The minute we arrived at Tiberius at the Seal of Galilee, Wilma wanted to touch the water right away. But was so disappointed because no matter what she tried, she was not able to do it. On this first night, the Hotel beach area was closed off. The water was tantalizingly close, just on the other side of the fence...oh the agony of it all.
Today we were scheduled to see the place where Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection with a breakfast of fish cooking on the beach. Our tour guide asked us how many fish the diciples caught after Jesus told them to the throw the net over on the right side? "153" someone yelled out....(of course he was right! it was 153 fish) The tour guide said, "No, there were 154, you forgot the fish Jesus already had in the fire, he'd caught that one too, right?" We all groaned."
Wilma had not been able to touch the sea at the hotel as we were always gone when the beach was open to the public. She had not been able to do it when we went on the sea for the boat ride because we were dealing with high docks plus, you could not reach the water from over the side of the boat. Possibly she would be able to touch the sea at this location of the "Miraculous Fishing" as our tour guide called it. Would this be her chance?
As a family, Larry, Odia and I were all hoping the water would be accessible for her. We were all filled with anticipation as we gathered around the tour guide beside the lake. Sure enough, there were not fences, gates or obstacels, she had clear access to the water. We were excited.
I don't think we or Wilma heard much of what was said as all Wilma could think about was breaking away from the group to get to the waters edge and touch the sea. Well, finally guides speech was over, but then another delay, there was to be a little devotional to follow...oh that was tough. Finally the speeches were over and we could get to the beach. We went quickly trying to look casual and in a second we were standing at the water's edge, and the big moment had arrived.
How do you deal with such historic moments? How do you deal with the buildup of anticipation and the realization of it's imminent fulfilment? In this case we all stood back and gave the lady Wilma her space to do her thing. She removed her shoes, and stood facing the lake in the wonder of the moment. Her emotions high as she slowly shuffled her bare feet over the rough beach stones into the water. Then she just stood and embraced the moment.
She stood transfixed, memories of events that occurred on or beside this lake running through her head. In fact, she was standing where Jesus had stood, talking to his boys as they brought in the boat and the bulging net of fish. Jesus in his new "heavenly" body standing in the shallows, inviting them to partake of his meal cooking on the beach.
Then she began to revel in the moment, dousing herself with water from the Sea of Galilee. Pictures were taken and we all then joined in and also splashed into the water. After more celebration and photos we made sure we all carried a little rock of memory with us. This would be a memory we would cherish. A dream fulfilled.
This was the "event of the day". The extra gift was that we got beck from our tour early enough for us to have a swim at the hotel beachfront before it closed. We had a great time, as memories of our family swims we used to do every Friday back in the day.
Today we were scheduled to see the place where Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection with a breakfast of fish cooking on the beach. Our tour guide asked us how many fish the diciples caught after Jesus told them to the throw the net over on the right side? "153" someone yelled out....(of course he was right! it was 153 fish) The tour guide said, "No, there were 154, you forgot the fish Jesus already had in the fire, he'd caught that one too, right?" We all groaned."
Wilma had not been able to touch the sea at the hotel as we were always gone when the beach was open to the public. She had not been able to do it when we went on the sea for the boat ride because we were dealing with high docks plus, you could not reach the water from over the side of the boat. Possibly she would be able to touch the sea at this location of the "Miraculous Fishing" as our tour guide called it. Would this be her chance?
As a family, Larry, Odia and I were all hoping the water would be accessible for her. We were all filled with anticipation as we gathered around the tour guide beside the lake. Sure enough, there were not fences, gates or obstacels, she had clear access to the water. We were excited.
I don't think we or Wilma heard much of what was said as all Wilma could think about was breaking away from the group to get to the waters edge and touch the sea. Well, finally guides speech was over, but then another delay, there was to be a little devotional to follow...oh that was tough. Finally the speeches were over and we could get to the beach. We went quickly trying to look casual and in a second we were standing at the water's edge, and the big moment had arrived.
How do you deal with such historic moments? How do you deal with the buildup of anticipation and the realization of it's imminent fulfilment? In this case we all stood back and gave the lady Wilma her space to do her thing. She removed her shoes, and stood facing the lake in the wonder of the moment. Her emotions high as she slowly shuffled her bare feet over the rough beach stones into the water. Then she just stood and embraced the moment.
She stood transfixed, memories of events that occurred on or beside this lake running through her head. In fact, she was standing where Jesus had stood, talking to his boys as they brought in the boat and the bulging net of fish. Jesus in his new "heavenly" body standing in the shallows, inviting them to partake of his meal cooking on the beach.
Then she began to revel in the moment, dousing herself with water from the Sea of Galilee. Pictures were taken and we all then joined in and also splashed into the water. After more celebration and photos we made sure we all carried a little rock of memory with us. This would be a memory we would cherish. A dream fulfilled.
This was the "event of the day". The extra gift was that we got beck from our tour early enough for us to have a swim at the hotel beachfront before it closed. We had a great time, as memories of our family swims we used to do every Friday back in the day.
Next we went to Nazereth where Jesus grew up. When he went back there at the beginning of his ministry and declared himself the fulfilment of the prophetic scriptures to his own people in his own town, well, they just could not take it. They marched him out of the synagogue, out of town to the cliff to shove him off and get rid of such dreamer for good. Why did he not just stick with carpentry, he would have done much better than this preaching ministry he was doing, being so opinionated and all!
This cliff is located on the south side of what we know as the valley of Armageddon where the final battle of the nations against God will take place. This photo is from off the top of this cliff towards the North. The "hill" you see on the left is Mount Tabor.
There was a lot of information and geography we could see from this high location. There was the town where Jesus raised the widows son. There were various battles that had been fought in that valley and so much more. A lot of history had occurred in this valley through the centuries.
Below is a photo of the sign located at the top of the cliff.
This cliff is located on the south side of what we know as the valley of Armageddon where the final battle of the nations against God will take place. This photo is from off the top of this cliff towards the North. The "hill" you see on the left is Mount Tabor.
There was a lot of information and geography we could see from this high location. There was the town where Jesus raised the widows son. There were various battles that had been fought in that valley and so much more. A lot of history had occurred in this valley through the centuries.
Below is a photo of the sign located at the top of the cliff.
Next we went to Cana, where Jesus went to a wedding and did his first recorded miracle, at the urging of his mother, changed the water into wine! What I learned here was that the jars were of stone because there was a belief at that time that stone held no impurities! So wine was to be held in stone jars. In the photo above the center jar is made of stone.
The day ended with a quick visit to an establishment that prepares diamonds and sells jewelry. Diamonds and precious stones are a significant part Jewish history as purchasing precious stones was a way they could transfer their money as they moved, or were forced to move around the world. Israel purchases 50% of with worlds rough diamonds for cutting and polishing and making into jewelry!
We had a great evening, ending this amazing day, and Wilma had touched the Sea of Galilee twice! We were now looking forward to tomorrow as there was to be a sunrise service early in the morning. Our alarm would be ringing at 5am.
It would be an early night for all of us.
We had a great evening, ending this amazing day, and Wilma had touched the Sea of Galilee twice! We were now looking forward to tomorrow as there was to be a sunrise service early in the morning. Our alarm would be ringing at 5am.
It would be an early night for all of us.
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