Random Pictures!

 I will always remember my experiences with this trip. I am really thankful for the opportunity to go with my classmates. I had such a great time and I learned a lot. 

The van ride back sure was fun! I took lots of pictures of the landscape, I finished the "what did you learn"? sheet early, I talked, listened to my ipod and tried to sleep. I was in the very back of the bus with Jake and Rachel and it was so bumpy! I was trying so hard to fall asleep but I couldn't!! We moved around so much too try to get comfortable. I think I ended up on the floor. We ate at a huge U.T. Wataburger and we made video diarys about our experiences so we can encourage the eighth graders to come next year. I thought that Jakes was by far the best. I did mine with Alex and we talked about the Ozark Statue. It was an interesting ride, but after we got back to the school Rachel and I went to The Cheesecake Factory. It was so nice to have real food rather than Mc Donalds!

The Passion Play was great! That was definitely the BEST part! The cooler weather and just being outside was so fun! I loved how the doves flew around and around and then went down except for one, that was great. The lip-syncing wasn't all that bad, but it still bothered me. 

I love the set layout and the scrip. The play was very unique, like an older broadway show, but outside. The story was very informing and factual and kept me entertained through the entire performance. I knew that Jesus went though a lot of torment but it was very shocking to see him get that type of ridicule and punishment.  "Hosanna Jesus"!    "We love you Jesus"! 

The Parable of the Potter helps me visualize that we need to open our hearts to let him soften them. God has to mold us to what he wants us to be. I really took that to heart not just because the actor was phenomenal and showed such emotion, but because I believe that I try to think more for myself and what I want to do rather than what God wants me to do. That is what I am here for, right? To serve God. 

               The Holy Land Tour was one of the longer, but interesting parts of our trip. We all got on trams and stopped at several places to learn about different parts of Jerusalem. We started at the gates of Jerusalem and traveled past the Ten Commandments and many alters until we finally reached our first stop at the temple where we witnessed the daily duties of a priest. Then we traveled passed wells and an animal pin before we reached the inn keeper. The inn keeper showed us the town well, the carpenter shop, her house and her inns. The inn keeper had her own personal well and as we were walking past it I stepped into it on accident. We then walked up into this steep hill and Mary was there in this cave. She told us the story of Jesus birth and we sang a quick hymn then we were back in the tram. We passed a grape watch tower and then we arrived at Peter's station by the river. He joked and talked with us as we walked along the river and back. Once the tram picked us up we traveled up hill to three stations The Upper Room where the last supper was held and we were taught where and how they sat. Then we walked over to the second station where Mary Magdalene showed us Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified and showed us that Jesus had risen from the tomb.

The Sacred Arts museum was one of my favorites! To see ways people use the creativity God gave them and use it to serve him was amazing! My favorite pieces were the Mother of Pearl carving and the Picture of Jesus sitting in the desert after being baptized and in the background is a big city and how Jesus was thinking of us even then. Another one that stood out to me is a painting of people in our past and there is a blank spot that you put your self into. Meaning that Jesus loves you, but he also loves the people that my have been ridiculed or have had a huge impact on out culture.