A Final Post

I made it off the airplane in Washington, DC safe and sound Saturday afternoon after a long and arduous trip earlier that morning. My flight left from Tel Aviv at 5:30 a.m., so I stayed awake all night for intense Israeli security and check-ins. I must have been suspicious to the guards at Ben Gurion Airport, though, because I was assigned a special escort to guide me through the process. I’m certain it was either because of my blonde hair or profession of faith. At one point, after I had told an airport interrogator that I was both Christian and studying the Bible, he asked why I would want to study the scriptures. “Because they’re important to me,” I answered. The fellow gave me a funny look, and I think that’s when he decided I would get special help with carrying and searching my bags.

Saturday afternoon I was picked up by a Georgetown friend and we traveled to the Delaware beach for the evening. Sunday morning I woke up to the television news hide-line that an American student from Brown University had been kidnapped and released by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade in the West Bank city of Nablus. When they put the young adventurer’s hostage picture on the screen, I could hardly believe my eyes. It was Ben, a fellow in two of my classes and someone I had very recently gotten to know. I had hung out with Ben on my last Friday night in Jerusalem, sipping fresh-squeezed orange juice with him at a Palestinian hang-out in Eastern Jerusalem. On Saturday he decided to visit a similar social establishment in Nablus, one of the most dangerous Palestinian cities, and got himself kidnapped. Luckily, Ben was released after his captors realized he was American.

The story quickly put my semester in Israel into good perspective. God was so good to me in all my travels, keeping me safe from terror, kidnappings, and anything else remotely dangerous. The closest I came to harm was when I was accosted by shopkeepers pulling me into their stores and trying to pawn off their wares. I thank God so much for His provision this entire semester. Even when I traveled to the West Bank and Dahab in Sinai (which a month later was the place of a large terror attack), I was held tightly in His hands. That said, I am also thankful to be back in the U.S.A., where the worry of terror and war is so small. Being in Israel taught me to trust in God for my security and health, but it is a big relief to be home.

This summer I will spend in Ohio, making my best effort at tent making. I’ll be cleaning up yards, trimming, and mulching before going back to Georgetown for my senior year. This is the first summer I’ll be self-employed, and so far I have plenty of work to keep me busy. Lord-willing, I’ll learn to trust my Heavenly Father even more as I seek out work and set my own schedule.

To everyone who has read this blog, thank you so much for coming along on the trip to Israel. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading, and I pray that God use my travels for His honor and glory. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your thoughts and prayers. I wouldn’t want to be traveling in the Holy Land without knowing that I had an amazing family and church at home supporting and praying for me. I look forward to talking to you about my experiences and sharing pictures from the Holy Land. I’ve learned plenty, and I’m excited to share it all if you’ve got the time to listen.


P.S. I plan on beginning a new blog in September, and I’ll post the new link on this website once I’ve started it. For now, I’ve got a hectic and lazy summer to enjoy.