DAY THREE

Day three...it was a big day. We did a lot of traveling and sight-seeing on this day. We were up early and heading for the Galilee area. I was really excited to go there because it was were Jesus spent most of his time ministering and I was anxious to see it, experience it.

Statue of Elijah
View of the Valley of Meggedo from Mount Caramel
Our first leg of our journey landed us on top of Mount Caramel. That was crazy. The mountain where Elijah and the Prophets of Baal duked it out...the Mount that will have a front row seat at the final battle. It is such a strange feeling that I can't even describe. You have such a sense of the history, the oldness, of the place when you are there standing on top looking into the valley of Megedo (Armagedon). It's a quiet, still, knowing of the blood that was shed there and the blood that is yet to be shed there. Oh I have no idea how to explain it, you'll have to go there and experience it. We sang the "Days of Elijah" while we were up there. It was so amazing because it made it sooooo real.

Our next stop was at Tabgha which was on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. Tabgha is where it is believed that Jesus asked Peter to come and be a disciple. They have a statue depicting the event.
This site was a cool place to start because it was the beginning of Jesus' ministry, the calling of the disciples. It was also our first really good look at the Sea. I must say though to a Canadian it's a really small lake...really small. It's nice though because it was fresh water and I wouldn't be drinking in all the salt water like I did at the Mediterranean Sea. We didn't stay long until we were off to our next place which was lunch in Negev. There we went to a restaurant that served "St. Peter's Fish". It was a good meal of fried fish with the head on.

After lunch we headed out on a Sea crossing. I was worried that I would get seasick but I was totally ok...well minus when we were circling and circling trying to rescue Lior's hat. Lior was our guide on the tour. He was a funny guy but the circling for the hat had to end. It was an amazing trip. The waves crashed into the hull of the boat and sent spray over all of us. By the end of the crossing I was completely drenched. Mostly because Dan and I were at the very front of the boat and we were saying that it would be funny if we looked over the edge and a wave came up and smashed us in the face...so we both looked over the side just as a wave was breaking on the boat and we got our facewash! It wouldn't have been too bad but just as we were pulling ourselves out another wave crashed and I was absolutely soaked. Luckily it was only my front. I actually had to wring out the front of my shirt and shorts.

The trip took about an hour with all our "hat rescue" attempts. There were many moments of "Jesus did this". We talked about how bad the storm must have been for the disciples to be so scared. There were many times when we just went quiet, each one comtemplating the thoughts in their head, the feelings in their heart.

After the boat ride we went to the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. There was a beautiful garden there and a small circular, domed cathedral. As we entered the cathedral we had to be silent. It put me in a very reverent attitude as we spread out in the pews that followed the circumference of the room. We sang a couple of hymns acapella and the accoustics were amazing. The presence of God was so present there with us. So for those of you who know me you can imagine how much I was crying. It was almost unbearable. Unfortunately I was there with 49 people that didn't know me and many were concerned about me. A couple of the leadership came and talked with me. They said that I should take my time and so I did. When I left the cathedral I expected to see people walking through the gardens but no, they were all on the bus waiting for me!! I didn't really care though because I could still feel God's presence with us.

We left the Mount of Beatitudes and head for our hotel, the Ohalo which was in Tiberius. When we got there we went for a swim in the Galilee. The beach was made of crushed shells...not so fun and the first three feet going into the water was large, jagged, algae-covered rock. It wasn't so bad coming in but coming out was another story. I fell twice and still have the bruises to prove it. Thankfully Tim stuck around and helped me out.

After supper we had a talk from Jurgen Buehler. I had a really hard time staying awake - you'll remember that I'd been up since 2am that morning! Just sitting and not doing anything was hard for me. I think I did fall asleep for a bit, I hope I didn't snore! I'm sure Lisa would have elbowed me if I did. I do remember that he talked about our calling, what God wants us to do. Lisa and I went to find some bottled water and diet coke. The store at the hotel was closed because it was Shabbat but we found a gas station down the road that was open. When we got back I went to bed and fell asleep immediately...and according to Andrea I did snore:)