If you missed my other trip posts, read the Day #1 recap, the Day #2 recap, the Day #3 recap, the Day #4 recap, the Day #5 recap, the Day #6 recap, and the Day #7 recap.
Day #8 of our Epic Trip to Italy and Israel with the Museum of the Bible was a very exciting day. We took a 2-hour helicopter ride over Israel. It was SO cool to see so many things from the air that we had seen up close and in person over the past few days.
Plus, it was so helpful to get a bird's eye view of the lay of the land. Well, and it was also just plain cool to take a helicopter ride! The only other time I'd been on a helicopter was when I was a little girl.
I'm somewhat prone to motion sickness so I was a little worried that it was going to be a miserable ride. But I sat where I could see out of the front, drank water, ate some bars, and rubbed on some essential oils and was able to really enjoy the experience.
Flying over the Dead Sea was especially a unique experience because it's the only place where you can fly BELOW sea level!
It was also fun to see Masada from the air - since we'd spent a lot of time there the day before.
I loved getting to meet Jeff on the trip. He's an amazing writer who has written for some of my very favorite publications.
He also has such a beautiful heart and, even though he and I have very differing beliefs in some areas, I was so inspired and challenged by meeting him and will likely be impacted by our conversations for the rest of my life. (You can read all of his posts on the trip experience linked at the top of this post here.)
After we landed in the helicopters, we took jeeps to a nearby kibbutz and then to the Syrian border.
It was surreal to be so close to a war-torn area, to see the army encampments, to see the destruction, to meet the locals and hear their stories, to see all the land mine warning signs, and to feel such tension in the air.
And yet in the middle of the conflict and unrest, there was hope - the people from the local kibbutz have beautiful orchards right near the border and there are wildflowers growing in the land mine fields.
My heart left feeling heavy, but also somewhat hopeful. There are no easy fixes, but there is hope springing up - even in the middle of what might feel like hopeless situations.
I loved how Jeff described the experience:
On the last full day of our pilgrimage, I was sitting in the back of a Jeep, bouncing along rutted dirt roads in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. This is disputed territory. Everywhere you look, there are reminders of war- bunkers, barbed wire, and, in the distance, the abandoned remains of the Syrian city of Quneitra. At one point, our driver suddenly stopped. To our left, behind a sign that said “CAUTION: LANDMINES,” a meadow was ablaze with dozens of crimson anemones. “Beautiful flowers,” he said. “Beautiful flowers in the minefield.”
Those spring flowers remind me that, while heartbreak and hatred may seem so powerful in our world, beautiful things are more resilient than we can understand.
We ate lunch at the kibbutz and it was an amazing spread made by a local woman - many of the items were grown right there in the kibbutz.
Even though we were so close to the Syrian border, there was such a feeling of peace and quiet there. I fell in love with the people and the area. In fact, it was the first day that I felt like, “I think I'd like to buy a house here in Israel and come visit regularly!”
We then drove to Capernaum and visited the remains of a 4th-century synagogue. It is believed that Jesus preached at this synagogue.
The sun shining in on the synagogue was utterly gorgeous… this picture doesn't do it justice!
I took my shoes off and stood on the ground. It was weird to think that Jesus could have walked right here.
Then, we went to the Church of the Beatitudes, the location where it is believed that Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount.
It was absolutely gorgeous weather there. Just beautiful!
And then we got on a boat on the Sea of Galilee and went to Tiberius. {It feels so weird to even write that after reading about both places in the Bible for so many years!}
It was SO gorgeous and peaceful and beautiful… the perfect end to a very full day!
I took this picture on the boat with many, many thoughts swirling in my head. Here's what I wrote:
Believe it or not, I didn't want to go on this trip… I tried to talk Jesse out of having me go four different times. It was scary and so far outside my comfort zone to be gone for 10 days from my family with a big group of people - almost all whom I've never met and who have done great and big and monumental things with their life.
I'm an introvert. I don't like new situations with people I don't know. And I have a serious fear of the unknown.
But I went, because I knew I was supposed to go. And making myself LEAP outside my comfort zone like this without any sort of parachute has been one of the best things I've ever done.
And I'm coming home forever changed. Humbled. Inspired. Infused with new courage. Ready to embrace life - and all that God has called me to - with more fervor and passion and abandon.
As the sun begins setting on this journey, I feel like something big is stirring in my heart… And the real journey is just beginning. This trip taught me much and, most of all, I learned anew that there is so much blessing that comes when I stop letting fear and unknowns hold me back from jumping out into the deep.
…To be continued tomorrow…
