Judy here-
Shalom!
Yesterday (the beginning of Sabbath) everyone greeted each other with "Shabbot Shalom". But that is only used on the Sabbath or Shabbot. The rest of the week it's Shalom!
Weather - It's been in the low 60s here during the day. Sometimes a breeze comes through and chills things abit. If you're on a roof-top, it can get down right chilly! Roof-top you say? Yes, they use every available space, and then some :) Steps up and steps down. Rounded corners and arches. Stones walks - big, flat stones and smaller, cut stones. Rock used everywhere. Very little dirt in the old city (no room for it!).
Food. Let's just say we are not starving :) I'm so glad Naim introduced us to the local food and taught us what to look for. God has led us to the most awesome, out of the way, places that are clean and downright yummy. Tonight we ate Austrian food here at the Guest House because the restaurant we ate at last night closed before we got there. We had a bowl of goulash and fresh bread for dinner. For dessert we had applestruddle, with mounds of whipped cream. All of it was excellant and very filling. We passed an interesting place today. You've heard of the Hard Rock Cafes. Well, this was the Holy Rock Cafe :) Really cute, huh? We saw a t-shirt that I wanted Bruce to buy that said "Guns and Moses"! Then another one "Don't worry America, Israel's got you covered". They do have a sense of humor here.
Following our experience so far "God Provides", we have been amazed at what God has blessed us with here in Jerusalem. My #1 desire for this part of the trip was to be at the Wailing wall at the beginning of Shabbot. Last night I was blessed with this incredible opportunity. It is said that God is everywhere but his heart is at the Wall and at the beginning of Shabbot it is especially strongly felt. We have experience His presence in a very special way. I can't find the words.... While waiting for Bruce (men and women have different areas in which to pray and worship) I began talking with another American gentleman. He was very nice and very much a "believer". After sharing our faith for a bit, Bruce came up to us and this man introduced himself to Bruce as a Catholic priest from Minn.! We have met some of the most marvelous people here. God's love doesn't know church boundaries. Jerusalem is the center of three religions - Christian, Muslim and Judaism. Areas overlap. But most people do their best to get along and co-exist. And it doesn't hurt that there's a military presence on almost every corner! Today we had no specific plans. Yesterday we did a quick and dirty (but awesome) tour of the old city. It gave us a great basis to build on for the next 4 days. Tomorrow (Sunday) we're doing a tour that will take us to the Holy places including the Temple Mount. Today we were just going to walk around. We are staying in a Guest House ON the Via Dolorosa. So we walked out the front gate, said goodmorning to the two Israeli Soldiers (packin' heat! :) who were watching the street and the people going by (ever vigilant!) and keeping the peace, turned left and started walking up the Via Dolorosa towards the first station of the cross where Jesus was tried before Pontious Pilot and the second station where he was whipped and beaten. Bruce started questioning a doorway and wondering if that was what we were looking for. The couple next to us said, No. What we were looking for was up the street farther and to be sure to... when we got there. Well, we started talking to them and before you know it, we were sounding like old friends. Terry and Tina (both ex-cops) work with security in different countries all over the world. Jerusalem is their favorite place to be. As it happens, they are both believers as well! As Bruce said earlier, that led to us being toured around the city by a gentleman named Mike. Thirty seconds earlier or thirty seconds later we would have missed out on this blessing. God is so good! He has prepared the way before us so many times on this trip I've stopped counting and just enjoy it! Besides this tour, Mike's cousin is going to take us on a tour of the important sites outside the old city walls on Monday! Twice blessed!
I hope I'm not boring you. Believe it or not, this is only a small part of today. It's impossible to remember as I sit here, much less write down everything that we've experienced. The church bells chiming, the dove flying over us, the street venders pestering us, the 2,000 year old rocks that we walk on, the rooster crowing to wake us at dawn, the fresh leaves in our afternoon tea, the mounds of fresh fruit in the merchant stalls, the Moslim call to prayer 5 times a day, the sunset colors on the whispy clouds overhead... Need I say more?
I tell Bruce that sometimes my heart is so full that it has to leak out my eyes! We hope you are all doing well and that you are as thankful for life as we are. God bless you and we'll be back on here tomorrow!