Exploring Israel!
Open lands and time without schedules always catch me off guard. Where do I start working with an open land and what do I begin to do when time is left with no plans? Today we had time – 10 hours – that stretched before us like dry open country side. Soon these desert sands of time began falling one grain of sand at a time, and I knew I had to do something before it all ran out!
I wanted to capture memories of joy and growth. I found it with the Professors from my Alma Matter. We sat around the breakfast table, enjoying the Mediterranean breeze and conversation on Training and Leadership. Listening to them, I once again felt like a child with candy in my hands. Then I went to the “open market”, with their wives. It was just us women, two older than me, enjoying a brisk walk to the market. We talked about everything and noting - from how to wean a child to the new generation of young adults.
Later in the day we walked to Yoppa or Jaffa or Joppa. We went further away from the city and then turned back. It was a long walk… well worth the tired feet that came back to the hotel rooms! On the way back from Yoppa, we walked the shores of the Mediterranean Sea! The shells that wash up on these shores were unbroken and beautifully colored. I just compared it to the Galveston beach and the shores of Tuticorin, where I grew up. As I gazed into the edge of the horizon of the sea, I once again remembered Jonah. Today we might call him a stubborn or difficult “child”. But God showed Jonah grace. How cool is that!
Later on in the evening I walked back to the “open market” and got some flip flops. I paid 20 Shekels for it… to realize three hours later that it would have cost me 3 Shekels in Wal-Mart! Sometimes it is not easy being a visitor in a foreign land!
As we enjoyed dinner, we were reminded by Chuck to speak less, listen more, and breath in the moment. I plan to do just that. I read from the book of Joshua from the Bible today. It was in this land that Rahab, a prostitute believed in Yahweh, and was saved. Little would she have thought that a gal from India would walk the streets of Israel and praise Yahweh for His saving grace… what a God we have who can forgive sins that we cannot ever bring ourselves to pardon… what a blessed woman she is, that even though the sand grains of time have brought her life to an end, she is still remembered, and Yahweh is glorified! What a sovereign and eternal God we have who through the passage of time, through acts He did in ages long gone, can still draw praises to His name. It is because he holds the grains of sand and time slips into our lives through His hands.
As the day drew to a close, I realized that I had created memories. Now they are pictures mounted on a frame hanging on the walls of my mind. I realized that I have worshiped God... the God who held Rahab in His arms. Today, with the same arms He held me... close, very close to His side.
I wanted to capture memories of joy and growth. I found it with the Professors from my Alma Matter. We sat around the breakfast table, enjoying the Mediterranean breeze and conversation on Training and Leadership. Listening to them, I once again felt like a child with candy in my hands. Then I went to the “open market”, with their wives. It was just us women, two older than me, enjoying a brisk walk to the market. We talked about everything and noting - from how to wean a child to the new generation of young adults.
Later in the day we walked to Yoppa or Jaffa or Joppa. We went further away from the city and then turned back. It was a long walk… well worth the tired feet that came back to the hotel rooms! On the way back from Yoppa, we walked the shores of the Mediterranean Sea! The shells that wash up on these shores were unbroken and beautifully colored. I just compared it to the Galveston beach and the shores of Tuticorin, where I grew up. As I gazed into the edge of the horizon of the sea, I once again remembered Jonah. Today we might call him a stubborn or difficult “child”. But God showed Jonah grace. How cool is that!
Later on in the evening I walked back to the “open market” and got some flip flops. I paid 20 Shekels for it… to realize three hours later that it would have cost me 3 Shekels in Wal-Mart! Sometimes it is not easy being a visitor in a foreign land!
As we enjoyed dinner, we were reminded by Chuck to speak less, listen more, and breath in the moment. I plan to do just that. I read from the book of Joshua from the Bible today. It was in this land that Rahab, a prostitute believed in Yahweh, and was saved. Little would she have thought that a gal from India would walk the streets of Israel and praise Yahweh for His saving grace… what a God we have who can forgive sins that we cannot ever bring ourselves to pardon… what a blessed woman she is, that even though the sand grains of time have brought her life to an end, she is still remembered, and Yahweh is glorified! What a sovereign and eternal God we have who through the passage of time, through acts He did in ages long gone, can still draw praises to His name. It is because he holds the grains of sand and time slips into our lives through His hands.
As the day drew to a close, I realized that I had created memories. Now they are pictures mounted on a frame hanging on the walls of my mind. I realized that I have worshiped God... the God who held Rahab in His arms. Today, with the same arms He held me... close, very close to His side.
posted by Shalini @ 4:58 PM
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