Saying Goodbye.

June 30

Alright everyone. Consider yourselves loved because you are the only reason I’m up typing this blog. I don’t know if I’m going to have internet for the remainder of the trip, so this may be the last blog post for a while! (I’ll still be typing everything up in Word, so you’ll still eventually be updated on everything that happens on the tour!)

So, today was pretty hard. I mean, it was TONS of fun, but it was hard. I hate saying goodbye!! I’ve only known these people for two and a half weeks, but I love them so much already!! And if any of you know me, you know I can get pretty attached… but so it goes. The ORIGINS team had the chance to lead the Kehila service today which was really nice. We sang songs and Levi did a testimony and Bruce did an amazing message about when Abraham obeyed God when told to sacrifice his son. It really made me think because Abraham withheld NOTHING from God, including his only son whom he loved so much. And yet, I, want to withhold things from God. I want God to ask me permission before He takes something away from me. But the fact is, I own nothing! Everything I have, including my own life, is in God’s hands. And you know what, I think I trust God more with my life than I trust myself with my own life! If I truly want the best for my life, then I will let God take care of me. I mean, He was the one who sacrificed His own Son for me!! I was justified through His blood and His resurrection!! And now His Holy Spirit lives in me!! Just think about that! Why wouldn’t I want to give God the control?! I mean, it makes perfect sense. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for me. But I’m learning. I’m growing. I’m human.

Anyway, after Kehila we prepared a wonderful dinner for all of the congregation to come over for a farewell dinner. Lots of food, games, and laughter of course. I loved it when I was told, “I see you at Kehila. And you’re always laughing!” It’s one of those things I’m still working on controlling… ;) They were over for a long time… nobody wanted to have to say goodbye… but all good things must come to an end. We walked Sonya and Mati back to their place and said our last goodbyes and now I’m back here. Tomorrow I  have to wake up bright and early at 6am, so I’m probably going to cut this blog post short.

Basically, I hate goodbyes. My time here in Rehovot as been absolutely unforgettable. The culture, the things I’ve learned, and most of all the people. These people are indescribably awesome and I love them with all my heart. I will be praying for them and I hope we were an encouragement to them as they were to us.

This is the Day that the Lord Has Made.

June 29

Today was a very nice and relaxing day. It was nice to get a little break before starting the tour! We all got to sleep in a little bit and then we broke off into different groups to do different activities. Some of us went to play softball, some of us went downtown, others went to the grocery store and others stayed at home. I went downtown with Kaytra, Rachael, Danielle and Erica. It was really cool because Rehovot is definitely not a touristy part of Israel, so we were really able to just see Israelis in their every day life! Shopping, walking, talking… so much fun! Somehow, we were still looking pretty touristy though because one lady asked us, but it was cool because when we told her we just finished volunteering at Kaplan, she started thanking us and blowing kisses at us! Anyway, it was just cool being a part of Israeli daily life by riding the bus and walking around like a normal Israeli! I mean, that’s how you learn more about the culture! By being immersed in it! 

When we got back Heather had made us some mac and cheese, which was pretty exciting and then we got ready for our Shabbott dinner that a wonderful couple from the hospital threw for us! So we had devotions, which was wonderful as usual. Bruce and Chris are some of the wisest people I have ever met. I respect them immensely! We finished up the first chapter of Philippians tonight and Bruce talked about how when we value something, we are willing to pay for it. I mean, think about the most expensive thing you have. Your house or your car… your coach bag or a pair of shoes… just think about how much you value you it because you paid a high price for it. Well, guess what. Being a believer is no different. How much of a price are we willing to pay for something we should value most in our lives? Being a believer might cause suffering and persecution. How much are we willing to sacrifice? The truth is, we should be willing to pay any price for something we value MOST. But are we? It’s a hard question to ask, and a question I myself don’t know if I can answer. But it’s something I WANT to answer. I want to say that I am willing to sacrifice anything for Yeshua, but honestly, at this point, I don’t know if that’s true. And that’s something I will be working hard at and praying about so that I can get to that point. Who knows where the Lord will lead me out of college, but I pray that at that point, I will be willing to go wherever He leads.

Anyway, Shabbott dinner was absolutely AMAZING. I mean, Ruth, the woman from the hospital that put it on for us, spent THREE DAYS cooking for us! There was so much food I feel like I’m going to explode! Her and her husband care for us so much, it just fills my heart with so much joy. Her husband said that us being at his house for dinner tonight tripled his joy! I am just in awe of the hospitality of these people and the love they have for us. It breaks my heart that they don’t have a relationship with our loving Yeshua so that they can experience His endless love. But man, it was a long night of eating and laughing, we sang for them… It was a wonderful night.

I will never forget this place or these people. This trip was the best decision I could have made, and it is worth the price I had to pay. If I ever get the chance to do this again, I would do it in a heart beat. Being able to spend time in this culture and love on these people is wonderful. I really don’t know how to put this feeling into words. I just can’t stop smiling, my cheeks should have a six pack by the end of this trip!!

Anyway, I still can’t believe I’m halfway done. But I am going to live in the moment and soak in every second that I am here.

Last Day of Volunteering

June 28

Today was my last day volunteering at the hospital. I am seriously pretty sad. I really don’t know how to put in words how I’m feeling right now. Today, I did a few interviews on the affect we have on the employees at the hospital and almost every one said they love how happy we are! The truth is, we’re so happy because of THEM! These people fill me with so much joy that I WANT to serve them with all my heart. All the good things that they love about us so much is because of them. And because I love them so much, I have no choice but to share Yeshua’s love with them.

It’s really amazing how much these people appreciate our work. Chris and I got to walk around a visit people to do our interviews and they absolutely love the work that we do. They thank us over and over again because we are young people who are willing to work without complaint. THIS is the testimony we are commanded to have. To love people through our actions. Through our attitudes. The love of Yeshua shows through this! People notice something different! And that is what our testimony is all about.

In fact, they are so appreciative of our work that we got to plant trees in our honor! The Friends of Israel boulevard now has four new trees that we planted today. Kaplan Hospital is amazing. They have wonderful people with huge hearts. They deserve our support. We got a tour of the new Pediatric Building today and I found out that they have to raise all their money in order to build new buildings! They have so many plans on how to improve their hospital! I hope someday that I will be able to give towards this hospital because they are not in a huge city like Jerusalem, but they serve MANY people around Rehovot.

If any of you feel the Lord leading you to give your support to Israel by donating to this wonderful hospital, or if you would just like to find out more information about the hospital I’ve been working at for the past two weeks to keep in your prayers, you can visit this website! I know they would appreciate it immensely!

http://www.afkmc.org/

Anyway, after hanging out at the hospital for a little while, we went back to the house and got ready to go to a very nice restaurant, treated by the CEO and Director of Marketing at the hospital! They gave out certificates and the meal was absolute wonderful! There were appetizers and a full meal with desert. It was a beautiful restaurant and we had so much fun! I seriously can’t go five minutes without laughing with this team.

This team is so wonderful and they have encouraged me in so many ways. All of them have such huge hearts for the Lord and it’s so evident in everything that they do. This team may be the most joyous team I have ever been a part of and I love them so much. They are so much fun and at the same time, they are hard workers and have such a heart to serve. I am so blessed to be here with them.

I love Israel. I love God. I love the joy that He has given me. I also love all the technology we have so that I can still talk to my friends and family while I’m here and keep you updated! You have all been such an encouragement and have supported me so much. I love you!

Spelunking!

June 27

Wow. I am wiped out. Today was a jam packed day, so sorry if this blog is short and incoherent, it’s taking everything to keep my eyes open… but I have to wait for the shower anyway… oyvey. It was our last full day volunteering at the hospital (tomorrow is a half day). I was with the AC team of course and before lunch the work was pretty slow, we had some fish drama in the tank with Shteve…

After lunch, though, we cleaned the filters in the new pediatric building. It’s such a nice building! And the kids are so cute. All in all, it was a good day.

We made sure to meet right on time today so that we could run home and change before going spelunking! Spelunking was AWESOME. We got to learn a lot about the history and the persecution that these believers had to go through. There was lots of crawling and climbing all over the place. I must say I am not the most graceful spelunker. It is not my calling. But it was a lot of fun!

Oh, and before we actually went into the caves, we got to go to the valley where the story of David and Goliath took place! It was so much fun because we reenacted the story! We got a chance to meditate and collect stones and it was absolutely beautiful. Nature just has a way of being able to take my breath away. We also got to go to a lookout point where you could see the whole country of Israel!! It’s amazing how small this country is but how much God has provided. I mean, with all the wars Israel has had to go through, one would think that it should be gone by now! But Israel is still here and that is because of God and His promise. And as I looked over the lookout point, seeing this beautiful country, all I could think about was His promises. God will never fail. God will always keep his promises. Thank goodness!!

At one point we turned out all the lights and it was literally pitch black dark. Bruce talked about how Yeshua is the light in the darkness. He told us to put our hands in front of our faces and he asked us if we could see it. We said no, of course. He then asked us if we believed our hand was there. Of course! It ties in perfectly with Hebrews 11:1. “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

We may not be able to see Yeshua with our eyes, but we can have confidence and hope that He is here through our faith. Faith is an amazing thing. It can do wonders. Even as I was army crawling through really tight spaces and screaming “THINK SKINNY!” as a motivation tool to get through, it is because of faith in Yeshua that I am here having this experience.

I feel like I have so much more to say, but it is my turn for the shower and I feel like I am going to pass out any second from exhaustion. Have to be ready for my last day of volunteering tomorrow! Can’t believe it went by so quickly! Yom Tov!

Air Conditioning Filters

June 26

Shalom! Today was an exciting day for the air conditioning crew. We got to go up to the rooftop! It was a beautiful view and we got to climb all over stuff (even if that meant slamming my head into metal by accident…) It was nice to be out in the sun even though it was draining! It was our last day working with Biebier because his daughter is getting married tomorrow, but it was a lot of fun! Everyone got walky talkies today so we were able to joke around with each other while we worked. 

After lunch we cleaned out the room with all the clean filters. You don’t even want to know where they put clean filters. It is probably the dustiest room in the building. I felt like I was in a dungeon! It was so dark and dusty! By the end my hair was caked with dust and when I blew my nose it was black! But it was a lot of fun and we got lots of good work done!

I’ve really gained so much respect for the people on this team. Everyone is such hard workers and never complain. They are such testimonies here at this hospital. God is working through us in this place. I mean, some of these people have never heard the true Gospel and now they are seeing it lived through us! It’s an amazing thing.

I was totally exhausted by the end of the day so I tried to just rest a bit before devotions and Ladies Bible Study.

In Philippians we talked more about what it truly means to live for our Messiah. “To live is Christ, to die is gain.” Dying as believers is the best thing that could ever happen because we will be in the presence of our Messiah! But we are needed here on earth to proclaim the Gospel and share His love, and that is also a wonderful purpose. Everything we do should be centered around Him. He should be our number One in everything we do. It’s a very easy thing to say, but a very hard thing to do. It is a really sad thing, I realized. When I truly think about it, being entirely honest with myself, I realize I don’t always put God number one in my life. For instance, sometimes my friends are. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with having friends and spending time with them. In fact, it’s a necessity of life! But what IS wrong is I realized, I would drop my Bible in a heat beat to go do something fun with my friends. I would cut my quiet time short or cut it out completely so that I wouldn’t have to miss out on other social plans. As I said, there is nothing wrong with having a social life. It is so needed in this life! But when my social life is prioritized over my time with my Messiah, that’s when it becomes a problem. This is something I majorly have to work on. It’s a process, but I can’t give up or pretend it’s not a big deal. I want my life to be centered around Messiah, no matter the cost. The sacrifice will always be worth it.

I was thinking today, and this may be a cheesy analogy, but it really helps me to put things in perspective. I was cleaning the air conditioning filters and we were talking about how important it is that they are clean. These filters help the air be clean for sick patients. For patients who are about to go into surgery. They need clean air! The filters need to be clean! And I got to thinking, wow, we as believers are the air conditioning filters. Unbelievers are the patients. If we, as believers, try to control our own lives and accept no help from our Messiah because we think we can do things on our own by not putting him number one in our lives, we will start building up filth. We will get so dirty and guess what, the patients will get sick from us. But, if we let our Redeemer put up the water pressure and hose us down and make us clean from our sin, we are able to put out fresh air to these patients so they will be able to breathe fresh air and be help them in the process of being healed by their Redeemer.

I don’t know if that makes sense entirely, but it makes sense in my mind. I need to be cleaned. Not just wiped down, but I need the water pressure on HIGH. It may hurt, but it will be worth it. In order to reach out the lost, I need God’s help. I need him to make me clean, because only then will I be able to share the Truth of God’s love.

Anyway, after devotions, we went to Ladies Bible Study. I love these ladies so much. We finally learned everyone’s name! (We were bribed with chocolate shekels!) And three of the ORIGINS girls were able to share their testimony. It was so encouraging to be able to hear how God has worked and is still working in their lives. It is truly a miracle and a wonderful thing. I will never be able to understand God’s love or comprehend it and for that I am grateful. His love will never run out or give up on me. And for that, I can only pray that my love will overflow as a result.

We also got to learn about what the ladies have been learning in their Bible study throughout the year which is also very encouraging. To hear about how God has been working in these ladies’ lives over the past year is just so awesome. He works in amazing ways and we as believers are always learning and always growing. There is always more and more to learn no matter how many times you read a passage from the Bible there is always something there to learn that you didn’t notice before. That’s the great thing about God! He is forever.

God's Will.

June 25

Sometimes as I think back on the day, I’m just like, “Oh my goodness, all this stuff just happened in one day?! How am I supposed to collect all my thoughts and remember everything?!” So, forgive me if I’m a little disorganized. But that’s one of the reasons I’m keeping up on this blog. I’m afraid I will forget!

Anyway, I was back with the air conditioning crew today, except Kaytra switched with Charity in the kitchen for the day so that Charity could get a little bit of a break. The kitchen is a hard job! Today was probably one of our dirtiest jobs. It reminded me of that show, “Dirty Jobs.” As you can see from some of the pictures that I posted, we had some pretty gross muddy water to clean up. It took all day, but we got it all cleaned and we cleaned out an entire room of metal scraps and even had a few coffee breaks. ;) Turkish coffee isn’t too bad by the way, but I think for now, as a beginner, I’m going to stick with regular. But today was a really fun day, with lots of laughter while getting a lot of work done. Nachman, I think his name was, was the man we worked with today and he is just so full of energy! He’s hilarious and so much fun to work with!

We had some free time and had devotions and College and Career at the Kehila tonight but I’m going to clump it all together into one thought because for me tonight, it all went together. College and Career was of course tons of fun being able to fellowship and play silly games like "Sheep Meh" and just laugh and laugh! I laugh so much I should have abs of steel by the end of this trip!

During free time I was reading a book called “Radical” where I was reading a chapter about God’s will. Then we talked about Philippians where we talked about God’s will. Then at College and Career we talked about Ruth and one of the topics was God’s will! It really spoke to me because sometimes I wonder what God’s will for my life is, but it is SO clear! It’s to proclaim the Gospel in everything I do! Let the Holy Spirit live through me so that people who don’t know about Yeshua can hear. The exact way I do this is something I still have yet to figure out, but that doesn’t change the will for my life. God wants me to be a servant, like Paul. Like Ruth. And proclaim the gospel with no shame and no fear. I don’t need to be embarrassed, because “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” It’s a win-win situation! If I’m living for the Messiah then it doesn’t matter what happens to me. God’s will, will be done.

There are BILLIONS of people out there who have never heard the Gospel. They need to hear! They need to hear about salvation! It is only through the Messiah that they can truly live a life that matters and spend an eternity with Him. It is OUR responsibility as believers to go out there and let the Gospel be heard! My heart breaks for these people and I sit here and just feel like crying as I think about millions of people that are dying every day who has never heard. The only way for a true meaning in life and the only way to spend paradise with our God one day is through our Messiah. Paul and Ruth were servants. Ruth never left Naomi, no matter the cost. She gave up everything for her. Paul was beheaded for sharing the Truth. A believer’s life is not easy, the Bible never says it will be. But one thing we do know is that God is perfect and just. And he has given us a great responsibility. We need to have a joyous attitude as Paul. No matter what the cost, I will live for Yeshua. He will live through me. I cannot just sit back and live an “American Dream” while there are so many who are suffering.

It’s about having a servant’s heart and sharing the abounding love of our Redeemer. This is God’s will.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade.

June 24

Well, it’s Sunday! And that means it’s the beginning of the work week here! So, back to the hospital we went! Today I switched with Jen so she could get a chance to see a little more of the hospital by cleaning the air conditioner filters and I took her job copying medical records.

I was by myself, so in the beginning I was a little socially awkward because everyone around me was speaking in Hebrew and I wasn’t assigned to do anything yet, so I just sat awkwardly and stared at people. But then after we started to warm up to each other, I got to talk a lot! After every time I copied a file, I would be told to sit down and rest! So, one time I was able to talk to a man for about an hour! It was actually really interesting. We talked about all kinds of different things such as family, and our lives, and the differences between Israeli and American culture and he was religious so after he ate he had to read a booklet to bless his food and all kinds of stuff! I also got to speak to another man who made me a cup of coffee which I expected to hate, but I actually was able to drink the whole thing! Israel is going to make me a coffee addict! A woman came up to me as well and said, “You will be my teacher!” And she wanted me to teach her English! So I taught her how to say, “My name is” and “Cheese and jam” and how to say the time. She also taught me some Hebrew, but I think she was the better learner.

Yeah, before lunch I didn’t get a lot of work done, but lots of talking! But after lunch I was able to get a lot of work done and made like almost 400 copies! I was a speed demon. ;)

We were going to go to the IDF base tonight, but unfortunately, the people who were supposed to contact us about it never got back to us so those plans fell through. I was a little bit disappointed, but it’s ok! We got another day off! (Gabby and I had a pretty epic dance party...) We ended up going to the mall again, and since it was my last time probably at the mall I did splurge a little bit… it was fun. When we got back from the mall some people were watching Anastasia which made me really excited because I can literally quote that entire movie! So I stood behind all of them and mouthed the whole movie. People were pretty impressed I must say. Though I don’t think everyone else loves it as much as I do… it is pretty creepy. I don’t know why I watched that movie every day before kindergarten with my Captain Crunch Berries! Oh well. I think it’s a wonderful movie.

In our devotions we are still in Philippians chapter 1. Today we talked about the versus, “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”

Wow, talk about optimism! It seriously blows my mind how much joy Paul expresses in the book. I mean, as I said, he’s in PRISON. And with these versus, we get a little inside look on what it is like. Of course there are people there who supported him, but there was also the people who were envious of him! Paul was an apostle! And some of the people there preached the gospel because they were envious of Paul. They were selfish and weren’t preaching because they wanted the gospel to spread, but to spite Paul. But Paul didn’t care what they said about him. He didn’t care what they thought about him at all. In fact, he rejoiced because either way, the gospel was being preached!

It is not about the Gospel teller. God can work through anything and anyone. The fact is, the Gospel will be spread. And because of this we should rejoice!

Being here in Israel is really teaching me about joy. I mean, I’ve always thought of myself as a joyous person, and I think other people see that in me as well. But TRUE joy comes from God, and being here in the Holy Land gives me joy like no other!! Being able to talk with His people and to serve them as Yeshua did is AMAZING.

I love to serve. I love to serve these people. In whatever way I can, I want to have a servant’s heart like Yeshua. God is using this place to mold my heart into exactly what He needs me to be.

No Fear.

June 23

Saturdays for Israelis are like Sundays in America. We got to sleep in a little bit today, we had Kehila at 11am. We had Sunday School first and then the regular service. It’s really interesting having a translator! They speak in Hebrew and then have Russian and English translators. The people at the Kehila are so encouraging. I mean, part of our purpose of being here is to encourage the people in the Kehila, but I can only hope that I encourage them as much as they encourage me! Their testimonies are absolutely amazing. They are such joyful people and as we are learning more and more about what joy is, I see that these people have it! Their love for God is outstanding and they have huge hearts. Wonderful, wonderful people.

After Kehila, we got to hang out at home for a bit and then went back to the Kibbutz to play volleyball and fellowship! I’m probably better at softball than volleyball (and that’s saying a LOT) but, it was fun! Just being able to spend time with another is awesome (even if that means getting wacked in the head with a volleyball by Charity with such force that it makes you fall over… which totally wasn’t me… ha…). I also learned an Israeli card game! It’s called Yoniv and Sonya said it’s a very popular game to play in the army. It blows my mind that every Israeli citizen is required to join the army once they turn 18. Boys for three years and girls for two. I can’t even imagine being required to be in the army! But we had a lot of fun with that before heading back home for devotions.

Devotions tonight totally convicted me. We furthered into the book of Philippians and we studied the passage, “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Chris. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” When Paul was writing this he was in the Roman prison! Paul knew what true joy was really about. Despite his circumstances, he was able to have joy in which he knew God was in control and would use him for His glory. You’re not always going to have the answers. You’re not always going to know why. Through all circumstances, God is in control and that is why we can have joy. And guess what, he was able to spread the gospel! This is what his life is about! In the book of Acts he says that it doesn’t matter what happens to him in this life as long as he is constantly living for the glory of God. And what really convicted me is that he does not live in fear. And when he proclaimed the gospel to his brothers and sisters in the prison, they were able to “proclaim the gospel without fear.” Without fear! It didn’t matter what other people thought about him. It didn’t matter what they did to him. They proclaimed the gospel without fear. They had no fear in life or death because they had complete faith in God.

It make me think of the song, “In Christ Alone.”

No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me. From life’s first cry to final breath, Yeshua commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand. Til He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I stand.

This is what I’ll end with because it needs no more explanation. Just let these words give you a slap in the face because we don’t need to live in fear! OUR GOD IS THAT GREAT.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I can only hope that as you read this blog, you’re not only reading about my experiences and growth, but that you can experience it with me. Love you very much.

Shabbott!

June 22

Wow. What. A. Day. I would love to go to bed but I know if I don’t write this down now, I will never get the chance, and I will kick myself. SO. First, all the girls woke up bright and early to be ready to leave by quarter til 8 so that we could help clean an apartment. We’re all ready and we go downstairs to wait for the guys to come up and we wait… and we wait… and we wait… it’s 8:15 and we’re like uhhh… where are they? We then grow to realize, that they have left. Without us. Then we find out it was a mistake. They didn’t need us to go today. Only three girls! Ahh! So, most of us went back to bed (including me) and woke up about 2 hours later to go to softball! The two hours actually made a huge difference and I felt much more rested.

Softball went much better than I anticipated! I mean, we’re not going to talk about outfield. I did absolutely terrible out there. BUT batting, I hit every single ball!!! And I even made it to home half the time!! I was so proud of myself! Of course, I  can’t give all the credit to myself. I knew that the men who played were competitive, and I didn’t want to ruin it for them by not being at least somewhat of a challenge, so right before I would go I would just shoot up a prayer, “God, please please please just let me HIT the ball. I don’t want to ruin the game for them!” And guess what. I hit the ball EVERY time. It was a miracle!! Of course, it didn’t help my speed at all. It was hilarious because I was on base and the guy behind me ended up hitting a homerun and while I was running as fast as I could, he ended up catching up to me and slowly jogging behind me while I was running my heart out. It was hilarious. He came up to me and he’s like, “Wow… you’re fast…” All I could do was laugh. It was so much fun!

So after sweating off 20 pounds, we went back and prepared to gain all the weight back and got ready for our Shabbott dinners. Small groups of us were assigned to different host families for dinner. Shabbott is a time for all of Israel (it’s not just a religious thing, it’s a cultural thing) to get together with their family and friends and just spend time together! It’s really a wonderful tradition. Anyway, I ate SO much food. There was about 14 salads that were just appetizers! And bread of course. And then there were pierogies and chicken and burgers and hot dogs (kosher) and pasta salad, and potatoes and all kinds of food. Then we had ice cream for desert which was DELICIOUS of course. And chocolates. I am so full  beyond belief right now.

Before Shabbott we had devotions, continuing on in the book of Philippians. We talked about versus 9-10. It says, “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” It was really interesting because we talked about what he meant when he says your “love”. Chris explained to us that love IS the fruits of the spirit. Love consists of joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law. If every single person showed love in these ways, we wouldn’t need any laws! This is what true love consists of. True love also consists of real knowledge. He explained that in a relationship, when you get married, even though you already knew your spouse, you’re still getting to know him or her every single day. And the more you know him, the more you love him. That’s the same way with God. You can’t base your relationship with God on emotions without any foundation, the same way you can’t in a marriage. Your relationship has to have a foundation of the knowledge of who God is. Emotions will cause a roller coaster, but a true constant foundation is the knowledge of God and His consistency and love and power and mercy. The list goes on and on. The more you get to know about God, the more you will love Him. It’s an endless love because every day there is something new to learn.

Anyway, at Shabbott, I met a guy named Taylor who is from Texas. He is studying Hebrew at the University here. When everyone got back he offered to take us a walk around town. We went to the Orthodox part of town (after looking totally awkward by circling around three times before finding a parking space… and then trying not to look awkward by getting out one van at a time but then just making it look awkward anyway because the other people just sat in the van awkwardly and waited for us to walk away but then met with up with us anyway when they got out of the van and then we awkwardly stopped talking every time someone passed us and we were standing in an awkward circle and everything about that was awkward…) but it was really fun! After Taylor talked to us a bit about being in Israel and the town and how Israelis will walk around really late at night and it doesn’t matter! They don’t care about privacy as long as you’re not bothering them so we could walk literally anywhere we wanted. (Except maybe inside a house!) So, Brett, Gabby, Hannah, Tyler, Chris and I walked around and we ended up running into some guys who asked us where we were from and he told us about how he used to live in Brooklyn and he was just a cool guy! He invited us over his house and told us all about how a rabbi convinced him to become religious and we got to know a lot about him in just 10 minutes! We ended our conversation with him and then walked around a bit more until we all met up again. Gabby and I laughed all the way home. Just too many inside jokes tonight!

But yes. It was such a fun day and I could go on and on but seeing as it is almost 1:30am and I don’t want to fall asleep in Kehila tomorrow (the congregation meets on Saturday mornings) I bid you farewell.

Remember I have all my pictures on facebook so sorry about the boring blog with no pictures! I almost have one full album and it's only been a week!

One Week of Volunteering Done!

June 21

Shalom everyone! I am officially finished a full week of volunteering at the hospital. The Jewish week is Sunday to Thursday and then the weekend is Friday and Saturday. Friday is their Shabbot which lasts until Saturday evening.

Today was a lot of fun cleaning the air conditioner filters. We got a whole bunch of work done before lunch. Actually, the funny thing that happened is the patients kept asking us to fix their temperature and if they were too cold we would ask them if they wanted it off. We later found out that the word “off” in Hebrew means chicken! After lunch Chris had to take Rachael to the ER because she was having an allergic reaction to her mosquito bites. (Don’t worry, she’s ok!) So, Matt, Kaytra and I went to the office to ask what we should do next. Eurim said he would go get the man who would tell us but they didn’t come back for a very long time! So by the time they got back they told us to just leave because we wouldn’t have enough time to get enough done! But it ended up ok because we got to know each other very well through questions and talking about all kinds of different topics. We also named the fish in the fish tank. We became good friends. There’s Steve, who always bullies Kevin. Methusala (I think…), Greg and Billy Bob. 

And while we were waiting, a worker at the hospital recorded me on his phone... I didn't realize it for a few minutes... I guess he thought my laugh was funny enough to record? Who knows! 

I love being able to talk to these people, even if it isn’t much. And smile. They are always so surprised when they see a smile. Even when I use the shower (which isn’t always the cleanest…) to wash, I love to sing and just spread joy to this place.

After the hospital, we went to the Kubbitz to for Gal’s birthday. He’s a friend from Kehila. We also celebrated Danielle and Rachael’s birthdays that are this weekend. We played volleyball (or tried to play…) and ate ice cream. We had lots of fun! We also got to hear Gal’s testimony which was absolutely amazing. It just reminds me how powerful and merciful our God is. He can change a person and the ways of his heart. A man who had a really hard past is now full of peace and love. It’s a wonderful thing.

We went back to the house after his testimony and all the men went to the men’s Bible study at Kehila (AKA sports night…) so the girls got to hang out. We went to the mall and I drank my first entire cup of coffee! With espresso! It was a Mocha Coffee so it had chocolate and milk and it was actually really good! I was so proud of myself. We also bought Gal a volleyball for all of us to sign that we’re going to give Gal tomorrow for his birthday.

We walked back to the house from the mall, it’s only about a 15 minute walk but it was a lot of fun! Rachael then video taped us all pretending to be a van and doing a U-Turn. (We do lots of U-Turns when we drive.) I was the driver, or Chris. With a really weird accent. And a coffee cup of course. We then continued to scream and “do a U-Turn” and there was a police officer standing at the corner who was staring at us like we were crazy! It was hilarious! Hopefully she’ll be posting the video!

Well, tonight’s going to be a shorter blog post because we’re watching Finding Nemo and I would like to get to bed before 1am to play softball tomorrow! (Or try anyway… hehe)

So goodnight! Lalatov! (Or something like that…)

Jewish Santa Exists.

June 20

Shalom! Today was a very interesting day at the hospital. We were cleaning the air conditioning filters in the ICU unit. Yeah. It was pretty disturbing at first because we saw lots of patients in critical condition or on life support and there were beeps and things we didn’t understand. We even had a dead body get rolled past us. It was pretty freaky and I felt really sad for these people, wishing I could help them more. But then I realized that a lot of these patients were fully aware of everything that was going on around them. They were just diseased and sick. So, I decided to be a little more friendly. I mean, they're just like everyone else! Even just a simple smile and a hello can brighten up their day and help them realize that nothing is wrong with them! They shouldn't be ignored just because they are sick. So, every time I went in the room I would say “Shalom” to every person who was awake. It was amazing the results! In every room I would have somewhat of a conversation. A lot of them didn’t speak English so the conversation would be more like “Shalom!” “Shalom! Ahf uiosfh cs chchchchchchchch!” I would stand there puzzled for a moment and go “Me America! Englit??” And then would say, “HUF cfh chchchchchchch!” Until I finally went, “Lo Hebrew!” Then they would laugh at me. They always laugh when they realize you only speak English. I don’t really know why. But quite a few of them actually could understand and some of them I was able to explain to them that we were volunteers which always put smiles on their faces. It surprises them so much! I got so many smiles today. One of the men that was working at the desk saw and said, “Hey, can you help me?” We thought he was going to ask us a questions about the computer so we went over and said, “Well, we can try!” Then all of a sudden he pulls out this bowl full of fruit! He says, “Here you go!” It made us laugh and we had to decline because our hands were disgusting and told him we would come back later. We did, but he wasn’t there. Bummer.

We also ran into a Jewish man who was literally the Jewish version of Santa. He had this huge belly with a button missing and he was following us all around and singing. He was the most adorable man. In one of the rooms, one of the men was able to translate for us and he asked us why we were here volunteering from America. So we told him, “We love Israel!” And he answered that yes, Israel was a wonderful land and so on and so forth. He then asked us where we were staying and who was paying us. So we explained to him that we were paying for ourselves and he could not believe it! He said, “You pay to work here? You mean you’re not being paid for this? I don’t believe you!” He was so shocked that we would actually pay to come serve in Israel. He followed us for the rest of the time singing songs. He even followed us down the elevator and he started to follow us to the offices before a nurse or doctor got a hold of him! In the elevator every single person who came in he would tell all about us and they would just stand there and stare at us. So we just had to smile and pretend we knew what he was talking about! It’s amazing how quickly the word spreads about the work we are doing there! 

Eurim, the man in charge of the maintenance department, also showed us the largest Mezusa in the world! It's hanging on the wall in the ER of the hospital! We also saw a Coca Cola Bear made out of Coca Cola items. This is such a cool hospital. Like for real. People who don't even know us just come up to us, "Slowly, slowly! Relax! Eat! Coffee!" One of the men brought us into his room and he had loud music playing and he was dancing. He was pretty awesome! 

So yes. It was a good day at the hospital, and then we had the rest of the night off! It was nice to relax, some of us went to the mall and did a little shopping. Of course we had devotions too. We talked more about Philippians continuing on through the verses. But actually, what stuck out to me most during our devotions time was a comment he made at the beginning in passing. Just in comment to a song we sang. It’s “As the Deer” which I’m sure most of you know. But in the chorus it says, “You alone are my heart’s desire.” I mean, when we sing that, are we just singing it or do we mean it? Is God ALONE the desire of my heart? Or am I replacing Him with something else? Whether it be affection or longing for a companion. Whether it be school work or any other kind of relationship. When I sing, “YOU alone are my heart’s desire.” Do I really mean that? Are the desires of my heart lining up with the desire of His heart? In Philippians he talks about how they are always in his heart. He says, “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” It is ok to have other relationships and long to be with other people! But notice he says, “with the affection of Christ Jesus.” Yeshua is still the center of his desire. And that is how it should always be.

So, today was a pretty chill day. I dominated at Egyptian Rat Slap again of course. Buttt didn’t do so well in Uno Hearts!! We had lots of fun, got to talk with each other more in depth, and just laugh with each other. It’s just a little family going on and I love it. I can’t believe that it’s already been a week! And I also can’t believe it’s only been a little more than a week that I left home! Crazy stuff. I can’t wait to see all that God has in store for this upcoming week.

Thank you again, love you all!

PS. If you all wonder why I’m loud, I get it from my Jewish side. Everyone here is LOUD. It’s wonderful. I’m the one who actually talks on a normal volume level!! ;)

Best Job Ever!

June 19

Shalom, shalom! Yet another great day here in Israel. We woke up bright and early to go to the hospital. Good thing I’m so used to not sleeping that much in college because I love staying up to get all my thoughts together and reflect on the day.

I’m having some trouble trying to remember everything that happened! I got to clean the air conditioners on the 4^th floor today with the babies! So cute. It was kinda funny because we ended up waiting for Chris a while because we didn’t know how to clean the different types of air conditioners. So, we entertained ourselves by making a bunch of videos and just having fun. We finally, after some confusion and getting a little bit lost, found Beibier and he taught us until we went to lunch and found Chris again! So, it was a good day for the air conditioning crew! I love getting to talk to all kinds of different people. We got to talk to several women today just getting to know them. One woman had just had twins that morning! Everyone is so kind and they are just in awe that we came here just because of our love for Israel. It’s truly amazing. 

We also got interviewed for the Jerusalem Post today which was pretty cool. I mean, it's an international newspaper! But the stories of some people on my team are so awesome. One of the girls on my team is actually getting married in September and she gave up a month of her summer of wedding planning to serve in Israel. I believe we have four birthdays here in Israel. And there's one girl who's mom gave up going on a nursing trip to Ecuador so that her daughter could go to Israel to serve. The hearts of this team is absolutely inspiring. They are wonderful! 

Oh, and the tomatoes here are so good. They have so much flavor! Haha, sorry. That was random.

Anyway, other members of the team are building great relationships. Some of them were even invited to Shabbot to their homes on Friday! It’s so cool. We’ve been learning to speak their language. Not necessarily Hebrew, but to speak in terminology that they understand. And they are listening! They are watching everything we do. I always try and have a smile on my face which isn’t hard because I really enjoy what I do. They love it.

It just makes me realize how much joy I get from serving the Lord. I am always the most happy when I am doing some kind of service. I mean, who knows what God has for me in the future but I am truly willing to serve and to follow what He has for me.

We talked about Philippians again tonight during devotions and we talked about how Paul writes to them and thanks them over and over for partnering with him. Their support meant everything to him. It just reminds me how important the people are who work for the Lord and how impactful people like us can be to them. In some way, whether I end up being a worker for the Lord myself, or if I end up serving Him elsewhere, I will support someone in the ministry. We can’t take them for granted. They need us just as we need them. This is what God has called us to do. 1 Thessalonians says, “Rejoice always, pray continually; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” Sometimes, it’s not exactly clear what God’s will is, but THIS is God’s will. Rejoice and pray. This is what life is about!

The girls also got the chance to go to Kehila tonight for a ladies Bible study which was really interesting. We talked about how God created each gender with different characteristics which you can basically learn from the book of Genesis! When they eat the forbidden fruit and they are cursed, they are cursed with certain characteristics. Woman, childbearing, mothering, love and affection… it all includes emotion. Men, hard work. They need strength and patience which requires them to think logically and rationally. Women are more based on emotion which is why they're more easily deceived. In God's Word, it says that only the woman was deceived. That's because when Adam ate the fruit it was a deliberate CHOICE. When he realized that Eve ate the fruit, he had a decision to make. He knew that something bad was going to happen to her, so his choice was to obey God but then live a life without his beautiful wife, or to follow his wife into death. He chose to go with his wife because he could not imagine a life without her. This is why it says for women not to teach in the church. They are more easily deceived. Not meaning that men are never deceived, of course they are. But they are more logical and rational because that's the way God created for them to be. They are complimentary to each other. They fit together. It's not a good or bad thing that each one is created this way, it just the way the world works.Man, I can’t even remember all the stuff we talked about at the moment. We talked for about two hours (of course we had to pause for the Hebrew translation as well) but our speaker is so intelligent and wise and I respect him a lot. And of course they fed us ice cream. I LOVE ice cream. I could eat it all day. They have these things called Magnum bars. DELICIOUS. I could eat all of them. Seriously. The people in the Kehila are just amazing people as well. I’m so excited to get to know them more and more. They have so many questions and they have such a zeal for God.

When we got back we were able to just laugh and hang out with the guys and watch funny videos. And before we knew it it was midnight! We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but hey. Six hours is plenty for me!

I love relationships. I love getting to know the Jewish culture and all about the people that live here. I also love getting to know my team. I thrive off of relationships so I am absolutely loving this experience.

Joy

June 18

Well, to start off, I just thought I should say, everyone has officially learned of my laughing “problem.” And, Gabby, also has a laughing “problem.” So, lets just say, people have to separate us sometimes…. ;) But it’s good because against what I originally expected, I think I may GAIN weight this trip. So I’m gonna need to laugh as much as possible to lose those extra calories!

Jewish people LOVE to feed you. A lot. Today, at the hospital, one of the reasons they love to work so slowly is that they love to eat! Chris had gone away for about 15 minutes during the day with our screwdriver, so Kaytra, Matt and I were waiting for him when all of a sudden a Jewish woman came up to us. She didn’t speak much English but we understood that she was trying to ask us if we had eaten. So we answered, “Ken! Yes! We had lunch!” And she’s like, “Oh, well coffee then! Tea!” So we’re like, “Ken! P’sedar! Ok!” And the next thing we know we spend the next half hour just eating and drinking and talking with these women. They were so sweet!! I love these people so much.

Another thing I’m starting to love about Jewish people is that they will yell at each other as if they were angry, but then literally in half a second they’ll be getting coffee together and laughing again. They don’t hold grudges! If they have a disagreement they say their opinion with no fear, and no offense. It’s wonderful. They yell at each other and then they love each other.

Anyway, today was another great day at the hospital. We had a lot more people talk to us today and I get so excited every time they are amazed that we are here volunteering. Why? They ask! Why do you leave America to come to Israel to work?? We are lazy! We are thin but lazy. Americans, they are fat but they work hard! They are hilarious people. But it’s really just so amazing to think that as hard as it is to get an Israeli to smile, they smile! They tell us they love us and they are so thankful that we are here. It’s a wonderful feeling and I know God is planting seeds all over the place through our work.

Throughout the month, the team has devotions every night. Starting tonight we started the book of Philippians and we’re going to be going verse by verse through the book. I am so excited because Philippians is my favorite book of the Bible! I love learning more and more about joy and what it means to have true joy in your life. Obviously, tonight we went through verse 1. It seems like it is such a simple verse, but it has so much meaning in just once sentence. For instance, I learned exactly what it means when Paul says that he and Timothy are “bondservants.” Bondservants are slaves that CHOOSE to serve their master for life. They had the choice to be free, but they loved their master so much that they chose to serve them for life. That is what we as believers are! We choose Yeshua and all that He has for us. We choose to serve Him for our lives. And as a servant I must remember that I need to obey what God has for me and serve Him in every aspect of my life and He will guide me in a way that I can’t even imagine. Serving is wonderful and there is no better way to live this life than to serve the one true God!

Since the book of Philippians is primarily about joy, we talked about what we thought the definition of joy was. Obviously there’s no set definition exactly, but joy is being content in any circumstance, and using everything for the glory of God because He will use it for my good. That is joy. And it’s probably one of the most important things in my life. Being joyous through anything is such a testimony to this world because it is something that is rarely found. Nowadays, everything is based off of happiness, which is so temporary! But the joy of God is something that is permanent and will never leave which makes it so amazing. We sang “It is Well” tonight, and it is such a great reminder that no matter what life brings, it is well with my soul. Praise the Lord! He has such a wonderful plan for His people! He will take care of us and it will be full of joy!

We also went to the college and career group tonight at Kehila which was so much fun. They fed us lots of food of course, and we talked about Ruth. What a great testimony she has! A Moabite who joined Naomi to be part of her people and to serve her God. To stick with her until death. Wow. Just think about that a little bit.

I can’t even explain how full of joy I am right now. I am so tremendously happy. I absolutely love Israel and the Jewish people and everyone else here! I love my team. I feel like I’ve known these people for a year now, when it hasn’t even been a week yet!

I cannot thank you enough for giving me this opportunity. It hasn’t even been a week and it has already been life changing. I have grown in so many ways, and I am learning so much! I’m trying to pick up some Hebrew words and learn as much as I can about these people so that I can share God’s love in the most loving way I can. I am just full of so much I love I want to explode and pour it over everyone. Well, maybe not so morbid but you know what I mean.

Anyway, sorry for ranting. I keep finding that I’m the last one awake because I take so long to write my blog posts! I don’t mean to make them so long but I just have so much excitement and I want to share it all with you because you have such a huge part in this! You have made an impact! Remember that!

Well, Yom Tov! Good day! Hope I haven’t put you to sleep! ;)

I’ll keep posting pictures on my facebook page!!

First Day Volunteering

Before I begin, I just have to say, driving in Israel is insane. I would seriously be afraid for my life if I ever drove here. Man. They make their own rules over here.

Anyway, today we got up bright and early and left around 7:45 to go to Kaplan Hospital to start our volunteer work! It was awesome. We started the day with orientation and then went to breakfast. An Israeli breakfast literally consists of bread and jam, a hard boiled egg, tomatoes and cucumbers. It was different, but it was actually kind of refreshing! Everything was fresh and really good!

After breakfast we started our jobs. There were some people in the kitchen, oncology, filing, cleaning, ummm... I forget what else! I was on the air conditioning team with Chris, Kaytra, and Matt. We teamed up with a man named Beibier and he showed us the works. Basically, I take out all the filters and hose them down! It's actually kinda enjoyable.

The work ethic here is definitely more laid back here than in America. Biebier took us to his little room and offered us refreshments and we made us sit down and watch Jimmy Kimmel while Chris and Matt finished their coffee. He kept saying, "Slowly, slowly! Take your time!" It was so different from the fast paced way of American work!

Cleaning the air conditioners was great, but I thought one of the best things was not even part of that job. As we walk from place to place, I can't help but have a giant smile on my face and tell everyone "Shalom!" And when I get a smile back, it just brightens up my day. I love it!

For lunch I had some breaded chicken and rice. It's funny because they have to use blue trays for breakfast and red trays for lunch. Like, it's hard core. It's a way to help them keep kosher and keep the dairy separate from the meats. So, we worked until about 2:30 and then headed back to the house. We had about an hour or two to freshen up and then we went to Joppa for dinner! We had pita of course with this really good stuff that I don't remember what it is called! We had chicken and beef kabobs with a side of lamb with lemonade, hot tea and a pistachio honey pastry! Yum!

Joppa is absolutely beautiful. And has so much history! (As does so many places here...) This is where Jonah fled from, and where Dorcas was raised from the dead. It's so amazing that I'm standing on these grounds. It's just so hard to believe I'm in Israel still!! Anyway, during devotions, Chris and Bruce asked us questions to really make us think. We talked about the story of Jonah in a bit more depth and asked us the questions "What are we running away from in our own lives?" and "Are we prepared to have compassion for people we don't necessarily like?"

Wow. Those are pretty tough questions to think through. I mean, sometimes we think down on Jonah as if, if we were in his shoes we for sure would have obeyed God. But think about it. Think of the worst person you can imagine. A murderer. A rapist. Sometimes, we have the attitude that those people don't deserve Jesus. But guess what. God loves them! They don't deserve Jesus just like WE don't deserve Jesus. But that's not the point. The point is that God loves us ALL. And that means we need to have compassion for them all as well. Jesus died for all of us. And that means all.

What am I running away from? Honestly, I'm running away from His control. I want to have a relationship with Him as my Friend, but I don't want Him as my Father. Sometimes it's hard to just TRUST that He has the right plan for me, even though I KNOW that He does. It takes a lot of prayer and reading God’s Word. But I know that it’s a process and I know that if I just stop running and instead embrace the plan that God has for me, that will make my life joyous. That is what will make my life complete.

In order to share God’s love, I have to be IN God’s love. I have to be engulfed with His love. Live in His love in every aspect of my life.

Mediterranean Sea

June 16

Shalom from Israel! Today was yet another wonderful day in the Holy Land. The adventure of the day was going to the Mediterranean Sea! We got to sleep in a little bit and had lunch at noon and then from there we went to the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous. The water was clear and the perfect temperature. We also played some Frisbee and volleyball (both which I am awfully terrible…).

Some interesting things also happened throughout the day. For instance, I saw one of the girls Priscilla by herself talking to an Israeli man so I went over to see what was up. Well, I’ve learned that the Israeli culture is very direct and this man had no problem in telling Priscilla that he took a liking to her. So, for the next half hour or so, I did not leave Priscilla’s side as she continuously got hit on by this man! He even proposed! Some of the guys came over after a while and got us away by saying we were going to play volleyball, so it all worked out. But we did get to share with him a little bit about why we were here in Israel, and he thought we were so weird when we said we were volunteers! He also found out that we were believers in Yeshua, Jesus, and also asked why because he didn’t believe in any God. So, for a few minutes we got to share a little bit before the subject was changed. So, hey, maybe a little something good came out of his creepiness. ;) It was pretty funny, though!

I also learned that Ashdod beach that we were on is mentioned several times in the Bible. One time in particular that Bruce mentioned was when the Ark was taken from the Israelites. One thing that he said that I hadn’t thought of before was why the Ark had been taken. It was because they didn’t have the right perspective of God. They were treating Him like a vending machine, or a good luck charm. That is not the God we serve. It really made me think about my perception of God. I really try hard not to think of God that way because of the all-powerful God He is. But now that I think about it, I do sometimes. For instance, in my finances. When I was trying to raise money for this trip I almost just expected God to provide all of it in full. Some of my friends who were going on other trips were managing to get fully funded and I thought, well, why shouldn’t I? I mean, I am going to His land! I was confused on why when it came time to leave, I was still not fully funded. Wow. Was my perception of God wrong! I can’t just expect Him to do things for me, even if it is with right intentions. God is not my vending machine. He is my Father and He does what He knows is best for me even when I don’t always understand. I have to put my full trust in Him and know that He is POWERFUL. I cannot shrink God down into something that my little human mind can understand. When it comes down to it, I CAN’T fully comprehend God. And you know what? I’m glad! I don’t want to serve a God that a sinful human mind can comprehend. I love that God is SO great that it takes a lifetime—an eternity to be able to understand. It gives me the opportunity to learn and grow in Him more and more each day and it’s wonderful! That’s what makes this a relationship.

I am also learning more about the Jewish people and their culture. We talked tonight to give a mini orientation on how to connect with Jewish people when working in the hospitals (we start tomorrow!). Their faith (not necessarily meaning practicing) is what defines them and as long as they stick with what they were “destined” to be, they will make it to Heaven. It is this life that matters most to them. They don’t intermingle, like only Jewish people can marry Jewish people. Arabs can only marry Arabs, etc. So to them, I would be a traitor if they knew I was a Jewish believer. I also learned not to wear a cross because it reminds them of the persecution that Christians have put them through. This saddens me. But I just have to remind myself that we are not the Christians that persecuted them, and I will try my best to be a testimony to them and show them that there is a difference! There is a difference in the way we live and through the relationship we have with God. How Yeshua has saved me from myself and this life. The joy that He can give in your life!

Even if it’s only a smile that can make someone’s day. If only I can plant seeds through the next few weeks, with taking initiative and being helpful. Serving with a servant’s heart.

Why am I here? Because I love God. God loves Israel. I love what God loves. I hope that I am able to show that. I just want to show them God’s love.

Check out my facebook for pictures! 

Life in Israel

June 15

Shalom! Today was another pretty relaxing day. It was nice to be able to catch up on sleep! I was actually the last one to wake up today… surprised, right? We had the option of going to play softball with some people at 10:30 but sadly, I didn’t hear one person get up until they said my name at 11:45. So, I get up while everyone’s dressed and ready… good morning! J

For those of us who stayed back instead of going to softball, we went back to the mall! Some people had money stuff and then we were actually able to shop around and hang there for about an hour. Rachael and I actually had an Israeli come up to us and she started talking to us in Hebrew. We were just like, “I’m sorry! We only speak English!” And then right on a dime she started talking in English to us. Amazing. She asked us where we were from and how old we were. (I had forgotten how old I was and said nineteen and then had to correct myself! Woops! Stupid Americans… JK). She asked us what we were doing so we were able to tell her that we were volunteering at Kaplan hospital and then touring around. She told us we were so nice and then left. It was so nice to be able to talk to her though! She was nice (and gorgeous!). Sorry for saying “nice” so much, it’s starting to sound like a really weird word now!

When we got back to the mall, we thought we were going to be helping a woman move and clean her apartment, but Bruce found out that before we could clean we had to move all the heavy furniture out. So he just sent the boys over and the rest of us girls got to stay at the house. We’ll get to the cleaning next week. We got to talk and get to know each other more and then we played some card games! I “taught” (those of you who know this game will know why taught is in quotations… ) them how to play Mao and then we played Egyptian Rat (insert whatever you call it here). I dominated of course. I don’t think I’m competitive at anything except card games… and the game of Life. J

But anyway. Around 6:00 we got changed for Kehila (the word for congregation). It usually isn’t on Friday nights but we had a little bit of a schedule change this week. We were able to meet the people because we had a pot luck to begin and then after they served snacks! We are well fed here.

At Kehila we talked about the story of Jonah. It’s a well-known story for us, but it’s so nice to be reminded. We all make mistakes but God will still give us another chance. What an amazing God we have!

But yes. I love Israel. I love the people. When we got back (around 11pm) some of the girls and Matt went for a walk around the neighborhood. Everyone has to park on the sidewalks because the streets are so narrow! It’s pretty funny. It’s hot during the day, but its perfect weather at night. Love it. I would almost be tempted to sleep out on the balcony if I knew the sun wasn’t going to scorch me in the morning!

Have a wonderful night (or whatever it is when you read this) and thank you again for all your support and prayers. I love you all!

We Made It!

We made it!!! The feeling is surreal. I mean, I'm actually in Israel. In ISRAEL. It's still hard to believe even with the Hebrew language being spoken and written everywhere.

The plane ride was about 10 1/2 hours long. We left at about 9:30pm and got to Israel around 3:15pm. I didn't really sleep at all so I haven't slept since I woke up at 6:30am on Tuesday. I'm pretty exhausted but luckily my excitement is holding me over, but this post is probably going to be pretty short since my train of thought is dwindling. The flight wasn't too bad... we got decent food... I watched "The Artist", "Hugo" and "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" all which  held my attention so they must have been good! I also learned never to go to the casino and play black jack because my computer endeavors have failed me.

Anyway, once we landed in Israel, we went through Customs which really wasn't as bad as I expected. They just asked some simple questions and I got my first stamp in my passport! Pretty excited. Just saying. After we all got through, we headed to our host home. These people are so wonderful! They greeted us with hugs and prepared pita with lunch meat and potato salad and chocolate... we got to introduce ourselves to them and learn about everyone's favorite ice cream. (Mine is Moose Tracks! Can't beat chocolate and peanut butter mmm....) I think the favorite among the group was mint chocolate chip.

We got to hang out with each other for a bit and then the 18 and younger group went to the youth group to help paint and clean an apartment. The rest of us split up. One group went to the grocery store to go shopping and my group went to the mall to exchange our currency. I think I'm starting to understand shekels. I just have to remember when I see something is worth 40 shekels, do not be alarmed! That's only about ten dollars... We got to walk around the mall for a bit which was really cool just to see Israelis in their every day lives. We enjoyed trying to read the Hebrew books (backwards!) but of course, not successful. I have been learning a few words from Chris, such as todah, meaning thankyou! And a few others that I just don't want to chance misspelling...

My group was the first back to the house so I was lucky enough to get a shower before the other 10 girls got back! (We'll see if that luck holds out for long...) So now after unloading all of our groceries and 40 rolls of toilet paper, I think it's time to sleep like a baby. We actually get to sleep in tomorrow and it might be my only time for a while, so I think I better make the most of it!

Ok, so sorry for the misleading sentence of a short blog post, but hey, if you're reading this then you obviously are interested in knowing all the details, right? Anyway, I've posted a few pictures to my facebook page. I haven't taken that many yet, but I'm sure more will come soon!

Thank you again for your support. I love being here already and we haven't even started! So here goes to another day!

Meeting the Team

Hello, hello. So, I wasn't expecting to be typing up another blog post so soon, but already my thoughts are exploding and I haven't even gotten to Israel yet!

My ORIGINS team is absolutely fabulous. I feel completely comfortable with each one of them which is really weird for me. Usually, I'm the quiet girl for the first couple of days and then when I feel completely comfortable, then I'll start being myself. But I jumped right in with this group and the lady at the hotel was even surprised to hear that we had just met each other only a few hours ago.
My roommate is Kaytra Copper and she is wonderful. I was going to take a picture but unfortunately she's in a bit of a dilemma right now as her hair gel spilled all over her suitcase. Just what you need right before you travel to another country for a month, right? So, that'll be coming later.

I am now even more excited for this trip than I was before now that I have met who I will be traveling with. Tonight we got to hear about how everyone heard about the trip and what they want to gain from it and it was just amazing being able to hear what everyone had to say. Their love for God and their desire to learn about the Jewish people and their culture just blows me away.

Something that Bruce, our leader, said was that at the end of the trip, though the touring of course is so important and it will definitely be impactful to be able to walk where Jesus walked, the best part of the trip will probably be the first two weeks when we are able to actually be with the Jewish people. Communicate with them. Learn about them by being with them.

That is how you learn. I have grown up with a love for Jewish people and Israel, but I think I will truly be able to appreciate them for who they are once I am able to spend more time with them and help them and just BE with them. Just being there and volunteering at the hospital will be a testimony to them and I can only hope that I can be an impact on them like I know they will be to me.

So, here I go. Learning to love like I have never loved before. I am so thankful that God has blessed me with this opportunity and blessed me with this wonderful team.

Thank you for all of your support and encouragement. You have no idea how much this means to me and how much of an impact you are making in not only my life, but many others that we may never even know.

So, as my last day in America, I say goodbye (I just learned the Hebrew word for goodnight but I have no idea how to spell it!) and hello Israel. I am ready to sweat!! :)