Day 3 January 30, 2012

Monday morning--a very unique Monday morning as we gathered for devotions at 7:30 and then had breakfast. On the bus by 8:30 which is the "standard" schedule for now. We headed to the boat dock near the Israeli National Museum. However we had a little extra time so we stopped at Bethsaida which is a fairl new archaeological dig being handled in the summers by many US college students. Everything here is made out of rocks. Now many of the rocks have holes in them because they were affected by volcanoes centuries ago. At Bethsaida they have uncovered an area that is clearly the gates of the city. It was quite remarkable. Our guide also reminded us that the digger had only gone back to the firs centur time of Jesus. Underneath would be relics of Old Testament times. Bethsaida is the place to which Absalom went when he was banished by King David. The boat ride was a bit choppy. The skies have been disappointingly gray --only a bit of sun late in the afternoon yesterday. However,our tour guide, Clodia says they need the rain desperately so everyone is being a good sport about it. This afternoon is a steady rain so we stayed in and napped and read.thats part of the delight of this trip --we have lots of down time. Although our leaders tell us some demanding days are coming up. After the boat ride we went into the museum to see the remnants of a first century fishing boat found by amateur archaeologists in 1996. On the boat we got to see many of the sites we have visited along the coast so it gave us a great perspective. We also read the stories from Matthew and Mark about storms on the sea while riding on the boat and we sang a few of the simple Hebrew songs we have learned as a grop. It continues to be difficult to get my mind around this experience. It feels too big to hold all at once. The sense of blessing is gift to my spirit. That much I know.