The Start of a Journey to Israel

To Israel and back. I can't believe that it has come and gone so quickly.  I never dreamed I would have the chance to visit the very places Jesus did his earthly ministry.  I want to be able to share this experience with you.  It has completely changed how I read the Bible, and even view the world.  We learned about the Bible in a way that can never be taught in a class room.  Being the very places where the Bible stories happened is an experience that is beyond words.  I am so blessed to have generous family and friends that helped make this possible.  I am eternally grateful.  This blog is an attempt to share my thoughts, feelings and insight as I journey through the Holy Land.  Most of this blog will be coming strait from my journal I kept while in Israel.  Many historical facts and stories come from our tour guide Susan.  She truly made the journey memorable and brought it to life before our every eyes. 
I will be updating this blog step by step over the next several days and weeks.  I took over 500 pictures and videos have lots of stories and info to share.  You can enter your email address on the right side of the page to receive automatic email updates as I post more stories and pictures.  I hope that you find this entertaining, fun, enlightening, and informative as I share with you my pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

November 7th, 2011
We finally made it.  We left at 6 am (cst) on Sunday November 6th and arrived in Tel Aviv at 3:10 pm on Monday (local time).  The flight was forever long (about 10.5 hours)  We got to the hotel just as the sun was going down over the Mediterranean Sea.  Our hotel was right on the beach.  I got a good feel for the 8hr time difference when I turned on the TV in the hotel and found Fox News.  The morning show was on...it was only 10 am at home.  That was a little weird but as far as jet lag, I really didn't have any.  Just general exhaustion from the trip. 
Check out the picture from our hotel balcony. 

Looking to the left.

Looking to the right back at the city.