Really emotional day- We started at the Wailing Wall where we got to see a bar mitzvah- pretty cool, actually. All the moms and women relatives were standing up in chairs to watch over the fence. Then up to the Dome of the Rock. This is located where the Jewish section would have been in the temple. Amazing to stand where Jews- including Jesus- had come to worship for so long. Lots of prayer/study groups scattered around.


From there we walked to the Pools of Bethesda (Emily- the hospital you were born in was named after this ancient place of healing!). Stood on the place where Jesus healed the paralyzed man....

Then we started the Via Dolorosa. This is my foot on the spot where Jesus was flogged.....how do you describe those emotions? All He did.....for me....We made our way up to one of the 2 likely sites for Calvary and the empty tomb. The pictures really only show the church area- only a little of Calvary's rock show and none of the tomb. But being there changed me....


This is the Mount of Olives. There are 2000 year old trees in this orchard- and the path Jesus took between Bethany and Jerusalem fits so we know this is the right place. We broke up into family groups and prayed/worshiped. Our group read John's account of the prayer Jesus prayed in the garden....again, how do you describe something like that? To read the words prayed in the place where they were prayed....humbling. We also read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. My amazing brother read these verses to both of my grandmothers in the final hours on this earth. We somehow made it through the reading.


After all that emotion, we had to cut loose! So that night some of us walked down to ben Yahuda street- full of shops and, that night, a student protest. We are only sort of sure what this sign says, but we were happy to join the party. My dad, sister, and I spent a lovely half hour in a tiny shop run by a special Jewish man. He spent a lot of timer explaining the complicated feelings toward the Palestinians how he is preparing for the Messiah. We talked about how we were waiting for Messiah to come a second time- led to a wonderful, conversation. This man clearly is devoted to God- just misses the boat with Jesus. We also met a sweet Texan working in the hotel's store. We asked why she moved to Israel- she said she liked the states better. "But," she said, "I am a Jew. And God gave my people this land. Who am I to say I'd rather be somewhere else." Really inspiring to see the devotion.