Have you had to look a little harder for joy over the past few months of pandemic? Do you find the coronavirus and the news to all be a little discouraging?

Feeling down and being in a place of seeking joy has happened to me many times over the years, not because I am totally Sadness all the time because I am not. It is just that hard times call for digging a little deeper, and we are definitely in difficult places these days. There have been months where I sat down and searched out instances in the Bible where it mentions joy, just to teach myself and help pull out of the funk from moving year after year after year as an Army wife.

That is why I was excited to write out this booklet to share with you what I have found in my own joy-quests. Each of the eight days focuses on easy ways to refocus your mind to a calmer, more joyful place. 

And yes, of course, 8 Days of Finding Joy During a Pandemic is free for all my readers. It is an easy read too, at only 25 pages long.

Here is an outline of what you will find in this booklet:

• What do you enjoy?
• The Importance of Joy
• One Simple Lesson that Brought Joy Back to My Life
• What are you focusing on?
• What is it that we long for?
• Don’t let your joy rest in the hands of others.
• Thinking Positively When You Feel Surrounded by Negatives
• Don’t let the news drink your coffee.

Save it to your desktop while you go through the chapters this week to make it easier to find each day. I decided to give you the whole thing at once because who wants eight separate emails? 

Now, of course, we are not about to solve all your problems with a booklet.

…But I am hoping it will be a pick-me-up/encouraging read for you.

I would love to hear from you all about your answer to the Day 1 prompt, so if you’d like to share, send me an email or a blog comment, and tell me what it is that you enjoy doing.

To download the Choosing Joy booklet, sign up below, and it will be delivered to your email:

And of course, if you are already one of my newsletter subscribers, I have already sent this out to you. Check your inbox!

The post 8 Days of Finding Joy During a Pandemic appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Linda had that unique ability to crack a person up.

The last couple of weeks things have gotten muddy. Problems. Death. Loss. Hurricanes. Math. My broken website. Cold feet. Problems. It reminds me of a song Jamie Grace sings:

I’ve had a long day, I just wanna relax
Don’t have time for my friends, no time to chit chat
Problems at my job, wonderin’ what to do
I know I should be working but I’m thinking of you and
Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down
That’s when your smile comes around

That is exactly where I’m at right now.

Aunt Linda died, and I’m sitting here scrolling through all these old photos on the Facebook.  I’m worried about my cousins and planning to go to the funeral. I hate that our family has been living all over the country, and my children didn’t even know Aunt Linda. How could they not know someone who was such a main character in my childhood? There’s regret, but what could be done differently, really? It is what it is.

Linda (in front) and Mom. I’m guessing this was Granddaddy and Granny’s horse.

at Amber’s wedding in 2008

I’ve often said it, and I’ll say it again. Life is a series of problems to solve.

Not endless though. The series of problems definitely has an end for each of us. Our family is acutely aware of that on this day.

But life is glorious, truly glorious.

In spite of all the problems, there are enough joys sprinkled in that make it all worth it. Some of them you have to look hard to find, and some are as easy as a chocolate chip cookie. I think hugs may be my personal favorite joy of life. Isn’t that funny? I once read that a human needs like 7 hugs a day, though I doubt that was a highly scientific statement.

Linda’s life was full of ups and downs too. Yes, she was married 3 times, developed diabetes, and had to fight many battles in her life. But wow at what she accomplished!

These 2 called her Mom too.

In addition to Amber and Ethan (Linda’s children) and their families, there were all these young people basically camping out at Linda’s house, calling her mom, who came to her in their teens when they needed some light in their lives! They might not have even realized that was the light of Jesus shining through their beloved second mother, but that’s exactly what it was, the love that she showed them, drawing them to her like moths to the flame.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”    Matthew 5:14-16

I was so inspired by the way our family gathered around their beloved Mom. Literally, when we went to see Linda last week, we opened the door to this tiny apartment full of young people and Linda.

The way the family looked out for each other, kept each other’s children, and the love that they shared was truly inspiring. I hope that as my children reach the age that their friends are teens facing troubles, that we will also show our sons’ friends this amazing amount of love and kindness that Linda has given these sweet young people. Love is so contagious. It’s like bamboo. It spreads well and takes over if you let it.

Linda and Amber, back when we were kids.

Amber did a wonderful job of taking care of her mother at the end, with the help of the family. Chi, Linda, Mom, and I marveled at how Amber could work all day, pick up a toddler niece just because she wanted to see her, go to the grocery store with 3 kids, and then come over and cook us all vegetable soup and visit.

Amber had also asked everyone to give Mom and I a day alone with Linda to visit it up since we had flown so far, which was so unbelievably sweet because I think those two days of visiting with Linda at the end are my favorite memories of her.

At the end of your life, all the “small stuff” we’re usually walking around sweating sort of melts away, and you talk about the GOOD stuff. We walked up and down memory lanes. I learned things I’d never known about the family. Linda confessed her regrets to us, but even more she shared laughs with us. We laughed all day long, even in the midst of this. We could do that because she was at peace with herself and where she was going. There were still people here she was worried about, loved ones she was hesitant to leave behind, but her time had come.

Around 10 years ago, when Linda still lived in Alabama

The thing about life is, it goes on. Even while we were saying good-bye to one of our most beloved, spunky, fun, and motherly members, we were also rocking new ones in our laps.

Oh, that it didn’t have to end! If only we could all always be together.

Heaven. In Heaven we can. I do pity the ones who cannot believe, who have no faith, no hope of Heaven. We pray for you to find this hope because it is the great reunion we look forward to with joy. It is not the end. The soul lives on. Generation may replace generation here on earth, but in Heaven, generation JOINS generation in a beautiful reunion of love.

Linda was the youngest. Here she is with her sister and parents.

Maw-Maw, Granny, “Railroad”, Linda, Amber, and Ethan. The good ol’ days, how I remember them. This was our last activity together as a whole family besides Thanksgiving and Christmases. Both of my parents and brother and sister were all there too.

I had a dream last summer. Mom, Linda, Amber, and I were at a family gathering, but what was weird was that Granny and Maw-Maw were there too, and of course, they left us years ago. The men in the family were also there, but they were not the ones I was talking to in the dream.

In the dream Granny and Maw-Maw (who have been dead for years) were walking around with us, and I wanted to hang out with them so badly. Mom did too. We kept trying to follow them around and talk to Granny and Maw-Maw because we were so excited to see them. But they were having none of it and instead personally escorted us back to this 2nd building. There were two buildings with a yard between them. They told us, “No, this is the staging area, and you are still needed in the other building.”

I also remember that my cousin Amber was in charge of everything in the dream. Perhaps Granny and Maw-Maw were pointing us back to Amber and Linda because at the time we still had both of them. And then all of a sudden I woke up, and I was all kinds of disturbed because there’s just something disturbing about a dream full of ghosts who wouldn’t quite look you in the face.

I woke up thinking, “Oh no! Whose funeral was that!!??” And then I knew that it was probably Linda’s, and Maw-Maw and Granny had come to take her home.

It’s hard to explain a dream, as dreams are so weird anyway, but that dream left such an impression that I still remember much of it vividly.

We are so lucky in my family because we come from this legacy of strong, southern women.

These women have been through tough, terrible things, all of them, and yet every single one of them was the epicenter of her family. Each of these women, Granny, Maw-Maw, Linda, and still we that remain, have stood our ground in times of trouble. We have clung to God to see us through. We’ve made mistakes, and we’ve cleaned up our messes. We are redeemed, trusting in Jesus, and there will never be an end for us.

One day we will all be together again.

Yes, Linda may have gone home, but she left a legacy of love and faith behind her, and we will see her again.

Maw-maw, Mom, & Linda

The post Saying Good-bye to Aunt Linda appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Going to Israel this year was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me. Yes, I know it’s a big statement to make. I like to make my statements GRANDE!!!

Other than my wedding day and the births of my children, this was the BEST!!!!!

I wrote, and wrote, and wrote about it, but I have yet to put all of that information into one source, so that’s what I am announcing today.

All of the articles I wrote about Israel bring more people to my website than any of my motherhood, humor, recipes, or military wife posts put together.

It was not my plan to release this book in the middle of the Coronavirus madness and my kids having no school for at least two weeks, but life is funny like that…

Now onto Israel!!!

I am beyond excited to Introduce my new ebook: Tour Israel in Pictures & Stories!

Every single article I ever wrote about our trip to Israel is put together in this ebook. It has tons of beautiful, full color photos and stories from every city and Holy Land site that we visited.

Jump at the chance to go see Israel from your sofa. Tour the backdrop of the Bible. Visit Jerusalem, Capernaum, Tel Aviv, Joppa, Tabgha, Sea of Galilea, Mediterranean Sea, Nazareth, and more. See where Jesus performed miracles, was baptized, walked on the water, and was crucified and buried. I will take you along on the trip of a lifetime with over 275 photos, so you will feel like you are actually traveling right along with the group.

Click here to take a peek at Amazon.com!

Don’t have time for all that? Want to just see our 10 favorite photos and maybe one story?

We got ya covered. 10 of our Faves (Okay..14…):

Looking over the ancient ruins of Capernaum to the Sea of Galilee.

The black stone wall on bottom is from the sanctuary that Jesus taught in. The white stone sanctuary on top of it was built in the 400s.

I just thought this was beautiful.

We went in June, and these flowers were blooming everywhere. I wanted to pack one of those plants in my suitcase!

Because photos of people sleeping in cars are funny…they just are..

House of Simon the Tanner….because you have no idea how many times Julie and I walked around Old Jaffa looking for this!

We walked the 3 mile beach-side route from Tel Aviv to Jaffa. THIS was our view.

Because everyone should have good traveling buddies!

The famous dome, right behind the Western Wall. Photos aren’t allowed past security, so I failed to get a good Wall pic.

Golgotha. That window is showing just a segment of the earthquake damage from the earthquake mentioned in the Bible that took place when Jesus died on the cross. You can actually look way down and see the split rock going deep down, when you’re there in person.

This enormous church stands on top of the place where Jesus was crucified as well as where he was buried and rose again.

King David’s Tomb!

Jerusalem, as seen standing on the Mount of Olives

Mount of Olives

So many stories from this amazing trip!

Click here to find this book on Amazon.

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The post ALL the Israel Posts PLUS Our Best 10 Israel Photos appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Sea of Galilee

Before we dive in to see the Jordan River, I found a few more beautiful photos of the Sea of Galilee on Alan’s camera!! I am including those here because these showed the lake better than the ones I took!

Panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee

Jet ski riders, Sea of Galilee

After leaving the Sea of Galilee, it was finally time for lunch. Let me tell ya, I was STARVING. It was a good thing because lunch was fish caught in the Sea of Galilee, locally known at “St. Peter’s fish”.

And it looked like this……

The struggle was real. I had never eaten fish prepared this way before.

One thing that was exciting about eating out in Israel is that the restaurants bring you several salads while you wait for your food. These aren’t salads like our little side salads. These are mixtures of different vegetables, dips, tuna salad, hummus with pita bread, all sorts of things! The “salad” phase of the meal was actually my favorite.

“Do any of you speak English?”

Our tour group was over 1/2 Americans and UK people and a little less than 1/2 French. That’s because our tour guide spoke French, English, Arabic, and Hebrew. Impressive, eh?

The English-speaking half all filled up a table before we could get to it at lunch, which left us at the French table. Alan asked if anyone spoke English. They did not. We all attempted to communicate through our broken Spanish and English, as Alan and I have no French words whatsoever. It was futile. Mostly they talked, and we ate.

Our tour group, gathering to tour the Jordan River

The Bible verses describing the baptism of Jesus were written out in many different languages.

Technically, this isn’t the exact spot where Jesus was baptized, but that particular site is not solidly in Israeli territory anymore, so we do our best.

The Jordan River is not clean and beautiful like the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret). In fact I was hesitant to even put my feet in.

Alan put his feet in too.

The water was FULL of GINORMOUS fish. You could see them coming close to you and swimming around. There were also plenty of ducks. I guess it’s too dirty to drink but not too dirty for wildlife to survive in. Extremely green though–it was that green, if not more so, in person. *gag*

The ducks seem unbothered.

Was it a spiritual experience?

It was. You could look down river and see other people in white robes being baptized. That was a blessing to see, and you could picture where you were standing as holy ground. Plus, there’s always that sense of, “Wow, we are in the land of the Bible. This is where Jesus walked. The Israelites fought hard for this land, over and over again they fought for it. Still they are fighting for it.

I felt a deep sympathy here for the Israelite people. I want them to have their land in peace and see the temple be rebuilt.

Their land is beautiful, and the air is dry (except in Tel Aviv where the Mediterranean Sea did bring out my frizz). I loved being in Israel, where the patriarchs walked and where the Jews returned, full of hope.

Our Jordan River tour was our last tour day.

We knew we were flying out at 10pm that night, so that made this day extra special. Alan and I hung on to it as long as we could, soaking up our surreal visit to the Holy Land.

I still cannot believe we got to do this!! It was strange to leave my children for ten straight days and travel so extremely far from them, but to experience this it was worth it. Besides, I knew they were in excellent hands.

Thank you to all four grandparents for making this possible!!!

“It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

[Deuteronomy 9:5]

“… you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.”                            [Joshua 1:11]

For a map to better understand the location and for more information about the Jordan River, click here to visit the National Geographic website article and Map.

Alan and I bought most of our souvenirs that last day at the Jordan River gift shop. Then we headed home…..a 10 or 11 hour flight across the Atlantic. By the way, it is about impossible to sleep on an airplane.

View of New Jersey from the airplane window

I chuckled when I realized how tall Alan is in the airplane seats. Poor fella. He was practically resting his head on the ceiling.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our Israel photos and stories.

If anyone were to ask me to choose anywhere to travel in the whole world, I believe I would pick Israel again. It was impossible to see it all in a week, after all, and there are no other places this meaningful.

Shalom!

The post Israel Trip Photoblog: The Jordan River appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Looking over the ruins of ancient Capernaum to the Sea of Galilee

The Basics

The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. (I know. It is probably smaller than you thought!)

This is where Jesus walked on the water!!! This region around the Sea of Galilee is referenced constantly throughout the gospels because this was the primary stomping grounds of Jesus and his disciples. The area around this lake was called Galilee, and ALL of the disciples were from this region, except one.

Want to guess which one?

Judas Iscariot. Yep. As in Judas the ultimate betrayer.

It is a beautiful, well-tended shore, the perfect spot for tourists like us to take photos.

The lake is breathtakingly beautiful and had a nice breeze coming off of it. Alan and I stood by it in awe. We watched two jet skis zipping by, and I felt happy to see that this body of water is still a relevant place where people can come and enjoy and remember.

Want to see a couple of places where this place is mentioned in the Bible?

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,^a the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.     Luke 5:1-3

I stood there on the shore, trying to picture where those boats might have sat while Jesus taught.

I have always loved how the Bible says that people were crowding around him to hear what he had to say. People flocked to Jesus because of his compassion, mercy, knowledge, and authority, as well as his miracles. They were drawn to him because he was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l.

I pictured this being a spot where they would park their boats and go through their catch of the day when they were fishing.

“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”

Luke 5: 4-11

The Bible was written while these people were still alive and could agree and disagree with each other’s accounts. I just love that. This is history.

Fishers of Men

Why were they fishing for men, you can’t help think…fishing for men. Salesmen fish for men. Ugh. They fish so hard. Door to door they fish. Go away, salesmen, I don’t want your vacuum cleaner, your cable service, or wait….yes, I do want your lawn fertilization service. Lawns are very important here….Ha!!

But Jesus wasn’t selling anything. He wasn’t gaining off the backs of anyone. If he needed to make money, he could work his stone carving (carpentry) business.

This was not in the least bit about money.

Jesus and his disciples were fishing for people to help, and not just spiritually. They went from town to town healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and then they would give them hope of salvation. Who can listen to hope for your soul when your physical needs aren’t met?

We need to be more like Jesus, fishing for people to help.

That is so hard for me. I know it sounds terrible, but I just don’t want to deal with people most of the time. I want to take care of my own family and my house and let the world handle its own problems. Who has time to get involved in the lives of others??? There is always so much to do! I don’t even want to answer my phone.

But that’s not the life we’re called to.

Your family comes before the rest, yes. If we don’t take care of our own, that’s neglect. We need to be fishers of men too, though, fishing for people to help.

Everywhere we go, we should be fulfilling our calling to love and help others, fishing for men, in whichever way God has given you to do that.

Alan and me in front of the Sea of Galilee in Capernaum, close to St. Peter’s house

I hope you are enjoying our Israel trip series. The Jordan River is next!

Want to see what you may have missed? Here are a few other Israel articles with tons of photos:

Jerusalem: The Via Dolorosa

Joppa–Home of Simon the Tanner and the port used by Jonah

The post Israel Trip: Photoblog of the Sea of Galilee/Lake Kinneret appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Alan and me in Capernaum

After we left Nazareth, we hopped back on our bus and rode through the ever-so-bumpy streets of Cana. Maybe you have heard of Cana, where Jesus turned the water into wine? We didn’t actually stop in Cana. Another destination was on our minds: Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee!!!! Eeeeeee!!!! So excited!!!

That bus ride was so bumpy that my Fitbit credited me with climbing about 200 flights of stairs. Yeah. I earned so many badges. Hahaha! I tried to make it stop. The Fitbit would not listen.

Have you ever gone somewhere so incredible that you don’t even know how to begin to tell people about it?

This experience was surreal. What we saw there filled me with awe and affirmation of faith. Not only do you get to see where Bible events took place in Capernaum. You actually see the ancient stone ruins of the buildings. Suddenly you realize that you are truly walking in the footsteps of Jesus. You are in the territory of faith and miracles. The synagogue and the houses are still there, and you can see them! Such a powerful sight to behold!

Do you like my dress? That is a Lula Roe Carly dress, perfect for touring Israel in the summer. I’m all about Lula Roe. No, I don’t sell it. April doesn’t sell things. I only wear and write things. 😉

Where Jesus preached the gospel, healed the sick, and walked on the water.

I love that we went from Nazareth to Capernaum because guess who else traveled directly from Nazareth to Capernaum, around 2,000 years ago?

where the houses stood

Looking over the ruins towards the Greek Orthodox Church of the Seven Apostles.

Side note: we did not get to go over and visit the Greek Orthodox Church, but if you have a chance, go see it. The art in the domes is stunning. You can see pictures of that here.  According to the Jewish Virtual Library, it is called the Church of the Seven Apostles because this is where Jesus appeared to seven of his disciples on the sea.

This is the synagogue built in the fourth century AD.

Our tour guide explained many things, yet I cannot remember much of what he said. I was all in a nerd tizzy about these ruins. I wanted to stand and stare at them. Then I wanted to climb the guard rail and touch and study every single wall. Hmmm… I seem to have a little Caleb in me (my adventurous son who MUST touch everything). I am not even kidding that I was silently forcing myself to stay with the group.

There are even artifacts, like jugs!!

How is ancient Capernaum in tact and abandoned while Jerusalem is completely built up?

History can be a mysterious thing, but I believe God did this on purpose. Here was a place where we could get a glimpse into history, much more so than you could do in Jerusalem because Jerusalem is heavily populated and has been conquered so many times.

Capernaum is shockingly well preserved. In fact, even the little house they believe was Peter’s had “Peter’s house” written in the walls, which they found when they dug it up.

According to Israel Tours, one reason why Capernaum did not get attacked was that they did not take part in the Jewish revolts against Rome. No one knows why the town was rebuilt in another area, leaving these homes abandoned. However, they do know that there was an earthquake on Jan. 18, 749 A.D.

I can’t tell where one house stopped and another began. Can you?

²³And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. ²⁴But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.   ^{Matthew 11:23-24}

Hmmmm…maybe that’s why Capernaum was abandoned…

I could not help but wonder if Jesus sat in some of these tiny rooms. Did people sit around their tables here and talk about the miracles? Yes, of course they did.

⁵And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, ⁶And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. ⁷And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.  Matthew 8:5-7

The Synagogue

²¹And they went into Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day he entered into the synagogue, and taught. ²²And they were astonished at his doctrine: for he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.

Mark 1:21-22

This black stone wall at the bottom is THE synagogue!!

Jesus healed people in this very synagogue.

You see the white stones? Those are 4th century.

You see the black stones at the bottom? That’s the original Jesus-era synagogue!!!! The oldest ruins are all in black stone because that is the color of the local rocks.

Wow!!!

I mean even the top layer is ancient, but the fact that you can lay eyes on the synagogue Jesus taught in about had us speechless.

In Jerusalem, everything has a giant Crusader-built monument on top of it. The only place I truly felt like I was seeing something from ancient times was at the Western Wall. But Capernaum does not disappoint. This place inspires. It is a breath of fresh air, which is just another reminder of how the Lord can take something forgotten and abandoned and turn it around to be a thing of utmost beauty and inspiration.

Notice all the beautiful columns.

The octagonal St. Peter’s Church, designed in the shape of a boat. This church has a glass bottom feature of St. Peter’s house.

14When Jesus arrived at Peter’s house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law sick in bed with a fever. 15He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve them.… Matthew 8:14-15

Ah….And there’s a breath-taking glimpse of the Sea of Galilee

You can read these Bible accounts of Jesus and his disciples over and over, the stories of fishing in the Galilee and of Jesus walking on the water, and not realize just how close together it all is.

Our guide did a great job of pointing out all of the details in the columns and what they mean.

Do you see the ark of the covenant carving?

The Sea of Galilee is a glorious sight to behold. It is one of those true-blue lakes.

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20At once they left their nets and followed him.

21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Jesus Heals the Sick

23Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,^g Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.”

Matthew 4:18-25

Inside this church is a giant glass bottom covering the site of Peter’s house. I loved the quiet, lake-side atmosphere here.

This ancient part of Capernaum is taken care of by the Franciscan monks who have a monastery here. They are also the ones who discovered the rich archaeological finds in Capernaum, when they purchased the land in the late 1800s.

Peter’s house wasn’t discovered until 1968!!!

St. Peter’s house!!!

And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”                               Mark 2:1-5

Even the gates of Hades will not overcome Christ’s church.

15“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,^b and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades^c will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^d bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^e loosed in heaven.” 20Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.     Matthew 16:15-20

This has run long, so I will save my store of beautiful Sea of Galilee photos for the next Israel post. So many important things happened here!!

Want to see MORE Israel? Here are a few of my other posts in this series:

Nazareth

John the Baptist’s Birthplace

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The post Why Capernaum was Our Favorite City to Visit in Israel appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Look closely to see the olives!

After Nazareth, and before Capernaum, we headed over to Tabgha, to see where Jesus called his first disciples and later performed the miracle of feeding the multitudes with the one basket of bread and fish.

If only these flowers would fit in my suitcase…

Tabgha

This sign below provides a nice overview of what happened here:

I love the historical value here! They had these sites marked from as far back as the days of Jesus, and the mosaics I will show you today were created around 480 AD!!! Y’all! Wow! That’s so long ago!

History and the Bible

People often want to compare Christianity with science, which is baffling because Christianity is not science. Those are two different fields. I mean, yes, I believe God created the world because I look at creation, and I don’t think amazing things like life on earth just happen on their own. I guess in that way it’s related to science.

However, the actual study of the Bible and what happened in it is not a scientific topic. That is history. It is a historical account, and there is so much evidence to back up the existence of Jesus that whether or not he lived is not even debatable.

In fact, when you consider the humongous cloud of witnesses around the time that the Old and the New Testaments were written, it is nothing but strengthening to your faith.

Now whether or not Jesus was the son of God, that’s a matter of faith, so we could debate that,  but whether or not he walked among us, that is well documented history.

For more on that topic, see this post.

I regret not stopping longer to soak in just how much happened in this place! That’s the thing about touring. It is always a hustle to stay with the group, and having lost my group one time already (back in Jerusalem), I wasn’t in a hurry to lose them again.

an olive tree

The list of things that happened here is astounding. Holy ground.

This was our last day in Israel. I didn’t want to leave!!!

Below the altar is the rock where Jesus divided the loaves.

site of the miracle of the loaves and fish–Look at the mosaics in front of the rock. You see the fish? These were created in 480 AD!!

I don’t recall if that front right part of the tile that is colored differently was damaged or if that was a mosaic map. I think it’s a map.

As you can see, only portions of this amazing floor survived the test of time.

Some of it has been repaired and restored over the years, but you would not believe how much of this is ORIGINAL!

My mouth hung wide open when he was telling us about this!

From the letters and the types of birds, archaeologists determined that Egyptians created them.

Do you know what this is!!??? Squeeeeaaaaal!!!

That is the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus walked on the water, where Jesus taught from a boat, where the disciples fished!

On my next Israel post, I will show you more of the Sea of Galilee and we’ll go into Capernaum. It was our favorite part of the whole trip. I cannot wait to share it with you.

Here are a few more photos, and a few quotes from the famous Sermon on the Mount, preached near Tabgha.

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes

² And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons^[a] of God.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.         Matthew 5:1-11

It really was the trip of a lifetime! For more Israel photos/stories, see below! To read the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, go here.

Can’t get enough Israel? Click here to snag my book about the whole trip, with over 180 full color photos and stories.

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The post 22 Inspiring Photos of Ancient Tabgha, Where Jesus Performed Miracles appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.