After coming to Israel in 2005, I really felt that my touring experience would be minimal – I thought that touring would be for my kids, not for Melinda and I.  Man, was I wrong.

We started out the morning by going to the Mount Beatitudes.  When I came in ’05, we did not go to the Catholic church located there, but this time we did.  Our guide led us to the grounds around the church where we sat together for some teaching concerning the Sermon on the Mount.  After his teaching (which was excellent), Melinda, Amanda, and Shannon went off by themselves for some personal, alone time while Drew and I went to the church.  As Drew and I walked into the church, we began to hear singing – four part harmony from a choir.  It was hymn, but not a hymn I had ever heard before, and on top of that, it was being sung in German.  A group of German Christians, who were on a tour, had decided to sing while they were in the church.  I am not sure if it was the acoustics of the church, the wonderful voices of the choir, or the fact that we were standing very near where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount, but it was a very, very powerful moment!  It was like the Spirit of the Lord came upon us and immediately brought a sense of peace Drew and me.  When the singing ended, I was very disappointed – if I knew how to speak any German, I would have requested more.

After our experience at Mount Beatitudes, we headed North to the Golan area of Israel – where I had not been in 2005.  We visited the ancient city of Dan.  While we were there, we saw ruins dating back to the time when Israel was separated (Israel in the North and Judah in the South), somewhere around 930 B.C. – so, we were looking at actual structures built more than 2,900 years ago by King Jeroboam (after King Solomon’s reign)!  Crazy, crazy stuff!  Our definition of old in Texas is nothing compared to Israel’s version of old!

Next, we visited a pagan site built to honor Greece and Alexander the Great.  It was a temple built for one of their gods – Pan.  The area was Caesarea Philipi.  This is also the area where Jesus led his disciples for some teaching – it is strongly believed that this was the site where Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do people think that I am?”  After some discussion, Jesus asked, “Who do you think I am?”  And Peter boldly responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”  Jesus declared that Peter was the rock and He would build His church “on the rock.”  Honestly, this area had a strange feel to it, but knowing that Jesus had used this area for teaching was somewhat comforting.

Finally, we drove back to the Galilee area and visited Capernaum.  I had visited Capernaum in ’05, and I was anxious for my kids to see this important site.  Capernaum is the home town of Peter, and experts are 99% sure that Jesus spent some time here and, in fact, healed Peter’s mother-in-law at this site (our guide made the joke, “this is why Peter denied Him 3 times”” – ha, ha, ha).  It was rewarding to watch as my children began to put the pieces of scripture together and to not only hear history, but to see it!

We had another fabulous day in Israel, and I pray continued blessings over you and our company!