkness when we have already been saved from it? Because we simply don't understand the extent to which He loves us! It's a whole heck of a lot, let me tell you. But even though we still turn away over and over and find ourselves in the darkness again and again, He continues to reach in, just like He did the first time, and pull us out. He never fails to be the light in the darkness. And when I say never, I really mean never.

High Five

So since I enjoyed writing this blog in Israel way more than I expected, I decided to keep updating it every once in a while with various thoughts and experiences! Some of you know that I spent 2 weeks in August at Rockbridge on young life summer staff. To avoid spending 10 hours writing about how great it was, I'll just leave you with this little nugget...

As a summer staffer assigned to the challenge course, one of the things we would do was belay kids on the "high five". Basically, the high five is a telephone pole that kids try to climb up and then jump off of. The goal is to jump out to a glove that's hanging in the air and high five it, hence the name. Sounds crazy, but it's actually pretty awesome. Some kids climb up like it's nobody's business without a care in the world, while other panic the whole way. One day I was belaying a girl that was really nervous about standing on the top of the pole. She climbed all the way up but just couldn't bring herself to let go of the steps and stand. So as an encouragement I said what I had said to so many kids before, "Go ahead and give it a try, whether you jump or fall, I've got you." In that instant, I couldn't help but think that that's exactly how God loves us. He calls us to go, do, serve, and stretch ourselves to the limit, knowing all the while that if we fall, He'll catch us. I couldn't tell this girl whether she would make it or not, and she was shaking like a bowl full of jello so she probably felt incredibly out of control of the the whole situation, but I just wanted her to try. And I knew I was going to catch her and she would be lowered safely to the ground. She had no idea what was going to happen, she just had to trust me.

God just wants us to be a part of the beautiful plan He has worked out for the world. he wants us to have great experiences, to live our lives like they were meant to be lived. He knows that He's going to catch us no matter what (and on that note, love us no matter what). When we trust that He's got us, our fears become obsolete. We can attempt anything, go anywhere, love anyone. We'll mess up for sure and we'll fall along the way but the beauty is that either way-jump or fall-the outcome is the same, He's got us. He's a God that loves us radically, calling us to go out and take risks for Him and rescuing us from how we screw it all up. Is that not awesome!? We go because of this love, this crazy love that is so freeing that we can't help but be compelled by it. We serve because we know He catches us every time and we just can't help but try to love Him back, as feeble our attempts might be. And meanwhile, like a belayer is ready for anything their climber does, God knows what we're going to do every step of the way and He is completely ready to catch us on the way down.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us."

1 John 4:18-19

The End

I leave JUC in about 3 hours, my sheruit picks me up at 6:45 to head to the airport for my 11:55 flight back to philly. So around 5 pm in the states I'll be leaving the place that was my home for the last three weeks. It's been an amazing trip, everyone should come to Israel at some point in their lifetime. I already miss all the people that are gone, I made some great friends here. Today has definitely been weird being on my own. I went out and did a little shopping for last minute gifts and got some snacks for the plane (the same biscuit things I raved about in my previous posts!). Do you remember that Full House episode where the 3 girls come home from camp and they are so sad to have left and they go back to return a rabbit that stowed away in the car? Well, they basically get there and it is really different than what they remember because everyone is gone. That's basically what it's been like today. And I am avoiding packing like it's the plague. Well now I'm down to 2 and a half hours til I leave and that includes dinner. So I should definitely go. Thanks to everyone that's been keeping up with my insane blog! Love you all! See you back in the states!

Jordan

Jordan was so great! We got back into Israel yesterday afternoon to a campus full of people we don't know. Everyone that didn't go to Jordan left while we were gone which is so weird and I miss them all already! But I leave today after dinner, so I guess I can survive til then. Here's all the stuff we did in Jordan!

Saturday 7/3:
Today was a long day. We were up at 6am on the bus, started crossing the border around 8, finished crossing around 10:30, then headed on to our destinations. After getting almost no sleep the night before, it was a rough day to say the least. Our first stop was at Jerash, one of the
Decapolis cities back in the day. It was huge and there was tons of awesome sites to see.

Then we trekked over to the Jabbock River at a point that overlooked part of it. This was absolutely stunning! Here we read about Jacob wrestling with God. It would have been somewhere down by this river where Jacob spent the night alone on his way to meet his brother Esau, hoping to be received well. It was amazing to see the very place that this happened and to talk about all that it meant. Being there really makes it come alive.

From here we headed to Dibon, which was the capital of Moab and where the remains of King Mesha's palace are. After a long day we finally made it down to the hotel in Petra where we stayed for the night. I don't think I have ever anticipated sleep quite as much as I did tonight.

Sunday 7/4:

Today began with an awesome breakfast at our hotel before we went over to Petra and spent the whole morning being amazed by the city. Petra is seriously something everyone should see at some point in their lifetime. It is massive and absolutely amazing that all of these remains are still preserved. You can really feel what it would have been like when the wealthy Nabateans lived here. We walked a full 6 miles around Petra, including a long hike up and down a mountain to overlook the city from the "high place". We took a camel ride back to the treasury and then walked out of the city in the heat of the day. By the way, riding a camel is just as awesome as it sounds :)

We headed over to lunch from here (which was excellent!) and then went to overlook the Wadi Dana. Here we read about Moab's revolt against Israel (2 Kings 3). It is in this dry desert wadi that the Kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom would have been when the Lord sent them water. The King of Moab looked down in the morning and saw the red of the sunrise reflecting off of the water, assumed it was blood, and thought the Kings had killed each other. They approached the camps and, to their surprise, the armies rose up and overtook Moab. It was here that God provided for his people and delivered Israel once again, both from thirst and from war.

After this, we went over to Bozrah, the capital of Edom, which is basically a pile of rocks. However, it's a really really cool pile of rocks. We read a ton of scripture that really made us understand the city that once stood here and the people that inhabited it. We read the book of Obadiah, which is entirely about the people of Edom. This gave us so much insight as to who these people were, what they did, and what they were all about. At the end of the day we made our way up to Amman where we stayed at a pretty snazzy hotel and yet another awesome meal and called it a day.

Monday 7/5:
On our last day in Jordan we began at the historic site of Rabah, the ancient capital of Amon. We looked around the archeological museum there where we got to see some of the Dead Sea Scrolls (as well as some of the copper scrolls) and a skull with bore holes in it (apparently the Ammonites attempted brain surgery) along with other cool stuff. Then we headed over to Medeba where we saw the church with the ancient mosaic map of the land and ate our last amazing Jordanian meal.

The best part of today though was our final stop on Mt. Nebo. This is the last place Moses stood, as he looked out over the promised land before he died. We read Deuteronomy 34 as we looked out over Israel, as Moses would have. It was incredible to stand there thinking about how Moses was looking out over a hazy land, not knowing what awaited his people, but with a sense of joy that he was seeing with his own eyes all that God would give them. Paul (the leader of the trip and director of the school) talked about how we are all headed off to different places and we are all at points of our life that still hold uncertainty. But as Moses looked out on the barren land with confidence of God's goodness, so we should trust that God is good and he is leading us to our promised land. With a whole life ahead of me (of which I have no idea what's coming) it gives me such peace to know that I simply don't need to know what the future holds; God is leading me and He is good. Wherever I end up is where He wants me and there is nothing I can do to change it or mess it up, which is incredible! He guides us through the desert and brings us to the promised land and there is no sense in worrying about what is to come.

From Mt. Nebo we went over to the border and crossed back into Israel to end our trip to Jordan. It was an awesome time with great people and some amazing insight into the land of the Transjordan, which is so greatly intertwined into the Old Testament.

Goodbyes and Farewells

Today we had our final and our last moments together. Tomorrow I leave with a different group of people from the college to go on a trip to Jordan for 3 days, so you won't here from me til Monday. It has been so so sad saying goodbye to so many people that have become such dear friends over these three weeks. I spent the afternoon with Stacey (my roomie and good good friend here) doing a little shopping and getting shwarmas for dinner. The we had an awesome time at a little cafe with a huge group of people for one last hurrah before we part ways. After we left, no one wanted to leave so we just walked around the city a little bit, taking pictures and simply enjoying each others company. So since it's midnight here, and I have to be on a bus in 6 hours, I'm going to call it a night. Please pray for our safety in Jordan (which shouldn't be a problem whatsoever so don't freak out), a good time of fellowship with this new group of people, and for God to use this trip to show His glory to all of us. Shalom til next time!

Last Field Trip

So today we got on the bus for the last time as a big group. We headed over to Samaria and made our first stop at Mount Gerizim and overlooked modern day Shechem. We overlooked the area and then headed down to a museum about the Samaritans. One of the priests talked to us for a bit about the Samaritan people and many of their traditions and beliefs. Then he proceeded to tell us about how the Smaritans use facebook, which we pretty comical if I do say so myself. Then we went over to Shiloh and spent some time looking around at the place where the Tabernacle would have been. This is the town Samuel lived in for a good part of his life. I got to talking with another woman about the Tabernacle and how it was essentially a movable temple, before the real temple could be built in Jerusalem. This is where God dwelt among His people. It's interesting to follow the idea of the temple throughout the bible. It starts as the Tabernacle, then eventually a real temple is built in Jerusalem, but then when Jesus comes He dwells among us (as it says in John 1) and esentially is the temple Himself, God dwelling with His people. Then, with the Holy Spirit in us, we become temple to God ourselves! It's so awesome to see this run throughout the entire Bible. Our God clearly is a personal God who desires to be with His people.

After this, a few of us went to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum here in Jerusalem. I cannot even begin to tell you how intense this was and how much was going through my mind but I will leave you with this: after seeing something like this, one cannot have any argument that there is not evil in the world. Our world is broken, with people killing other people and filling hearts with hatred. Praise God for those that made it through and for those that took a stand against it. As Christians, we are called to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. We need to know what's going on in the world so that somehting this horrific NEVER happens again. The God we serve weeps for these people, for the hatred that occurs in our world, for the injustice that occurs everyday. May His kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

On a happier note, we ended the day with a beautiful time of worship in the garden at JUC. It was awesome to just stand here with people I have gotten to know and simply be before the Lord, worshipping as we are called to worship, with no shame or distractions. It was so pure and so wonderful, just to be there before God, as if I were completely alone, simply in His presence. These people are so wonderful and I feel like I have made so good friends here, I shall surely be sad to leave them.

Waves and Stars

We're finally back from our four-day trip in the Galilee area and let me just say, Galilee is so beautiful! I apologize in advance for the massively long post that's about to come your way...

Sunday 6/27:
Today was the beginning of our Galilee trip. We started out at Caesarea, right on the Mediterranean. It is truly amazing, all the place Herod built. Caesarea is yet another huge masterpiece constructed by him during his reign as King. Caesarea is where Paul was imprisoned and eventually appealed to Caesar for his release. We read this passage while at Caesarea and took time to think about all that Paul went through and the extreme faith it took him to get through it all. It's incredible that after Paul was unjustly imprisoned for two years, he was still able to testify in Rome. I think we are so quick to doubt God's goodness in times of trouble, but the reality is that God is always good, no matter how hard things get. It's simply that when we're in the midst of the storm, we can't see the good that God will bring from it. This is where we are called to cling to the truth that God is good, and Paul very clearly understood this. He was so sure of God's goodness that he was able to stay strong through his hard life. How much different we wound be if we truly believed that God is good!

From Caesarea we moved on to Mount Carmel, where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. Here onh Mount Carmel, Elijah asked the people to choose who their God was, instead of shallowly wavering between two. He goes on the challenge them by building an alter and having them do the same. Then, both Elijah and the prophets of Baal called on their respective God to set fire to their alter. Nothing happens to the alter of Baal, but Elijah's alter to God bursts into flames which proclaims God's glory. (this is all in 1 Kings 18) A woman on our trip, Bev, talked about how we are presented with Elijah's question every day. "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him." Do we choose God, or do we choose to follow our own ambitions and successes? God calls us to give up everything, our vaery selves, to follow Him completely. How often do we only give up half? How long will we waver between two opinions?

After this we stopped at a rolling tomb that looked similar to what Jesus' tomb would have looked like. Then we went on to Megiddo, where the final battle will take place at the end of days. For this trip we are staying at a hotel resort type place run by a kibbutz right on the Sea of Galilee. It is so amazing here! We went for a swim in the lake before dinner, ate AMAZING food, and watched the sunset over the lake. It's definitely different than what we are used to in Jerusalem!



Monday 6/28:
We started off today at Hazor, then stopped at Bar'am on our way to Tel Dan. Dan is mentioned numerous times in the Bible and is home to the Canaanite "Gate of the Three Arches" which is remarkably still intact, preserving it's full height of 7 meters. We moved on from Dan to Caesarea Philipi (Banias). Here we took a hike to some beautiful waterfalls where we got to relax a bit and take tons of pictures. Once back at the hotel, we went for a refreshing swim in the Sea of Galilee before eating another fantastic dinner.

In the evening I just spent time sitting on the beach watching the sunset and, eventually, watching the stars. The Sea of Galilee is basically gorgeous all the time. It was amazing to look across the lake at the huge city of Tiberias all lit up, but to be sitting alone on a quiet beach. I got to thinking about how huge the world really is and how small we each are. But the beauty is that even when we are in the midst of thousands of people and we seem so small and insignificant, God sees us just as clearly as if we were sitting alo0ne on a quiet beach. Out God is a personal God that knows us and loves us all so deeply. I am not simply part of the masses, I am this precious child that God knows and loves. (ps, psalm 139 is all about this...)

And this idea of being God's child is awesome in itself. A child is fully reliant on it's parents for everything. It doesn't know anything about the world and it doesn't have a clue what to expect. It simply grows up unknowing of all it is learning and all it is being prepared for. Yet it is constantly growing and being made ready to face the world. As God's children, we aren't supposed to know everything or be able to figure it all out, we are asked to simply follow and trust that God is preparing us for what is to come. How much rest this gives us! Children don't worry about their future and what steps to take next, they just go where their parents take them, and trust it is the right way to go. What a great relief it is to stop worrying and just follow!

Our God is so amazing! With faith like a child we can follow a beautifully good God that loves us and we can be certain that He is leading us, teaching us, and growing us every second of every day.















Tuesday 6/29:
Today we visited a bunch of churches that have biblical significance. First was Kursi, which commemorates the place where Jesus healed the demoniac, sending the demons into the swine that then ran into the sea. Then we went to Korazim, which isn't a church, but contains some amazing ruins of a synagogue built in the centuries after Christ. From here we went to the Church of the Beatitudes, where Jesus preached these words. We took some time here to read the passage and process it a bit before moving on to the Church of Heptapegon. This is where Jesus fed the 5000 with the bread and fish. Soon after, we went to the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, which commemorates when Jesus appeared to Peter after His resurrection. Our final stop was at Capernaum, where Peter lived and where Jesus spent a lot of His adult life. Jesus performed many miracles here, including healing the paralytic.


We ended the trip with a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee from Tiberias over to the other side where we have been staying. It was awesome to see how big the lake actually is and get a feel for what it is like out there. At one point we stopped the boat and got to experience how still and calm it was on the lake. It was so quiet, it gives an amazing picture of what it would have been like after Jesus calmed the storm.



We finished the day with yet another phenomenal dinner and a great time swimming and goofing off (which included a chicken fight and an epic game of nighttime monkey in the middle). Our stay at Galilee has been incredible! I can honestly say this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.

Wednesday 6/30:
Today we packed up to go back to Jerusalem. We began the journey with a walk up to the Arbel Cliffs to overlook the Sea of Galilee (picture to the left). Then we moved on to Zippori, which was a major Jewish center following the destruction of the second temple. Along with some ruins, there is some incredible tile work that has been preserved here at Zippori which really shows the souls of the people that lived here long ago. Our final stop before our long drive home was at Beth Shean. I'll admit that I wasn't too excited due to the heat and the numerous other cities we have seen already, however, the city turned out to be very cool. It was huge and the structures would have been so remarkable back in their prime. It would have been a major hub of commotion as it sits right at a major crossroads (picture below).















After we got back, we topped off the day with an adventure to the German Colony in Jerusalem, which is basically just a hip area with restaurants and shops and whatnot. It was a nice walk despite the roundabout way we took to get there (which probably added a solid hour to our trip). All in all, today was long and tiring, but it feels good to be back at JUC. The trip as a whole was absolutely amazing and filled with so much incredible stuff.

Food and Friends

After an exam, a lecture, and a meeting, we had a wonderful evening in the Old City. A bunch of us went into the city to go to dinner at a rooftop restaurant, which ended up being closed. But nevertheless, we ended up at a great little restaurant and enjoyed some excellent food and had a great time hanging out! Then we ventured over to a place to watch the USA/Ghana game which was a lot of fun. It's so hilarious when a goal is scored and everyone in the place goes insane.

We are off tomorrow on our second overnight trip to Galilee, where we will be staying right on the Sea of Galilee, which is supposed to be gorgeous! That said, you won't being hearing from me again until Wednesday when we get back. Love you all!

Free Day 2

So for our second free day, our first day in a long time to sleep in, we made the insane decision to wake up super early (4:45 am) and watch the sunrise over the Temple Mount and the Mount of Olives. While we were really tired, it was SO worth it. The view was gorgeous and we had such a wonderful moment of reading a few Psalms together and enjoying God's beautiful creation. We got some fresh baked bread on our way back to the school, made it back in time for breakfast, almost fell asleep in our food (which we didn't eat most of because we had eaten so much bread), and took a nap. When we awoke at a more decent hour, we made our way into the old city to do a little shopping. We finally met Shaban, the nicest shopkeeper ever, who is good friends with many of the people here at the college. It's such a busy city with the small streets and the hustle and bustle of shopkeepers and customers.

This evening, the director of the school and his wife had our class up to their flat for dessert and tea. It was so cool to hear all about how God had led them here to Jerusalem in such a unique way and has worked in their lives in some very amazing ways. They are such sweet people, and they can sure make some excellent cookies!

Southern Israel

For the last three days we were on our first overnight trip, seeing the southern parts of the country. We saw so many amazing places, so I'll try to stick to the abridged version...

Tuesday 6/22:
We stood today in the Elah Valley, where David fought and conquered Goliath. We reenacted the event with a skit and then moved on to Tel Azekah, where we overlooked the whole valley from above. It is amazing to me that, as young as he is, David still has no hesitation to go and show the people what God can do through him. He gives the glory to God and and does not fear. He declares that God will deliver him with certainty. Nothing, and no one, can defeat God. Being led by the Spirit, David defeats Goliath in the name of the Lord. Why is it so rare to see this sort of faith today? God can use us to do great things and we should be confident and certain of that fact! It was awesome to be where this happened, where the young David defeated the Philistine hero with the Spirit's guidance. All odds were against him, except the one that mattered--He was working for the Lord.

Today we also went to Bet Guvrin (aka Maresha) where there are huge caves that date back to the Byzantine period. During the Roman persecution of Christians, it is said that many of them were exiled here to these caves to live the rest of their lives here. After a stop at Lachish, we made our way to Ashkelon, where we spent the afternoon swimming in the Mediterranean. It was awesome to just relax and hang out for a bit after being out in the heat (which was brutal). After swimming we went up to some ruins from the Canaanites, where we saw the first arch ever built and got to lookout from a high point over the Mediteranean. It was so beautiful! (see the video below!)

We finally made it to our home for the next two nights: a youth hostel in Arad. To our surprise, the dinner at the hostel was SO good! They served us some very traditional food, and SO much of it! It was definitely an excellenet end to a long day. We eventually went out to a local spot to watch the Argentina/Greece World Cup game, which was a lot of fun.


Wednesday 6/23:
Today we focused on studying different areas of the Negev (which, by the way, means "dry" and "south") Our first stop today was the ancient city of Arad. This was actually so cool. It is the ruins of an Israelite citadel, which had a temple in it. It was actually fascinating to talk about the implications of the Holy of Holies (the inner most part of the temple where God was said to dwell) at this particular temple because there were 2 alters, rather than the one you would expect in a temple of God. Archaeologists have also found tons of small statues of what seems to be a form of an idol from another religion. While this could be frustrating, it is actually very cool because this temple would have existed during the time of the prophets that were condemning Israel for adopting pagan ways and being influenced by secular religions. So these sorts of discoveries actually strengthen the accounts we read about in the Bible. It's so crazy that all of these places that have been found and excavated align beautifully to what we read. They make the text come alive because these places actually exist and significant things so clearly happened here. And, by the way, archaeologists haven't found any evidence of idols from the time of the exile or beyond, which eludes to a huge change in the ways and hearts of the Israelite people. It is amazing how God's glorious works can be preserved by things and places like this. These places aren't just piles of ruins and rubble, but they reveal God's glorious unfolding plan for His world and His people.

After Arad we moved on to Beersheba where we talked a little bit about the time of the judges, and Samuel's sons who were judging Beersheba very poorly, which prompted the people of Israel to ask Samuel to appoint their first king, which ended up being Saul. Next we took a hike up the canyon of Wadi Zin, which is in the Wilderness of Zin. This is where the Israelites wandered for 40 years, receiving manna from heaven to sustain them. It talks about how the people complained in the desert, and let me tell you, I can understand. Just being there for an hour was rough because of the intense dry heat. However, its was gorgeous in the canyon and it felt like quite an accomplishment when we got to the top (picture below, yay!). Then we trekked over to Avdat, where there are ruins of a Navitean city. These people were pagans that converted to Christianity and built churchs right on top of their pagan temples. We saw where their sanctuary type room would have been as well as a baptismal fount.

We made our way back to Arad where we had another great dinner and then some awesome conversation between a few of us girls in the part right across from the hostel (and we found swings!). Then we topped off the day with a card game and some gross cheetos (they were peanut flavored, do you know how weird it is to taste peanuts when you think it's going to be cheese?) and went off to bed.














We climbed all the way up this crazy thing!

Thursday 6/24:
Today was our Dead Sea field trip! We spent all morning at Masada, which is beyond amazing. Masada is one of the fortress' Herod built in case his people tried to rise up against him. The fortress is right on the dead sea, with a beautiful view from the top. You can still see a lot of the original structures, including the siege ramp used by the Romans when they attacked the Zealots that took over Masada after Herod's death. You can even see the places where the Roman camps were located around the base of the mountain. Herod was no minimalist, that is for sure. the buildings are large and elaborate, with detailed architecture, painting, and tile mosaics. Architects today still can't figure out how he built some of the things he built. His palace would have been absolutely stunning, with the most amazing view over the Dead Sea looking across at the mountains of Moab. He had three levels to his palace with large patios that look out over the land, which you can see there today. The craziest part was climbing down. The climb up was on the side by the seige ramp, which is 300 ft from the base to the top, so it wasn't too terrible. The way down on the other side, however, is a solid 1300 ft from base to top. To walk it you take the "snake path" which is exactly what it sounds like. It winds all the way down the side of Masada (picture below). Now, going down doesn't seem like it would be hard, but let me tell you, it was brutal. It definitely felt like quite the accomplishment!

After Masada, we moved on to En Gedi, one of David's stops during his flight from Saul, where he may have composed a good number of the Psalms. Here we actually got to swim in the Dead Sea for a bit (the 2nd picture below)! At 25-30% salinity (salt content), they aren't kidding when they say you bob liek a cork. It takes work NOT to float and every single tiny open wound an your body stings like crazy. It was so cool though!

Our last stop was Qumran before we made our way back to Jerusalem. This is where they found the Dead Sea scrolls, which are the earliest copies of the New Testament books we have (except Esther, they didn't find any copies of that). It was so cool to walk around here and see some of the caves where the pieces were found.

Once back in Jerusalem, and still so tired from the last few days, we made a grocery store run for snacks. This turned out to be the most entertaining grocery store experience ever and we discovered these weird biscuit thingys that the cashier said were "the best thing ever" that are now my new favorite thing. He was so right. So all in all it was a great few days! Now it's time to study for the exam tomorrow!















The side of Masada we walked down, it's ways taller than it looks.















floating in the Dead Sea

Video from Herodian

I've been trying to post this video for days...it goes with the post above about Herodium!

Exam day number 1

This morning was another free morning, with our exam and a lecture in the afternoon. I finally got to sleep in a bit which was so excellent! It was great having a break from waking up at 630, as we have been almost the whole time. The exam wasn't too bad at all, a bit tricky, but not bad. It was a nice day just to hang around campus doing a little studying and taking it easy. We didn't even leave campus til 7 pm! We've been out and about every day so far and we are exhausted by days end, so it was refreshing to not have a schedule and just hang out. A few of us girls walked into West Jerusalem to a little coffee shop and had some snacks and whatnot for a bit which was so nice. The we came back and topped that off with an awesome game of cards out on the patio at the school. It was a very pleasant day if I do say so myself!

Tomorrow we are off on our first overnight trip, down to the Negev (the southern area of Israel). I don't now how much internet access I will have (probably none at all) but I promise to update you all when we get back to Jerusalem on Thursday night! A little preview though: I am pretty sure we get to swim in the Mediterranean tomorrow, and the Dead Sea on Thursday :)

Free Day!

Today we had a free day with no classes and the freedom to do whatever we wanted! It was awesome to just get to relax without and schedule and wander around as we pleased. In the morning a bunch of us went to Christ Church, just inside Jaffa Gate in the Old City. It was so cool. It was all in English, some of it was more traditional while some of it was very contemporary, and I'm pretty sure the pastors were Americans or Canadians because they didn't have an accent at all. It was really cool though singing worship songs in both English and Hebrew.

Then we trekked into the Jewish Quarter to have some authentic falafel, which, let me tell you, is no joke. Seriously. It's legit :)

We spent the afternoon wandering the Old City learning to barter with shopkeepers and buying fun things for family and friends (and ourselves...). We eventually headed back to campus to do a little studying (exam tomorrow...) and eat some dinner. Then we went back into the Old City to watch the Brazil/Ivory Coast soccer game which was so so fun. I don't even follow soccer, but it was a great game to watch and we had such a great time just sitting around eating and drinking coffee and hanging out.

Now it's time for sleep. Breakfast at 7am, then we have a free morning which basically translates to studying until our exam at 1.

The Lord Loves His Broken People

Today we saw the the Old Testament tell of Jericho (which is basically a place where city upon city has been built on top of each other for generations and formed a large hill). The site itself is a big hill that they have excavated to reveal some parts of the city. It is amazing how you can see right to the place where the Israelite camp would have been prior to the fall of Jericho, the people of the city would have been very aware of the Israelite army's approach (Joshua 2-6). But Joshua trusted the Lord, who promised him the he would give Jericho to them. It is fascinating that God chose to use Rahab to help his people. She was a prostitute in Jericho that hid the two Israelite spies so that the army could take the city. She then instructed them to go hide themselves in the hills for a few days to stay safe. The spies promised Rahab that her and her family would be safe and treated kindly when the Israelite army finally took control. After the 7 days of marching around the city, the walls finally fell and the Israelites rushed the city, killing everyone but keeping the promise made to Rahab. She stayed with the Israelites from then on. This is such an amazing example of how God uses the unexpected to do His work. He used this woman to protect His people and assured that she would become one of them in the end. Isn't this how God uses us? Before we even knew it and acknowledged God's work, He was preparing us and using us to bring about His will. There is never a moment where we are not guided by Him and not being used for His glory, whether we know it or not. He chooses to use His broken people to do incredible things. Rahabs life was changed forever because of how the Lord chose her to do His work. How are we being changed everyday?

Zacchaeus is another person drastically changed by God in Jericho, except this time, the Lord used Jesus to bring about the change (this would be in New Testament Jericho, where we had gone before Old testament Jericho and seen the remains of Herod's royal palace). Zacchaeus, a short man, climbed a sychamore tree so that he could see Jesus walking through Jericho. Then, for no explained reason, Jesus comes to the base of the tree and asks Zacchaeus to come down so that He could eat with him. This was unheard of because Zacchaeus was a tax collector, and was thus a sinner and declared unworthy to be in Jesus' prescence. This show of love towards Zacchaeus, dispite his position in the community, radically changes him, and his response is amazing. We see him immediately change his ways by giving half of everything He owned to the poor and paying back 4 times everything he had cheated from people. What a change! He is immediately a different person; he was once a theif and now he is a "son of Abraham" as Jesus declared (in Luke 19). And through this whole event, even as he was looking at Jesus from afar, God is using Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus had no idea that he was being used as an example of God's love that knows no boundaries and has no prejudices. He was likely one of the lowest people in that place at this time and yet he was chosen by God to show the people how radical love can change a person so drastically.

The place of Jericho is an amazing place to study how the Lord works in ways so opposite of how our world thinks. He is unique in all that He does and the results are unimaginable. Being in this place, knowing all the things that happened here, was awesome. We went to a few other sites too: an old crusader church that is now a mosque which overlooked Gibeon, the Michmash and Geba and the pass between where Jonathan moved his troops, the edge of the wilderness where Jesus would have wandered (which is a dessert, not the wilderness with dense forest like we would easily think), and Gezer. Overall, it was a good day studying the Benjamin area, even though it was brutally hot and exhausting.

Tomorrow we have a free day! I think we plan to explore the old city, do some shopping, and fianlly get some good authentic falafel!

"...But Our Eyes are Upon You"

This is the end of Jehoshaphat's cry to God after he was told the Edomites were on their towards Jerusalem, ready for battle. It is so amazing that his first reaction is to "inquire of the Lord". He faith and trust in the Lord's sovereignty was truly amazing here. The Lord the responds to his cry through Jahaziel, by sending his spirit down to speak through him. The Lord assures Jehoshaphat of His control, "For the battle is not yours, but God's", says Jahaziel. After the Lord tells him the they will not have to fight this battle, Jehoshapaht appoints people to go out ahead of the army singing and praising God for what He would soon do. The crazy part is that he didn't wait for it to happen to praise God, he praised him right then and there. He was THAT certain that God's word to him was faithful, that God would definitely keep them safe that day. So the promise of it happening was as good as it actually happening! In 2 Chronicles 20:30, it then says, "and the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for his God had given him rest on every side."

Why do we not have this peace? This feeling of certainty that God's promises will be fulfilled? What reason have we to doubt? If this king could be so sure of God's faithfulness, what is it that we are missing?

Standing on top of Herodium today (King Herod's mountain fortress), our professor shared this story with us. The battle described in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30 happened right at the place where Herodium stands today. Now this is interesting, right where this incredible display of God's love and faithfulness occured, Herod built a huge complex fortress he could escape to if anyone ever tried to rise up and overthrow him. See, Herod seemed to have lived his life in fear, without rest and peace from the things that could ruin him and take away everything he had lived his life for. But he also was the one that began the building of the Second Temple, which shows an obvious care for the God he worshipped and served. One can only wonder if he chose the site for Herodium because of the great faithfulness and love that had occered there years and years before while King Jehoshaphat reigned. Could it have been not only a place for physical refuge, but spiritual as well?

The things that happened all over this land are amazing. They weave together so beautifully that you can't possibly take it all in at once. In addition to Herodium, we also saw sites on the Mount of Olives: The Church of the Ascension, the Jewish cemetary, the church where Jesus wept for Jerusalem, Gethsemane, and the Chruch of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Gethsaemane was so awesome, the olive orchard doesn't contain any of the original trees dating back to Jesus' time, but it is one the site where the orchard that he prayed in definitely would have been. The Orchard itself is beautiful, with the Church of All Nations right next to it, commemorating Jesus' time in the garden before his arrest. It was also cool to be in Bethlehem, however I find it sad that some of the the most amazing places have had churches built on top of and around them, like Jesus' birthplace here in Bethlehem (and also calvary, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, is like this). It is very hard to wrap your head around what happened there when it looks nothing like it would have looked back when the events actually happened. I am learning so much that the reality of a place and knowing the history and significance behind it gives it so much more meaning. Knowing the details adds a certain amount of solidity that leads to a deeper understanding of what actually happened. Nevertheless, this place is amazing and it never ceases to amaze me.

We topped off the day with a visit to the Western Wall around sundown, since today begins Shabbot. That was amazing. There were so many people just singing joyful songs and praising the Lord in prayer and laughter that you couldn't stand there with out being awestruck. Even not being Jewish doesn't take away from how awesome this was. The people here were praising God with all their might, you could see it everywhere. It was simply beautiful.

Jehoshaphat's army praised God by singing, "Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever", as they rode out to meet their enemies, with great faith that they wouldn't have to fight. When they finally came to the place where their enemies were, every single one of the opposing army was dead, God had sent other forces to attack before Jehoshaphat and his men could reach them. God fulfilled His promise, kept His word, and protected His people. He is faithful, He is good, His love endures forever and some of His greatest promises have already been fulfilled!

So tomorrow we start day one of our Benajmin field study which takes us to major sites in the area of tribe of Benjamin, one of them being Jericho! All I can think of is the veggie tales version where the peas throw purple slushies at the Israelites as they march. I should probably get this out of my head before tomorrow...

and also i think we get to ride a camel :)

Where it all Happened

Today was our New Testament walk in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. We walked SO much today and it was so hot out, but it was still so awesome. We started out walking through the area where the Upper Room where the Last Supper and Pentecost happened. The house itself doesn't exist anymore, but they rebuilt where it would have been located. Then we moved on to the Temple Mount. We entered on the western side, by the Western Wall. The bottom portion of the walls are still the original stone that was built by Herod the Great and there are still remnants of the original structure which is so cool. Inside the wall there is a lot of empty space and a mosque and the Dome of the Rock, where the Temple used to stand. This is the place where Jesus turned over the tables of the money changers. The coolest part is that in the original structure this event would have happened in the first "layer" of the Temple Mount, called the Court of Gentiles. The Gentiles were allowed to go no further than this area into the Temple. So by turning over the tables Jesus was not only making a statement about keeping the Temple area holy, but also that the gentile area WAS supposed to be holy. This was a radical statement from Jesus about how the gentiles should also worship in a holy place. So crazy!

Then we went down to the Western Wall. There was actually a Bar Mitzvah going on so it was really cool to hear them singing and chanting and everything! Then we went and saw the archeological site where they found the Herodian Mansion that could potentially be the house of Caiaphas, where the Pharisees ploted to kill Jesus, where Jesus was questioned and beaten, and where Peter denies Jesus. This mansion fits the description in scripture and is in the area close to the Temple Mount, where the priests would have lived. We made our way around to the south side of the Temple Mount wall, where one of the major entrances to the Temple would have been in Jesus' time. There are still a few of the pieces of stone in the walkway that would have been there in Jesus' time, so it's almost certain He would've walked there. We moved around to eastern side of the Temple Mount wall, to see the Muslim Cemetary, the tombs of the priests, and the Golden Gate. In the distance we could see the Mount of Olives, where Jesus prayed in Gethsemane and was arrested. There is also the church commemorating when Jesus wept. We ended at the Pools of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the man who had been an invalid for 30 years in John 5. The best part about this is that there are ruins of a church that was built right on top of the pools which helps to authenticate the pools themselves. People go to worship at places of significance, so the fact that people wanted to worship here at these pools makes it almost certain that this is exactly where that healing happened!

This is the same situation for the hill of Calvary, which we visited at the Church of the Holy Sepulchr after dinner this evening. This is the place where the hill of Calvary is preserved and Jesus' tomb is believed to stand. The church is a very ornamental Greek Orthodox church that was built around these sites to keep Calvary and the tomb safe. It is definately not what you would expect to see, since it looks nothing at all like it would have looked when the Crucifixion actually happened. And trust me, it is crazy to know you are standing on the place where Jesus was crucified, however I think the church really showed me how much I don't need objects and places to feel close to God. It was awesome to see it, don't get me wrong, and it's so cool to learn he history behind it, but it was hard for me to feel any spiritual connection there. In a sense though God was speaking through that, showing me that I simply need nothing but Him.

It definitely is very cool to see so many different types of Christians worshiping God in different ways here in the city of Jerusalem though. Just because it wasn't for me, doesn't mean these people are worshiping with a true and deep faith, which they cleary are if you simply watch them for 3 seconds. Though we may all be different, it all breaks down to the same roots, which seem to have began here at Calvary.

It was a very long day packed with so many sites that held so much significance. To be in these places that Jesus walked and preached and led His people is amazing. It makes it real and tangible to be literally walking in His footsteps over 2000 years later, knowing how different the world is because of Him.

Here's a picture of of the west side of the Temple Mount. The Western Wall is past the covered ramp walkway in the middle. And that's obviously the Dome of the Rock up there. The stones jutting out from the wall all the way to the right is the remnants of one of the main entrances to the Temple Mount that would have been intact in Jesus' day. It was a large staircase supported by arches leading up to the Temple Mount.

As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem...

...so the Lord surrounds His people. I'll confess, I have never been a person who loves poetry, but more and more I see how the Psalms give us a beautiful impression of God, through others that came before us. We see how these people had joy, peace, love, and awe for the Lord in the midst of great prosperity and blessing, but also during the trials and tribulations that life gives us. Psalm 125, from which the above quote comes, is an amazing declaration of the love and power God has for His people. As we stood today right outside the walls of the Old City, in the City of David (which is the place where Jerusalem was located in the time that David reigned and many years after), we looked around at all the hills surrounding the place where the city would have been when this Psalm was written. The hills are literally a huge natural barrier of protection around Jerusalem, the city God's people. The people of Jerusalem would be able to see anyone coming towards the city as they entered the valleys at the bottom, giving them an enormous upper hand of defense. God's power comes to life when you see these mountains. According to this Psalmist, the Lord surrounds His people like these hills, with power, might, and majesty. How can we ever be fearful or insecure when we hear this!? The first line of the Psalm reads, "those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever". I'm living on Mount Zion and I promise, it definitely doesn't move. Mountains cannot be moved, as God cannot be moved, and He is surrounding His people.

We also got to walk through Hezekiah's Tunnel. This tunnel was built by King Hezekiah during his reign which began around 715 BC. The tunnel was built so that in the occurrence of an attack on Jerusalem, the city would still have a source of water to sustain it's people. Hezekiah did an impressive job of keeping this water a secret by builging a wall arounf the spring itself, then digging a long tunnel to route the water into the city. It took about 30 minutes or so to walk this dark tunnel that was about 2 feet wide and ranged from just about 5 feet to areas where the top was way above us. There was water up to about mid-calf the whole time, and at one point it came all the way up to our hips, which I must say we appreciated because the water was cold and we were so hot. It's amazing to think that the people of Jerusalem chisled this tunnel by hand and it took over 10 years to complete. All to help provide for the people of Jerusalem.

At the end of the tunnel, we came to the place where the water used to form a pool called the Pool of Siloam. This is the same pool where Jesus sent the blind man to wash, after he had put mud on his eyes to restore his sight. It was amazing to think that roughly 2000 years ago Jesus was in this very place, where we were sitting, performing an amazing miracle. God had changed the life of one of His children forever, in this exact spot, through Jesus. Is that not incredible!? To be in a place where something like that happened is incredible, it's like you know that person even though they tread those paths over 2000 years ago. It doesn't feel so ancient or foreign when you are actually there.

Needless to say, today was pretty amazing. Then it was topped off with a great dinner, great conversation, and a walk into the upscale mall area right near the college. All in all, this trip is amazing, in so many ways.

Also, I figured out how to upload photos and video to the blog! So here is the video I took at the look out point above Hezekiah's Tunnel of the hills surrounding Jerusalem! This is where there are ruins that are believed to be part of David's palace, so this is what he would have seen from his windows (which is where he would have seen Bathsheba). It starts at the wall of the Old City and moves around past the Mount of Olives (with the Kidron Valley in between), then past the Hinnom Valley and back around to the wall of the Old City.

Is this real life!?

I am finally here in Jerusalem, safe and sound at the college! It was a crazy couple of days but it was all so worth it! This city is AMAZING. Seriously, it's awesome. It's just as modern and busy as any US city but it looks completely different and old fashioned at the same time. It was insanity trying to get through the city though, traffic and people everywhere. From my window I can look out into the garden of the college and beyond into the new city of Jerusalem. The school itself it right outside the wall of the old city, on Mt. Zion. Just walking next to the wall to get up to the school was so cool, and there is a festival happening with lights and music everywhere. It doesn't even feel real that I am here right now! Now it's off to bed and then a lecture and an Old Testament Jerusalem walk tomorrow!

There's Always a Silver Lining

I pulled my first all-nighter of my college career. Unfortunately it was in the Philadelphia airport. After 7 hours of boarding, deboarding, and sitting at the gate, the flight was cancelled at 4am this morning. So I am currently in my house in Maryland, not in Israel. I never knew you could become so tired from simply sitting and staring at the wall. Because while you all were sleeping, that's what I was doing. FOR SEVEN HOURS. Around 12:30 they gave us vouchers to go get something to eat and as I was walking down to the restaurant, feeling a bit frustrated and discouraged, I was thinking about how we are called to praise God in ALL situations, not just when things are going well. Even when we can't see it through the mess, God is always good and faithful. It was frustrating (and people were getting angry, seriously, it was insane how mad people were) but it's only one night in the course of a lifetime, and that's pretty insignificant. So to keep myself from crying my eyes out from exhaustion (which believe me happened in abundance), and to keep some perspective, I made a list of good things that came from all this.
1. At 6am I was finally home and asleep in my bed
2. I got to eat my leftovers from the Cheesecake Factory for breakfast
3. I got to meet some really, really nice people
4. I get to read Karen's latest post from the DR
5. I finally got myself onto a flight today that makes a connection in Paris, then to Tel Aviv, and wouldn't you know it happens to be the same flight that my sisters will be on for their trip to Paris!
6. I can now pack the things I forgot at home
7. I don't really miss much of the program (only an orientation) and I'll be there in time for dinner tomorrow

All in all, it was a really long night, but it'll all be ok. God is good, even when we can't see it. And when we remember that, we start to see His goodness in abundance!

3 days!

Hello good friends! So I leave for my trip to Israel in only 3 days! So, since that's pretty far away and I won't have lots of time to talk to everyone, I figured making posts would be the easiest way to update everyone as to what I am doing while I am there! It's a study abroad trip, so I'll be taking a class about the geography and history of Israel, from a biblical perspective! Needless to say, I'm stoked (and nervous, I'm literally shaking as I am thinking about it, though that could be the large cup of coffee I just consumed...). I've already done so much pre-trip homework and I keep getting more and more excited about the things I'll be seeing. I'll be walking in the steps of Jesus, Abraham, Joseph, David, Moses and so many others. I can't even imagine what that will be like. I am praying that my studies there will make the Bible come alive in ways I can't even fathom and reveal things about the Lord that I never knew. I would love it if you all would lift up prayers for safe travels and deep learning and growth during my time there, that God would continue to change me, as He has been doing my whole life.

I hope to update this daily (which might be a lofty ambition, I know) so keep checking for my updates! I love you all!