There and Back Again...an IBEXer's Tale part 3

It's Christmas day. I just spent an hour showing my parents pictures and videos from my semester in Israel. I've only been back for two weeks and yet already {HOW I MISS IT}.

What do I miss, you ask? Where to begin...

1. Everything around me dating thousands of years back

2. Having both the text of Scripture in front of me and the land of Israel around me to study and explore...each complementing one another

3. The sunsets that take your breath away at Yad Hashmonah

4. Reading my Bible in the Biblical Gardens

5. The teachers/staff: The Schlegels, the Foremans, Natalie, Wendy, and Ariel

6. Shawarma

7. Hummus ;)

8. Chocolate croissants

9. Aroma's coffee

10. The simplicity of life

11. Talks with Rachel late at night

12. Hanging out with my three crazy friends: Laurel, Kayla, and Hannah (and the insane adventures that always happened whenever I was with them!)

13. Talks with John Heim, Ben Rausch, and Luke Wagner...that always made me laugh hysterically or think deeply

14. Richard and Cam being...Richard and Cam ;)

15. Talks in the hammock with Lydia

16. Pranking wars with Jon Bridges and Jake Yates

17. Natalie's coffee/small group talks

18. Our shopkeeper friends in the Old City

19. The learning that stretched me so much...but that molded me more than I think I have even yet realized (Benj's classes and Land and Bible in particular)

20. The cats everywhere (Stevie!)

21. Having cisterns, tunnels, and caves all around you...as beckoning playgrounds for you to enjoy

22. Singing Hodu L'adonai Ki Tov as we pulled back into the Moshav, after a field trip

23. Making coffee for the whole world with my french press

24. Great times studying in the library (taking vows of silence!)

25. Saturday Night Live/faculty dinners

26. Celebrating holidays together

27. Eating the amazing things the staff cooked (like Natalie's apple crisp, Stephanie's cakes and coffee drinks, all the amazing holiday food, etc.)

28. Playing with Sarah and Yair

29. Talks with Stephanie- getting her pearls of wisdom, while chatting in her kitchen

30. "Papa" Bill's jokes/teasing (some of his HILARIOUS comments on field trips are forever enshrined in my memory!)

31. "Uncle" Benj's slip-ups in class

32. The camaraderie, teasing, and love within our group...doing everything together (classes, field trips, celebrating holidays, living together, week long trips, church, small group, etc.) and being all that each other had for three months...hearing their voices, and seeing their faces EVERY DAY...even being able to creepily recognize their steps, handwriting, shadows, etc. Haha!

33. Late nights doing random things...going to the fortress or over the top decorating our dorm for Christmas

34. Movie nights in the Miklat

35. Every Saturday spent in the Old City

36. The transportation fiascoes that turned into hysterical adventures and that now make for the best memories and stories (*cough, cough* Hannah, Kayla, Dewey, and Cam!)

37. Ridiculous and stimulating conversations over lunch and dinner (normally when Luke Wagner was present...poor John Heim is all I have to say! "John Heim's soul is like an Alaskan mountain.")

38. Mafia, "Mr. Commissioner," Ninja, and Blowdart (yes, can't believe I mentioned the last one!)

39. Being on the bus together ALL THE TIME...sleeping, studying, talking, laughing, playing games, whatever- just being together

40. Having multiple girls pop their heads into my room to borrow scarves or clothes each day

41. Studying and drawing maps ALL THE TIME

42. My lovely Italian group: {Nate and Ben, Rachael, Amanda, Kristyn, and Laurel}...if the other IBEXers were my extended family, my Italy team was my immediate family... nothing like being stuck together for a whole week, having transportation issues, sleeping in the same room, sharing clothes, sharing small bathrooms, crying and laughing together, exploring Rome, Florence, and Siena, making awkward memories (hahaha Laurel!), going on nightly adventures, climbing on rooftops, etc.

43. Making videos for Bill (like our awesome Indiana Jones one!)

44. Magnum Bars

45. Being reminded of eternal things, spiritual warfare, and the world's need for Christ EVERY DAY (Muslim daily prayers, all of the religious buildings and structures, passing Orthodox Jews in the city, etc.)

46. Elvis Inn

47. "Grandpa" Ariel- his kindness, his beard, his Devora stories, the way he reads a book an inch away from his face, etc.

49. Having homework assignments such as: "Read the whole book of Deuteronomy in one sitting."

50. Tevas, sports bras, bandanas, headlamps, Nike totes, Nalgenes

51. Making lunches in the Miklat in the wee hours of the morning

52. Having secret sisters and brothers (writing notes and recieving notes, giving gifts and receiving gifts...and other things not quite so "giftly," such as toilet paper!)

53. When seeing lots of soldiers, tallits, tefillin, and kippahs is normal

54. Recognizing Hebrew everywhere/mezuzahs on door frames

55. Eating nutella, hummus, and pita bread by the pound

56. Shabban's shop

57. When a normal school day included riding a camel, cliff diving, jumping off of chalk cliffs, climbing Masada, snorkeling in Eilat, staying in a convent in Nazareth, etc.

58. When seeing the Dome of the Rock, the Wailing Wall, and passing the Citadel and Church of the Holy Sepulcher...was just another normal day in Jerusalem

[An Amazing semester].

[Immeasurable thankfulness].

[Bittersweet feelings]...but more sweet than bitter.

IBEX FALL 2011.

NEVER FORGET.

"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill!
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!"
-Psalm 137

There and Back Again...an IBEXer's Tale part 2

Comparing the Christmas story accounts in Matthew and Luke, this is what stood out afresh to me this year [after being in Israel for three months and taking Land and Bible, Jewish Thought and Culture, Ancient Israel, and 2nd Temple Period]. So thankful that as one fellow IBEXer put it, "I now read my Bible in color, instead of in black and white."

"The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah...In the days of Herod...there was a priest named Zacharias...according to the custom of the priestly office...you will bear a son, and you will give him the name John...he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah...the Lord God of Israel has raised up a horn of salvation for us...Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth...of the descendants of David His servant...Mary had been betrothed to Joseph...Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country...And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child...and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord...to remember His holy covenant, the oath which He swore to Abraham our father...John lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel...a decree went out from Caesar Augustus...to the city of David which is called Bethlehem...the shepherds began saying to one another...Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people...there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon...he came in the Spirit into the temple...Anna continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem...Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt...Archelaus was reigning over Judea..."

Israel: A real place.
The Incarnation: A real event.
Christianity: A real God.

God is not dead nor does He sleep,
Mollie

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!



Picture 1: An Ancient Synagogue {I think}
Picture 2: Herodium
Picture 3: Bethany
Picture 4: Mount of Olives at sunset with Laurel

There and Back Again...an IBEXer's Tale part 1

Sitting on my bed, listening to "Be Thou my Vision" by Jars of Clay, trying to process this past semester...only to realize that I can't even fully process it all.

What I learned: God's Word is living and active, Christianity is about real people and real places- at real times in history!, there is so much going on in the world beyond my bubble existence, when you have the common bond of Christ, you can work through any personality difference, I don't need to flaunt my personality- there is a time and place for everything, there are a lot of things I want to grow in before I get married, working hard is better than just getting results, Judaism is not what I thought it was, I need to keep learning about other religions and keep reading my Bible so that I can share the Gospel more effectively, "it comes and it goes, where it's headed no one
knows"...etc.

"Israel is a testing ground." -Bill Schlegel.

So much learning. So many experiences. I came home a different person. I feel culture shocked in my own country.

It was easy to see my increasing love for the Lord and growth in Israel, but now that I am back...the real test begins. It is easier to be "on fire" for the Lord when you are visiting biblical sites each day and constantly reminded of spiritual warfare (walking by the Dome of the Rock or seeing men crouched on mats reciting their daily prayers)...but I have returned back to the normal and the mundane. Where I am deciding where to live next semester and what jobs to apply for.

I have returned back to my comfort zone...where it is easy to "let my hair down" and get sloppy. To not be as purposeful with my walk with the Lord.

It's here that the real test begins.

"We make time for what we truly value. We build habits and routines around the things that really matter to us. This is an important principle to understand as we seek to build our lives around the gospel. Do you want a cross centered life? A cross centered life is made up of cross centered days." -C.J. Mahaney

I am encouraged by what Stephanie Schlegel shared with us. Seeing sites is a great experience and all, but it's God's Word that is authoritative. My walk with the Lord is not based upon seeing sites. It's based upon applying His truths, contained in Scripture.

So while Bethlehem and Jerusalem and Azekah and Soccoh and Nazareth and Galilee are thousands of miles away...God's Word is right within arm's reach. And it is knowing His Word that is the key to being on fire for Him.

"Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts." -Isaiah 26:8