Israel - Simply AMAZING!

What a wonderful trip! I can hardly stand myself!! I certainly missed my little man but I was changed by this experience. God told me he wanted to do something in my heart and He did. I saw so much, learned so much, felt soooo much... and the best part about it all is that I returned home with a new hunger for His Word.

I'm sure you're eager to hear all the details so keep reading. : )

Day 1
The day started with a great view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. Camel rides were available but we passed on that. We stood and looked out at the beautiful city, the Temple Mount just before us, the hill below lined with grave stones. We learned that according to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will appear here through the golden gate and bring the dead to life. For this reason, this is one of the holiest cemeteries with thousands of graves (estimates exceed 100,000) with all the graves oriented toward the Temple Mount. The earliest tombs are located at the foot of the mountain in the Kidron Valley. One tomb is attributed to the rebellious Absalom and another to Zechariah, the first temple priest.

View of Jerusalem and Temple Mount from Mount of Olives.

Note that stones are placed on graves in Israel not flowers. And yes, that is a cat. 

We then walked down the steep and narrow Palm Sunday Road occasionally hugging the wall as cars tried to get by and came to a stop at the Garden of Gethsemane which is connected to The Church of All Nations or the Basilica of the Agony. The church enshrines a section of stone within the garden which is believed to be the spot where Jesus prayed on the night of His arrest. Unfortunately, the only pictures that really turned out were of the statue of Anna and Mary. I took a new camera and probably should have taken my old one too. The church has some really beautiful mosaics that I would have liked to share with you.

We ended the day at the Western Wall. Women went to the right, men to the left side to pray. Ladies, our side is considerably smaller. You can see the fence that separates the men from the women in the photo below. I managed to scribble a prayer on a piece of paper and weave my way through the crowd and around the women who were backing away from the wall until I was finally able to reach above someone's head to touch the wall myself (so glad I'm tall).

There were so many prayers in every crack and crevice. That alone was pretty overwhelming and it reminded me of a vision I had in church several years ago. I was flying over different landscapes, canyons, green fields, mountains, the ocean -- I could hear the roar of the waters below me -- then there was silence and I was in space looking at the earth from a distance. I began to hear one cry after another, people from all over the world crying out to God for help. Everything sped up and the cries were coming so fast and there were so many that you couldn't make them out; it was just noise, deafening noise. I saw their faces flash before me, elderly women, young girls, broken men, one after another after another... and then there was silence again and one face was before me, the face of a young African boy maybe two years old. I watched as a tear ran down cheek. I could actually hear the tear roll and drop from his face. It was like for just a moment I felt the weight of the world, the pain, the need... and then for just a moment I felt the Lord's response to that. I felt His pain for us and then His love for us. Oh how He loves us! I felt that the Lord was telling me that He not only hears EVERY prayer, but He hears EVERY tear that we shed. It was one of the most powerful things I have ever experienced and I was unable to stand under its weight. This is what I thought of as I looked at all those prayers folded and tucked inside this wall. I tucked my prayer inside as well and slipped away.