Jerusalem, and a Prayer...

I was BEYOND blessed with the opportunity to go on a business trip to Israel in November of 2008. Work was typical... 5 days of sitting around, counting flying hours and keeping track of pilot training in preparation for our Iraq deployment this past summer... but the weekends were anything BUT boring! For a simple $60 a trip, I was able to walk the paths of Jesus. I was present for a sermon on the mount, the same mount that Jesus preached about so many years ago.

Jerusalem was... indescribable.


We were able to visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is a church that was built on top of the site where Jesus was crucified. (no, not the temple in the picture above.) I'd bought two wooden rosaries for the girls with the intention of having them blessed upon the spot where he was crucified. Blessing simply means that you take the items to be blessed, kneel below the alter and place your items inside a case that was built over the rock which held the cross. You touch our items to the rock, you pray, and then you're done. Your items are blessed. So I waited in line for my turn, all the while "practicing" my prayer in my head so when it was my turn I could go really quickly and not hold up the line.

I'm so not kidding when I tell you... that when I was under the alter, I placed my hand inside the case and touched the rosaries to the rock and every thought in my head became... I don't even know how to say it. I tried to speak with my mind, to pray... but the only thing I heard in my head was that horrible noise you hear when you have a scratch on your cd. A really loud EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAKKKKK! So I didn't hold up the line... I got out of there, a little disappointed that I couldn't pray as I thought I would. I think Jesus got the general idea though from the "practice" sessions ;)

Amazing is the faith of all the followers that pass these same paths every day.... SO sad, a country torn by extremists who all believe that their belief is the one that "wins."


Later in our tour, I was able to visit the West Wall. I'm not sure if you're familiar, but it's a wall in Jerusalem where you go to pray... you write your prayer on a small piece of paper and you stick it inside the cracks in the wall. I told myself that I WOULD take the time to talk to God here because the line wasn't backed up and there was plenty of room for everyone to pray. Besides, what kind of loser would I be, to go to Jerusalem and leave without being with Him at least once?


Again, I was blown away by the faith of the people around me... the turmoil and desparation in the eyes of the people who bowed before our King. . . the confidence of the people who make a daily journey to give their lives to Christ. This picture below is one I particularly love... because this woman was so INTO her prayer that she was oblivious to the tourists/onlookers around her. I envied her, and told myself that it would be my turn soon.


So, it was my turn to pray. Before I went down near the wall, I wrote my prayer on a piece of paper and took a picture of it... then folded it up tight in preparation to seal it forever into a crack in the wall.


I found a spot near the corner where there were few people, fewer distractions... I walked down, took a deep breath and pressed my forehead against the large, cold rock and then they came. I wept huge, wet tears as my human qualities unraveled before Christ. My desparation was evident as I sobbed uncontrollably, begging him for the only things I wanted most in my life. The health of my aunt, the life of my marriage, and the happiness of my children - forevermore. I left the West Wall completely proud of myself for finding that time with God and for feeling close enough to open up to Him the way I did.

**I write this blog with a simple plea... my aunt goes to Houston next week for some "final" testing and to devise a plan for the next course of action in her treatment. This beautiful, strong, incredibly brave woman has endured SO MUCH through the past couple years' battle with cancer and she's so close to the finish line. Her faith and the prayers of ALL who support her have pulled her through the darkest and hardest of days. She's facing a reconstruction surgery, and she has only a small bit of cancer left. So our prayer is a simple one.... all we ask is that the next course of action be short, sweet, and FINAL. We want cancer behind her once and for all. More than anything, I want her on the road to recovery by October so she can be here when Baby 3 is born. So please, join me in our prayers... Thanks, and love to all!

Vicki and Stevie - North Sea, Holland 2008