Good night and God bless! (name the comedian who closed his show like that - sorry I stole this from you Davey-doo!)

The 2005 excavation year is officially over. We closed up shop todayand left the church until next year. It was extremely emotionalleaving the site. We have spent so much time there - 7 hours a dayfor 20 days (you do the math!). That's a lot of hours. I have toadmit it has been incredible...so much more than I would haveexpected. I was super nervous about doing the archaeology before Icame. I didn't know what to expect or what would happen. Now thatI've been here I am so thankful for this opportunity and I really wantto come back again. We worked hard and accomplished a lot. It isamazing how much is done...I can't wait to see what happens next year,whether I come back or not I know I will follow it closely!It's so weird doing things for the last time - we had breakfast up atthe site for the last time - again it is the best view I've ever hadduring breakfast looking down at the Sea of Galilee and out at theGolan Heights; the last dinning experience at the Kibbutz; the lasttime swimming in the Sea of Galilee; the last time at the pub (ok - wewill be there tonight, but that will be the last time!); the last hikeup and down the hill to Hippos (the scenery continues to take mybreath away...and the hiking does too – kind of…not really anymore!); the last time hanging out as a team (I know I will miss each and every one of the individuals I met on this excavation - they all hold a special place in my heart); and the last time looking at the sarcophagus. I have to say that was really sad for me. I touched the sarcophagus before leaving the church - sort of saying good-bye to the woman who was buried there and also looking forward to seeing her in heaven!

I want to share a few or more pictures with you. The first one is the view of the Golan as we hike down the hill…I love the Golan!

Here is a picture of our Hippos team…it is almost all of us – the only person missing is Bill. (Sorry Bill – I wish I had a picture of all of us!)

Here is a picture of the bracelets my little sister Marcia made for Erin, Andrea, and me before I left for Israel…we wore them all four weeks! (They got a bit dirty!!)

I am excited to come back home too! I miss my family, the food!, thecooler weather (although it sounds like Minnesota is having a heatwave!), and just being home – I have heard there is no place like home! I know I will remember and cherish my experiences here for the rest of my life. Thank you for following our adventure and for praying for us. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” ~ Ephesians 3:20-21 Shalom!

It's all been done!

Today was the last day of digging. It was super weird, because we have been working here for so long and it is almost over. Tomorrow is a clean-up/take pictures day. I think it will be really crazy and hectic because there will be so much to do! But it will also be really cool because we will get a chance to check out the other excavations that are going on at Hippos. Regardless, it is almost time to go home. It has been amazing here. I have learned so much about the past and about myself. I don’t really have a lot else to write today. I think I’m just going to go spend some time by the Sea of Galilee again before lecture. One of my favorite things here is the sunset. It sets so fast! I mean the sun drops behind the hills really quickly – it is so odd and incredible. I love it.

May God’s peace and love surround you this day and always. Shalom!

P.S. Here is a picture of me working today and a picture of the mosaic I cleaned! Isn’t it lovely?

haha - fooled you...i did decide to write tonight - sillies...

Today felt like a day for digging, hauling dirt and rocks, and conserving the mosaic floor – so that’s what our team did. Yay! I’m not sure there is anything super exciting to report about today…although every day up at the site brings something new and intriguing. Nancy, Arny, Jim, and I worked on conserving and cleaning the mosaic floor. Here is a picture of the mosaic I cleaned up!

Nancy made a really good statement today – that it takes perseverance to work on this floor for about 7 hours straight (well…we do get a half hour for breakfast, so that’s good)! I thought that was an interesting statement and decided to read the Romans 5 passage on perseverance:
“Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

Not that we are suffering when we work on the mosaic, but it is something to think about for our lives. Sometimes there are things we have to do that we don’t necessarily want to do. God can still use those things to develop us and to create us into the people He wants us to be. I think the most relevant or at least comforting statement in that passage is that “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” God loves us! He gave us His Holy Spirit, and not only that but His son - who suffered and died so that we might be redeemed. Wow. “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” ~ Romans 9-11

Ok…that’s all I have for today. I’m going to get some sleep. I’m tired!

bahahaha

ok- so i don't have a ton of time to write tonight. instead i'm going to hang out by the sea of galilee...cause i have limited time left to do that. have a great day folks!!!

something creative...

Exciting things that happened at the site today:

• In E2 Paul, Mark, Arny, and Dr. Schuler moved a lot of dirt and heavy rocks – unfortunately still no floor.
• In B0 Glenn and Jim reached the floor!! It is a fairly decent and intact mosaic floor with crosses near the doorways. Dr. Schuler says it might have been a prothesis, which was a place the pastors would have used to prepare before the service. Here is a picture of one of the two crosses found on their floor!!

• In the land of the mosaic-uncovering Erin, Nancy, and I worked at scrapping plaster from the mosaic and cleaning the mosaic tiles. It is still hard tedious work, but exciting when we can finally see the patterns! Here is a picture of the pattern I uncovered today!
  
  Ok…so, that’s what happened on the dig. Otherwise it was a really great day. I can’t believe how quickly the time has gone by – it seems like just yesterday we were stepping of the plane into a world that was unknown, yet somehow familiar. All my life I’ve read stories from the bible that took place here. Jesus grew up here. Paul was blinded here. Peter taught here. The list goes on and that’s only the New Testament. Suddenly as I read my bible all of these stories come to life. I can see these things happening in a new light. I’ve tried to communicate that to all of you and I have pictures too that should help. If any of you ever have the opportunity to come here you should take it! (Like the dig next year for example!!) Seriously though, I can’t describe to you how much this trip has meant to me. Thank you for sharing it with me. May God’s love and grace be with you today and always! Shalom!

this is the day...this is the day...

Today was the first day of the last week. It was a lovely day in respect to the weather - we had cloud cover for most of the morning and the wind was blowing nicely keeping us cool. The B4 room is finished! I spent the morning clearing out the dirt and hardened mud around the cistern...so the room is complete. If you want to view the entire room you can scroll through it! Just go to the Public Pages on the virtual dig website, click on Fun Stuff, and click on the South Vaulted Chamber. It's pretty sweet! Apparently there was about 65 square meters of dirt removed from that room (I think that was the right figure). That's a LOT of dirt!

The rest of the day (for Nancy, Erin, and I) was spent working on the mosaic in the nave or center isle of the church. It was tedious work, but still very interesting. It is fun to watch patterns and colors appear where there used to be dirt. We are uncovering crosses on the floor (along with other patterns) and it's very exciting! Elsewhere teams are working on different sections of the church - the B0 team (Glenn, Jim, and Marc Hequet) are beginning to find a fairly decent mosaic floor (we believe) and the theory as it stands now (this changes frequently!) is that it was a pastoral room. The E2 team (Paul, Arny, and Mark Kaetsu) are working on the western part of the church. They are trying to find the floor! They are confident they will get to it by Tuesday!

Since it was Sunday we had our regular church service in the lab at 7:30pm. The Church service is always really incredible just because, as Andrea pointed out tonight, we are all gathered together with really nothing other than our bibles, each other, and some worship books - singing, praying, and praising God together. Last Sunday Dr. Mike gave the sermon - he talked about how through baptism we are connected to God, but also to each other and to all of Christendom. The coolest part is that we are connected to the woman who was buried in the Northeast Church. She was a believer too! And when we get to heaven we will be able to sit down and talk to her about her life, the church, and all that went on there so many years ago. God is good! And we can praise His name together!

I pray all of you were able to enjoy being in God’s presence today and every day. May His glory and peace be with you always!

Sabbath Rest

The last two days we had free! Totally free - no digging and no touring! Most of us were a bit sad that we didn’t have any touring, but it was nice to have the time off. And we were kind of sad about the no digging, but our muscles needed the rest! It is interesting that Friday and Saturday are our days off here. Saturday is the Sabbath, so everyone needs Friday to prepare for it (I believe that is the idea at least). It is nice though…I like have Friday and Saturday off!

I think we are all getting excited about digging tomorrow though. I am anxious to start the first day of the last week. I know this next week is going to fly by and I want to enjoy every minute that I can!

Anyway, since we were completely free and unstructured we all spent our time in various ways. Since a picture is worth a thousand words I’m going to try to describe our weekend to you through a picture montage! (I will admit some of these pictures were not taken this weekend; they are needed to give you the full understanding of the past few days – I will clarify which were taken previously.)

Many of us had breakfast and dinner on the balcony (this was taken a while ago and doesn’t have anyone in it…opps!!!

Some of us built sandcastles…

At one point we all scrubbed pottery…

Some of us blogged or emailed…

Some of us cleaned up the lab (thanks for sweeping Arny!)…

Some of us napped (this was of me at the site...ok, not napping but close enough!)...
Some of us worked on the technical drawings for the dig (ok, only Andrea did!)…

Most of us worked on pottery picture taking and labeling...

We all had a party in honor of the three people leaving us this weekend (Mike, Linda, and Rachel left…we are all very sad…I couldn’t find pictures of the party so I just put a picture of a balloon…we didn’t have balloons at the party, but you could imagine what it would have been like if we did!!)…

Some of us were plumbers (stupid showers that don’t drain! luckily it was the boys' room and the girls didn't have to deal with it. Not that we couldn't handle it - but the smell was pretty gross!!)…

And some of us sat by the Sea of Galilee (this is just a picture of the Sea)…


Ok…I think that’s it. I hope this helped to give you a feel for our expierences of the last few days. It didn’t cover everything we did, but sort of gives you a rough overview! Thanks for taking the time to read/look over it! Peace!

meh

So today things happened.

It was fun.

Now the day is over! And I'm going to bed!


(Ok...for real I have a post for today, but it is taking longer then anticipated. Thank you for your patience hopefully it will be up tomorrow and then you will get two for one! Lucky you! Have a great day everyone! Peace!!!)

The beginning of the end…

Today we closed out B4, kind of. We completely cleared the floor and swept up the dust (as well as you can get dust out of an open room in the Holy Land)! There is still a section to clear near the cistern and outside the wall, but those projects should not take long to complete. I don’t know exactly how to describe the feelings surrounding finishing this room. There is a definite sense of accomplishment and a little amazement at how much we were able to accomplish in 15 days. A bit of sadness that the B4 team will be breaking up, but most definitely excited for what is to come in our last week at the site. Here is a picture of me in our finished room!


Ok, so…I have a bit of a story for you. Before I begin I want to share with you some insight Andrea had for us about a week ago. She shared a sermon from her pastor (I hope I explain this accurately) where he stated how important it is sometimes to thank God for the things that don’t happen! Here is my story. In my life there are only two times where I’ve fallen completely on my face - like in the movies when you see a tree fall down and it just goes straight down and bang! hits the ground...I’ve done that twice. The first time I was in between fourth and fifth grade and I broke my arm in two places, broke through the skin, was in the hospital for five days, and had two surgeries. Yay! I guess when I do things I do them up right! The second time was yesterday…I was running to go to Mt. Concordia (which is where we…umm…relieve ourselves). I had to hurry because the tractor guy was going to come and dump dirt and I didn't want to be on the wrong side of the dirt pile, if you catch my drift. So I turned to run and completely lost my footing and fell straight down. As I was lying in a pile of dirt I had visions and flash backs of the day I broke my arm. Luckily everything was safe and completely intact – no breaks this time! It was scary, but it really gave me a true and better understanding of praising God for things that DON’T happen! May each of you be able to praise God for the thigns that don’t happen in your lives, and for the things that do! Have a blessed day everyone! Peace!


I also wanted to leave you with this beautiful sunrise picture on Hippos - I took it today! Sometimes it is necessary to take the time to watch the sunrise - what amazing beauty we are graced with!