I lift my eyes unto the hills... Part One

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

⁷ The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸ the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

I'm sure all of you know by now (since I still talk about it incessantly) that I went to Israel in June. It truly was a life changing trip, and I will forever be grateful that I was given the opportunity to go. 

Part of our trip preparation was to memorize portions of scripture that we were to recite at specific points along the way. Supposedly, Pastor Andy chose people at random to do these passages, but it surely seemed many passages were perfectly matched to the people who received them. 

When I received Psalm 121 in my list I was really excited. We had just firmed up some plans to begin a long time dream of beginning to section hike the Appalachian Trail with our kids. Part of our plan for these hikes was to memorize the Psalms of Ascents (chapters 120-134) as we went along. Knowing these were some of the Psalms the Israelite pilgrims would sing on their journeys to Jerusalem for holidays, made them seem like appropriate passages to memorize on our journeys. 

So, I set out to memorize my passage, and eagerly awaited when I would be called on to recite it. Little did I know that the morning we would arrive at the Wadi Zohar would also be the morning that I (the official trip photographer) would somehow manage to leave my camera in the hotel. But thanks to some pals, I got a couple of shots of this amazing place. 

I also did not realize that when I stood at the top of this Wadi -which closely resembles the terrain Mary and Joseph would have travelled from Nazareth to Bethlehem and then again when Mary made her way to Jerusalem for the Passover turned Crucifixion turned Resurrection- that I would be so overcome with emotion. 

As Pastor Andy described what it would have been like to make this long, hard journey as a family I could not help but think of the long, hard journey my family had endured this year. It was hard, rugged, exhausting, and daunting. But... In the hardest of times, I knew exactly where my help came from. From The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. I knew that he was protecting me, guiding me, shading me, and watching over me relentlessly. Yes, the journey was hard, but we had made it. 

So, as I started to say the verses, the tears came. And they came. And they came. And I was so grateful for God's Word that had been hidden in my heart on the journey of my life. And I was grateful for his mercy and his unfailing love. 

Pastor Andy said many times on that trip that people learn best with their feet. I love that. That is why this time next week, we will be just beginning our 32 mile hike of the southern most terminus of the AT. And that is why we will be memorizing Psalm 121 as a family. The terrain will obviously be different than an Israeli desert, but the journey will still be hard. I'm praying my kids understand, as I did, that we learn through our feet, and that they need to hide His Word in their hearts. One day they will need these words of comfort (probably one day next week!)

I can't wait to post Part 2 of this entry. I am confident that we are going to learn amazing lessons next week as a family. So, look for that post and the awesome pics of my rock star kids as they conquer this adventure!

 

This pic was after I pulled myself together and just before we began our descent. 

These are pics at the bottom.

We started from waaaaay up there!