I love traveling and exploring and was thrilled by the opportunity to visit Jordan and Israel for ten days. What started out as an opportunity to see new places became so much more. It was a pilgrimage to perspective, a journey to find some left behind pieces of myself again…
On the first day of our tour, as I bopped in the buoyant water of the Dead Sea I realized that even the most uninhabitable of places have a purpose. This hyper-saline body of water doesn’t allow any life to grow, but has amazing healing properties. With my skin tingling from the immense salt, whilst rubbing rejuvenating mud all over my body, I rediscovered the part of me that finds purpose in the brackish of places and times.
At the church of annunciation as I stand infront of the cave that Mary called home, I can almost hear the angel’s message to her. She was only 14 years old, an innocent virgin, and the weight of humanity lay on the baby to be born from her. Inside the cave stands an altar with the Latin inscription: “Here the Word was made flesh”. My heart weeps for this mother whom also knew the immense pain of seeing ones child suffering. In the broken pieces of all the mosaics from around the world, I see the beauty in the brokenness. The legacy of a promise delivered. The gratitude for a baby born to save me. Admiration for a mother whom boldly declares: “I am the Lord’s servant”. And in my heart echos this age old promise “I too am the Lord’s servant”.
As I walked the rest of the week in the footsteps of Jesus, visiting the places I have read about in the Bible, I felt my soul and spirit catching up with my body. I reconnected with myself, the person I became and the life I have.
On the sea of Galilea, traveling in a wooden boat, I praised and worshipped to my God whom calms the storm. As I looked out onto the quiet water, I realized that I truly love my life. And any day if given the choice, I will choose my kids and husband again. Our storms are part of our history (His Story), our hope and faith part of our legacy, and our love a vulnerable gift to be treasured.
