Thoughts of Glory

Mark 12:29 Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" 29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Fifteen or twenty years ago Chuck and I along with our youngest son, Chris, and my mom went to Israel for the first time. We all had great expectations but the trip for the most part was a disappointment especially to me.  The main thing that I wanted to come home with was a real understanding of the geography of the land where my Lord had lived and ministered. However, it snowed or rained the whole time we were there, causing us to have to make continuous route changes and cancel planned events.  The weather was so cold and wet that we could not see out of the fogged bus windows.  There was tension in the air and soldiers with huge guns were everywhere.  As American Christian tourists we were treated as if they wanted our money but our presence was not really welcome.  When I left I thought I would never want to return until the Lord put his feet again on the Mt of Olives. I kept a love for the land and people my Lord loves and prayed and stood for Israel, but lost the overwhelming desire to be there physically.

However, about two years ago the desire to return to Israel returned inside of me. The desire was not just for a visit but to stay awhile and really be a part of the land and the people that God chose for His own.  I have been waiting for connections to happen that would be the open door for the fulfillment of that dream, but it has not yet come.  Last year, when our pastors took a group I tried to go, but again it did not work out.   Then suddenly the end of last year it seemed to be the time and Chuck had a desire to go also. It was not going to be the long trip but it may be the first step.

The week prior to our leaving for Israel the Lord gave me the above scripture and also gave my friend Karen, who would be on this Journey with us, 2 Chron. 6:32-33. This increased the intensity of anticipation that the Lord was going to do some mighty things in our lives while there.  When I looked at the agenda that the tour company sent I noticed a pattern. The last four numbers of  the phone number of our first hotel was 5555, our second hotel in Tiberias was 8888 and our third hotel at the dead sea was 9999. Five means grace, 8 means new beginnings or resurrection and 9 means fruitfulness. There was no pattern once we got to Jerusalem but the last four numbers added up to 25 which means silver or redemption.  All this added up to a life changing adventure for us all.

Feb 23, 2010 we started our adventure to Israel from Charlotte. Five of us from our Church, Antioch International Church, left on the same flight heading to Newark where we would meet up with the rest of our team on this journey. 

We had an easy flight to Newark, but we had to retrieve our bags and check in for our international flight. Since signs were nonexistant we went up and down, down and up until we finally got to the right desk to check in our luggage and get our boarding pass. Then it was through security once again and grab lunch.

We met up with our pastors, Peter & Joy, while eating and then once we got through the final security line we met the rest of the team.

We had a great group of 17 pilgrims to the Holy Land.  A family of four from Indiana, three ladies from TX, one lady from Charlotte and the rest of us were Church family.  The flight to Tel Aviv from Newark was over 11 hours and since there was a 7 hour time difference we were leaving mid afternoon in New York and arriving the next morning at 9:30 in Israel.  Many did not sleep on the flight, however, I did get some rest. Chuck did not sleep at all. But we made it safely and finally stepped onto the land of Israel.

After taking this picture of Karen and with much excitement and weariness we got our bags and followed the leader to our purple bus that would be our daily transportation.

After driving an hour we arrived at our first hotel which was right on the Mediterranean.  The view from our room was breath taking. We took a nap and then took a short walk on the beach, but it was very cold.

Our first meal gave us an introduction to Israeli food which I like a lot and our first time to really sit and fellowship with our companions for the next 10 days.  Israel has wonderful fresh vegetables and fruit that are grown on land that prior to 1948 was desolate. The land has bloomed thanks to the promises and blessings of God to the point that they supply a large portion of Europe.  From the first meal I became hooked on their salads especially the tomatoes and cucumbers.

With full stomachs we all headed to our rooms to try to get some sleep before our 6:30 am wake up call.