Summing Up, Roll Tide, and More to Come

I spent some of my free time Saturday doing a few things that I was not able to do earlier. We were actually a day late getting here, so I missed out on a few things. So on this day I started at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This Church is shared by 7 different Christian denominations. The main two are the Catholics and the Greek Orthodox. This church supposedly is built on the site of Calvary and the burial place of Jesus. I went by myself and this was one of the most disappointing things that I did while I was here. You almost have to do this, but it is a frustrating experience. You must push through the crowds and almost be rude or you will get run over while trying to see this site. They have so obscured these sites that archeologists cannot tell whether these sites date to the proper time. I was never more frustrated in Israel than I was here. Give me Jericho at 110 degrees anytime over this. Anyway, here are some pictures the first is the outside of tomb, the second is the supposed resting place, and the third is the supposed site of Calvary. Most people actually believe this to be the actual site, but the Garden Tomb experience for me preserved the atmosphere and authenticity. Once again, He is not there, He is Risen, and He is risen indeed.







Later that day, I had some time so I went with some friends to the grave of Oskar Schindler. If you do not know who this is you can Google him. I was expecting some grand display, but we actually found his grave by luck. It was not set apart from any of the other graves except for the rocks that people place over the top. This man gave his wealth to save some Jews in WWII and felt remorse for not giving more. I want to give it all to tell others about Jesus. My prayer is to finish the race used up completely by the Lord. Here is a picture of his grave.



Also that day I went shopping in the Old City and finished buying some gifts for my family. As I was walking through I came across this store. ROLL TIDE. The shop owner has a brother attending the University of Alabama and they had Tide stickers inside the store as well. I took pictures of this, I think you should be able to make out the stickers in the second picture. I almost cried when I saw this.





Thanks to everyone who read my blog. My course officially came to a close on Friday. In case any of you forgot, I was taking an actual class with tests, prework, and reflection reports. I finished the last of the work on Friday. It has been difficult since my plane does not fly out until Monday night, meaning I will not see my family until Tuesday morning, hopefully.

I am probably done blogging from here, but as I continue to decompress over the next few weeks I plan to continue blogging about my experience. I have been incredibly blessed to be here and I hope in some small ways I have shared this blessing with you. Please pray that I have a safe and uneventful trip home. I miss my family terribly. Being away from them has helped me see what a tremendous blessing they are to me.

DC