Israel

A few weeks ago I went to Israel.  I had wanted to go for a long time, and I finally got up the gumption to get up and go during our Polar Vortex we had in late January.  This was a trip of how God took care of me.

I was worried about so many things.  I feared a snowstorm on the way there, and since I had a layover in Canada, I feared a snowstorm there as well.  There were no storms.  I worried about being on the plane, I always do.  The most nerve wracking parts for me are the takeoff and landing.  But all was smooth.  I worried about the flight (12 hours!), but even though I didn't sleep, I kept myself busy watching movies with closed captioning (yay!) and reading my book.  A special bonus: in Canada: while I  was enjoying my Starbucks, I met 2 couples who were also going to Israel, and they were from the Moorhead area, where I went to college!  Small world.

I worried about the first day, since there was nothing planned on the tour.  But I met some nice, friendly people on the tour and had lunch with them at the hotel.  I worried about my sleeping pills, if they would actually help.  But they did.  I worried about the wrist brace I bought for my sore wrist to use when I was in bed.  But it helped too.  It helped so much I kept using it since I've been home.  

The first day we went to the Dead Sea.  It was the weirdest experience I ever had.  I felt like a cork, I literally could not sink.  But it was not relaxing.  I can't float normally, so it was scary.  But I met some more nice, friendly people on my tour.  And God took care of me.  

We also went to Masada, which was the last place the Jews were overtaken by the Roman Empire at 70 A.D.  We took a cable car to the top of the mountain, where Herod had built a fortress 2,000 years ago.  Here the Jews committed mass suicide instead of being enslaved by the Romans.  We had a great tour guide who taught us so much I wish I could remember.  Nevertheless, it was a lot of climbing up and down and all around the fortress.  But God still took care of me.