November 14 - 15, 2019

Final Day in Caesarea

We woke up bright and early on our last day in Israel.  The sun was beautiful outside of our hotel.  We ate a delicious breakfast and then I snuck down to the shore of the Sea of Galilee for a few more pictures and some quiet time.  It was a very strange feeling that morning coming out of the hotel room.  As I walked to breakfast, I felt like I had been there before in a dream earlier that year.  I did not know that it was Israel at the time, but I now believe that God was giving me comfort in knowing that I would have the chance to see his holy land while I was alive on this earth.

Can you see the angel in the clouds??

Grottoes and the Old Railway of the Mediterranean Sea

Mount Carmel

This is the location where Elijah ended the three and a half year drought of rain.  Many people worshiped the god Baal back then.  In order to prove that God is the Almighty and the one and only Lord, Elijah and many of his men met all of the prophets of Baal on the top of Mount Carmel.  Elijah challenged the prophets to call Baal to send down fire onto a sacrificial bull.  The prophets worshiped, cried out, and even cut themselves in order to get Baal to send down fire.  They called to Baal from morning until evening, but nothing happened.  When it was Elijah's turn, he built an alter, dug a trench, and cut up his sacrificial bull.  He then gave his men 4 jars of water and sent them down the hill to fill them from the Mediterranean Sea.  The men ran up and down the mountain until the trench flowed with water.  Finally, Elijah called upon the Lord and He immediately sent down a flame that consumed the bull in its entirety.  All of the prophets where then led down the side of the mountain and executed at the shore of the sea.  

Caesarea

The very last stop we made on our tour of Israel was to see where the prophet Paul was jailed until he met on trial with Festus.  Paul was put in jail for his belief in Jesus Christ.  After Paul shared his testimony, Festus did not see anything wrong with what Paul was stating, but Paul demanded a trial with Caesar.  Before Paul was sent to Rome, King Agrippa came and listened to Paul's testimony as well and found no guilt with him.  Both Festus and Agrippa agreed that they would have let Paul go free if he had not requested to see Caesar.  Soon, Paul was placed in a boat and sailed across the Mediterranean Sea to Rome.  

He lived many more years before he died.

Some yummy ice cream to finish off the trip!

Last Night In Israel

Deanna and I walked along the shore of the sea for the entire evening.  It was incredibly peaceful.  We saw white crabs and the most amazing heart shaped stones all along the beach.  I picked up as many as I could so that I could take them back to friends and family when I got home.  

What an absolute and complete blessing of a trip from our Lord and Savior.  Memories were made with my mom and church friends.  Before arriving, I thought this trip was at the top of my bucket list and a once in a lifetime event.  But after seeing what we saw, I know in my heart that I will one day return.  There is still so much for archaeologists to uncover.  And nothing compares to the feeling of the presence of the Lord while standing right on his Holy ground.

November 13, 2019

Today we spent the day in what was the heart of Jesus’ ministry - 

Capernaum

Our first stop was to a place Jesus was known to love - Capernaum.  After being rejected in his birth town of Bethlehem, Jesus travel and stayed in this city.  He stayed here and carried out his mission for most of his life.  Other churches have been built upon the original church that Jesus preached at, but we were still able to walk among the ruins knowing that this was the exact place that Jesus stood and spoke to his followers.

The ruins below this modern church are the location of Peter's mother-in-law's home.  It was this exact site that Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law.  This is also the location that the lame man was lowered through the roof in order for Jesus to heal him.

I was able to sneak inside the church just before a service was beginning to snap this picture.  The ruins are visible from above, through glass windows.  As I stood and took this photo, I felt an overwhelming power and energy among me.  It was an extremely special moment.  I know that God was with me at that moment.  I could feel him!

We stood at the edge of the Sea of Galilee - I imagine that this could have been where Jesus first met Peter.

Mount of Beatitudes

We then traveled to the Mt. of Beatitudes.  It was such a beautiful garden to walk through!  We looked for the beatitudes that described ourselves and posed for pictures on them.  We then found a quiet place along the water an took in the special area that Jesus spoke the beatitudes.  My mom always wanted the moment to sing at this location because her old friend Kitty had done this years ago.  She worked up her courage and sung with another lady on the trip.  It was so powerful and meaningful to her!

Lunch in the City

That afternoon, we enjoyed a delicious lunch in the city.  The beers were cold and refreshing.  And the guac was stellar!  Such a fun memory together.  This was a time that my mom and I were able to eat together just the two of us.  We reflected on the trip and enjoyed the weather outside.  I loved this "mother/daughter moment"!

Sea of Galilee

Even later that afternoon, we neared the Sea of Galilee.  We walked through a museum in which we saw an actual fishing boat that was discovered from the time of Jesus.  We watched a documentary on how it had been preserved for years within the mud.  And we stood in awe as we were able to imagine what the disciples fished upon!

We then walked down to the shore and boarded our own boat in which we worshiped and sailed upon the Sea of Galilee.  It was such a refreshing moment of the trip.  The water was beautiful.  There was overwhelming peace among our entire group.  We were blessed to have a captain who was a Christian man.  He sang some of our favorite songs and we were able to join in.  I remember them playing the song "Oceans" while we sailed.  I sang in tears as I thought of my little boy Jasper.  "Oceans" is the song I dedicated to him at birth and it connects so many of my life struggles to receive him with Jesus.  It was a blessing to worship to this song upon the very waters that Jesus once walked, performed miracles, and calmed storms.

reBAPTIZED in the Jordan River

We could not wait to see the Jordan River, where John the Baptist actually baptized Jesus.  Not only did we see it, many of us walked in it and were baptized i it as well!  If we made the decision to be baptized, we paid a little bit of money for a robe and a locker.  We then changed into our bathing suits and our white robe, and headed out to the water.  My mom and I said a silent prayer that her hard and crusty suit would not break off of her as she came up out of the water.  :-)  Because my mom baptized me when I was in college, she wanted me to baptize her in the Jordan.  The water was incredibly freezing at first.  As I walked out into the water, it was hard to catch my breath.  Shan was waiting and helped me to breathe through the shock.  I then professed my believe in our Lord and Savior and was dunked under.  Hallelujah!!  Then Mom came into the water and had the same reaction that I did.  She professed her believe in our Lord and Savior and I helped Shan baptize her.  It was such a special moment for us to spend together!

A Sunset at Mount Arbel

With wet hair and soggy make-up, we redressed into our clothes and headed up Mt. Arbel to see the sunset.  It was simply beautiful!  Jesus spoke with his disciples just before he was crucified upon a mountain that overlooked the Sea of Galilee.  I wonder if it was this one.

Wine Tasting to Close Out the Night

Our final stop for the evening was such an experience!  About half of our group (somehow all of the ones who took the plane through New York) went with Eli to the Scots Hotel for a wine tasting event.  We tasted several wines and loved them all!  But one of our very favorites was a red wine that was actually made from grapes seeds back in the time of Jesus.  It was called the Wine of Negev.  Many of the grape vines had been destroyed, and not many years ago, deep in the soil, archaeologists discovered seeds and pits during an excavation.  This winery worked to ferment a wine from the seeds as well as work to grow back vines from this era.  We tasted it and it was delicious!  So delicious, that my mom had to purchase and entire case of it!  We were left with the challenge of getting it home in our checked bags and keeping them from breaking along the way, but we were successful in the end!  It was such a fun night to let loose and enjoy fellowship and the culture with some of our new friends.  Shewww!  What a jam-packed and blessed day!