We made it!

We made it! Made it through an interesting time in the Istanbul airport. As we were checking through, there was a "lovely" lady from the States trying to push her way with the Turkish airport personel. Not sure what happened as she was going through security, but she embaressed the rest of us by her actions. Yelling at the the airport personnel and telling them that all they want to do is fight and blow up people is probably not quite the right way to convince them that you are not a suicide bomber. Hmmm... not sure what was going through her head but they finally told her she had the choice of going back to the States or staying in Turkey but she wasn't going on... wasn't going on our flight... thank goodness.

Well, I had my first day touring Israel and my head is swimming with information! Our tour guide, Malcolm, is very knowledgeable and I can't even think of where to begin! I did wake up with a view of the Sea of Galilee out my window. Amazing. We took a boat ride across the lake and it's just amazing to know that I'm in the places that I've read about all my life in the Bible. I'm definitely going to have to have A LOT of time to process what I'm witnessing and hearing.

We did start the day with a boat trip across the Sea of Galilee. At one point the captain turned off the motors so we could experience what it would have been like to simply hear the waves against the side of the boat. We also experienced what it must have been like to fish with the fishing nets that were used. It was really neat to watch them throw the net!

When we came back to shore we had the opportunity to see a new testament period fishing boat that had been excavated. Amazing to see something like that that's been buried under mud and water for 2000 years!

We also saw a number of sites today that were excavated ruins from thousands of years ago. In fact, we saw some sites that had been built back in Abrahams time. Think of that! To stand there and look at something that had been built thousands of years ago! My head is swimming with information and it's hard to put into words all that I've seen and heard today.

We traveled the Golan Heights today, saw the possible area where Jesus sent the demons into a herd of pigs that ran into the sea. To know that we are where Jesus was is mind-blowing. What an amazing time we've had and it's only been one day! So as I type, I leave you with one of my favorite shots today. This is the sunset as we were heading back from the Golan Heights to the Sea of Galilee. You know it has to be a special sunset when even the tour guide has his camera out taking pictures. Thank you God for an amazing day!