Well my trip to Israel has been interesting to say the least. Coming here I was my unadventurous, non-excitable self...however God is a lot bigger than me, thankfully. The flights out here were great - I got to read, sleep, talk to some people, eat some lamb, and walk out the tail end of the airplane onto steps in 35 degree weather. We flew into Tel-Aviv (the city where Israel parties - oddly enough) around 2:30pm Israeli time (which would be about 6:30am central time). We then had one of our team members get intensely questioned by the Israeli customs and once she got out and our team got together we discovered that our bags didn't make it to Tel-Aviv...they were still in Frankfurt, Germany and the next flight was @ 3am the next morning. So, all that to say it was good, but a little rough as a start.
Today was full of a lot of walking (which we will be doing a lot of in the next two weeks) and learning. We walked along the wall of the city of Jerusalem, passed through the Dung Gate and spent most of our time on top of, around, and under the city of David. We saw the excavation of David's Palace, we saw some of the houses that were built onto the side of the support for David's palace, and went underneath it to see Hezekiah's tunnel, the Gihon spring (which I drank some water from), and Warren's shaft (which was the shaft that Joab climbed up in order for David's army to take over the Jebusite city (where the city of David was/is)). We then went to where the King's tombs were within the city of David. We then went around to the pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the man born blind....we got to sit on the actual steps and see 2 of the corners of the pool. This pool would have been like an Olympic size pool with stairs around it on all sides. We then got to go into a part that is being excavated that has not been opened to the public yet - it was a step-way leading from the pool of Siloam up to the Temple. From here we walked/hiked for a good while, and made our way to the Jewish quarter of Jersualem where we went to several museums in which we saw a "mansion" of the 1st century, the house of the priest burned by the Romans, and walked and saw a street that was around in Jesus' day.
Today was full of a lot of walking (which we will be doing a lot of in the next two weeks) and learning. We walked along the wall of the city of Jerusalem, passed through the Dung Gate and spent most of our time on top of, around, and under the city of David. We saw the excavation of David's Palace, we saw some of the houses that were built onto the side of the support for David's palace, and went underneath it to see Hezekiah's tunnel, the Gihon spring (which I drank some water from), and Warren's shaft (which was the shaft that Joab climbed up in order for David's army to take over the Jebusite city (where the city of David was/is)). We then went to where the King's tombs were within the city of David. We then went around to the pool of Siloam where Jesus healed the man born blind....we got to sit on the actual steps and see 2 of the corners of the pool. This pool would have been like an Olympic size pool with stairs around it on all sides. We then got to go into a part that is being excavated that has not been opened to the public yet - it was a step-way leading from the pool of Siloam up to the Temple. From here we walked/hiked for a good while, and made our way to the Jewish quarter of Jersualem where we went to several museums in which we saw a "mansion" of the 1st century, the house of the priest burned by the Romans, and walked and saw a street that was around in Jesus' day.
Sorry for the quick information and for not being very detailed...but I just wanted to give you a glimpse into my perspective and attitude thus far... - I finished reading When I Relax I Feel Guilty by Tim Hansel on the plane ride (as stated earlier) and here are two quotes that have encompassed a lot of what I've been thinking.
-"Are there minutes in your day that you could convert into vacations? Are you still, maybe even unknowingly practicing being unhappy?"
- "Some of us spend more time analyzing life than we do living it. I need to remind you that joy is something you are."
I have not been my typical self and have actually had a playful, take every moment captive, adventurous attitude. Even when our luggage got lost it was a perfect time to see this as even more of an adventure. Sure, being in Jerusalem is an adventure, but it is only by God's grace that I am trying to see as much, do as much, enjoy as much, learn as much, and flat out experience as much as possible rather than being the guy with his head down, who's focused, uptight, and uneventful. All that to say, I am thoroughly enjoying myself, which I wouldn't have expected honestly, and am looking forward more and more to what God is going to teach me (it will be a lot I'm sure).
P.S. - FYI, we got our luggage tonight (only after 1 day/night of not having it) and it was amazing to take a shower and put on clean clothes. Oh the simple joys in life. GOD IS GOOD! :)
P.S. (2) - I just thought about something that one of my professors said when we were at David's Palace. He said, "David always expected adversity and was amazed and in wonder when God blessed him. The biggest difference between us and David is that we expect God's blessing and are surprised when adversity comes - it was exactly the opposite with David." I hope that encourages you and gives you some perspective in some way. God is faithful and good above all else.
For His Name's Sake.
