Donna’s Pilgrimage - on the road to beautiful

I was not prepared for what the Judean wilderness really looked like. The emptiness was startling…this is what I wrote:

A New Perspective

You gave me a new perspective on wilderness.
Like never before, I understood why they complained, why they wanted to go back, why they thought they would die.
Like never before, I understood how this could be the place of ultimate testing.
Because…I saw barrenness like never before.
I saw emptiness like never before.
I saw dryness like never before.
Then…I sat and listened to a man who, while looking at the very same wilderness, saw peace, inspiration, and beauty yet to be.
He knew Your promises and trusted Your provision.
And, once again, You gave me a new perspective on wilderness.

After 24 hours of travelling, we’re home. It’s impossible to summarize this trip. It was more emotional than I imagined it could be. We were up at 5:30 every morning, and back at our hotel for dinner each night. We walked many miles, took hundreds of pitures, and had our eyes opened to so many things. We got to dance with a professional Messianis dance team from Colo. when they invited us to worship with them one evening, and we got to share a meal with a young family who had just planted a church after moving to Israel from Russia. We floated in the Dead Sea, saw the sun rise over the Sea of Galilee, and picked up shells on the Mediterranean. We were baptizxed in the Jordan River.
I took notes on everything. There was no tv to distract, only an occassional email sent, so there was time to sit and reflect, although never enough.
I did do some writing, and I want to share one…

you can walk where I walked,
you can say what I said,
you can do what I did, but there’s more…
you can see what I saw,
you can hear what I heard,
you can touch what I touched, but there’s more…
when you walk in My shoes,
when you speak with My voice,
when you touch with My hands, that is more!
when you see with My eyes,
when you hear with My ears,
when you love with My heart, that is more!
when you live what you believe,
trusting in Me, and not in what you see;
you will know truth, but even more…
you will know Me!

Tomorrow at 8am, I’ll be landing in Tel Aviv. Gotta go pack!

My dad’s in the hospital.. He went by ambulance last night. He was vomiting, and getting dehydrated….He has had this same problem three other times this year. The tests done the other times were not conclusive, so more tests, and hopefully some determination as to the cause. One of the nurses at church said this is how the heart slows down when it’s tired, and worn out.
There’s more….my brother has met another girl on the internet. This one lives in Australia. I just learned that they are way past the talk on the phone stage of their relationship. She flew into the US Tuesday, and is now staying with him at my parents’ cabin in the Poconos. She will be here till Dec. 2 when they plan to fly back to Australia together for an early Christmas celebration with her family, and then return to the states to celebrate the holidays here with our family at the end of Dec.. WOW! Where did that all come from?
What an amazing adventure this life is!!!!!!!

I can hardly believe that in four days, I’ll be flying to Israel. We did some shopping today for plugs, batteries and passport holders, so I guess it’s really gonna happen. Tomorrow the suitcases will be laid open on the guestroom bed to be packed as we think of things we can’t live without for 10 days. Makeup and my curling iron for sure… The forecast is for sunny weather in the mid 70’s. I hope their predictions are more accurate than Tom Tasselmeyer’s.
Dan and Alicia will take care of Ava, and Mike will take care of Charger and Balky. I expect Ava to come back softer, Dan and Alicia want to bathe her…
Just learned that Charger has heart disease. I still don’t understand how that could be in one of my super health conscious animals. The vet called yesterday to say that all his other organs looked fine, and that danger of heart attack/ heart failure isn’t imminent. She wants me to think about seeing a dog cardiologist. Hmmmm….I don’t want this to be about money, but the cost of diagnosis alone is prohibitive, and that’s before any treatment. She wants a decision when we get back from Israel.
I need my fam and friends to tell me what they want me to bring them back from Israel. So far I have orders for coins, a shofar, a mizusa(sp?), and anointing oil. Get your orders in…. My plan is to travel light so I have plenty of room for souveniers. (Wish you were coming with us.)
We would also like your prayers. Although we’re not fearful, we do realize that the Middle East is a volitile place…not unlike downtown Baltimore. Safety and revelation are our prayer requests. We want to better understand Jesus, Jews, and biblical history.
More later…