We Made It To Israel!

 

 

Well, we made it! I am finally getting to sit down and write.  We arrived in Israel at 9:30 am Tel Aviv time and hopped on a tour bus and hit the road.  They didn't want us to go to sleep and mess up our sleep schedule for the whole time we are here, so as a result, I saw my first day of Israel through one partially-open eye.  It is now 6:30 and we are finally at our hotel, the Blue Bay Hotel and Spa, in Natanya.  I am struggling a little bit because it is 10:30 AM at home and I have had a total of about 6 hours sleep since Monday morning at 6 AM.  But I am not complaining, because I AM IN ISRAEL!!!!!  We started off our tour in the city of Jaffa(Joppa) and we saw the house of Simon, the Tanner, where Peter got his instructions from God to take the Gospel to Cornelius' household.  All day, we have been in sight of the Mediterranean Sea and it's beautiful blue-green waters.  We had falafels for lunch and they were pretty good, but I am just not ready for food yet, my body needs sleep more.  From Jaffa, we headed to Caesarea and saw the ruins of Herod's great government complex there.  It is really an amazing place and the rest of Cornelius' story played out there.  Paul also defended his faith in front of Festus, Felix, and Agrippa there, so there is a lot of history there.  I think the neatest thing of all was the stone where they found an inscription referring to Pontius Pilate.  It is the only secular reference to Pilate that has ever been found from that era.  Our final stop before the hotel, was the Atlit Detention Camp where the British interred illegal immigrants trying to make their way into the country before Israel officially became a state back in 1948.  It was pretty sobering.  People really went through an awful lot to be a part of the nation of Israel.  Tomorrow, we head for Tiberius and there are some really special things planned.  Pray that I will be able to rest well tonight and that each day will get better and better.  Right now I feel like if Jesus came back and we met at the Marriage Supper, I might just sleep through the cutting of the cake. :0)