Oh, for one more night in Nazareth

This is the post that "once was lost, but now is found" (insider Christian joke). Anyway I think I wrote it on Wednesday the 14th.

OK. I have limited energy and limited computer battery time, but here goes...

The last two days have been rainy. Actually the last several months in Israel have been rainy and that has been a tremendous blessing for the country which has been experiencing a drought for the last eight years...but it cramps your style a little when you are touring "the land". However, for the most part, we have been coping well.

Today we hiked up Mt. Arbel. It's a small mountain (too tired to come up with a better term) that over looks the Sea of Galilee. The view was amazing and for the first time I really felt like I was in a place where Jesus was. Nothing mystical, but I could just imagine Him walking the pass between the mountains in order to make His way down to the the villages along the lake shore.

Rain had turned the clay terrain to the worst kind of mud and my wonderful hiking boots with the really gnarly treads filled instantly with about 5 lbs of muck in each. Everyone did their best to help everyone else and as a result, no one fell and the only damage was easily rinsed away when we got back down the mountain. We had time to just sit and take in the sights and take pictures of the flora and fauna and, if you are reading this, I prayed for you specifically.

After our mountain top experience we also visited the Mount of Beatitudes where we read Matthew 5-7. We went to the Church of Multiplication, a few miles down the road, and Marlin gave a really insightful teaching on Mark 6:30-44. From there we visited Peter's Primacy and were able to get as "close" to the Sea of Galilee as we wanted. I (praise the Lord) had remembered my little plastic bottle and so I scooped up some of the Sea to bring home with me.

We ended the day at Capernaum, which towards the end of His life, was basically Jesus' home base and the home of Simon Peter. We saw some rock badgers crawling around the ruins and I was able to take pictures of a couple of different species of birds.