gilgal and the dead sea...

This morning I woke up at 8:00 am, but I stayed in bed until 9:30. Since I have been eating a lot of junk food the last couple of days, I decided to go light on the food today. I ate a bowl of cereal with milk. After that, I decided to do a little bit of map homework while we were waiting to get started for the day. After working for about 45 minutes, I showered up and got ready to hit the road. 

Around 11:30 am, Leor and I loaded up and headed out. Our plan was to head to the area of the Dead Sea and to visit Gilgal for some video recording. On our way there though, we stopped by the new apartment Leor and Keren bought that is currently being built. They are in the final stages of construction before being able to move in later this spring. We stopped by because today the kitchen counter was being installed, so Leor wanted to make sure everything was done properly. Their new place is east of Jerusalem on the backside of the Mount of Olives. They have a great view of the Mount of Olives to the west and the Judean wilderness out to the Dead Sea to the east. Their place is beautiful…I am really excited to stay with them there the next time I am able to visit.

From there we stopped for lunch at a rest stop right next to Jericho and the Dead Sea. It is a place we have stopped at before when we have been here on tours. I had a chicken schnitzel (breaded and fried chicken breast) stuffed inside a fresh pita with hummus and vegetables. It was delicious! They also gave me a few falafel balls because I was having a tough time choosing between the two :-) The best part was that since they are friends of Leor, it was all free (that has happened over and over again this week – Leor has a lot of friends in Israel J).

After lunch we drove to Gilgal. It was a longer drive than I expected. It is located in the West Bank, which has a very high Arab Palestinian population. The place we visited in Gilgal was a small Jewish settlement (kibbutz). There are no ruins there, but it marks the traditional site of the ancient Gilgal where the Israelites first set up camp once they had entered the Promised Land. We had a great view of the Rift Valley below with the Jordan River in the middle of it, as well as a great view of Mount Nebo in the background – the mountain where Moses was able to view the Promised Land, and then eventually died.

When we left Gilgal, we drove by the Dead Sea again and decided to stop in to visit one of Leor’s friends at Genesis Land – a site also referred to as Abraham’s Tent that we have visited on tours before. It is intended to be a recreated setting for us to experience what it would have been like to visit Abraham and his family in the Judean wilderness. The views are breathtaking, and the food is good too. We didn’t eat there, but we did visit for a while. It gave me an opportunity to really appreciate God in the openness and vastness of the desert hills. I imagined what it must have been like for Abraham to spend time with God in such intimacy there. I imagined the faith that Abraham lived by as he followed God wherever He led him.

When it was dark, we left and drove back into Jerusalem to pick up a pizza. We brought it home and watched a little TV while we ate. Afterward, Leor and I watched The Bucket List. We both got teary eyed and choked up at the end – I guess we’re both a couple of softies (most of you already knew that :-) He showered while I talked with Natalie on the phone – can’t wait to see her and Elias in a few days!! Now everyone is in bed but me. I am updating my journal and our blog.

Before I finish, there are a few observations that I made today that I want to note.   

1 - It is so interesting to me how living here, and even experiencing Israel outside of a normal tour experience, can make it easy to miss the mystery of this place. I have to be very intentional about reminding myself of all the things that have happened here. Otherwise, I can easily get caught up in the busyness and normalcy of everyday life.

2 - There have been rockets fired in both northern and southern Israel while I have been here (some only 30 miles away). Yet I would never know about it if I did not read about it on the Internet. It is a way of life here. No one really gets worried about it. Back home the thought of this reality would freak people out.

3 - Living in Israel helps you to trust in God. Essentially you live everyday believing that we are immortal here until God determines our time is through. That’s all you really need to remember.

4 - Psalm 87 really blessed me this week: On the holy mountain stand the city founded by the Lord. He loves the city of Jerusalem more than any other city in Israel. O city of God, what glorious things are said of you! I will count Egypt and Babylon among those who know me – also Philistia and Tyre, and even distant Ethiopia. They have all become citizens of Jerusalem! Regarding Jerusalem it will be said, “Everyone enjoys the rights of citizenship there.” And the Most High will personally bless this city. When the Lord registers the nations, he will say, “They have all become citizens of Jerusalem.” The people will flutes and sing, “The source of my life springs from Jerusalem.”