the hands of galilee

galilee.... this was Jesus country...where he spent most of his mortal life! 


"clearly now i see him with his hands
calling to me
and though i'm not yet as i would be
he has shown me how i could be
i will make my hands like those from galilee"

("his hands" by kenneth cope) 

we started in his hometown: 

nazareth 

welcome to galilee brooke

as you can imagine, we visited the sites of his ministry and miracles

the cana, mt. of beatitudes, capernaum, nain, chorazin, mt. tabor...these were places Jesus visited. and i think you could still feel him here :)

i didn't include ALL of these places, just my few favorites!

boat ride on the sea of galilee

...sounds magical right? especially when we sing "master, the tempest is raging!"

"And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm."
(Matt 8:25-26)

the mt. of beatitudes


"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48)

the church at nain (where jesus healed the widow's only son) with mt. tabor in the background (possible site for the transfiguration)

"And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother." (Luke 7:15)

"Jesus taketh Peter, James and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." (Matt 17:1-2)

oh....and there are still active mine fields...so watch your step!

yardenit

another possible site for the baptism of Jesus (although much less likely)

and i just REALLY like the hawaii pidgin language. i think it should be the new vernacular in idaho...

hike in the Golan...

AMAZING waterfalls. so great in the humid heat that wishes to kill me at times...

now understand my re-enactment photos have gotten more and more prevalent, as standing and smiling has gotten more and more boring. i quite hate it actually.

so let the fun begin :)

we like exploring.

we like israel.

we like this ibex.

megiddo:

armageddon

"For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the whole earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty...And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Rev. 16:14,16)

hazor

"Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died." (Judges 4:21)

the assyrians are coming!! the assyrians are coming!!


poor hazor. (2 Kings 15:29)

archers at nimrod's castle

muslim fortress during the crusades

we decided to be like robin hood for a day.

...robin hood and little john running through the forest...

har bental

should not have been this entertaining...

turned into a jurassic park re-enactment. complete with theme music!

i always wanted to be in an action movie!

(ruins from the 1948 and  1967 wars)

which way??

gotta love those ludlows :) 

"now when you pick a pawpaw,
or a prickly pear
and you pick a raw paw,
well next time...beware!
don't pick the prickly pear
with the paw
when you pick a pear,
try to use the claw!
but you don't need to use the claw
when you pick a pear
with the big pawpaw!"

we love akko!!!

A-K-K-O!

called ptolemais in new testament times. visited by the apostle pau (acts 21:7)l 

mt. carmel

"So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel..." (1 Kings 18:20)

the site of the showdown between the priests of Baal and Elijah. when the sacrifice of Elijah is licked up in flames, the priests try to escape, "and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there." (v 41)

i got to be Elijah today!

caesarea

where paul was brought before king agrippa. 

introducing geoff as paul, alicia as king agrippa, brooke as festus, and dana as...bystander?

Alicia: "Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." (Acts 26:28)

if i've learned anything over these past few weeks, it's that i will NEVER be able to do everything i want to. i'll never have enough time. 

the best i can do is to 

live in the moment.
and that is exactly what i have decided to do. i am living the moment. i am simply going to enjoy my last 10 days in the holy land. oh how time flies... 

i'll be home before you know it!!!

standing taller

the pre-jeru snapshot... a little fun at the jc!

;)

the first lady pageant. 

anyone who knows me at all knows i don't do pageants. i don't do fake smiles, pretty dress-ups, plastered on makeup.... 

and so i decided to add some spice to the pageant and appear as the nerd brooke...the one i let out only on special occasions! complete with walk, talk, and terrible stage presence. so fun :)

there's just a little tidbit of the fun!

i'll have you know i made the first cut, but failed to make the final three...all my hopes of being chosen as ian's first lady CRUSHED. it was a rought night for me...

so i made up for it by participating in the 

informal talent show. 

best dance goes to US!  

we all had our own unique personality...yes amy's hair is real. yes geoff is wearing a bowtie and vest. and yes. i am wearing snorkeling goggles. 

a pic of the night wouldn't be complete without my besties joe and lauren.

and as the running jc joke..."when are joe and brooke gonna seal the deal???"

ein gedi

probably the best day of my life.

hiking and jumping in pools and waterfalls all day!! 

but on to more serious matters...

a little time needs to be given to jesus

a letter "para yesus" found in a tree at the private garden...hannah is excavator extraordinaire!   

elder jeffrey r. holland visited the holy land with his family, and we were blessed to have him with us in the jc for a few days. yes...he even spoke to us on sabbath. and yes...i even accosted him to get a handshake :) and yes... he is absolutely, without a doubt, an apostle of the lord. 

he really got me thinking... and after he shared his talks i read his last conference talk, which paralleled his thoughts with us so perfectly. "the laborers in the vineyard..." read it! it's amazing! 

"Step up. Do it for your sake. Do it for the sake of those who love you and are praying that you will respond. Do it for the Lord Jesus Christ, who paid an unfathomable price for the future He wants you to have... Please listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling you right now, this very moment, that you should accept the atoning gift of the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy the fellowship of His labor. Don't delay. It's getting late."

 "Here I stand. I can do no other." - Martin Luther

the last melon!!

jerusalem..... if i forget you!!!

.... one month left....

i feel like the do-do birds on ice age... they started out with three melons to survive the upcoming apocalypse. i started here with about three months in jerusalem...just as two of their melons slipped away, so have two months slipped away, right out of my fingers... i don't know where they've gone, but as i look i realize i have only a month left. now all i have to say is "the last melon!!" each day is going to be spent well. each minute is going to be cherished, and every opportunity is going to be taken advantage of!

but these last few months have been so spectacular. 

adventure after adventure :) oh if life could always be so wonderful!

but i will try my best!

update time, eh? 

ein kereim

cutest lil' city just outside jeru. where zaccharias and elizabeth lived, where mary visited elizabeth (the magnificat canticle in luke), and where john the baptist was born. 

this picture is of "mary's spring," where mary would have gotten a drink when she visited elizabeth.

tile floor at the church of the visitation... gorgeous!

where mary said "the magnificat"

"my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; because he has regarded the lowliness of his handmaid..." (see luke 1:46-55)










the roman baths at the herodian (one of herod the great's palaces)...nothing like a lil' bath to clean off the jeru smell...

i do believe rachel could be on a pantene pro-v commercial, don't you?

bethlehem. 

"and Joseph also went...unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child."

the church of the nativity, where many christians believe the baby Jesus was born.

the altar of the nativity.

the "manger" or stone where the Jesus may have been laid.

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

shepherd's field (one of three "shepherd's fields" in the bethlehem area).  yes we are shepherds and their sheep... i don't know that i'm that fond of being a sheep!

"and there were in the same country shepherd abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them... and the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

bethelehem definitely made the top of my charts... there are few more powerful ways to celebrate the work of our savior than through remembering his miraculous birth. somewhere in that city, jesus the christ was born. it's as true now as it was two thousand years ago. it was also refreshing to celebrate christmas in july with a few christmas hymns. what a great day :)

but back to jerusalem.... to explore the old city??? it's crunch time!! 

smurfs. arabic smurfs!!

oh the art in east jeru....

view from the window of dominus flevit... the cross stands directly over the church of the holy seplechre (where most christians believe christ was crucified and buried) --the blue domes right above the left side of the cross.

painting a mural at the princess bosma school.... jc service at its finest!

walking up the steps to the temple...many are the same steps jesus would have walked. this is one of the few excavated areas that goes all the way down to the time of christ...

there's something so tangible about truly walking where jesus walked!

the orson hyde door...

in the 18th and 19th centuries travellers would come to this hostel and stay the night, and many would carve their names into the door. when orson hyde came to this land in 1841, it was believed he stayed here...and he may have possibly carved his name into the door.

see the "HYDE" written there towards the bottom??

"Now, O Lord! Thy servant has been obedient to the heavenly vision which Thou gavest him in his native land; and under the shadow of Thine outstretched arm, he has safely arrived in this place to dedicate and consecrate this land unto Thee, for the gathering together of Judah's scattered remnants, according to the predictions of the holy Prophets -- for the building up of Jerusalem again after it has been trodden down by the Gentiles so long, and for rearing a Temple in honor of Thy name."  

Orson Hyde's Dedicatory Prayer on the Mount of Olives

megan and i are actually jungle explorers... 

the top of the lutheran church of the redeemer!
what a view of jerusalem!

a wee bit squished... good thing we love each other :)

TWINNERS!!!

hannah and i decided to match today. exactly. ;)

a young boy worshipping inside the hurva synangogue in the jewish quarter

i can feel the time floating away....gahhhh! it's unbelievable to me how the time has flown. 

galilee in only four days!! 

luckily, my amazing home teachers taught me the perfect lesson...

live life "always in the middle" (thank you president uchtdorf!)

"Yes, there will be moments of beginnings and moments of endings throughout our lives, but these are only markers along the way of the great middle of our eternal lives. Whether we are at the beginning or the end, whether we are young or old, the Lord can use us for His purposes if we simply set aside whatever thoughts limit our ability to serve and allow His will to shape our lives." 

thanks ian, and thanks for the superhero pj pants... ;)