En Gedi

Tim headed to Galilee this morning for a 4-day field study. I am incredibly thankful that Grandma and Grandpa are here to help me with the kids! We have enjoyed our time with them and look forward to more outings and play-time in the coming days.

On Wednesday we rented a car and headed out to the desert to hike through En Gedi and then go for a swim in the Dead Sea. On the 1-hour drive, we saw several bedouin communities, a -300 sign (meaning our elevation was 300 feet below sea level; the Dead Sea is at about -1,350), and a camel at the gas station! (See pictures below.)

We knew we were outside the city of Jerusalem when we saw this out the window:

Upon arrival at En Gedi, we were glad to be getting an early start because we were able to see some wildlife. We saw several ibex (deer) and hyrax (referred to as "coneys" in Scripture).

"He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; He enables me to stand on the heights."

- Psalm 18:33

"The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the coneys."

- Psalm 104:1

For our fellow birding friends and family - this is a white-crowned black wheatear.

I Samuel 24:1 tells us that when David fled from Saul, he went to En Gedi. Remember the story of Saul entering the cave that David was in, and David had the opportunity to kill Saul but spared his life and only cut off the "corner" of his robe? This happened right here at En Gedi. There are still several caves in the cliffs:

Hiking in the hot desert (about 96 degrees)....

...and then seeing little trickles of spring water coming from the rock, and a few green plants...

...and then arriving at a waterfall with cool, crisp, clean water...

(notice the pure JOY on our boys' faces!)

...this experience reminded me of Jesus being our Living Water (which is what these springs are called in Hebrew). He tells the Samaritan woman in John 4:14, "but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The other day I was feeling weak and discouraged, and after going to my Lord in prayer and reading from His Word, I felt refreshed and had a renewed outlook on my life - and even saw my children through different eyes. Jesus later says in John 7:37-38, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." What an amazing thought! If we drink of the Living Water that our Lord offers us, then His Spirit flows from within us. Lord, may we be that cool, refreshing water that others need as they go through the desert!

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Please note: I did finish posting about Sukkot, but because I started it on September 29 and didn't publish it until last week, Blogger inserted it into where Sept. 29 falls on our blog. So if you haven't found it yet, scroll down until you see "More on Sukkot."