Israel // Day Five

A whole month, and I'm finally getting around to finishing my Israel posts now that finals and end of the semester assignments are over.

On this Saturday morning, a few of us decided to wake up to see the sun rise on the Sea of Galilee. Even though the mountains blocked most of the sunrise, it was still amazing to be there in the stillness of the morning have good conversations with some amazing people.

Another sunrise watcher offered to take a picture of us (I'm the second in from the left, in case you were wondering :).

Kursi

This church is built near the most probably site for the story in Matthew 5 of Jesus sending the demons out of a possessed man and into a herd of pigs who then ran down the cliff into the Sea of Galilee. This side of the Sea of Galilee is known as "the other side" as it is where the pagans and Gentiles lived while the Jews lived on the opposite shore.

Our very own "wild man" who emerged from the cliffs while our professor read the story from the Bible.

In the Golan Heights there is a place called Gamla. This town housed a Jewish fortress during the Jewish rebellion in the first century. In 67 A.D. after a Roman siege of the town, over 5,000 Jews committed suicide rather than be conquered by their enemy. 

Near the borders of Lebanon and Syria is this abandoned outpost. It used to be used by the Syrians to run their secret intelligence forces. Today, It is a huge, empty building that is falling apart and covered with graffiti.

Dan. 

Some of us had been researching the city of Dan for an archaeology class project, so we were wicked excited to see it in person. This city is located at the very northern part of Israel. It was strategically important because anyone travelling between Egypt and Mesopotamia had to pass by Dan. This was also where King Jeroboam instituted golden calf worship after the kingdom of Israel divided into the north and the south.

The metal structure shows how large the altar at Dan probably was.

This stone base was where the king of the city would sit by the gate and administer justice.

This gate was one of my favorite things (I'm a nerd, I can't help it). This mudbrick gate is from the Middle Bronze II era which means that it was around in the 18th century B.C. 

In non-archaeologist terms, Abraham would have walked by this gate when he entered Canaan. 

Abraham. Walked. By. This. Gate.

That still makes me so excited. 

Banias/Caesarea Philippi

Banias was a center for the worship of Pan. The stream running by here flows into the Jordan River. It was here that Jesus, as told in Matthew 16:13-18, asked the disciples who people said He was, and Peter states, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Journal:

Standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus telling the disciples to be like a city on a hill makes a lot of sense. A city on a hill here can be seen from all over, night and day. The lightly colored buildings are juxtaposed with the dark mountains, and at night the lights reflect over the whole lake. Everyone knows where a city on a hill is. When Jesus said that, He was saying that we need to live in such a way that gives light to people from all around, not just to people who are close by.

Israel // Day Four

Israel // Day Four

Mount Hermon, one of the northernmost boundaries of Israel.

Nazareth Village, a small reproduction of a first-century farm and village in the middle of the modern-day town of Nazareth.

This is what the ancient synagogue may have looked like.

Mount Arbel, a mountain near the Sea of Galilee (there's Mount Hermon in the distance. It's easy to spot because it was the only mountain with snow on it).

Lunch: tilapia from the Sea of Galilee.

We rode this boat out onto the Sea of Galilee!

Apparently you can jump off, but not jump of.

Out in the middle of the lake, my professor played "Gadol Elohai", "How Great is Our God" in Hebrew. We had sung this song a few times in class to learn to Hebrew words, but singing praises to our God in Hebrew on the Sea of Galilee was amazing. 

The "Jesus Boat", a first-century fishing boat discovered in the Sea of Galilee. This would have been the type of fishing boat the disciples would have owned.

Roman synagogue in Capernaum. This building sits on top of the synagogue that Jesus would have been in.

The Bible does not list a specific site for the Sermon on the Mount, so this hill is one of the possible locations. Sitting here, listening to my professor read through the sermon and then spending time just praying as the sun set behind the hills was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Israel // Days One-Three

Israel // Day One

Hanging out at the airport in Philadelphia. 

Thanks to some ice, we sat on the plane for two and a half hours before finally taking off.

Israel // Day Two

Arriving at the Heathrow Airport in London and being stuck there for almost six hours.

Finally arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel, when it was too dark to see anything, and ten out of twenty-five people in our group lost their luggage.

Israel // Day Three

I woke up and rushed to the window to look out over the Mediterranean Sea. Such a perfect way to begin our Israel tour.

First stop: Caesarea Maritima, a port city built by Herod the Great.

I loved traveling with these crazy people. 

Next stop: Megiddo which was a fortress city in the Mount Carmel mountain range.

Napping on the bus happened every day, even after the jet lag wore off. Thankfully those of us who stayed awake were kind to the sleepers.

Our hotel for the next few nights was right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The lake was beautiful in and of itself, but just thinking of all that Jesus did on and around the lake made it even more amazing.

(snippets from my travel journal)

So many people think of Israel as a land of terrorism and unrest and as the land of the Bible, but we forget that there are people just like us living their lives here day-to-day just like we do wherever we are. 

I did not realize just how close together everything here is. The "triangle" of Jesus's Sea of Galilee ministry is actually quite small.

The Sea of Galilee is beautiful, but it's nothing super out of the ordinary at face value. I love that God did not choose a land for His people that holds a plethora of natural resources or is extraordinarily beautiful beyond any other place. Instead, He chose a normal place in which to carry out His plan of redemption. 

While standing with my feet in the water looking out over the Sea, I thought about how the landscape here is pretty much the same as it was when Jesus put His feet in the water. Other places we go, buildings have fallen down and new cities have been erected over the past 2000 years, but here the mountains and the water have stayed mostly the same. When I look out over the water, I am seeing things the way my Savior saw them.

P.S. If you are a history buff, I can give you more information on each of the places we visited if you would like, but I figured I wouldn't take up a lot of room in this post with all of that. 

Quick Israel Update

The Sea of Galilee

Hello, all! 

Well, I made it safely to Israel in spite of travel delays. I am currently typing on my phone, so forgive the spelling and punctuation errors.

Anyway, I am just popping in to say that you can follow me on instagram to get updates on my trip. I am using instagram to keep my family updated, as well, so I will hopefully be posting every day. 

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Counting down the days

I woke up, and suddenly February is almost over. It's been a full month. Lots of reading to do for school; discovering how much I enjoy watching the show Friends; falling in love with colorwork knitting; crying so much some nights because of big decisions.

But especially, I have been counting down the days to my Israel trip. I am ecstatic about it! I am going with my class as part of the Israel and Archaeology program I am in this year at college. We leave on Tuesday and return on March 15, so I won't be on here (...because I posted so much this month...). I hope you all have a wonderful first couple of weeks of March, and I cannot wait to share my adventures with you all.

Thankful Thursday // 5

66. My professor who gave me a ride to visit my sister so that I didn't have to take trains and taxis.

67. Having the opportunity to visit my sister and watch her school's musical (Fiddler on the Roof).

68. Silence in the library. A good kind of silence, not the scary Doctor Who kind.

69. Handmade scarves and other gifts from sweet friends that remind me of them every time I wear or use them.

70. The fresh, crisp, pure air of winter days.

71. Surviving travelling by myself.

72. Yarn sales and discounted yarn.

73. Friends whose conversation makes time move faster while working in the cafeteria.

74. Movie nights with the girls in my dorm.

75. Singing praise and worship songs in the shower is a wonderful way to start the day.

P.S. Please vote for Megan Kelsey and her fiance, Justin, to win an amazing wedding package from Katelyn James here. The video they made tells their story, and they deserve to win! 

a blog award

The lovely Miss Abbey Noelle tagged me in a "You're amazing and so is your blog" award, and here are her questions!

What is the car of your dreams?

A Volkswagen bus. I have wanted one of these as long as I can remember, back before Pinterest told everyone that they are cool. ;)

What's your jam? (aka favorite song of all time)

Oh, boy. I am awful at choosing favorite songs, books, movies, etc, and my favorites change over time. But so far as songs that I always have and always will jam out to, I would say Disney and gospel music.

Best bit of advice someone has ever given you? 

Hmm...I honestly don't know.

Do you prefer light, pastel colors or darker, jewel tones?

During this time of the year, I like darker tones, but during the summer I gravitate more towards lighter colors. When it comes to wearing colors, I tend to stick to darker colors because they look better on me.

If you could go back in time, what era would you go to?

Probably the Regency period, around the Jane Austen era. I would love to observe what life was really like during that time. 

Or possibly ancient Rome.

Or the 1950's.

Basically, I want a Tardis so I can go everywhere in time. ;)

Would you rather spend a week in a busy city filled with excitement + people, or in the quiet countryside surrounded by the beauty of nature?

The quiet countryside. I love being able to retreat into the stillness of nature. I don't think I was made for city life. 

Well, I am really bad at answering questions, apparently. But now, I have questions that I would love for all of you to answer in the comments, and if you would like to answer them on your blog, let me know! Here it goes...

When you are on the internet, do you keep a lot of tabs open or try to keep it to a minimum?

Tea, coffee, both, or neither?

What kinds of books do you like to read?

Facebook , Twitter, or neither?

What are some of your favorite scents?

What are your top three favorite colors?

Answer away!