Turkey Day 4

This was supposed to be the last day of our trip:)  We spent an unexpected night in Israel because of a flight delay but we are now on the way again.  As we had our connections through Turkey and we walked into the Israeli airport, I had some nostalgia and was sad about leaving Israel.  I even said something like, I wish we were staying.  I regretted those words about 15 min later when we found out we had an eight hour flight delay:) But back to my last day in Turkey.  We ended the trip spending the day at Ephesus, which they say is one of the greatest archaeological sites in our day.  At least that's what the guide says:)  It was pretty amazing though.

This is the facade of the library, one of the three great libraries of that time.  It was so impressive and gorgeous.  It was hard to get a good picture close up, but the detail on the stone is incredible.  This facade has become the symbol of Ephesus.  And for good reason.

We ended our tour of Ephesus with the theatre.  It could originally hold 25,000 people!  That's just huge!  This is our last group shot of the trip.  It helps show how big the theatre was.  Pastor Brett Pennell got to preach to us there, which I thought was pretty awesome for him!  He got to speak where Paul spoke.  Then our group went down and sang on the stage.  The acoustics were amazing and the other groups actually clapped and asked for an encore:)

I never got to finish this post before we left the Israel airport, so it is now a few days later and I'm finishing it up.  The people who arranged this trip were calling it, "The Trip of a Lifetime", and they delivered!  One of my most favourite things  to do is travel, but this trip was special.  History, culture, politics, they're all interests of mine, but when you combine that with a spiritual journey, the time becomes amazing.  Throw in a great group of people, some nice hotel rooms, time with my husband and I cannot describe how incredible my time was.  If you're a Christian, I would definitely recommend that you visit Israel.  When I read through the Bible, go through the stories and see the names of places, I see actual places in mind.  I have a better grasp of the culture of that time.  I have special memories linked to those places and stories.  It was a definite investment in my spiritual life.  I don't know how else to end, except to say, Go to Israel!!