Getting Excited!

My day got off to a slow start this morning.  Maybe because it's cloudy.  Or maybe because it's Monday.  Or who knows why.  It was one of those mornings when I woke up and then decided to lie in bed just a few more minutes before I got up.  Those few minutes turned into more than an hour before I actually got out of bed!

But then I looked at the calendar.  And I realized that today is September 30.  And I got excited!  You may be wondering what it is about September 30 that has me so excited.  I'm excited because in just 3 more months, 90 days from today, on December 30 I will be boarding a plane and heading back to Israel.  And that, my friends, has me very excited!

Some time before we went on our first trip to Israel I was told that once you have been to Israel, you can't wait to go back.  I don't know if that is true for everyone who travels there, but it has certainly proven to be true for me.  On this trip we'll be going back to some of the same places we have visited previously.  And that's OK with me!  We'll sail the Sea of Galilee again.  We'll return to Mt. Carmel and to Masada and to the Dead Sea.  We'll go up to Jerusalem.  To the Garden of Gethsemane.  To the Mount of Olives.  To the Garden Tomb.  I can hardly wait!

This year we will also be going somewhere I have never been before.  We'll be going to Hebron.  To the place where Abraham settled by the oaks of Mamre (Genesis 13:18).  To the place of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob.

This past week, in our journey through "The Story", we focused on Abraham, and as I read Abraham's story, I got even more excited about this trip.  About Abraham.  About what I can learn from him.  About how my own story will be impacted as I continue to study Abraham's story and as I travel to the very place where his story, his faith journey, has its roots.

Just 90 more days!  I'm really getting excited!

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!  May they be secure who love you!  Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!"  (Psalm 122:6-7 ESV)