Arrival in Israel

Hello everyone.... we made it to Israel. Our almost eleven hour flight from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv, Israel landed this afternoon at about 3:20 PM (about 8:20 AM back home). The flight was great, and fortunately, there were no crying babies or crazy antics by anyone to keep me awake, though as you very well may guess, airplane seating is but only so comfortable for me and my long frame.

When we landed, we were met by Doron, our tour guide, and Mike, our bus driver. We loaded up the coach bus, and began the some 2 and half hour bus ride from Tel Aviv, to our hotel in Ginosar in the Galilee region of Israel. As a matter of fact, our hotel sits alongside the Sea of Galilee (or the Kinneret to be more accurate to today).

Our drive here took us by some of the most beautiful, and fertile land I have ever seen. The way I have always pictured the scenes we find recorded in the Bible were nothing but surpassed as we drove through the valley of Jezreel, or alongside the area of the West Bank. Driving by such iconic places such as the town of Nazareth sitting on a hill, Mount Precipice where the crowd attempted to throw Jesus off the hill (Luke 4), Gideon spring where the judge led the attack against the Midianites (Judges 7), or coming around the bend to reveal the town of Tiberias sitting alongside the Sea of Galilee (which I can't wait to take a boat trip around later this week).

We did not visit any particular locations today, as by the time we reached our hotel it was already 7:30 and we had yet to have dinner, but just being here in this place already has just been amazing. What were once just images of what this place may look like have now faded from imagination to reality after being able to literally see where the events of the Bible took place. I am so grateful for my family and others who allowed this trip to happen, and I look forward to being able to share stories, pictures, and details about all that we will do over the next 10 days. For now, I need to get some sleep, as we leave early in the morning to visit the Mount of Beatitudes, but I hope that you have a blessed day. Talk to you all soon!