Israel, Day 2 - Part 1

We awoke to a beautiful clear morning in Netanya. After breakfast, we headed out on the bus.

A daylight look at our hotel

Ready to go!

We left Netanya and traveled north to Caesarea, excited to begin exploring the Land we have read so much about.

Our first stop in Caesarea was the Roman Theater, then Herod's Palace.

Roman architecture

Dr. Jim Coakley, one of our Red Bus Moody guides

I was struck by the beauty of Caesarea. And the Roman-ness. This is the first place we have really seen (and we picked up Walt and Brenda McCord here). It was the first we saw of Herod the Great’s building genius. The aqueducts were amazing, bringing fresh water almost 10 km. Herod had a palace that was recently uncovered by archaeologists, including a hippodrome (for horse/chariot races). There was also an inscription about Pontius Pilate that we saw here. We also sat in a reconstructed theater (only goes half-way around – and had great acoustics!). It was this very spot that Herod Agrippa addressed the people. He dressed all in royal clothes – all silver and reflecting in the sunlight, Dr. Coakley said – and spoke to them. The people were crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” We started saying it as our group of 80 and it was a little freaky to hear it...gave me goosebumps as we were saying it. I can only imagine the absurdity yet the gathering noise and energy (almost like a runaway train that you’re helpless to control) as more and more joined in. Acts 12:23 says, “And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory (my emphasis), and he was eaten by worms and died.” He was a sight to behold, all glittering and beautiful in the sunlight with the Mediterranean behind him, then he was dead in front of their eyes, being eaten by worms.

Dr. Coakley compared that Caesarea experience with one that Peter had in Acts 10:25-26. Peter has had his vision about going to the Gentiles and Cornelius sent for him. Cornelius waits for Peter in Caesarea and when Peter arrives, Cornelius, a Roman centurion, “fell at his feet and worshiped him.” Peter responds in a completely different way than Herod Agrippa, who didn’t give God glory. Peter tells Cornelius to “Stand up; I too am just a man.” He didn’t elevate himself over Cornelius (in some ways interesting since he had struggled with Gentiles and the gospel). 

It makes me think about how I need to give God the glory for what He has done, for things I didn’t have anything to do with. I can’t take credit for what He has done.

 

A view from ground level, looking into the stands

A view of what remains of Herod's Promontory Palace

A floor mosaic that remains. I think this was a bath floor.

The hippodrome for horse races

Roman aqueduct at Caesarea

Sea side of the aqueduct

After Caesarea, we drove northeast to Mount Carmel.

Goats on the hillside

Mount Carmel is where Elijah called down God's fire to an altar and killed the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. At the top of Mount Carmel, there is a church (there is a church built on every holy site in Israel). There was also an overlook behind the church where we could see how hilly the land is.

A statue of Elijah slaying the prophets of Baal

A view from the top of Mount Carmel

 We ate lunch in a Druze village on our way down Mount Carmel - delicious food!

Lunch - salad and schnitzel

Getting to know our fellow travelers on the (red) Judah bus

Then it was off to our next destination -- through Nazareth to Galilee.
tm

Commencement 2012

I know I’ve skipped the rest of Israel, among other blog-worthy events, but I promise I’ll come back to them. I wanted to briefly update you on a major achievement in our lives. As of May 12, 2012, we are both officially Masters! We each graduated with our Master of Ministry degree from Moody Theological Seminary in Chicago.

 

On the same day, our brother-in-law Jake (married to my sister Amanda) graduated from Moody Bible Institute with his bachelor degree in Pre-Counseling. 

 

And my dad graduated with his Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Boston. My mom was the only one who was able to travel to Boston for Dr. Boyle's commencement, but the rest of us were able to watch it online (and a few of us during MBI’s ceremony….gotta love technology!)

It was a busy day for all of us, but a great day to celebrate. And we’re all relieved to be done with the work – or at least I am! Haha!

Celebrating with four of our nieces: K, M, C, and G

Many of our family came to the ceremony - Boyles, Lewises, and McMillans

 

The question I’ve gotten the most has been, “So what are you going to do now with your free time?” An excellent question if ever I heard one.

Still working on that.

I realized that this past semester was the most intense one that Nate and I had. We didn’t have much time for our normal hobbies and stress-relievers (woodworking and baking, respectively). In the past week or so, we’ve worked on a woodworking project for my sister (I have the orange and blue paint still on my nails to prove it) and I’ve baked a couple sweets for my coworkers. I guess I’m trying to get my “fix” in before it ends. But what we’ll really do with the time, I’m not sure. I feel like I put a lot of life “on hold” for this semester, being in transition but not actually living. I am looking forward to living and enjoying life this summer.

I spoke a little bit about it on Moody Radio’s Midday Connection recently (May 18, 2012). And the inspiration for my topic of “Living in Transition” came from my friend Karen’s blog (this idea came from October 2011).

We’ve also been listening to baseball games on the radio, but that past-time doesn’t seem to be helping the team win. But we’re only a quarter into the season, right?

And with all of this free time, I should be able to get fairly up-to-date in the blog. Stay tuned!

tm

Israel, Day 1

We landed in Tel Aviv-Yafo at Ben Gurion airport during the 3pm hour Israel time. Everyone clapped when we landed. We didn't think it was that impressive of a landing (or flight - had some stomach-dropping turbulence), but I learned yesterday (April 2) while listening to an interview with Charlie Dyer on In the Market with Janet Parshall that the applause when you land in Tel Aviv happens frequently. 

All of our flight's luggage arrived safely with us and we took off in our bus to our hotel in Netanya, a town just a little bit north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast.

 

We didn't do much our first day in Israel, but we did get a crash course on some basics as we drove. (And this red Judah Bus was ours for the entire trip. The other MBI bus was blue and called the Benjamin Bus.)

And apparently all IKEAs are set up the same way...easy to see from the highways but impossible to get to.

Our first hotel had a very low ceiling in the hallway. It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but it was only a couple inches about Nate's head.

We got our first taste of Israeli food service at our Netanya hotel. All of our breakfasts and dinners were eaten buffet-style in our hotels. And it only got better from here! This picture is of the dessert table.


This is also the place where the kosher food laws started impacting us...but I didn't realize it until the next day. The pictured desserts are all dairy-free.

 

It was evening when we arrived at our hotel in Netanya, but when we woke up, we saw this view out our hotel room deck---the Mediterranean Sea!!

From here in Netanya, we headed north along the Mediterranean to Caesarea (aka Caesarea Maritime or Caesarea by the Sea).

tm

Israel, Day 0

From March 11-22, 2012, we took a Moody Theological Seminary study trip to Israel. It was an amazing and life-changing trip. There were about 80 of us total that flew on two different planes, landing in Tel Aviv-Yafo on March 12.

Our transportation

Ready for an adventure

Heading from Heathrow to Tel Aviv

The escalator in Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv-Yafo, Ben Gurion Airport

On the ground and heading to baggage claim

tm