October 30: Rocket Fire Hitting Too Close for Comfort

**A massive thank-you goes out to all of the people who prayed for our safety during our trip to Israel.

I opened the door of our hotel room to get breakfast, and the newspaper was hanging on the handle. Rather than tossing it on the table, I opened it - revealing this as the front page article...

The debris from the missiles only landed 40 minutes away from our hotel and 20 minutes away from where JD works.

Maybe this helps you understand a little more as to why we were fearful of this trip. After receiving this article, homesickness and fear were beginning to get the best of us. We just wanted to get out of there before rockets streamed further up the coast from the Gaza Strip.

October 29: Mt. Carmel... and the Fire of the Lord Fell...

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God."

1 Kings 18:38-39

Welcome to Mt. Carmel, the place where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal and God claimed victory once again.

Doesn't this story just make your heart burst with joy!?

When Baal didn't answer the prophets with fire... or any response at all, Elijah starts mocking them by saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. (18: 27)"

Praise Jesus that our Savior is constantly Present, listening and responsive. He heals, showers us with grace... and oh yeah... He can send down blazing fire that will light up a burnt offering that is surrounded by a trench of water! Natural combustion is simply not possible until God steps in and does His thing. The fire of the Lord consumes the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, the saturated dust and the water that was in the trench.

This is the location where all of that went down...

Mt. Carmel National Park is a little difficult to find, even with a GPS. We were close to the park at one point but we turned too soon. This led to about 30 minutes of circling Carmel, trying to find the park according to the GPS. Finally, the guys decided to drive back to where I had seen the Mt. Carmel Park sign and there it was!

We parked on the side of the road and saw one guy actually back down the one-way street in reverse for about 30 - 40 yard just to pull into the gravel road that led to the park. Did I mention that he was driving backwards on a one-way street... on a mountain? It was crazy!!

Side Note: You have never witnessed a true "terrible driver" until you drive in Israel.

Adam, me & JD

We caught a glimpse of a magnificent sunset at the park. We didn't hike the path, mainly because we saw a lookout higher on the mountain that "peaked" our interest. In complete spontaneity, we drove... and ended up in a major traffic jam because of a car wreck ahead. We were stuck for quite a while but it was worth it. We drove down the mountain, surrounded by rocky (and most likely treacherous) canyons. We saw tons of caves in hidden among the rock along the descent. (We like to think that Noah or Lot resided in one of them back in the day?!?). The sharp curves and speeding cars created a fairly intimidating drive. Road lines prove to be unnecessary here since drivers fail to take heed to them. We finally made it to the bottom and then drove along the breathtaking coastline back to Tel Aviv.

And that's where we captured this photo. Absolutely stunning. Once again... Jesus is constantly present and makes His name known even among the clouds.

October 29: Megiddo... aka Armageddon

Welcome to Tel Megiddo National Park... also known as "Armageddon" - the glorious land where great battle of the End of Days will take place between the powers of good and evil (Revelation 16:16). 

"From Megiddo to Armageddon" & the Canaanite City Gate

During the biblical period, Megiddo was one of the most important cities in the country due to its control over an international trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. The springs and fertile soil at its foot made Megiddo a desirable place to rule; therefore, it became the arena of frequent battles for its control.

 View over the city walls

Overview of the city - can you believe how small these rooms are?!

Rango.

"May Peace Prevail on Earth" in Arabic.

"May Peace Prevail on Earth" in Hebrew.

This awesome steel chariot was awaiting our photographic fun outside of the northern stables. The stables reveal Megiddo's importance as a calvary base or center for commerce in horses. The large number of stables state a strong city government at the time they were built and to Megiddo's status as a  major chariot city.

The public granary measures 7 meters deep and 11 meters in diameter. Kernels of wheat found between the stones along with the remains of straw identified the structure as a silo. It could store about 1,000 tons of wheat!

These stairs led to a deep, chilly dungeon - also known as "the water system". Megiddo's inhabitants dug a gigantic, 36-meter-deep shaft, from which a 70-meter-long horizontal tunnel extended to the spring, which emerged in a cave at the foot of the mound outside the walls. The tunnel was cut on an incline so the water would flow to the bottom of the shaft and the inhabitants could draw water while standing at the top. The outer entrance to the spring was sealed with a massive stone wall, concealed with earth so that an enemy besieging the city would not discover its location.

The water system leads to the outer linings of the ancient city, requiring tourists to walk a mile or two back to the entrance of Tel Megiddo. At least it was a nice photo op! 

Our final fascination of the day - the wheel. 

JD and I took turns expressing our photographic perspectives. :)

October 29: A City on a Hill

If you drive beside the city of Nazareth, God will most likely echo this verse through your mind too. We couldn't believe the vivid imagery of this verse in comparison to Nazareth. Unless God literally lifts the hill and scatters it among the desert, there's no way to miss this city on a hill. We're not sure that this is the exact city Jesus was referencing to... but we wouldn't be surprised if it was. 

We didn't spend much time in Nazareth but we did stop for a bite at the McDonald's. They were actually serving their regular menu, unlike the rest of the restaurants that honor Shabbat. 

Still, we wanted to share some pretty epic stepping stones that Jesus followed through Nazareth. Let's rewind to the Gospels. 

In Luke 2:1-7, Joseph and Mary leave the town of Nazareth on a journey to Bethlehem because Caesar Augustus required that all inhabitants of Rome must register for the purpose of taxation. The wise men gathered at the site of the new King. Hearing this, Kind Herod got angry and sought out to kill Jesus. Joseph and the fam escaped to Egypt and set up camp until King Herod died. The coast was clear and the fam trekked back to the city of Nazareth. 

"And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. (Luke 2:39-40)"

Don't you love that? Even Joseph, Mary and Jesus had to be patient, waiting for God's will to play into action - only then could they continue on their cherished destination.

Nazareth was also the location where John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. It sounds so simple until you read Mark 1:10-11...

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."

Did you notice that all three persons of the Godhead - the Spirit, the Father, and the Son - are involved here? Mark must have left out the part where John the Baptist and/or anyone else present collapsed to their knees in absolute and pure worship of what just happened before his eyes. Can you imagine?

Immediately, Jesus is driven by the Spirit straight into the wilderness. No more Nazareth for now. 

October 29: Shabbat

Today is Shabbat - as in the Sabbath - honored by the Jewish communities.

You can forget eating an omelette, pancakes or drinking fresh espresso this morning. Tasks must be done on a timer because people are banned from turning on machines and electronics manually.

The hotel even has an elevator specifically entitled "The Shabbat Elevator." Many, many people have made the mistake of stepping onto this elevator, only to find out the hard way, exactly how the Shabbat elevator runs. Most people step on at the first floor and... "Whoops! The elevator just passed my floor! Wait a second... How did I end up on the 17th floor?!"

You know how an elevator stops at every single floor when a kid jumps on and hits all of the buttons -- kind of like in this clip from Serendipity?

Welcome to the Shabbat Elevator - except there is no kid. From the 17th floor, the elevator stops at each floor one-by-one on its way down. This process goes on from sun-down (Friday) to sun-down (Saturday). Fortunately, there were three other elevators we could ride. More importantly, Adam made the mistake of taking the Shabbat Elevator when he was in Israel last time... thank goodness that we can learn from others' mistakes. :)

All of the kosher restaurants either shut down or only serve pre-prepared food on Shabbat. These restaurants make up the majority of the population. Fortunately, McDonalds is not a kosher restaurant; thus, we devoured some chicken nuggets and french fries when we traveled to Megiddo. More on that adventure next Tuesday.

The Staple Piece

We told you a couple of weeks ago that we would share our "special find" from the Cotton Depot.

This is it!

This is our home. I've been looking everywhere for that "staple piece" to build our house around when the time comes, and this is it. It went up for sale six days before we bought it.

As soon as I laid my eyes on it, I started frantically calling JD. "We have to get this table, JD. It is so perfect and it is everything I've dreamed of for our home."

Please note here that we are trying really hard to become less materialistic. As in, if God calls us to leave everything behind and serve in a third-world country, then we would quickly and willingly drop everything to respond to that calling.


I'm really thinking this table would fit on a plane along with our one suitcase of absolute necessities...? Haha

The lady hung a "SOLD" sign on it until JD came to Monroe. We picked it up Saturday and she said at least four people had come in since we bought it, asking if they could buy it from her if they paid her more money. Thankfully she was the sweetest lady and kept to her word until we picked it up.

Isn't it just the sweetest table you've ever seen? It is handmade from old barnwood and the legs are white-washed. We will probably put a bench along one side when we move into a house.

Do you have a staple piece that you've built your home around?

October 28: Sea of Galilee

Rewind a bit to when Jesus feeds the five thousand men (don't forget that the women and children present were not even counted in this number). Everyone is reclining on the grass, satisfied by this feast of two fish and five loaves. Jesus tells the disciples to get in the boat and go before him on the other side so that he could dismiss this massive crowd. The crowd leaves and Jesus decides to walk up on the mountain to pray by himself. He's by himself when evening comes and sees that the boat is long-gone by now. 

And what does Jesus do?

He decides to do a little more walking... only, this time, Jesus is going to walk on water. Or rather, the Sea of Galilee.

The scene is quite different from the photos above. It's nighttime, the "wind was against [the disciples]" and the boat is beaten by the waves. Have no fear! Jesus is here. That's right. JD and I love reading this story. We can just imagine Jesus walking along the nasty, crashing waves that could take a boat down in an instant - and then Jesus faces the water with an attitude of: "Hey, guys. Ain't no thing but a chicken wing. (Deep South Translation)"

Seriously though. After being scared pants-less, Jesus tries to calm the disciples, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." He invites Peter to join him after Peter challenges Jesus by saying, "If it's really you, command me to come to you on the water."

Of course, Jesus does just that. "Come." Peter steps out of the boat, even walks on the raging sea and then... "Oh no!! The wind." Jesus has conquered the wind, the water, the waves. Because of his faith in Jesus, Peter even conquers the water and the waves, but the wind... That's where the doubt set in.

John Ortberg wrote a book entitled If You Want to Walk On Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. How true that title fits to our lives! People often criticize Peter for losing faith when he sees the wind, but he was the only disciple to actually get out of the boat, trusting that Jesus would keep his feet on top of the sea. How often is it that we don't even trust Jesus enough to take us out of the boat? Moreover, how often is it that we lose sight of Christ and BOOM. We collapse into the water because we shift our focus off Christ and onto the wind, or the obstacles in life.

Fear overcomes our faith. 

My favorite part of this story is that after Peter loses faith, he falls into the sea crying for Jesus to save him. Jesus reaches his hand out to Peter, saving him from the brutal waters and says, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Is that not one of the most beautiful portrayals of Jesus? He's showing compassion, grace, redemption, salvation, and mercy to a regular guy that just lost his focus for a bit. Praise God that He desires to save us and redeem us regardless of the countless times we doubt in our God of Salvation! 

The wind ceases and every man in that boat begins crying out in worship, "Truly you are the Son of God!!"


There are so many other wonderful stories about the Sea of Galilee. If you want to check it out, the passages about Jesus walking on water can be found in Matthew 14, verses 22-33. We realize that our posts are excruciatingly long so we're trying to render that. However, we want to lead you to some other passages that took place at the Sea of Galilee. You can check them out here:

• Jesus speaks to the multitude from Peter's boat (Mark 3:7-12, Luke 5:1-3)
• Jesus calms the storm (Matthew 8:23-27)
• Jesus appears here after the resurrection (Mark 14:28, John 21:1-23)

And a little quick fact about the Sea of Galilee... This fresh water lake has many names. However, the Israelites call the sea "Lake Kinneret", which means harp, because of its harp-shaped shoreline. Anyone else think it kind of looks like Africa too?... Or is that too far of a stretch?

He Gets Me.

Date: Thursday, April 19
Time: approx. 7 p.m.
Place: Publix Grocery Store

As we're strolling through the produce aisle, JD looks over and says, "Whit, I know you love having fresh flowers sitting out when we have house guests. Pick out a few bouquets. Theresa and Brandon will love it."

And there it was. My heart melted. Affirmation that, yes, my husband gets me. For the most part, he understands me and he is intentional about satisfying my wants when the opportunity knocks. We both realize that we will always have more to learn about one another and that we will never fully know one another.

But that's the journey of marriage.

The sweet journey can be heart-wrenching, in both a great and a terrible way. It's a journey of patience, understanding and surprises. We're constantly learning to love and to be intentional with one another.

Intentionality says, "Hey. I get you when nobody else does. I brought you these bouquets of assorted flowers - but not roses because I know you think they are too cliche."

Intentionality says, "I'll put these dishes up for her while she's not looking. It's my way of serving her and loving her even if she doesn't notice." (I always notice though... haha)

There are so many ways to simply love each other - date nights, chasing each other around the kitchen, leaving notes for each other in special places.

What are ways that you and your love act intentionally towards one another? 
How do you leave a mark of unpredictability in your relationship?


**We are super excited about Brandon and Theresa coming to visit this weekend!!! This will be their first time to see our home. Theresa is JD's sister and one of my best friends. Brandon is her husband, one of JD's college roommates and one of his best friends as well. Great families... that is a blessing. ;) 

October 28: Mount of Beatitudes

Simply amazing.

This place was much more beautiful than we thought it would be.

Bountiful gardens surround the church. We stood where Jesus preached about the Beatitudes, also known as the Sermon on the Mount. (See Matthew 5:1-12)

How cool is that? There is also a Roman Catholic Franciscan church that we got to enter. I felt a little weird because I was wearing my hiking shorts and there were signs that said guests could not enter the church if they have no sleeves, exercise attire or short shorts. I hadn't brought a change of clothes after our strenuous walking and hiking around the Bet She'an.

Note to Self: Pack a knee-length cotton skirt just in case you go to another site like this. 

The guys said it would be fine, so I trusted them and went in anyways. I'm pretty sure God cleared out the nuns for a few minutes so that nobody would deny my entrance.

It was quite peaceful in the church. JD and I sat on a pew and prayed together. We love praying as husband and wife. This church is a true place of reverence.

Stones lined the sidewalks with the beatitudes posted on each one. Out of all the stones that could have been missing a letter, this stone just had to be it. We couldn't believe it. With the heavy reverence of the site, this stone gave us a little comic relief. 

Aren't these gardens just stunning? Oh - what's that body of water peeking from below the surface?

Why that's the Sea of Galilee!

More on that next Tuesday.

Have we American-ized "Blessings"?

As a lead-in to our Mt. of Beatitudes post, we wanted to share you some real-time life ponderings in the world of Jitney...

I (Whitney) confess that until lately, have been terribly guilty of considering material things as blessings. Yes, I blame it, in part, on the American culture and even a little on the Southern culture. "Why, bless your little heart!" ;)

My sweet husband approached me the other day with a simple thought: Why do we consider a nice house or a hefty sum of money in the bank a blessing? What about people in Africa who have no shelter to sleep under but still praise Jesus for their blessings?

We ran to Matthew 5 - the documentation of Jesus teaching the multitudes about the Beatitudes.

Side Note: I always pronounced "Beatitudes" as "Beautitudes" until I was about 20 years old. It made sense that these teachings made one beautiful, right? Please tell me you've made that mistake too...

Basically, Jesus is saying that those who give of themselves for His glory, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who are merciful, who are persecuted for His sake, who are pure in heart - those people are blessed. And what are they blessed with? The kingdom of heaven, comfort, satisfaction, mercy, the honor of being called the sons of God... a great reward in heaven. We don't see God promising a massive house, a super nice car, or even clothes (unless it's clothing of righteousness).

You are probably thinking: Well, what would you call my house? Or clean water? Or an overflowing bank account?

We're not sure. In fact, that's where we're at a standstill.

I personally think they are merely things that God has entrusted us with so that we may use those gifts in order to bring Him glory and declare His name. For example: If you have a house with lots of rooms, host a DNow weekend, adopt children to fill the rooms or serve as foster parents.

JD feels a little differently about it but our disagreements lead to some incredibly healthy arguments, so we're OK with that.

However, I was sharing our hearts with my friend and mentor Barbara here in Huntsville. She pondered on it for a couple of days and this is where God led her. It's a question / answer session with Billy Graham and we all agree that he hits the nail on the head with the ideas of "blessings"...

Question: My neighbor claims that God wants to bless us, and therefore if we just have enough faith He'll make us wealthy. Is this what the Bible teaches? If so, I must not have much faith. -- Mrs. H.G.

Answer: God certainly does want to bless us -- but the blessings He promises us aren't material, but spiritual. Nowhere in the Bible does He promise to make us wealthy if we'll just have enough faith. Remember: Jesus Himself was poor, and so were His first disciples. 

What are the blessings He promises us? The first is the blessing of forgiveness. Because of our sins we are separated from God and deserve only His judgment. We also live under a burden of guilt, because down inside we know we haven't lived the way we should. But when we come to Christ and trust Him as our Savior and Lord, God blesses us by taking away our sins and our guilt. The Bible says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). 

But God also promises us the blessing of new life -- new life right now, and eternal life in heaven. When we come to Christ, God Himself comes to live within us by His Holy Spirit, and He promises to begin changing us from within as we submit our lives to Him. Even when hard times come, we know He is with us and wants to help us. That is good news! 

Have you asked Christ to come into your life? If not, do so today. Then thank Him that He is with you every day, and that no matter what problems come your way, you can turn to Him for the wisdom and strength you'll need to meet them.

What are your thoughts on blessings? 

And, honestly, have you ever thought beatitudes was pronounced "beautitudes?" Please say yes. :)