Tour Day 4 in Israel (Sunday)

I guess since the snow is gone, I will finish documenting our days in Israel last month. Yep, its officially been a month since we took off on our trip.

We were quite sad to have to check out of our hotel in Jerusalem on this day. It was really strange for me to leave Jerusalem. My heart was genuinely sad, kinda an aching feeling as if I was leaving my own home. It was really strange. I know that it is simply because it is the Lord's city, and my Spirit is VERY aware of that.  I truly WAS leaving "home."

For the rest of the day, we finished doing touring on our drive to Tiberias. It was amazing how green the land became from Jerusalem (very dry and kinda dirty looking) to the lush, green, rolling hills of the Galilee region. Simply beautiful.

This is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.  The Muslims have control of this area right now.  

Jody and I.

This is the spot where it is believed that the Holy of Holies was (according to the geographical location.)  It was POWERFUL to stand by this spot.  Really, My Spirit lept within me.

A quick roadside stop on our journey to Tiberias.  This is our friend Dee riding a Camel.  I almost rode one, but then really thought it was a waste of money.  The ride was like less than a minute long.  

This is Bet She'an (the location, not the Asian lady in the picture.  We don't know her.)  (funny side-note, Jody took two pictures of this sign, and both pictures had an Asian woman in it.  Two different Asian women.  We laughed pretty hard.)

Bet She'an was a city that was excavated fairly recently.  It was a city that was covered in a mudslide within a matter of seconds. It was fascinating because the mud did such a great job of preserving the city.  Very cool.  

Megan sitting in the Coliseum.

Check out the beautiful coliseum.  I bet it was phenomenal.  

The view from our drive.  Getting into the green Galilee region.

We ended our day with baptisms in the Jordan river, just like Jesus did.  This was a beautiful location.  

Most of our group did the baptisms.  The leaders, Tom and Terry, had already done this, so they just took pictures.  (please pay no attention to the seriously unflattering gowns.)

Please take notice of us all laughing and how Chris (already in the water) has his hand over his mouth.  The water was FREEZING!

See, look at Jody's face.  FREEZING!

And my face, FREEZING! (and Chris is laughing at me)

Remarkable.

What a sight!

The beautiful location of the Baptismal site.  

I thought I'd give a quick disclaimer real quick about our baptisms.  You see, I have had a ton of people comment about what an amazing sight it was to see us being baptized in the Jordan river, and especially to see Jody baptizing me.  

Well, like I made it abundantly clear, the water was freezing, and as much as I would have LOVED for it to have been a more emotional, romantic even, awe-inspiring experience, I'll have to be honest...I really had a hard time getting over the freezing cold water, especially when I was put under the water.  It literally took my breath away, and not in the way I had expected.  

So, YES, it was such an honor and amazing time to have my HUSBAND baptize me in the same river that Jesus himself was baptized in, but, I just wish the water wouldn't have been so cold.  Next time I will wear my wetsuit!  :)

We finally made it to our hotel in Tiberias.  We had a GORGEOUS view of the SEA OF GALILEE from our patio.  AMAZING!



Once again, another busy, but Glorious day in Israel!