If you can believe it, this is the Sea of Galilee on the very first night we arrived in Israel. We spent our first week of the two-week trip at the Pilgerhaus in Tabgha, a German Catholic retreat center, on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the background are the beginnings of the Golan Heights, behind which are the bordars of Syria and Jordan. As I share with people that I have been to Israel, one question comes up over and over again: Did you feel like you were in danger? No, we did not feel like we were in danger, at least not most of the time. It was unusual to see automatic weapons up close and to have an armed soldier enter the bus at checkpointsl; but in general, we did not feel unsafe. The small exception was one evening on the Sea of Galilee, when we could hear multiple helicoptors circling in the distance and well as military jets. This was a little jarring. We felt pretty protected where we were, but it was odd to have those sounds in the background. The next day someone found an article in the newspaper about a surprise visit by Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Jordan's King Abdullah II--thus, the air traffic.

But mostly, what we experienced that first week in Israel on the Sea of Galilee is in the picture above: peace and light and time to give thanks to God.

Grace and peace,
Jess