Provision and Blessings!

I’m only on my first 48 hours of being in Jerusalem and I already feel as if I am blog posts behind. There is just so much to tell!

I am so thankful to be here right now. My travels went smoothly, my health is good, and my heart is at peace/excitement. I know that this has much to be with all the prayers being poured out! It continues to amaze me how the Lord not only provides for my needs but pours out blessings as well. The support and prayers from friends, family, and my church has been overwhelming. Each prayer, generous gift, and encouraging word is so very much appreciated. I see each as not only a blessing but also confirmation that that being here in Jerusalem is exactly what the Lord wants. My heart is literally exploding from all the support and love. I am truly grateful for the Lord’s provision on this journey and the many people He has used to do so. The day before leaving, I was asking the Lord for some extra money to take care of some things. Literally, as I was getting ready I was talking with the Lord about it and walked out into our living room to my mom saying that someone had left a note for me. The note was from a sweet lady and her family (that I had never met before) with some encouraging words and promise to pray… as well as some money. I had been asking the Lord for a small, specific amount of money and the note had about twice as much. This brought tears to my eyes, the Lord was providing and blessing me all in one. He truly can do, like it says in the book of Ephesians, “far more abundantly than all that we ask or think!”

Already, my feet are sore from walking about both the old and new parts of Jerusalem.  I have seen already the Western Wall (aka Wailing Wall), and the Mount of Olives. How crazy is that. In some ways it still feels like a dream (that also may be due to the effects of jetlag), and the full impact of it all hasn’t fully hit me yet. I am stoked to start classes next week and tour all the sights and learn all that comes with it. It is a surreal feeling, “walking where Jesus walked.”

During my travels, sitting in the airport on a layover in Newark my Psalm for that morning was Psalm 87, which says:

On the holy mount stands the city He founded;

The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Glorious things of you are spoken  O city of God.

Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;

Behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Cush –

“This one was born there,” they say.

And of Zion it shall be said,

“This one and that one were born in her;”

For the Most High will establish her.

The Lord records as he registers the people,

“This one was born there.”

Singers and dancers alike say,

“All my springs are in you.”

What a blessing this Psalm was, to read as I began my journey to place and people of Zion! Verse 7, “All my springs are in you,” in the NKJV the word springs is actually “fountains.” I read in my study Bible that the word fountains means also a “source of blessing and pleasure because the Lord’s presence there.” There is truly nothing better than being in the presence of the Lord. I am so expectant of the Lord meeting me here, and the other twenty-one students here with me!

Today we get kind of a down day. Which is nice, recovering from jetlag and getting all settled in. It is also the Sabbath, so most shops and places are closed today. Tonight we are attending a Messianic church service, which I am thrilled for! Tomorrow there is talk of hiking up to the Mount of Olives to see the sunrise, what an experience that will be.