Living the Questions

it's been awhile since i last wrote here, and a good deal has happened...... dave came, along with 2 other guys from the church and we toured around israel.....galilee, capernaum, the dead sea, and lots in and around jerusalem....maybe it's cliche, but i think my favorite part of the touring was the garden tomb.....even if they can never be sure that's where it actually happened, it was a special place :) we came back to the states on thursday, and it was too soon.....it was great to see my family again, and i was able to spend some time with friends at steph's wedding, but it's not the same..... saturday at the wedding someone said something and all of a sudden there was an ache in my heart, a longing for israel, for jerusalem, for friends still , for experiences, and for more than i can even put into words -- but the ache was deep, profound.... it's now tuesday, a few days later and everyday new things i encounter remind me, arousing the ache.....restaurants, ...

hello friends :) i must say that i am missing you all.......but i'm not quite ready to leave yet :) we are leaving the hostel on tuesday for good to meet dave and friends at the airport, and then we're going to be traveling and stuff for the last week we're here..... which means that we are having to say goodbye to our friends over the next couple of days :( i will truly miss the friends we have made here.....they are wonderful people, a God send for this trip.....i have learned so much from them and through being with them....God has definitely used them in my life......and i'm not ready to say goodbye to them! anyway..... we went to eilat last week for a couple of days.....eilat is a resort town in the southernmost part of israel, on the red sea.....we could see both jordan and egypt......i was told that on a clearer day, we would have also been able to see saudi arabia.......there are so many people there, it was a tad too crowded for me at night where all the shops ...

Goodness....how true that is..... We have about two weeks left here and I can't believe it! It has gone by so quickly.....in fact, last week we had a moment when we realized that we were halfway through our trip. So little time left to spend with our new friends.... We've been at our friends' house a lot lately. The Hines family is in the process of moving to Tennesee because their visa has expired. They leave this Thursday -- and there is so much to do! They have 4 adorbale children we have been spending time with so that Bonnie and Michael are able to get more packing done. Can you imagine moving to another country after 5 years with 4 kids under the age of 5? It is a little overwhelming, but every day, more progress is being made. We're sad that they're leaving Israel, but Lindsey and I are also glad that they'll only be a few hours away from us! We went to Bethlehem again the other night to have dinner with our friends. They cooked us a meal that is a tradit...

hello all! i hope this finds you doing wonderfully! i think about y'all a lot and miss you! since i last wrote, we've been doing much of the same -- working in the office, hanging out with friends, learning and traveling. things are good, though! we're constantly reminded that God is here with us, completely faithful -- providing us with friends and protection and help when we need it. it has also been cool to see how lindsey and i fit so well togther for this trip. i'm not sure it could be better than it is....God definitely knows what He is doing and He has a plan for us....how often i need to be reminded of that! i'm still not quite sure why God placed me here for the summer, but i'm trusting that He will continue to teach me and lead me and change me through this experience. the thing i have really noticed is the community feeling there is here. maybe it's the hostel or simply the people we're with a lot, but it really is like a family here -- peopl...

I can't believe we've been here almost two weeks already....time sure does move quickly. Sorry I've been behind in updating y'all. Since Bethlehem, we've done so much that I can hardly remember it all. Mostly, though, our time has been spent with people from the hostel....loving them and getting to know them. Shavout was this past week, so most everything was closed. Lindsey and I decided, kind of on a whim in the market, that we would cook dinner for our friends in the hostel. It was a great time to hang out with them. Surprisingly, we've met a few people from Atlanta. Yesterday, someone from UGA actually checked into the hostel. It was cool to be able to talk to someone from home who knows the same people and places that I do. The people here, both the people who live here and those we've met in the hostel, are different in a way than the people back home. It's hard to explain, but it is definitely a wonderful thing :) Yesterday we went to St. Anne...

Yesterday, we were able to spend the day in Bethlehem with our friends and their family. Issa and Nada are wonderful people! They have a precious little boy named Ferrod and a little girl named Malek. We went shopping with Nada where we could. Seeing the difference in the people in Bethlehem, which is more of an Arab city (I think), from the people in Jerusalem was interesting. They were welcoming and sweet and willing to share their lives with us. We met a lady from the states who is here for a few days volunteering with a peace organization and we were able to meet Issa and Nada's extended family! They are all so friendly :) Nada's mom invited us to dinner with her and the rest of the family. She was cooking a traditional meal for 3 girls who are studying abroad from California and wanted us to join them. She actually let us help her cook -- and I love to cook, so that was great fun to cook with their family. They made these beef pasta/ dumpling things which they cooked in a ...

Welcome :) I wanted a way to let everyone know what was going on in Israel and this seemed like the easiest way to do it! But....I may keep it up after the trip is over! So, first of all let me say that I am enjoying my time here.....but I have only had 2 days here! We have done so much already, and my mind is reeling with trying to remember everything we've done. Luckily I think I'll have some time tomorrow to write everything down -- and get some pictures up somewhere :) We're staying in the Jerusalem Hostel, which is right in the middle of the city. The building is across from Zion square, and we're literally within walking distance of everything. Having never stayed in a hostel before, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It is more fun than staying in a hotel ever could have been! The mix of people here is wonderful -- people of all ages and from so many different places. The first night here, we were sitting in the lobby and we met several people, whom we now c...