Switching Gears

I'm glad traveling to faraway places requires actually watching the ground move under you.

I thanked God for the sight of Nashville fading below me as we left for Philadelphia, because it helped me understand I'm really leaving, I'm really going to the Holy Land, I'm really going to leave life behind for two weeks. I love flying, partly because being on a plane always means journey. Being on a plane, for me, has always meant an adventure with God. Russia. Planes have always meant Russia.

Israel is not like Russia though, and leaving in the middle of the semester adds a whole host of different complications. So I don't have an idea of what to expect for the next two weeks of my life.

But I feel so honored that God would choose to pluck me out of a busy semester and set me down in the land in which He chose to reveal Himself. He's teaching me by putting a pause on the life I sometimes allow to consume me, asking for my full attention and trust, and then gently speaking. He knows how to handle me so beautifully.

I've been slowly beginning to understand what Christianity is. In many ways this is a process spanning my whole lifetime, but in other ways I've only just started, since being a religion major. The Lord has been so patient with me, so good to me, and this trip is just a blessing on top of blessings in this journey. Because I'm just now starting to see Judaism, Israel, Christianity, and the history of God's interaction with His people. For him to give me this opportunity now is so beautiful, so humbling. I guess I'm excited, but not in the way I thought I would be. I'm excited in a reverent way, an awe-filled way. Israel. God wants to show me Israel.

It's kind of like how I sometimes get the urge to bring my Belmont friends home with me. I rarely get the chance to, but I love it when I can. I love showing someone the land connected to my soul, the land where I became who I am. I think God delights to show me His chosen land, the place where He interacted with the people He chose as His own. Such a rich history. A history my faith is built on in so many ways.

So I watched the ground leave on the way to Philadelphia, and soon I'll watch the ground leave on the way to Tel Aviv, reminding me I have a responsibility now to leave behind what I've left behind, to switch the rails on the railroad of my brain from Belmont and everything there to Israel and everything God has in store.

In the words of Ronnie Freeman, whose songs I have been listening to nonstop,

Everything you want to give us, Lord, give us.
Lord, give us, Lord.
And bring yourself glory.
As you heal us, give us all of who you are.



P.S. --- Sarah, I prayed for you while I was on the plane. I prayed that God will give you peace and a glimpse of His big story, His big plan for you, because you'll see it and be unafraid. Thank you for being who you are!