Caesarea to Galilee

From the moment that we entered the Jordan Rift Valley and saw the blue waters of the Sea of Galilee beneath us, I had the words of a hymn stuck in my head. "Come follow me the Savior said, then let us in His footsteps tread. For thus alone can we be one with God's own loved Begotten Son." As I walked the shores of the lake, listening to the waves wash up on the shore and felt the cool sand under my feet, I could see a picture in my head of Christ taking a similar walk at the end of a day. Maybe even close to where I was at the time. I literally could have been "treading in His footsteps" as the hymn says.
My experience in Galilee was wonderful and I left the place with a bittersweet feeling inside. I had grown to love the place so much in the short time we were there and part of me didn't want to leave. One small example of something I grew to love was the beautiful sunset I saw every evening. I had much time to think upon the scriptures and to learn from them while I was there. There also was much time for me to write some of my thoughts and impressions down in my journal. I was reminded on multiple occasions of my gratitude to a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, my Savior Jesus Christ. I was grateful for the time to do so.
Our first day involved leaving the center early in the morning and traveling to Caesarea Maritama on the Mediterranean Sea. It was the former capital of Herod's kingdom and a great port on the Sea. It also was the place where Paul testified before King Agrippa of Jesus Christ and the King said "almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian." The palace where this took place fell years ago into the sea and all that is left are the foundation stones, half covered by water. We went out onto these stones and read from the Book of Acts about Paul's experience with King Agrippa. It was a cool experience. Caesarea was also a great Roman and Crusader city. It has a huge Roman theater, circus (where they would race horses), and an impressive aqueduct, as well as a huge crusader wall surrounding the city. From there we went up the coast to the Jezreel Valley to the city of Megiddo, the traditional location of the Battle of Armageddon. It is famous because 26 successive cities have been built there, one on top of the other. Then we went on down the Jezreel Valley to the city of Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus Christ. Jesus began His ministry in Nazareth when he read from Isaiah about the coming of the Messiah and told the Jews within the Synagogue, "this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." On the same site where Jesus is thought to have done this, the Catholics have built the huge Church of the Annunciation. It is an impressive church with two levels. The bottom level is built around an old Byzantine church which was built in turn upon an old Jewish Synagogue, thought to be the same synagogue that Jesus taught in. The second level of the church has great hole in the floor that looks down upon the Byzantine ruins, so one can see from the bottom of the church, through this hole, up into the high tower of the church above. It was one of the coolest churches I've ever seen. We also visited three other churches in Nazareth: a church dedicated to Joseph the husband of Mary, a Greek Orthodox built where at Mary's well where they believe Mary drew water, and another called the Synagogue Church. The Synagogue church was a simple little building, built long ago. You can tell by the name that it was once a Jewish synagogue, later a church. We sat in there as a class and read from Luke 4 about Jesus's Annunciation or when he spoke the words of Isaiah and told all in the Synagogue that He was the Son of God. It was a cool experience.
From Nazareth, we traveled to the Jordan Rift Valley and looked out over the Sea of Galilee. We stayed in a Kibbutz-run hotel on the eastern side of the lake for almost two weeks. It was awesome! The hotel is situated right next to the contested Golan Heights, which was interesting. We stayed in small 4 person bungalows right next to the lake and could go swimming anytime we wanted to in surprisingly warm water with huge waves. Every afternoon, a wind would pick up from the west and create huge waves on our beach. It was so relaxing to just find a chair by the water and chill with my feet in the water. After the sun would set every night, the city of Tiberias, which was directly across the lake from us, would light up. The time we spent there was during a New Moon period, so one could alternate staring at the city lights or look up at the brilliant stars above. I could have spent the rest of my life on that beach and would've been happy.