I listened...

I watched today. I listened and watched. That’s the best part of my job. This morning I watched as our group ate breakfast and boarded their buses for a thrilling day of walking in the footsteps of Jesus in the Galilee area. I’m so blessed. I chose to ride bus 3 today to start. Our guide was Ra’anan, or Ronnie and even though I’ve been with him many times in the past, I always hear something new and interesting. Ok, well – maybe not some of his jokes, but I found myself laughing anyway. He has a unique way with words. The way he can paint a picture and take me back to some far distant past is amazing. I found myself closing my eyes many times as he described places not as they were today, but as they were in Jesus’ day.

Caesarea Philippi was first on our itinerary. It’s way up north in the “finger tip” of Israel along the Lebanon border. Along the drive we all listened to Ra’anan talk about this area. The Galilee area. The Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights and so much more. As he talked, the Sea of Galilee became smaller and smaller outside our window and the views were incredible. I listened to those around me on the bus too and I enjoyed the excitement of seeing these sites for the first time through their eyes. “Oh my goodness!” That was Nic’s repeated reaction to the first impressions of the Galilee region. It was so fun to hear the excitement in his voice and the others around me pointing out places and things that were interesting while snapping pictures and taking it all in.

After Caesarea Philippi we came back down to the lowest fresh water lake in the world, the Sea of Galilee and visited the Mount of Beatitudes and also Capernaum, Jesus’ home town for the three main ministry years of his life. Ra’anan helped make it all come together and explained everything in such a way that my eyes were opened and could see and understand much clearer than I had in the past. I caught myself a couple times stopping in my tracks and thinking… “Could Jesus have stood in this very spot?” The answer was YES, it’s VERY possible that Jesus could have stood or walked on the same paths we took today. It’s actually highly likely even, knowing what the Bible says and learning too from the archeological proof. This was my theme of the day! I put myself in Jesus’ shoes and used my mind’s eye to create life in His day. It wasn’t very hard with Ra’anan’s expertise showing me the way with his clever and descriptive words and the fact that the Galilee region is the most untouched locations where Jesus lived and ministered.

I’ve been here before, it’s true – but it never gets old. Today, with my new theme, I sat on a wooden boat on the Sea of Galilee… a boat that is a replica of a boat in the time of Jesus. After we sang and prayed and learned about the lake we took a few minutes of silence. This silence was the best part of the boat ride. To sit there, on this boat in the middle of the lake with only the noise of the waves lapping on the sides was touching. I put myself in Jesus’ shoes (ok, sandals) again and I thought of Him and the disciples on a boat like this fishing for their daily catch…I thought of their reactions during a sudden storm and also pictured them disappointed after not catching a thing and then pulling in their nets after Jesus told them too…nets full of fish! I bet their laughter and joy was heard across the lake echoing for miles! Oh the conversations that must have taken place in the noiseless world they lived in. Without cars and buses, boat motors and airplanes overhead. Loud speakers, televisions blaring, cell phones ringing. The silence was beautiful and natural and I realized just how much noise I have in my life. Not only noise. But even the noise of distractions and hustle and bustle of life, the many thoughts running through my head of my busy day or week etc. It’s all noise really. I want to listen past the noise. And I have a feeling that while I’m listening, I will hear… is anybody where I’m going with this????

I’m sorry to say that I could not down load pictures tonight. I am somewhat technically challenged and in my rush to leave for the airport forgot an important component to downloading pictures onto my computer. Yea, the cable. I forgot it. Well, I do have a backup plan, so if you’ll bare with me one more day I truly intend to show great pictures of this day.

This day ended like no other day – ever! You just can’t duplicate a special day like today. We were baptized in the Jordan River today. Oh My Goodness! What a lump in your throat, goosebump kind of day! I’m sitting here struggling to find the right words to express what our baptism was like but I’m struggling. The emotion and the spiritual connection that was felt was overwhelming. I will just say this… there was singing, clapping and shouts of praise. There were tears of joy and hugging and more tears of joy. I heard whispers of thanks for our Savior from faces that were buried into a loved one’s neck. Tomorrow I will post the pictures, I hope you’ll check back and see if you recognize any of the glowing faces.

Thank you Jesus, that’s all I’ve got left to say about today…Amen.

Kim