How do I begin?
1. I'm really behind on blogging
2. I'm leaving TOMORROW
3. I'm depressed
4. I'm excited to eat Cafe Rio
5. I'm excited to see my family (and especially my nephew!!!)
6. I.....am exhausted, and tired of crying and being emotionally drained
Here's the thing. I love home, I always have. And I always love going home, but Jerusalem has become my home too. So how am I supposed to feel? Conflicted. Frustrated. Brokenhearted.... Excited and Hopeful.
If there is anything that I have learned here (I feel like I say that phrase a lot), it's that I am a changed person. This experience has rewarded me with a great responsibility. I have learned more than I thought I could have, and I have never loved so deeply. I now have 80 brothers and sisters, and several sets of parents. That's what they will always be to me (of course my real family can never be replaced ;). So I get to go home and share it. Share my love, share my knowledge, and share my testimony.
No matter how many words I use to try and explain how I feel, to explain what this place has done to me....it's not sufficient. They always say a picture is worth a hundred words right? Well, here are a bunch of pictures, hopefully they can explain this better than me.
1. I'm really behind on blogging
2. I'm leaving TOMORROW
3. I'm depressed
4. I'm excited to eat Cafe Rio
5. I'm excited to see my family (and especially my nephew!!!)
6. I.....am exhausted, and tired of crying and being emotionally drained
Here's the thing. I love home, I always have. And I always love going home, but Jerusalem has become my home too. So how am I supposed to feel? Conflicted. Frustrated. Brokenhearted.... Excited and Hopeful.
If there is anything that I have learned here (I feel like I say that phrase a lot), it's that I am a changed person. This experience has rewarded me with a great responsibility. I have learned more than I thought I could have, and I have never loved so deeply. I now have 80 brothers and sisters, and several sets of parents. That's what they will always be to me (of course my real family can never be replaced ;). So I get to go home and share it. Share my love, share my knowledge, and share my testimony.
No matter how many words I use to try and explain how I feel, to explain what this place has done to me....it's not sufficient. They always say a picture is worth a hundred words right? Well, here are a bunch of pictures, hopefully they can explain this better than me.
Jordan
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| Abby, Britt, and I at the top of Machaerus (the Roman Palace where John the Baptist was beheaded) overlooking the Dead Sea |
Petra - Jordan
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| Standing in front of the Monastery. |
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| View from the hike up to the Monastery. |
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| The Royal Tombs at Petra. |
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| The Treasury. Yes, this is where Indiana Jones goes to find the Holy Grail in The Last Crusades. And no, the Holy Grail is not inside. |
Jerash - Jordan
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| Jerash, old Roman city. |
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| A Black Iris - Jordan's National Flower. |
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| Jerash, overlooking the plaza |
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| In the theater at Jerash, while we had a dance party with a bunch of school girls, and these awesome musicians (playing the bagpipe and drums) |
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| At some castle...I forget which one. |
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| The biggest Roman theater still standing - in downtown Amman. |
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| The Jordan River. Eilat - Snorkeling at the Dead Sea  |
Floating at the Dead Sea
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| Dead Sea mud anyone? |
Tel Aviv
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| The Mediterranean and Tel Aviv in the background. |
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| Abby and I wading in the Mediterranean. |
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| Mallory, Whitney, Britt, Me, and Ashling :) Chillin at the beach |
told you it would be rough leaving :(
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean. Enjoy coming home - it will be as wonderful as you remember it being, and you will come back to Jerusalem some day! Those pictures are amazing, and you have inspired me to buy a pink swimming suit. You look gorgeous. Can't wait to see you!
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