Top Ten Things We Did Today.

(by Michelle and her Mommy Dearest:)

1. Ate a tasty breakfast with incredible people from all over the world!
2.Drove to Bethlehem to see where Jesus was born. (Thank you, Mrs. Hames, for driving!)
3.Took a walk beneath ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethesemene
4. Were blown away by the stunning vew of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives
5.shopped at an Israeli grocery store!
6.Found out that going to Jordan from Israel won't be that difficult!
7.Delicious lunch at Christ Church Guesthouse with some folks from Holland.
8.Scrumptious dinner at Christ Church Guesthous with Jane and Paul Hames!
9.Got to put the books we brought on the shelf. Sounds wierd, but so much fun!
10.Got to help out in the kitchen of a ministy that God has used to encourage and strengthen the hearts of many over the past 200 years!

Flying over a sea of clouds!

The following was written in my journal about four hours ago....

Yikes! I'm on a plane to London. It's really hard to believe....the plane left about 11:15pm, and now it would be 3:30am American time.

What an adventure this is! My mom is sleeping beside me, and the whole plane is quite dark. I couldn't sleep much, so I watched Kit Kitterage on my own personal TV screen.

Now everything is quiet, and I opened up the window and I think we are flying over the sea! It's just begining to get light (it's probably about 8:00 in London, which is still a few hours away) and how strange and wonderfully sureal it is to hear nothing but the hum of the plane, and to look out at the darkness which is gradually growing into a morning blue.

At first I thought I could see the land ahead of us, but it wasn't getting any closer! Then I realized it was only the wing of the plane:)

***

It's definately getting lighter now, a beautiful blue-ish, misty grey outside, disturbed only by the bright light flashing at the tip of the wing and the pale, shimmering stars in the fading darkness.

***

I thought earlier that what I saw beneath us was the sea, but now I realize it is actually a sea of clouds! Simply breathtaking! And how amazing that it is already mid-morning in England, and we are flying into the dawn, rather than the dawn flying into us...everything is so beautiful!

I think I am finally beginning to believe this trip is for real! And I can't tell you how terribly thrilled I am...

***

Ah, how beautiful! Now there is a pale peach light breaking sofly on the glorious sea of cottony clouds, gently accenting their rippling beauty. It is almost like we are flying over a field of early morning snow, piled high and rippling with soft snow drifts. The whole sky and clouds below is soft and blue and bright, yet somehow still asleep.

The light dawns so slowly that I almost cannot notice it. I am only aware that there are now details on the wing, whereas before it was just a black sillouette against the sky.

Now the clouds are thinning out a bit, and they are quote more like the lumps of cotton I picked with with the neighbors around the block jsut a few weeks ago. Little bits of cotton floating in the sea...that's what it looks like! And futher out there is what appears to be an island of white softness that would be so lovely to sleep upon!

***

I switched on my TV and it announced that there is 1 hour and 53 minutes remaining on the flight...so I could get two hours of sleep, but oh! How could I sleep amidst such what such beauty is taking place? How delicious the clouds look...how magnificently soft. But I really must get some sleep!

***

Well, I shut the window for two minutes but opened it again to take a few pictures. I just couldn't bare to keep that window shut! And WOW! How brilliant the sky has become in only these few moments! It is even more angelically bright and soft, and just above the horizon of clouds there is a brilliant streak of violet-blue that fades into a pale, rosy orange.



There are big patches of clouds now, and so whispy! The pale light in the distance makes the tips of the plane burn with a glorious gold.

***

I managed to get a few minutes of sleep, and oh how lovely! Opening the window after laying my head down for a bit is just like waking up from you warm bed and stepping outside to find the world painted with the gloriously brilliant white of winter's first sweet snowfall.

It's so strange how it's gone from 11:15pm to 9:20am in only about 5 hours!

***


I would tell you more, but our internet time is just about up! Later I'll tell you about our walk about London....until then, farewell!