Israel Day 10

January 8, 2011

The morning began at The Mount of Olives. At a small church our group read scripture and sang 'Great Is Thy Faithfullness,' and then walked to an outlook where we could see the city of Jerusalem and the famous Dome of the Rock.

The sound of our voices singing echoed off the walls all around us

“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
 ³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”
 ⁵ Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
   ⁹ “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Windy and Happy

See the rainbow below?

From here, we walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane. It was an interesting walk (see below)

"They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴ “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

 ³⁵ Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶“Abba,^[f] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
 ³⁷ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? ³⁸ Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
 ³⁹ Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
 ⁴¹ Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

We then drove to Bet Sahur/Shepards Field and did a little bit of shopping - I bought gifts for family and a few plates for myself. We ate shwarma in a pita for lunch- delish! 

We drove to Bethleham (which is just outside of Jerusalem), and saw the church built on top of the site where Jesus was born.

On our way out of Bethleham (which is a Palestinian city), we saw the wall that Israel has built to keep Palestinians confined to the city, unable to leave freely.

Proud

I have to brag on Dillon. This is his last fall semester of seminary (Lord willing!) and I am so proud of him.

3 years ago, he was just beginning his very first class, Greek I, at Westminster in Dallas (now Redeemer Seminary), and I was anxious to be honest.  We were living in Dumas, so the plan that we came up with and both agreed upon was that he would fly to Dallas Tuesday mornings, and return Friday afternoons, and he would do this for 1 month. The day he left, I came home from work to an empty house and discovered he had set up a scavenger hunt for me- I was led through our house with clues until I found the treasure: LOST (the first season).

I tell this story because it illustrates how Dillon’s heart has been for me during his time at school. Some weeks we did not talk much at night because he would be working on a paper or studying for a test- but he rarely studied outside of our home if I was there. He always sat down before signing up for classes to go over the schedule with me and make sure it looked good. He often invites me to sit in certain classes if they are in evening. While I know he loves to learn and study theology, I have never doubted that he cares more about our marriage than his grades. He is a blessing to me!

It is an honor to see him grow. Some of my favorite parts of the past few years have been witnessing his passions come to life. He started leading Sunday School 2 years ago, which led to the start of Young Adult Small Group, which has grown from 6 of us at the start, to currently, 18. And about a year ago, Dillon was approached by church staff who asked him if he would like work part time doing what he was already doing- such a blessing! Dillon just loves people, and loves theology- God is using him already for great things and this makes me so excited for what the future holds.

In a relatively short amount of time, he will start putting together a resume and looking for a call/job. We often talk about where we will end up, what kind of church it will be, etc… While the details are unknown, I have complete trust that God will take us where we need to be, and that Dillon will be ready.