ISRAEL ..

2023

I find myself having more time on my hands than I used to.  I haven't had a hobby in so very long because I haven't had the time to devote to anything.  I haven't travelled much because I was always afraid to leave my kids "just in case" they might need me for something.  But this January is a month that I am beginning to branch out.  

Within the next month I will travel outside of the United States for the very first time.  I will be travelling to Israel...the country.  I will take my passport and I will board a plane and fly halfway around the world to a land where Jesus once walked.  I will eat food that I've never eaten before.  I will discover a culture that I've only read about in the Bible.  I will look on the place where Jesus hung on a cross and died for my sins.  I will walk in the Garden where Jesus prayed before he was crucified.  I will walk along the banks of the Jordan river where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.  I will look upon the valley where Jesus will end the war of all wars against darkness...Goodness gracious....the emotion that some of this brings to the surface is just unreal.  This will be the trip of a lifetime and I'm so excited to experience this opportunity.  

2025

I started this post back before I travelled to Israel in February 2023.  It's now 2025 ... I can't be sure why I never finished this post.  Likely because LIFE happens and work takes your time and the daily  routines just get the better of you.  Well, that happened to me LOL so I will try to recount this trip to the best of my ability.  

Let me start by saying that when I signed up for this trip I had never travelled outside of the United States.  In fact, the passport I have had since I was in my 20's had never been stamped...I had to renew my passport with a new photo and everything.  I had planned to go on a mission trip to Mexico when my boys were very young and at the last minute I couldn't go through with it because I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to get back to them ((mom guilt is real and if you disagree with me, well I don't really care LOL mom guilt is real and I couldn't leave my babies at the time)).  Anyway, I renewed my passport and began planning for all the things you have to plan for to be out of the country.  I had a house/dog/kid sitter for the 10 days we would be gone, I had a power converter thingy to charge my devices, I had a meticulous list of things to pack and clothes in mind to bring.  I was ready.  I packed my suitcase and my backpack and we left for the Panama City airport where we would get on a plane and travel to our "hub" to board a very large plane that would take us to another country.  I was excited and nervous.  I love to travel and fly and visit different places, but travelling across an ocean was a new experience for me.  When we boarded our very large, intercontinental plane I found myself all the way in the back of the plane sitting next to a very large Jewish woman who didn't speak English.  She was spilling over into my seat and we sat hip to hip for 20+ hours flying across the world.  I should mention that I get motion sickness, which, for me, means that my head gets a little "swimmy" which makes me feel...not so great.  I take meds, I use the patches, I breathe deep, I close my eyes...I do all the things that should make me feel better.  We sat next to the bathrooms and the small area where they heat the food.  All I could smell was the kosher meals that they would bring out to those that needed to adhere to that dietary requirement and all I could think about was "I'm gonna be sick....Can I just get a Ginger Ale or a Diet Coke?"       L O L     Anyway, I slept on and off, watched a few movies that were free in-flight and watched a whole other culture appear before my very eyes.  Did I mention that I've never been out of the country before?

We FINALLY landed in Tel-Aviv and I was able to stop touching this woman who I could only assume was talking to her husband about having to share the row with an American white woman and her white husband and how she had a huge distaste for that occurrence ((I'm sure her words weren't about us, but something in her tone said that she was talking about us)).  My husband has a very thick beard and bald head and, at times, has been mistaken for someone from the Middle East, especially after 9/11, but he is very much an American and maybe she thought we were mocking them...when in reality, we are very respectful of all culture and the differences that come with those cultures.  Everyone needs Jesus, and BTW, He died for them ALL whether they believe in Him or not.  Anyway, I was happy to get off that plane.  My legs were cramping, my body ached and I was so incredibly tired from the change in time and I think we lost a day or two along the way LOL.  All of our luggage made it to the right place and we grabbed our stuff and met our guide that would lead us to the place where they would stamp our passports and get us through customs fairly quickly.  It was an easy experience and, aside from being tired, I was in a fairly decent mood. I just wanted to take it all in and not miss a single moment!  By the time we got to our hotel for the night I melted into the bed and slept so hard only to wake up and realize how much time we had lost in the flight.  My children were a world away and I had to speak to them at 6 a.m. a day ahead, my time, white it was 5 p.m. the day before, their time.  It was crazy to try and convert it in my head.  I'm a simple minded person and I can't overcomplicate things in my head when it comes to time change. 

Our first day was spent meeting our guide and getting on a large bus that would usher us around and show us all the sights.  He was more than just a guide...he was a believer and a Jewish man. Listening to him tell us historical facts pulled straight from Scripture was incredible.  He pointed out places that we would pass that weren't necessarily on our tour map and he was able to relate that place to something in the Bible that was just straight history.  I was mesmerized by the sights and the places and just being in the Promised Land that had been set apart for the Israelites so many thousands of years ago.  It was overwhelming.  Now, I know that not all of the land is currently possessed by God's chosen people because of all of the struggle over who it belongs to, but the portions of land that do belong to Israel were truly breathtaking.  

The places we visited were Caesarea Marittima along the Mediterranean Sea, Megiddo (Valley of Armageddon), Mt. Precipice, Sea of Galilee, Caesarea Philippi,  Mount of Beatitudes, Capernaum, Magdala, the Jordan River, Bet-She'an, Mt. Scopos, the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Garden of Gethsemane, the Dead Sea, Masada, En Gedi, Qumeran, the Garden Tomb....guys, it was a very full trip.  If you don't know some of these places, look them up.  Many of the places that we went were for historical purposes to present the culture at the time Jesus was alive.  He may not have literally walked (feet on the ground) at some of these places, but He definitely was alive when these places existed and it was fascinating.  The place that was the most near and dear to my heart of all the places we visited was inside the City of Jerusalem....the Via Dolorosa.  These streets where Jesus literally carried his cross up the crowded streets, collapsing under the weight of the wooden structure meant to kill him after being scourged nearly to death.  He struggled up these streets knowing His purpose was to hang there and die ... for me, for you, for those who hate Him, for those who would never believe in Him.  His body placed into a borrowed tomb for a few days before rising from the dead to complete his mission.  This ... this is what took my breath away.  Putting my feet on the same streets where Jesus put His feet.  

This is real.  

I can't even begin to tell you how I felt.  It was truly overwhelming.  I found myself with tears running down my face thinking of how I take this act for granted.  How I don't devote as much time to sharing the Gospel as I should.  How I can't even fully fathom how much this one act would impact the entire world.  

JESUS DIED FOR ME.  HE DIED FOR YOU.  HE DIED FOR THEM.

This tomb is empty!!  

Maybe you would visit the same places in your lifetime and have a completely different experience.  That's fine...maybe you would visit the same places and come back to tell me that it's all just stories made up to trick the simple-minded into believing a hoax.  Well, what you CAN'T tell me is that my testimony, my story, my experience is false.  What Jesus did in my life is REAL, just like this empty tomb.  He is not here!  He has risen!  He has risen to prove his defeat over death and the grave.  He is King OVER ALL.  He is worthy to be praised.  You cannot take that from me.  I believe it with my whole being ... no amount of disagreement will ever take that from me. 

I can't tell you in any other words how this trip impacted me.  I truly hope that any believer has the chance to go to this place and put their feet on the same places that Jesus walked and preached and lived.  It truly was a trip of a lifetime.  I hope to return ... I hope to send my children. 

Go, experience it for yourself.  See the places.  Breathe the air.  Pray for the people who live here....and keep your eyes set on the East.