Israel- Update 3

Shalom family!

Well, a lot has happened the past 3 days but I will do my best to give you a full update.

Tuesday morning we woke early, packed the car, and started to drive toward the coast (west). Our first stop was Casaerea- this was another place where Herod built one of his palaces. The ruins have been kept up very well and it was quite the incredible sight! Imagine a huge amphitheatre, a large palace on the Mediterranean waterline (complete with a fresh water pool and prison cells), and a giant track where some of the first Roman Olympics were held! This is also where Paul was imprisoned. Some of these sites are just incredible- you can still see the mosaic floors!

We kept driving north towards Galilee until we got to Capernaum. Remember, this is not where Jesus was born but it is where he spent a whole lot of time. (See Matthew 4 & 8) Jesus taught in the synagogue here, which we actually stood in. Most of the sites were remains, but have been excavated. This one had pillars that were put back up and the house of Peter's mother-in-law, which they put a Catholic church on top of.

From Capernaum we went to our hotel, which was right on the Sea of Galilee. We decided to go for an evening dip, but got too cold when the water reached our wastes! We decided to shower and get ready for dinner. Dinner consisted of schwarma, which is like a lamb meat inside of a pita. I'll be honest- I had to choke it down. Bleh. No schwarma for me.

Wednesday we first went to Caesarea Phillipi (not to be confused with Caesarea). It was GORGEOUS, and I thought it would be my favorite site yet (little did I know what was coming!). This is where Jesus took his disciples to ask them, "Who do people say that I am" and "Who do YOU say that I am?" (Matthew 16 & Mark 8) He took quite a journey here to ask them that one question, which shows that he was really trying to make a point. Anyway, it was really pretty with springs and a lot of greenery. Again, there were a lot of ruins where a synagogue used to be.

After this we went to Dan, which was my favorite site yet! (It is referred to in the OT) This place was a beautiful place to reside, because of all the of natural springs that flow into the River Jordan! It was amazing- 2,000 GALLONS of water per SECOND flow from the earth! We took a nice little hike to the top, where we saw a pagan temple that is in incredible shape. We learned a lot about the sacrifices that happened here- which I'll explain later. It was just beautiful- the water gushed out from under great big rocks and it was nice and shaded.

(Jordan River)

Lastly, we went to a small site that shows what the village ruins would have REALLY looked like. We walked through a typical NT village and home. I'll explain later, but there were a lot of different things about the homes that gave me a new understanding of things like salt & light, and what it meant for the paralytic's friends to actually DIG through a ceiling to drop their friend into the home Jesus was staying in so he could be healed.

We ended Wednesday at a restaurant on sea shore. Yum!

Today Danny, Keith and I woke early and I drove along the shore of the sea and up the hill to drop them off for a 3-hour hike. Danny loved it!

First, we went to the Mount of Beattitudes. This is where Jesus gave the sermon on the mount (which we read). Then, we walked down to a very specific part of the seashore. In this spot there is a warm, natural spring that flows into the sea. This was (and still is) a popular fishing spot, because the fish are attracted to the warmth. This was the likely spot where Jesus' disciples went fishing after Jesus' resurrection. We actually stood on the shore where they enjoyed a meal after they pulled in the large net of fish!

Then, we went to a Roman site that has been excavated for the past few hundred years. We walked through the city and learned about what Roman cities used to be like. We walked through the bathhouses, amphitheaters, and even the restroom! It was pretty neat how the figured out water and plumbing- we'll tell you all about it!

Then, we drove 2 hours back to Jerusalem. After a nice shower we are ready to eat, have a birthday party for "Baby Girl Hot Dog" (Maryann's pet hamster, who is 3 years old today ;) ), play card games, and SLEEP!

Tomorrow is a rest day. We'll be off to the main grocery market and walk around the Old City again. Things still on our list are Bethlehem, Mount of Olives, and more!

Love & miss you all. We can't wait to show you all of these pictures.

xo,

us

Sites Visited:

Caesarea

Text: Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts 12, ACts 21, 23-26, Acts 25

Capernaum

Text: Luke 4:38-44, Mark 2, Matthew 8:14-17, Mark 1:21-28, Mark 9:33-50, Luke 7:1-10, John 6:1-59 (among many others)

Caesarea Philippi

Text: Matthew 16:13-17:13, Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 42:1

Tel Dan

Text: 1 Kings 12:25-33, Genesis 19:1, 2 Kings 7:1, Isaiah 29:21, Jeremiah 38:7

Qatzrin

Text: Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26

Mount of Beatitudes

Text: Matthew 5-7, Mark 1:35-39, Mark 6:30-56

Beth Shean (Decapolis)

Israel - Part 2

Hello family!

Here is an update for days 2 & 3...

Yesterday we started out at Beth Shemesh, where we read Judges 13-16 and saw the story of Samson play out right in front of us! We also went down into an ancient cistern- it was incredible.

Then we went to Azekah and read the story of David

& Goliath. We even walked through the "brook" (now dried up) where David would have found the stones he used to kill Goliath with. We even brought one home that was a similar shape & size. :)

Then, Laura and I went grocery shopping, which was quite the experience! She said it once took her 6 times to finally buy sour cream. Boy, do I believe her.

We went out to a delicious dinner for Danny's birthday. I had pumpkin & marscapone tortellini and Danny had seafood pesto fettuccine. It was a non-kosher restaurant, which is pretty hard to come by here. Our friend Keith got a cheeseburger, which is pretty rare here. (Mixing milk & meat = non-kosher) Then we walked around the "New City" of Jerusalem, which is more like your typical downtown city. We ended the night with some card games and, of course, brownies.

Today was our busiest, most strenuous day yet! We woke early, packed lunches, and drove an hour and a half down to the dead sea. First, we went to Masada. It was one of King Herod's palaces, and boy was it intricate! We took a cable care to get the top of the mountain, where the palace was set upon a plateau. Overlooking the Dead Sea, it was a beautiful site. To see how the palace was created was just amazing- huge stones, cisterns dug out of bedrock, beautiful mosaic work, and the complexities of steam rooms and bath houses! This was Danny's favorite site.

Then, we went to En Gedi. Mind you, we were in the middle of the desert and it is hot, hot, hot. But we hiked about an hour up and found these beautiful natural springs and waterfalls, in the middle of the DESERT! We read verses like "come to me, all who are thirsty" and "as the deer pants for water, so my soul pants for you". It was a great picture of the never ending, everlasting Water of Life that is available to us, no matter what circumstances surround us.

Then we took a dip in the dead sea. Or should I say, we took a FLOAT in the dead sea. Did you know its 30% salt?! Even if you try to put your legs down in the water, they float right up! It was pretty fun, except for the fact that you felt it immediately if you had the tiniest cut anywhere on your body. Ouch! Anyway, the water was crazy. It felt like baby oil covered our skin when we got out. Afterward, my skin was dry and itchy- I was happy for the experience, but equally happy to get out. They say some people with skin diseases come stay by the dead sea for a few months and are often healed.

Then we went to Qumran, which is where the dead sea scrolls were found by the Beduin shepherds! I was particularly excited to see Cave 4, where the majority of scrolls were found and where APU's 6 fragments once lived!

Then we drove home and showered away all the salt. We had to get cheese for our lunches for the next few days, so Danny and I walked to the store alone! It was good for us to get a little alone time.

All in all, we feel very safe here. We have been lucky to have beautiful weather so far. The desert is typically 125 degrees!!! It maybe topped at 90 today, but there was a nice breeze. We're praising God for looking out for us. :) Also, we're getting more adjusted to the time change. Today, I even woke up at 5 am! Ha...we are so exhausted from our strenuous hiking/desert/heat day that we can't wait for a good night of rest.

Well, tomorrow we're headed up north to Galilee! We have many stops on the way, which I will tell you all about. We'll be back "home" Thursday night, so it will be a few days before you hear from me again. Love you all!

Love,

us

Locations visited:

Beth Shemesh

Text: Joshua 19:40-41, Judges 1:34, Numbers 6:1-21, Judges 13-16, Judges 18, 1 Samuel 4-6

Azekah

Text: 1 Samuel 17

Masada

En Gedi

Text: John 4:13-14, Psalm 63

Dead Sea

Qumran

12 weeks.

Hello my sweet little baby!

This weekend was one of the most wonderful weekends I've ever had. It started with a birthday bbq for your daddy on Friday. We ate, looked at Israel pictures, and then your Pop Pop, Nana, Auntie Nat, Uncle JJ, and cousins opened our gift to them- a simple wooden frame with a picture of you in it! There were a lot of tears, smiles, laughs, and I knew it's. I even got some of my first little belly rubs, which was so fun. Your daddy and I were on cloud nine!

The next morning we went for a nice bike ride/run before we drove out to your Grandma's to tell her, Auntie Krystyn, Uncle Tommy, and your cousins the good news. They were so surprised! They had no idea that we would be pregnant, much less 3 months pregnant! We were all so happy and spent time dreaming about you and talking about my pregnancy. Your family is so, so excited to meet you, little babe!

After we told our family, we started sharing our news with close friends. It was so special to finally make our secret known to those who are closest to us. You are so loved. Everyone, including us, can't stop thinking about you! We're going to make the news even more public in a few days. I can't wait to scream it from the rooftops.

I am feeling great this week. I'm not craving anything specifically, but boy do chips and dip sound good. And green apples. And shaped macaroni (although your dad swears they all taste the same). Speaking of all of this food, I'm going to start prenatal pilates this week, which I am really looking forward to. Other than falling asleep every night at 7:30, I am feeling so healthy and happy. According to others, we've got the "glow"! Must be all the coco butter we've been using. (Mmm...chocolate...)

A little update on you- by the end of this week you'll be about 3 inches long and weigh1 oz. You're doing a lot of growing these days...I am so proud of you! Keep it up, little one.

I love you.

Momma

Israel- Part 1.

Israel. Let's talk.

I've been wondering how to put words to such an incredible journey, so I'm just going to use the ones I use some of the words I typed while I was there. Every couple days I sent an update to our family- which is just what you'll get to read here. So without further ado, here is Israel Part 1.

Hey family...

It is 5:18 am on Sunday morning here, and I think I've reached my max amount of sleep for the night. I thought I would take a few minutes to update you on our first day, both for your sake and mine....I want to remember everything about, well, everything.

We arrived on the Shabbat so the whole city was pretty lifeless. The roads were empty and even the parking machines were taking a break- we didn’t get charged! Ha. After visiting with our friends for a bit we had a nice breakfast of pancakes, yogurt, granola, and eggs. (Did you know milk comes in a BAG here?!) After that, Danny and I completely crashed and took a 3 1/2 hour nap. I think it was still early enough in the day that it didn't harm us.

When we woke up we showered and, yep, ate again. Sandwiches with hummus and mozzarella and fruit and soup. Yum. Then, little Maryann (our friends' nearly 3 year old daughter) went down for a nap, so we learned how to play "Shesh Besh", which is similar to backgammon. We played that for a couple hours until Maryann was up.

Then, we walked 20 minutes to Old City Jerusalem. So far, I am surprised at how hilly Jerusalem is! Everywhere we went I felt like we were walking uphill. The sidewalks are all made of old stone, which makes pushing a stroller a challenge! Also, all the buildings are required to be made with old Jerusalem stone, so the city probably looks like you imagine in- old and very, very beautiful. Anyway, we walked to Old City, which was made of narrow walkways with little shops on either side. One quarter of the city, the Jewish quarter, was closed for Shabbat, but the Christian quarter was open. We met their dear friend Shebaan, who is a store owner and a money changer. We changed $400 into shekels- we'll see how long that lasts!

We walked to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which houses the supposed crucifixion and burial site of Christ. We got to see where Jesus was supposedly buried (granted, a huge domed church has been built around it, so it doesn't look like you would think), and even stepped into a tomb like the one he would have been buried in. (Creepy.) Then, we walked up steep stairs and saw the supposed place where Christ was crucified. They built a very ornate altar around it and the room was decked out in a lot of gold fixtures, red hanging lamps, and a picture of Jesus on the wall. We were able to bow under the altar and stick our hands in a hole, touching the rubbed-smooth bedrock where Jesus died. It was pretty powerful. (By the way, our friend & Bible scholar Keith is taking us to all these spots, and he is able to explain the biblical accuracy of where we are.)

It's incredible that there are secular Jews in Jerusalem. There is so much evidence of the Bible already! For instance, we saw the remains of King Hezekiah’s wall- an 8 meter wall that used to surround the Old City. Amazing.

Then we walked over to the south side of the whaling wall. At this point, the sun was starting to set so you saw more and more Jews coming out of their Sabbath. It was as if the world was coming back to life- the streets, the stores, the restaurants! It was incredible. We also heard the sunset Muslim prayer coming over loud speakers throughout the city, reminding us of the religious and cultural tension that is present throughout Israel.

We started our walk home and bought a large piece of fresh bread for 5 shekels (about 2 dollars) to munch on. We ended the night with individual pizzas made out of pita, marinated olives, and a big fresh watermelon. Of course, we played cards with our friends before sleep.

That was day 1! Today is Danny's birthday (28!) and we plan to go out to a nice dinner to celebrate. We'll also be getting our rental car today and driving to another site (the Mount of Olives is visible from the apartment!).

I love you all. Thanks for your continued prayers.

Kaylyn

Locations visited:

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Text: Luke 23:26-24:12, Matthew 27:32-28:30, Mark 15:21-16:20, John 19:16-20:31

Hezekiah's Wall

Text: Isaiah 22:10