Our Israel Trip | Dec 2019 - Jan 2020
Day 1
Early on in 2019 we knew we wanted to start saving to be able to make a trip to Israel in December! I had been once before with my dad during my senior year of high school and had been dying to go back ever since. I told Nathan before we left that your first trip to Israel feels like you’re drinking from a firehose, and he can attest that it definitely is that! It was cool to go back a second time & be able to take in some of the details I missed during my first trip.
We landed in Tel-Aviv after a full day of travel and hit the ground running! After picking up our luggage and hopping on the bus our first stop was Caesarea. We saw the remains of the old city and Roman Theater. Acts 10 took place there. It was so cool to connect scripture with places throughout our trip.
We continued our rainy day by heading to Mt. Carmel. It was hard to see how high up we were because it was a very foggy day, but the significance of just being there was meaningful. For more on what happened at Mt. Carmel read 1 Kings 18.
We then traveled to the Nazareth Outlook and stayed a little while. It’s very easy to see many significant locations from this point, so we got to talk through those before actually going to them later on in our trip. By this point in the day we were TIRED and ready to get to our Kibbutz for the night! We arrived, ate a traditional Israeli dinner, and went straight to bed!
Day 2
Our second day was our first full day. We woke up so excited knowing that we were going to be sailing on the Sea of Galilee that morning! We stopped in a musuem to see a fishing boat that is dated back to 1st century AD. It wasn’t found until 1986 when Israel experienced a drought. There’s no evidence that this specific boat is connected to Jesus, but boats like this played a large role in his ministry, so it was amazing to see it preserved like this!
The Sea of Galilee
One of my favorite things about this trip is that I got to experience it with my little brother, Walker, and my mom and dad!
Tel Dan (pictured to the upper right) is the oldest site that we visited. This gate (middle of the photo) is almost 4,000 years old and is referred to as “Abraham’s Gate” because of the reference to Abraham’s pursuit of Lot in Genesis 14.
After lunch, we headed to Capernaum. This was one of my favorite places we visited because it has so much Biblical significance; not to mention it was a gorgeous day and the sky was SO blue! Jesus performed miracles and healed many people here throughout scripture. We got to be in synagogues from the 4th century and even see remains of the temples from Jesus’ time as well as housing like something Peter would’ve lived in when Jesus stayed with him.
Day 3
We started day 3 at the Mount of Beatitudes (Matthew 5) were Jesus gave the Sermon of the Mount! It was a beautiful day and it was amazing to be able to stand in that place and reflect on what Jesus says in Matthew 5. I think even just the first verse of that chapter is awesome, “Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him”. Jesus was aware of his surroundings; He saw that he was in a place where he could have an influence on not just his disciples, but the crowds of people. He didn’t just wait around and keep quiet; He seized the opportunity that the Lord had given him.
From there we went to the valley of Armageddon, Gideon’s Spring, and Beit She’an. Beit She’an is the city of ruins you’ll see in most of the photos below. It’s amazing to think about how advanced these cities were for their time. They pulled out all the stops for their shopping centers, “food courts”, water run-off systems, restrooms, architecture, and so much more. We stayed a while learning about the culture of the city and climbing to the top of a hill to get an aerial view!
Day 4
This day required lots of time on the bus because we were traveling from the Northern part of Israel to the Southern part where we would be spending the rest of the trip. We started the day at the Jordan River where we got to see a baptism site where most believe Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
We spent some time in the dessert at the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. 90% of the scrolls were found in the cave in the top right photo. PRETTY CRAZY.
Then we took a cable car up to the top of Masada which is LITERALLY mind-blowing to me that these people built a city there. Herod the Great built two palaces on this mountain because of the security he had up there. There are so many great stories about this place, if you have some time Google it & read a bit!
Here are 7 facial expressions for how I felt about this camel trying to stand up and hoping we didn’t look like that video that went viral a few weeks ago with the couple on a camel….
The Dead Sea! I floated on it last time I was here, but Walker hadn’t yet so he put on his swim trunks and headed to the water. It’s a pretty cool experience and was the perfect way to end the day!
My beautiful momma 😍
Day 5
View of Jerusalem through a wall at the Temple Mount
The Western Wall
The Temple Mount
Pools of Bethseda (upper right)
Jerusalem, Israel
Starting here (photo above) we walked the trail of Sunday Palm
We spent some time in the Garden of Gethsemane, which has been very sobering and emotional both times I’ve been. This is where Jesus prayed just hours before his crucifixion.
We finished up day 5 at the Israeli Holocaust Museum. Walking out to this view as we finished up our time in the exhibits was amazing.
Day 6
We were in Bethlehem for the morning to do a little shopping and see the Church of the Nativity. The church is built on top of the site where Jesus was believed to have been born. Churches are often built on top of significant locations in Israel to preserve them.
THE LITERAL STREET JESUS WALKED ON. I mean come on….that’s amazing. We had to take a flight of stairs down to get here and it’s incredible to think he could’ve been right here!
We spent some time at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This church is built on the site most believe to be where Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection took place. It was incredible to see the interior of this place! If you have a chance, check out “Secrets of Christ’s Tomb” on Disney+, it’s very informative & talks a lot about the history of this site! It’s slightly dramatic, but it has some good information 😂
We hung out in the Jewish Quarter for a bit to grab a little pizza and coffee before continuing the day!
Day 7
We started off at the Israel Museum where we saw a to-scale model of what Old Jerusalem looked like during the time of Jesus. It was really helpful in puttng all the sites we saw during our trip in perspective.
The Garden Tomb is another possible location for Jesus’ tomb. It helped give us a clearer picture of what an actual tomb would’ve looked like in that time.
We are SO incredibly grateful for the opportunity and means to have beeen able to take this trip together. Seeing these places truly brings the Bible to life. If you have any questions for me, I’m an open book! I hope you enjoyed scrolling through these 😊
All images shot on Leica Q2.
