On Our Way to the Holy Land

(Yes, it is true, our family is already back home in the United States, but due to limited internet availability I am posting my notes from our trip as if we are still there, just as I journaled them.  Won't you join us on our Journey of a lifetime to Israel?)

Day 1:


Two continents, 24 hours, 3 airplanes, 1 tram and 43 fellow travelers...this is the Amazing trip to Israel. (Cue the Amazing Race music). Out of the 43 travelers, I need you to know that it was my family, Mr. Incredible, Rachel, Hannah, and I along with my mom and dad, my brother Tim, Mr. Incredible's parents (Nonnie and Poppie) and Nonnie's sister and brother in law.  I know!  I'm still marveling at all God did to bring us all together on this wonderful journey of a lifetime.  What joy and fellowship we have had as we have all travelled so well together. God was so good to bless us with beautiful weather to travel in.

Our flight from Houston was delayed 2 1/2 hours due to a medical emergency and we arrived in Newark only 10 minutes before our connecting flight to Tel Aviv. Continental graciously held the plane as all 43 of us boarded the plane. Hopefully, our luggage made it on the plane too.

The girls and I have watched movies, slept on and off, eaten some interesting plane food and visited and giggled. It was fun to walk about the huge aircraft and stretch our legs. Dad is so excited about the trip that he was singing with Newsong out loud with his Ipod. We giggled when he exclaimed, "I am so pumped!" God, You are so good to bless us with this amazing trip. Oh, how we delight to see all that You have for us on this amazing journey. To You be the glory, forever


Later that Day:

We finally arrived in the Holy Land...the place we had all been dreaming about for months.  We registered in Israel as "foreigners" and retrieved all of our luggage!  It all made it!  Woo hoo!  Only a few minutes later, we met up with our amazing guide, Yuval, who welcomed us, "Home,"  and we then boarded the purple tour bus.  We were here in Tel Aviv, which means springtime or rebirth, how symbolic the meaning of our first arrival place would become.  This journey would become a sort of a re-awakening as God so lovingly showed Himself to each one of us in a new way.



From the airport, we travelled to Jappa/Jaffa where Jonah left to run from God to Nineveh. Remember that story? We saw a smiling whale sculputre in the middle of the city and we also travelled to the house of Simon the Tanner Acts 10 you can read the story here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%2010&version=NIV .






We saw a beautiful Temple against the beautiful blue sky and setting sun and a Bride having her picture taken on the ancient cobble stone streets.  What a fun photo shoot that would be! We walked among some of the ruins of Jappa, and the old marketplace, and then retired to our Daniel hotel in Tel Aviv for some much needed rest.

On a funny note:
Our hotel room was a bit warm and since my husband likes to keep a hotel room cold enough to "hang meat in," he kept fiddling with the a/c control.  A few minutes later we learned it was the heater, not the a/c~our room didn't have a/c, so we slept with a fan and our balcony door open where the delightful sounds of the Mediterranean Sea coast lulled us off to sleep.