Thanksgiving

I woke up today, knowing it was Thanksgiving, and it was going to be a very different one, being so far away from home, and not with most of our family. I was happy that Alicia was here too, and that we were going to be able to be share this time together. And I prayed to God that He would comfort me today, and allow me to feel very present where I was.

Right away Cyndi and I opened our hotel window to see the sun rising on the Dead Sea. We went down and met with several people from our group and swam, or more accurately floated, around on our backs, in the warm salt water. I picked up large salt crystals by grasping them with my toes, and gathered a handful to bring back home with me.

We hiked up to some waterfalls in Ein Gedi, where King David had gone to hide from Saul. I tasted fresh water with my bare hands. It was a gorgeous place where David had finally found solitude and refuge, and realized there that God said, it’s not “the place” in which you will find real refuge; it’s in me. After we left, we found out that there was a flash flood, and we had gotten out “just in time”.

We ate authentic homemade falafels made by our tour driver Elle, in an outdoor patio with the wind blowing.

Then we walked down to the place on the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized. It started raining, and music was playing, and it felt pretty surreal.

We learned more from Dan, and touched the water there too, as if to make us feel like we were actually there, a part of the history of Jesus.

We went into a store that sold date products from the palm trees that are so prevalently grown here. We tasted samples, and as we were getting ready to make purchases, the power went out, so we had to hurry along, but we were able to finish up, “just in time”.

As we drove away in the bus on our way to our destination for the next few days- the Sea of Galilee, I realized what a full day I’d had. It seemed that everything we did today, we’d done “just in time”.
God seemed to be giving us a reminder that He will give us what we need, in fact all that we need and more, if we will listen to Him, and follow.

Today I know that Jesus is not just a story from a faraway place that I have to imagine in my brain and in my heart. My time here in Israel is the real life intersection of all of the pieces. I get to see with my own eyes, walk with my own feet, and touch with my own hands - the details of the Bible stories I’ve heard about for my entire life. This trip has been a real spiritual experience, like heaven on earth, giving me a lot for which to be thankful!

— Written by Nancy