We have only been here a week and it feels like we have already been here for a month. Time goes so slow here. I have forgotten what day it is and everything here seems to be so unreal. Sometimes I forget where I am and then I look out the window and find myself staring at the Dome of the Rock and the city walls of Old Jerusalem and I laugh to myself as my mind goes “oh no biggie, that’s just Jerusalem out there. We are allowed quite a lot of free time here where we are able to go out and roam and see the Old city for ourselves. It is so interesting and amazing how we can read something that occurred in the Old Testament and then go to that same location and look onto the same valleys that King Solomon did. It is kind of hard to realize the significance of the things I am doing and often times overwhelming to think that I am standing on the same holy ground that Jesus stood on. Walking through the alleyways of the city I think how crowded and busy they are and wonder why the people look at me so oddly. Then later I have images of Christ walking through the same crowded streets with people not only staring at him but shouting and spiting on him and I have to stop and realize that I am literally walking where he walked. There is so much culture and nationalism here. These people love their Holy Land. I pass by Muslims praying towards Mecca and hear the call to pray every morning. I see the Jews with their ringlet hair and their black hats and coats murmuring a prayer to themselves. And as I see all these people practicing their religion I wonder if I am doing the same, if I am doing enough to worship my father in heaven. Maybe I don’t have to pray five times a day or constantly read the Torah but am I doing enough in remembering the great legacy that occur within this city. As I sit in the same garden where Jesus bled for my sins, I am overcomed with a reverence and a greater love for my Savoir. He didn’t have to do what he did for me but he did and all I have to do in return is follow his commandments and try and live the life he did. He knows it won’t be easy and he knows I will fall and mess up but he also know that I can do it, that I can push through the hard times and see the light at the end of the road. For he has felt every pain I have felt and he knows who I am. Jerusalem is so old and is packed with so much history. There is so much I have to learn and experience still. So many people’s lives have been changed because of the events that have occurred here. I hope that I can come to discover the importance and sacredness of this city and that my life will be changed as well.

-N