We are home!

Thank you all so much for praying for us.
We NEVER felt in any kind of danger. We were treated like Kings and Queens (and Princess') but it is good to be home in our own bed.

My advice to all of you is to consider this trip for yourselves. It opened up the Bible for all of us (Kate was so inquisitive). The scriptures we loved so much before make me cry now as I read them because I've stood where He stood when he spoke them.

The food was fantastic and the views that you will see are more beautiful than I can describe. It is quite something to see the desert blooming as the Bible foretold.

We love you all and now I am going to take another nap :)
Here are a few last pictures to share ;)
Shalom



PRon and Brenda Hammonds,
Amit, Noa, Miya, Dalit, and Roy Levy
Good friends of ours in Israel
(Dalit is one of our travel agents)








Kate and Dalit after she gave Kate her Star of David necklace.
















What was left after Darren ate St Peter Fish on the shores of the Galilee.


















Pron baptizing me in the Jordan River.
This was a very special, very life altering moment for me.

The last time I was baptized I was probably seven or eight.

Day six?

ugh...I am so exhausted yet so relaxed...want to see why?
Scroll down \/

Sunset on the Meditteranian Sea in Tel Aviv
We will see you at home in about 36 hours

Shabbot Shalom

Thursday, March 17, 2006 – Kate’s Birthday

Thursday, March 17, 2006 – Kate’s Birthday
Today was terrific. They all are. But this day was special for Darren and I because it was special for our baby girl.
Months before our trip I told Pastor Ron that Kate would be celebrating her birthday in Israel and that I was hoping to do a little something for her at the restaurant. Kate knew we were doing something for her at dinner. I was expecting nothing more than balloons and a small cake. A week or two before the trip I asked him if I should bring candles with me…he told me not to worry about anything. It was all taken care of. I remember thinking…:uh oh…it’s going to be big!” I was wrong…It was HUMINGOUS!

First we took a boat from the hotel to the restaurant with a panoramic view of the city of Tiberius. When we arrived, I realized that I had forgotten the candles. I told Dalit and she told me not to worry about a thing. Darren and I were excited…Kate was ecstatic! It got better.As we were sitting there watching the water, enjoying the fantastic food. The music began to blare and two waiters walked off the stage and on either side of our table to the windows. These floor to ceiling windows slid open and all of a sudden there was a BOAT headed straight for our table. Then without notice…fireworks began to go off! By this point, Kate’s face was in her hands…Everyone in the restaurant was clapping and singing, and the restaurant owner came over to our table and sang to her also. It was so much more than we expected. But it wasn’t over.

We kept eating, more than satisfied about Kate’s ninth birthday. Then all of a sudden, more singing, more dancing, and the restaurant owner came back to our table with a waiter holding sparklers. Then began to sing again to “Kate…the Princess from Texas” and they gave her gifts. Dalit and Roy gave her a “Star of David” necklace, Israeli candy, and Yaasay (the owner) gave her a t-shirt and cap, and a hand made card from Decks (the restaurant). Many people in the restaurant came up to her and told her Happy Birthday (massadat) and commented about how beautiful and sweet she was. Darren and I were completely overwhelmed. I was almost in tears.

To top off the evening, Moody Sandberg, the Minister of Space and Aeronautics for all of Israel hugged her and told her Happy Birthday. He has a daughter turning ten in two weeks. He is very pleasant and very sharp.



We are blessed. But I have a feeling her tenth birthday will be somewhat of a let down.

Shalom

P.S. Our luggage arrived late last night...boy, it feels good to have clean non-european underwear on (hehehe).

Day Four

Wednesday, March 16, 2006
Today was an equally busy day. It was an exhausting day. Today we went to the Dead Sea, Massada, and En Gedi, and rode camels.

The Dead Sea
Now THIS was interesting! Kate and Darren were able to get in but I wasn’t. Our luggage has still not arrived and my only bathing suit and shorts are packed in there (bummer!).
We soaked the back of Kate’s head where she has had problems with eczema recently and are hoping that the salt and minerals will work on it. Other than that…it’s just strange to see grown men and woman not able to stand up in hip high water (or I guess it’s about hip high. Unfortunately, Kate cut her feet up VERY badly on the rocks getting out of the water. She bled all in my new flip flops and has hunks of meat missing on her left foot and lots of little cuts on and underneath her toes. I’m thankful that Jessica and Karen were here (two nurse friends), they were well prepared. Of course, she got lots of love and attention from everyone including Pastor Ron. Travelers Note: Bring AguaShoes to the Dead Sea if you come.

Massada
This was also interesting. It is kinda like the Alamo, (held up in a fortress, all defenses down, and Romans breathing down their necks). All but two women and a few children died to tell the story. The cool part was that you take a trolley ride up to the top of this mountain and the ruins are basically the entire top plateau (and then some) on the mountain with steep cliffs on every side. It would be practically impossible for me to walk up the ‘Serpent’s path” to the top…but apparently people do. I’d take the trolley if I were you.

En Gedi
En Gedi is by far my favorite spot to date on this trip. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because it’s where David spent a lot of time. Where he wrote a lot of scriptures, and where he found God…again.
It is gorgeous. It is serene. And it can’t be described. You just need to visit it yourself.

Then we drove to Tiberius. Long day. Interesting note: we drove by Jericho just as they were pulling ‘the bulldozer’ out of town. If you’ve been watching any news in the last three days you know what I am talking about :)

Day Three

Monday, March 13, 2006 – 8:29 a.m. Texas time

I am sitting on the bus as I write this after a very long but eventful day. This morning we traveled to the Temple Mount to see the place where Jesus would have toppled the money changers tables, where Peter preached to the many pilgrims coming to the Temple. The stones that make the courtyard are believed to be the actual stones that Jesus would have walked on.

After that we boarded the bus, passports in hand and headed for Bethlehem. This city is beautiful. Not because it has massive temples or mosque but because the people are wonderful and they are proud of their city. It has been made almost fortress like now and is guarded by many armed guards. It is like entering an entirely new country. You must have a passport to enter. What makes it even more wonderful is what happened there 2000 years ago. The spot believed to be the birth place of Christ is heavily protected and underground due to many years of churches and temples built on top of it. Obviously, it is a Holy place and very sacred. There is a fourteen point star in the exact spot believed to be the place of his birth. Very…overstated in my opinion. I think that Christ would probably be a little embarrassed by its glam and glitz.

Our guide Ramses (as in ‘the III’) is a new father. His new baby girl was born six days ago and her name is Hannah. He was smitten with Kate. It amazes me that even in Israel people are taken with her red (not so much anymore) hair and dimple. We are blessed.

We also visited the Wailing Wall today. This was a moving experience for me. I'm not even really sure why. I'm not certain if this wall is a special spot that is more anointed than my bedroom, but I definately felt the Spirit of God there. What was interesting was that we were surrounded by Muslims. No matter. God is great.

On another note, our luggage has still not arrived. I will probably have to go and find more clothes to wear tomorrow. Last we heard, some of our luggage was as far away as CHICAGO!!! Here’s to one more day of dirty blue jeans and roll on deodorant (bleah!)

Shalom, Susan

Day Two

March 13 (I think) 3:28 a.m. Texas Time
Day Two…Let the vacation begin!

We are having so much fun! It is more than I imagined, but all I expected.
I am amazed at this place. More surprisingly, I am amazed by my reaction to this place. Of course, I knew that this was the place that Christ lived and died and I expected the history loving side of me to come out. What I did not expect was the flood of emotions that has overwhelmed not just me but many who have made this trip. Tears have come quickly and easily, and the places that did not draw tears drew equally deep love, admiration, and even further questions from my heart for my Lord.

Now I will start sharing some pictures (but still try not to bore you).
I feel like just the places we went today could have been spread out over a week! In fact, our tour guide (Joey or “yossi”) said that many people do exactly that. We saw so many things.

The Old City of Jerusalem
This is overlooking the old city of Jerusalem (you can see the walls behind us). We are standing in Beth Anee (Bethany, the City of the poor) where Jesus visited often.

He would have walked from here through the Kidron Valley and into the city through the eastern gate. (Pause for Interesting Factoid –PIF) The eastern gate was sealed by the Turks because that is the gate that Jesus (The Messiah) is to return through. In addition, there is a grave site now in front of the eastern gate. The Turks and other anti-Semitic groups that ruled hoped that he would not desecrate himself by walking through a graveyard. In fact, just recently Yassar Arafat asked to be buried there just before he died and the Palestinian Government pushed for that request but was quickly denied by the Israeli government.

The Garden Tomb
There were some tears for me here. I never thought I’d cry…but it is overwhelming. I could write of this spot forever but I’ll try not to do that.

(PIF)
The tomb door was originally half the size it is now. You can see the original height right at Kate’s eye level. This is why the Disciples had to stoop to look into the tomb, and probably why Mary was the one that went inside. It is very small.

This site is an A+ site, which means that there is overwhelming evidence that this is where it actually happened. I will try to mark these sites as I go from now on. Some of the site we see may be ‘traditional sites’ meaning that they happened in the general area but maybe not on this exact spot.

This site was overwhelming because of the evidence. It was difficult to look on the spot that He laid. The door to the tomb now says ‘He is not here…He is risen!’ Joseph of Aramathia (Who owned the tomb) was a shorter man. This tomb was honed out of a rock for his specific body height. One of the reasons why they believe this is without a doubt the actually tomb is because the slab and the entire inside of the tomb was prepared correctly and was carved very smoothly. However, the heel space was carved very quickly and is very roughly carved (implying that they did not have much time). Normally there would be not heel space because the tomb is prepared for the size of the person to be buried in it. Obviously Joseph was much shorter than Jesus. That is just one of the facts that overwhelm. There are many more… The crack in the foundation that archeologist know was carved by an earthquake, the early Christian symbols carved in the stone on the outside. The fact that it is the only garden tomb discovered and very close the Golgotha and many more. This is a MUST SEE for anyone coming to Israel in my opinion.

Lugar Park
Not a Christian Historical spot, just a place that we stopped after eating a FIVE COURSE LUNCH! (Honestly, we were too full to keep on walking)

The lunch was fantastic, but just kept on coming…and coming…and coming. It was an authentic Kosher meal served in one of the finest restaurants in Jerusalem.

And it was the place where we met with Mr. Perrez. Prime Minister of Social Affairs in Israel. It is with PM Perrez that we are feeding 500 Jewish families for Passover. These are families that recently immigrated to Jerusalem during the recent fence rising and cannot afford the items needed to have a proper Passover Meal. We presented him with the check at lunch!

Last but not least…
Kate’s Nine Year Old picture
Since we were on the ‘trip of a lifetime’ and we are celebrating Kate’s Ninth birthday here. We thought it would be appropriate to have her nine year old picture here also. So here it is…
It was taking in the Garden that surrounds the Tomb, only feet from the entrance of the Tomb itself. We are so proud of Kate. She is very easy to travel with and has many questions (that she is NOT afraid to ask). She has made us proud.

Also today we visited
1) The Upper Room
2) The Old border of Jordan and Jerusalem (in fact, as a child Yossi would stand on the wall a pray that God would some day let him visit the wailing wall which, because he was on the wrong side was not possible…and now he does…three times a week!)
3) The Garden of Gethsemane

As another side note: Our luggage has still not arrived so I had to go buy clothes for Darren and I (very interesting) The rate is 4.5:1 dollar right now and the airline gave us 100 dollars to spend. I wasn’t able to spend it all in the time I had, but if the luggage doesn’t come tomorrow we might get more. Apparently, it never left Washington D.C.!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Pray for the piece of my Luggage too!

Until tomorrow,
Shalom

Day One...Continued

March 12
Day One…continued
Well we’ve been up for more than 24 hours now…and still going. After we landed it was supposed to be a 45 minute drive up the hill to Jerusalem and then dinner at the hotel’s grand restaurant. However, United airlines lost our luggage! And the luggage of several people in our group.

SO…this is Darren standing in front of the Lost and Found (Notice the Hebrew above his head? that says ‘lost found’) department of the Ben Gurrion Airport in Tel Aviv. Kate is sitting at his feet playing on her gameboy (such a great Christmas present).

Of course we are laughing about all of this. It’s no big deal. Kate’s luggage made it (how could you miss it…it’s bright orange with HUGE white flowers on it), so at least she has clothing…but Darren and I have nothing but the extra set of clothes in our backpacks. They should have our luggage to us by tomorrow, so we can manage. I love traveling…never ending excitement!

So here we are in Vienna!

So we are here in Vienna, Austria and believe it or not...it's blowing a blizzard! And we are sitting in a crowded waiting area with not enough seats. I am sitting on the cold marble floor while Darren stands over head.

The flight was great...Kate didn't sleep a wink (So basically neither did I!) though she doesn't look like it and I do...thus the reason why you see a picture of her and not me:) It is basically our 2:00 a.m. Pray for us...we board for Tel Aviv in less than 30 minutes.
We are excited and all is well.
Talk again soon. Susan

One thing I know for sure!

I am beginning to delve into myself a little now and have begun asking myself what I am really made of...what do I know for sure! Here's one thing...

I am stronger than I thought.

I have for some timed believed (or have been pursueded to believe) that I am not a strong person. I now beg to differ.
My personality has been characterized as friendly (which translated means 'weak'), submissive (a push over) and 'eager to please' (never says 'no'). I have always viewd them in a negative manner. But I have reason to believe that I am stronger than most think.

Let me think on this some more...I'll get back to you on it.
Suz

And now we are leaving again!

We are leaving in seven days and I am completely exhausted (I know...not the answer you were expecting).

Saturday morning early we will board a plane for Washington DC and then on to Austria and finally to Tel Aviv. It will be a long flight. But it's Kate's birthday present.

She will be celebrating her birthday in Israel this year!

We will keep you posted :)