Yesterday I was at the lowest point I have ever been in my
life….
……….the Dead Sea!
That’s right ladies and gentleman. The Dead Sea is THE lowest spot on plant earth
and God let me go there today.
The real story is the journey to the Sea.
A few days ago Tamica and I (the other new squad leader)
were starting to feel it was about time for us to have an adventure. The last
week has been full of a whole lot and much of it has been inside and we are
just mentally tired. Not but a few days later we heard of a few brave K squad
racers who were going to hike to the Dead Sea. YES! Thank you Jesus!
from our house at 5 am before the sunrise and headed straight to our backyard…The
Negev Desert…The Negev Desert is where the Isrealites wondered for 40 years.
That’s just insane. God didn’t exactly
sentence us to 40 years but we did hike 18 miles through the desert and its
mountains. We started out with our headlamps and made it to the top of the
first mountain to see the sunrise. Tim, our fearless guide led us 6 hours
through a desert he has never hiked before and we made it to the Dead Sea
without getting lost.
whole day, and that would be my chocolate pudding explosion all over the inside
of my pack.)
The six hours for me was adventures, imaginative, spiritual,
hilarious, fun, breathtaking, and so much more. I will never forget the memory I made with the 8 racers I went with. We had
great conversations and a lot of fun. There is something that still remains
special about the racers that I have loved from the second I have met them.
Their imaginations run wild and they can turn any situation into something
special. They didn’t let a moment pass them by during the hike. Whether it was
thinking up games the Isrealites may have done in the desert during their free
time, taking pictures of a small ant hill, or getting excited to see the one
tree in the desert, they seem to always be so full of life. (Just last week I
woke up to find Casey taking over for a young Israeli boy by riding his donkey
and herding the last of his camels.) Just a good side story.
So the adventure got even better. At about mile 15 we
rounded the bend and could finally see the Dead Sea. We were pretty high up at
this point so we were looking down at the one of the most beautiful views ever. Once we finally got to the bottom, we realized that across from the Sea
is Jordan. It just took a few minutes to realize that I was standing in Israel
with a clear view of Jordan and sitting in the lowest spot in the entire world.
It felt amazing.
The rest of the explorers experienced the Dead Sea. All you
have to do is float. It is really funny. Since the salt content is so high you
don’t need to use any energy to stay afloat. What a fun thing to watch. Michael
wasn’t able to hike because his knees have been sore, so before we leave
Israel, we will make sure to take the 20 minute drive and float in the Sea for
each our first times together.
I thank the Lord for low points. They seem to always do
something to the soul.
LESSONS FROM THE HIKE:
–
-The Isrealites probably played the game when one
boy throws a rock in the air and the other boys try to hit that rock with their
own rock.
–
-Don’t put pudding in your back pack.
–
-Even if you are black, you can still float in
the Dead Sea (Tres, I am so happy you could float)
–
-Boys like to throw rocks in the desert.
–
-Boys like to throw rocks in the desert all the
time.
–
-Just a little life knowledge that us racers have
learned and that we would like to impart to you: You know you are a boy if you
like to throw rocks in the desert. And you know you are a girl if you like
hummus.
