Mount Arbel Tried To Kill Me
Holy Land Tour Day 9
Blog Before Bed is coming at you live from our hotel near the Sea of Galilee at 10:30pm our time, which is 2:30 your time. Another CRAZY day here in Israel and I can't wait to share it with yall. We left Nazareth early this morning and headed to an overlook area to see….well, to see the effects of a sand storm. The views were still beautiful but you could not see as far out as we usually do. Today we had an option to take an all "down hill hike" on a very "fun" mountain. I don't do uphill, but downhill? Piece of cake! Ha!! That's what I thought. My fitbit readings (downhill doesn't count for stairs) were: Stairs - 40, miles - 7.4 (of which 6 were the hike), and steps - 18,000. The rest of the group ran some errands which included a stop at a pharmacy for some meds to help some folks that are feeling a little under the weather then we all met at the bottom of the mountain later. We will be staying at The Sea of Galilee for the next 2 nights and the crew is pretty excited about it.
Fun facts for today…
Do yall remember my blisters? Pinky and Pincher? Well guess what!!!!! They had a baby today!! I sadly announce to you the birth of baby "Bubble". Bubble came into this world today and is already making a HUGE difference in how I walk and the comfort level of these walks. Join me in prayer for this little guy that resides on my right foot. We will be having a baptism ceremony for Bubble tomorrow afternoon at the local swimming pool or the Sea of Galilee. Join us, won't ya!
Today I decided to join the "fit people" on the hike at Mount Arbel. Why, you might ask. Well I think its because I am totally NUTS! If not that, its because I am not getting enough oxygen or blood flow to my brain. This hike was actually awesome! It was very steep at places but was very rewarding and fulfilling. LOLOL. Yeah, right. I questioned myself the entire way down. 6 miles, downhill, with the second half facing the scorching sun. I'm an idiot.
Lastly…the hotel/monastery we stayed in last night was "an experience". My room was on the ground level and we had some "extracurricular activity" happen in the alley outside one of our windows. We also noticed that there was a plastic tube running from the ceiling into our bathroom that drained "something" every time someone else ran water. It sounded like we got a water feature in our room, but nope. We also had water running down the wall form the AC unit right in and passed the light switch. I decided to just use a different means of light so we didn't have to mess with the drainage flow. We made it out alive and are so thankful for tonight's GREAT hotel.
Now for the good stuff…
This morning we started in Nazareth (check out the pictures from the chapel - gorgeous!) at the monastery then on the way out picked up some FRESH pita bread for our lunches, and man was that good. It was still warm by the time we got to lunch. We then went to an overlook that usually allows us to see the land from a different perspective, but due to the Sand Storm, we could barely see anything. Check out the pictures. We thought it was "fog" and would burn off once the sun came out…that never happened. We learned from Becca today that the town is a tiny town for local people due to the location for the town and the lack of a major roadway running through it. This was another one of those moments where we got goosebumps. JESUS LIVED HERE most of his life. This was his backyard! We read scripture and discussed why the town that raised him was the town that later rejected him. That was not normal for that time. I know Jesus was human, and that Jesus came to earth to live as man for the sins of you and me. But being here and seeing and touching and walking His land is just CRAZY! Makes you think about his thoughts and feelings compared to our thoughts and feelings in that same moment. We are tired from hiking and climbing, and our fancy hiking shoes are still causing blisters, and our water bottles are often running low, etc. Jesus walked these same hills and vallys, climbed these same mountains and what was he thinking? How was He feeling? Did his feet hurt? Was he covered in dirt/dust? Just makes Him so much more real and tangible for me and reminds me that he was actually human, with feelings and thoughts just like we do. #HeWalksWithMe #HeTalksWithMe
After we left Nazareth, we headed toward Sepphoris. There we saw another theater, learned about and saw some original mosaic from back in the early days, and got to see an old synagogue and learn about what the mosaics meant in that space. Becca was killing it today with her teaching! She opened our minds to a different perspective on the last supper and how it may have looked a little different than what the pictures tell us. Check out the pictures of this amazing place, you will me amazed at what they did.
After this we headed to lunch at Mount Abel then headed up a little with the entire group for some Becca teaching time. She again shared what the land in this very spot meant and the importance of it. Then….the group split. One group of sanity was going to the bus then running some errands while the rest of us, 13 in total, decided to hike down this crazy mountain with cliff drops. WE said our goodbyes and headed up then down the mountain. Papa T came along for the hike and did an amazing job of determination and persistence. My legs felt like noodles a little over half way through and I was worried the people behind me thought I was Gumby. I pushed on down the death cliffs and at the end my face was RED! If you know me, my face gets red anytime I am hot but this red was special. A red that I hope my face doesn't see again. We did meet a family of what seemed to be 100 heading down the mountain and it turns out they have family that live in San Antonio. SMALL WORLD, huh? Well, anyway, we all made it down and now I'm pretty sure I will not be able to walk as a normal human tomorrow. For a while now I thought that there were no muscles in the upper legs….after today, I know that there are remnants of muscles but they have been out of the office for several years. Maybe its time to send them "back to work". Maybe! Now yall don't get excited and start trying to recruit e to your CG class, or Cathe's Yoga, or Sherry's Gold's Gym classes. I just said maybe. I may have to start small, like with a VHS tape of Sit and be Fit. Who knows. #VideoKilledTheRadioStar #MyThighsAreOnFire
After Mount Abel we headed to our hotel on the Sea of Galilee where we checked in then headed straight to our boat trip on the Sea of Galilee. It wasn't the dinner cruise we were hoping for, but it was very cool to be on a boat like the disciples and we read scripture and sang songs lead by Mary. It was beautiful! #MySeaLegsArentWorking
We ended the day with a great dinner, Motrin, a team meeting, Tylenol, bathroom laundry, then Advil. Another CRAZY day here in Israel and I couldn't be more thrilled to be here. Thanks for following us along on our journey every day and I ask that you please continue to pray for health of our team. We have a couple of team members that aren't feeling well and need your prayers to get back to 100%.
Thanks and love yall!
Sarah Morris
Aching Body Blogger
PS - It is now midnight here which is 4pm there.More pics on FaceBook.
