reading till my eyes fall out..

so our teacher for this quarter came up with a “radical” new idea. Instead of spreading the bible reading out over the three months, why don’t we just cram it into one week so we have more time for lectures and seeing sights. yeahhhh. one week. we are currently finishing up reading the whole bible in a week, that is 10-11 hours of reading A DAY. my eyes hurt, my brain is mush, but God’s word is ever so powerful :) sometimes we pace, sometimes we sit, sometimes we stand, sometimes we go to a cafe and read haha, we’ve had to get creative, our eyes are glued to the pages, drawing out new connections and revelations. As difficult and intense as it is, I must say I am enjoying the challenge ;)

we decided it was ok to treat ourselves to come chocolate and coffee one day :) it was crucial to our survival last week haha

shalom.

I am currently sitting in an amazing hostel in Jerusalem wearing my new favorite scarf from the old city markets, and working on my bible homework for the study of John :)  everything is right with the world in this moment. We just moved here today from the Jerusalem House of Prayer up on the Mount of Olives..

I haven't had a chance to even sit down and write a blog since we began this wonderful quarter, I feel we have just been going going going since Egypt. Coming into Egypt my heart was so full and ready for a new course, a new location, and the excitement of being in biblical lands. We flew overnight and in the morning I watched the fiery orange ball rise out side my little plane window.

Flying in over the desert landscape was so neat and so different for me. I've never been in such a dry sandy area and it blew my mind to see the sand in between buildings and to see no trees or green anywhere. A smile was plastered on my face knowing full well this was going be an adventure of a lifetime. I've been looking forward to this  quarter since the beginning of track. I've wanted to go to the middle east for a long time now. Theres just something about it, the excitement of walking on ground Jesus once walked on and seeing biblical and historical places. I think too its the journalist inside of me that finds excitement in going to places where there is lots of unrest and danger, going into areas that you hear about on the news all the time but never have the chance to visit. Our time in Cairo was brief, a mere 5 days, but it was packed with sightseeing, learning, diving into our biblical studies, and eating my first middle eastern Shwarma ;) The culture was so interesting to me. So unique. I've never been to a country where everything is so distant from whats familiar. You didn't find much english, as arabic characters covered the signs and labels. Peoples attire was much different. The way we are women were allowed to act, who we could speak to, and the way we could dress was different. The culture is much more conservative and women don't really talk to men on the streets, or talk much at all. We had to be careful what topics we talked about in public, and we had to make sure to refer to Israel as "The Holy Land".  My senses are so much more aware lately, continually taking it all in.

We have now been in Israel for two weeks and I am in love. My love relationship with the middle east of course began in Egypt and grew as we continued on to Israel. There is something so special about the culture. I love the arab and hebrew language, the music and written characters, the history and biblical significance, the food, the beauty in each individual, the passion in people. My heart as well is sensitive to all that is going on now.. the tension, the hatred, and the divides.  My journalistic and justice minded self finds connection here. My heart burns as I look out my window at the Palestinian wall.. a wall that that means so much more than a "safety barrier". My Spirit comes alive as I worship and intercede in the prayer tower. So much has happened in this land, from the oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians, to all the plagues, and then the incredible deliverance God brought to them through a leader Moses. All the oppression the jewish people have gone through, and the current conflict between nations, between people. Reading through God's word while being here has really made it come alive, as cliche as that may sound. We have been getting amazing teaching, giving historical background and really helping to make sense to the time when everything was recorded.

 I am learning so much each and every day, its overwhelming and I'm having trouble finding time to process it all, its all soooo good. We have already read Genesis-1 Samuel (i'm just finishing this book up) and we have to read to Chronicles by the end of the week..eek! annndd We skipped ahead and and started reading John and studying John so be sure we'd finish it while in Jerusalem. We do a brief study on all the books and go in-depth and do an inductive bible study of one book from each type of literature i.e gospels, OT narrative, wisdom literature, prophets, ect. The is all homework that we ourselves do, we make observations, use the internet, commentaries and any other sources to find the interpretation of those observations and then we do an application. Its hours of reading and studying by I really really enjoy it. I've never taken the time to really go deep in my bible and it so awesome when you discover new things or God gives new revelations to you, or see the way the new testament fulfills the old, and then to be here in Jerusalem after just finishing reading the "torah" or the( old testament narratives/law to us) , and reading all about the law and then seeing the jewish people and orthodox jews and how they still follow so closely to that, and then learning more about the Jewish holidays and seeing holy sites like Golgotha, and his "tomb" and the garden of Gethsemane. And then the western wall and the spiritual atmosphere around there. We were talking to some people about the culture and we learned that every Israel needs so spend time in the army after school. I was so startled the first day down in the Old City and seeing what looked like high schoolers walking past me carrying AK-47's. Its something to get used to for sure, something that still leaves me feeling uneasy as if its not how it should be. They look so young. Its strange seeing them in normal clothes walking around but still carrying their guns. I think the most visually interesting thing those in just the contrast in two religions right there in front of you. To see the orthodox jews and then the conservative Muslims… and the mosque on temple mount.  Its all so interesting :) :) I love seeing it, learning about it, being immersed in it. We stay in jerusalem for one more week and then we head to Bethlehem in the West Bank and then to Greece for three weeks and Rome for one week! Hopefully this blog was enough of an overview to slowly catch everyone up to speed considering my lack in blogpost recently :/  ..my heart is full here and I feel the Lord siring stuff within me. I pray and desire a sensitive heart each day to really see the things around me, to be in constant prayer for peace amongst tension, and to be a serving heart displaying love for every one I come in contact with. Jesus you are risen and alive, may your shalom, your peace, rest in this place among your children…