Sunday, December 26, 2010

overTIME

Once TIME was up, seven of us went on into overTIME. At ten pm on the 14th we loaded into one small taxi and began our 12 hour overnight journey across Egypt toward the Promised Land. After spending several hours enjoying the waiting room of the Israeli border security, we were let in to a different world. The streets were clean, the cabs were nice, and everything was expensive. Kelsie and Hannah embarked on their own two day stint in Petra while Josef, Luke P, Sarah, Katie, and I got ourselves a cabride to Jerusalem.

The Holy City is spectacular. The golden dome of the Dome of the Rock stands out brightly along the city skyline. Our highlights in Isreal have included floating in the Dead Sea, walking the palisade walls of the Old City, biking around the Sea of Galilee, touring the Holocaust Museum, and visiting the Western Wall. Kelsie, Josef, Sarah, Katie and Hannah were able to visit Hebron and Bethlehem with a Palestinian tour service and were amazed by the incredible stories of grief and hope. On the 21st we travelled west to Tel Aviv to take in the night scene and see Luke and Josef off.

And then we were five. On Christmas Eve we met up with Ed and Lois and travelled down to the little town of Bethlehem. Church services, caroling, candels, and mullled wine combined to make an unforgetable Christmas. The Palestinians work hard to present a safe and welcoming environment in Bethlehem, but one can hardly forget their plight. They sell small Nativity sets with strong political reminders: Mary and Joseph walking toward the stable, blocked off by a wall. Christmas day we exchanged gifts and attended a nice Christmas potluck at the pastor's house.

We left home 4 months ago today and at 12:45 tonight we leave. OverTIME will be over.

Time is what some might call a nonrenewable resource. Once it passes, you can never get it back. The past four months have been filled with some of the most incredible adventures of our lives - we have done and seen things that we will never forget. We have filled our journals, our suitcases, and our memories with momentos from our TIME so that we will remember what it meant to us. Now that TIME is over, we look forward to the time ahead - a time filled with laughter, friendships, and new adventures together which will forever change our lives.

Thanks for following our blog,
And TIME'rs, thanks for the trip of a lifetime.

Jon

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