Good morning…
Does this ever happen to you? At the 11th hour, I always want to stay home. As my fears swirl wildly in the final hours, I crave my familiar comfort zone. I just want to hunker down in my own happy place.
I have been waiting to go to on an adult trip to Israel with my husband Steve and a small group of cool people, for years and years and years. But with at least one of our four kids still in high school, living at home, I knew it was never wise to leave our family unattended for ten straight days. So I have always stayed back as Steve has led great trips. I have stayed home … until now.
Now our four kids are all young adults, and they will each take turns staying at home with our two dogs. Now I have no more excuses. This is my first year to experience Israel, the Holy Land my husband fell in love with even before God’s love blossomed between us during our senior year of college. Minus the COVID years off, Steve has returned to this sacred soil once or twice a year, with either Lovett studies or curious adults, for as long as I can remember.
When the war in Ukraine broke out on Thursday morning, I got an email the very next morning.
“Hey!” my friend wrote for a second time. “Couple of other thoughts… 1. Have u considered not posting while u are gone? U will be experiencing a lot of new things and will be very busy and in a different time zone completely. Just throwing the thought out that you might just enjoy this trip and rest when u can and let the posting be ‘let go’ for the trip.”
Her caring concern continued: “2. I know there’s no going back now but once u reminding me about your trip, I’ve laid awake thinking about you and Steve and your safety…besides Covid, being in Israel at any time is always risky but now with this craziness with Russia and Ukraine… i know I’m not saying anything u haven’t thought and i also know that if there are 2 people God will protect on this earth, its you 2. Just know i love u and will be praying daily for you. When do u leave and return?”
“You are so dear,” I emailed back. “You love me and I love you, and this is very clear. It is a gift from God, a gift I truly cherish. I asked Steve last night if he thought this ‘war’ would impact our travel to and from Israel and he said ‘No, it’s in a totally different part of the world.’ None of the twenty-four people going have reached out with any concern. Steve talked to our travel agent, and she sees no impact on our trip.”
“I actually feel peaceful, like I could go or not go at this point,” I honestly admitted. “I feel like the decision for me is to follow Steve’s lead since he knows so much more about the area and the experiences we are heading into. He has led about ten trips over the years, with kids or adults. So I hear your concern and at the same time I trust Steve’s judgment. All of us go everywhere with filled and surrounded by the protection of God, and Israel will be no different. I guess I have to live the sign I just bought last week for LaTonya Gates and the blue house at PAWkids. I will text you a photo of it.”
Even though fear of the unknown is rising up at the 11th hour, I know in my heart of hearts that going to Israel with Steve this Lenten season is definitely, “Mine to do.”
If you want to join us vicariously this year or prayerfully consider joining us in the future for one of Steve’s annual trips to the Israel, check out our daily itinerary, including a map of this Holy Land. I am pre-scheduling our blog posts from now until March 13th, when I will happily nestle back into my comfort zone, having learned valuable lessons about our faith overriding our fears.
Now we can come fearlessly right into God’s presence, assured of his glad welcome when we come with Christ and trust in him (Ephesians 3:12, TLB).
…Sue…
