Walking A Fairy Tale

So today has been unreal, and we haven't even had lunch yet. Our first stop today was Capernaum - yes Capernaum. This is the Biblical place where Jesus did several miracles: remember the guys who lowered in the cripple through the roof? Yea - I was there this morning. We saw the ruins of the synagogue from the town - like the synagoge where Jesus taught....the actual one! I walked through it. We had a small devotional time just outside this place - and the beauty is unreal.... I'll upload pictures later...

Then we went from there to the ACTUAL place of the Sermon on the Mount. They know pretty much exactly where the people were and where Jesus was, just based on the geogrpahy of the mound. I never thought it was possible for 5,000 men (and so add 10,000 more for women and children) to hear 1 person speak, but the acoustics of this mound are incredible. Yesterday we visited a theater that seats 10,000, and I could hear Juli Winter (resident worhsip leader) sing in her normal voice crystal clear. It was incredible - in the greatest sense of the word!

At the mound I got a picture with a Franciscan nun: i just studied this in my seminary course. Now I have experienced what I read in a book. I've been describing the experience as this: its like watching the movie "Peter Pan" (yes, the Disney film), and then getting to jump on the pirate ship in the middle of Neverland. It is like experiencing a fairy tale. I don't want to leave, and could seriously see myself living here. I've never said that about any place in the world I have ever been....and I've been all over.

We then went down to the "Table of Christ" - which is at the base of the mount of olives. This is where Jesus told Peter to put his nets on the other side of the boat and he caught 153 fish. Then he cooked the disciples breakfast...the table where he cooked them breakfast is now inside a church - like the church is built with the stones coming up out of the ground. I'll show a picture later....

Then I went down to the Sea of Galilee, rolled up my pant legs, took off my sandals and waded into the water. It was a perfect temperature, and the water was smooth as glass. I so desperatly wanted a boat and a water ski....could you imagine water skiing on the Sea of Galilee? My father quickly told me I should try abrefooting instead....get it (Jesus walked on water....hahaha)?

Now we just finished visitng a boat that was discovered about 20 years ago that is 2,000 years old. They have preserved the ruins, and we got to see it. Now, I'm sitting in a coffee shop, sipping a Golstar Dark Lager Beer with a label I can't read (in Hebrew), about to take off on a boat ride accross the Sea of Galilee to the best restaurant on the water. What an adventure...

And it continues! More after we return to the hotel tonight....