I know this is crazy - writing a new post within hours of my last one, but since I wrote that I woke up at 3:30am and climbed the Mount of Olives (y'all don't know what "workout" means till you've done this!) with a small group of classmates. We climbed as high as we could and watched the city as the sun rose over the mountain. I listened to "Lead me to the Cross" on my ipod, cementing that song in my memory with that moment. I journaled, wrote a poem, read scripture, took pictures, and just marveled at the beauty of the city, and the LORD that died for its people, and who created the mountain it stands upon.

I heard a rooster cry in at 4:15am and we passed nepheshs (whitewashed tombs) on our way up the mountain. The Bible is coming alive, but more that than JESUS is alive. I watched as light came to a dark and desolate city, seeing it both as the story of Jesus's coming (you can see the place he died from there), but also as the story of His coming to my dark heart as well. I just wanted to share that with y'all. Now I'm gonna do some reading and then some girls and I are heading into the city for lunch (shwarma perhaps?), shopping, and maybe a study date at our new favorite coffee shop. : ) God bless.