ARRIVED!!

Well...we've been here for several days now, and are just now finding the time (and mental alertness) to sit down and begin the journaling we have been compiling in our thoughts.  So much has already happened, we don't want to put everyone on overload in our first post :)  Therefore, we have decided to post every day (well, most every day...) until we have caught up with sharing the current adventures.  After that, we will plan to post weekly.  Hope you find our insights exciting enough to follow along with us on this journey :)

To make sure that NOTHING would keep us from beginning our adventure on time ~ not rain, nor sleet, nor snow ~ we had to leave our home 3 days early to get off the mountain before a winter storm came!  Thanks to good friends, we had God-appointed places to stay (thanks Mike & Karen and Sam & Jackie).  After arriving safely & securely at the airport, everything went off without a hitch...except Jim's carry on bag setting off the curiosity of the TSA agents due to Linda's big bag of various spices she couldn't leave behind....

As anyone who has been on a L-O-N-G flight knows, it is somewhat important who sits next to you for 10-11 hours.  With Jim on the isle, and Linda in the middle of a set of 3 seats, you wonder what it will be like sitting next to a total stranger in such close proximity. As we arrived to row 43 on our Boeing 777, we were enthusiastically welcomed by an Orthodox Jewish young man in his early twenties.  He had just left his mom & dad and was on his way back to Israel (as a student) and was recently engaged and due to be married in 5 short weeks.  Along with this bit of information, we learned all the details of his courtship and proposal to this young girl and how it is done in the Jewish community.

What a blessing to have an opportunity so quickly before we even arrived!  He was missing his family already (as he will stay in Israel after he marries) and Linda felt he needed to be mothered, and so she did....She helped him with his pillow and getting settled, with his meals (now understand he was not just receiving this assistance, but initiating it), and we laughed & talked for hours.  When it came time for morning prayers, he put on phylacteries and opened his Prayer Book.  Since he had not slept yet, and it was in the middle of the night, he dozed off - boy did we want a picture!  This sweet young man praying to God until he had peace to finally fall asleep - just inches from Linda's shoulder :)

Later, after he awoke (Linda saved his breakfast for him as they brought it by) we shared what we were to be doing in Israel, and a little about Linda's background.  He also let us look at his Prayer Book, and we just "happened" to open it to the morning prayers where the Shema was written - and we could actually read it in Hebrew!  Before we disembarked, he gave us his phone number in Israel and said he'd like to keep in touch. Praise God for His appointments!

Well, guess we'll continue with more adventures tomorrow....