Painting

Capernaum

Winding whipping up over Sea of Galilee

Gamla

wine tasting with our tour guide

Day 9 Monday

Tonight, writing this email seems so very difficult. I am so very overwhelmed by emotions. It has been such an amazing trip. No one can describe to you the geography that surrounds you and no pictures do it justice. The land is so much a part of the Bible story. As we have sat at various sights and read the stories that occurred there and Psalms that those places inspired, everything takes on a richer fuller meaning.

But more than anything else, I have felt this unbelievable closeness to Jesus the man who came to earth to do His Father’s will for my sake. Jesus my Savior. Jesus who has this overwhelming love for me, for each one of us, that it just keeps bringing tears to my eyes even now as I try to write this.

We spent the day in His land. The places where He came to teach, to call His disciples, to heal, to save that not even one of His sheep might be lost. We read the story of the man called Legion (Mark 5) filled with so many demons that when they entered the pigs, 2000 pigs went over the side of the cliff. We talked about the fact that the man was a Gentile because Jesus was on the Gentile side of the Galilee, we talked about the fact that to Jesus, saving that man was more important than all the pigs that were lost, and we talked about how the man was so good at telling others his story of his encounter with Jesus that the next time Jesus came to the area, (Mark 6: 53-56) everyone came to Him for healing. Then in a very touching example, Aaron showed us the meaning of touching His garments which actually meant touching the ends of His prayer shawl. Those words are a way of describing a father having a prayer shawl over his head and as he prayed, he covered his prayer shawl over the shoulders of his children to give them his blessing and protection. So it was as if Jesus was standing there covering them (us) with His prayers, His blessings, His protection.

We went to the churches which marked the places to commemorate the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Peter’s call to take care of the sheep and the area of Capernaum and the church over the area believed to be Peter’s house. They were all lovely and moving in their simplicity. I stuck my toes in the Sea of Galilee 🙂 and we saw the wind whip up over the Galilee and cause sudden white caps.

We had a picnic lunch on a hillside that could have been where Jesus did the Sermon on the Mount.

Later, we hiked in the area know as Gamla where one of the final battles of the Jewish Rebellion was fought in 66AD.

Then we ended the day at the Golan Heights Winery with a tour and wine tasting. Such a beautiful spot. Such a fun way to end the day.

Sorry for the long email this time. I just wish each of you could have been here with me today