Nazareth

This little cafe is where we stopped for lunch after Mount Carmel, it was raining before we got off the bus and then it stopped for a little while, it would have been fun to eat outside!

I threw this jacket in at the last minute, thinking I might get cold while sleeping on the plane.  I wore it almost everyday while we were in Israel, oh well, at least it was warm.

They have tons of veggies to put on your falafal.

A falafal is a veggie meatball deep fried, then you put it inside this pita bread, add veggies and yum!!
Brian's is the veggie less one, of course mine has a lot.  The juice was really yummy!!

Pickled cauliflower, pretty huh??

Some friends we made on the tour.

Of course, I always found a beautiful flower to include.

It was so green and beautiful!n  This is another shot of Armageddon.

Little town called Iksal, with Mt. Tabor in the background.

Sign pointing the way to Nazareth.

We drove along the outskirts of Nazareth, the congested streets are too hard for the bus to go downtown, they said they used to meet in a church inside Nazareth, but sometimes with the congestion it would take over an hour to get there.  So we went up to a hill over looking the valley.

Nazareth is now an Israeli Arab city.

Tender mercies, every time we stopped, the rain would clear and we would be able to enjoy the sights, just before we got there, Michael said, we may have to teach from the bus, but then the rain cleared again!!

Nazareth in the background.  Nazareth was were Jesus grew up, he had to learn who he was and what he had to do, just like all of us.

He learned from his father, who taught him a trade, the word of God and how to be a man.
He had family life, extended family.

He went to the tops of the mountains to pray often, to seek guidance from his Heavenly Father, it is probable he came to this mountain.

These cliffs could be the very cliffs the people of Nazareth brought him to after he had announced in the synagogue, that he was the Christ.  They wanted to throw him off the cliffs, but he walked away unharmed.

It took a lot of personal preparation for him to get ready for his ministry, it took 30 years for Christ to grow grace by grace--we must be more patient with ourselves as we grow grace to grace.

He learned from his family, nature, animals and as he later taught parables about these things, you can tell he was very observant of the things around him.

It was pretty cool to see the flowers, walk on the hill and imagine Him here praying or pondering.  I was able to feel close to him each time we were in nature.

I loved all the flowers, they were everywhere!!

The sun glinting off the city, Nazareth, it smelled fresh and clean, like it does after a rain.  I hated to get back on the bus.  I could have spent at least another hour just thinking about all that has taken place here.

Click on the picture above to enlarge it, and see if you can find the KFC bucket.

His fist miracle occurred in Cana.  As he attended a family wedding, they ran out of wine.  His mother came to him and asked for his help.  "What would you have me do for you?"  Then he turned the water into wine, and the ministry began.  I think it is pretty cool, that the very first miracle was something he did for his own mother.  Family is important to him.

As we drove through Cana, we all laughed at this little store, apparently we could have bought Cana wine.