Walking on more old rocks...

Do you think it is possible to become jaded in a week?

I do.

Jaded is one of the choice words of our teacher, Abner. Basically he uses it to say something like this every time:
"Don't get jaded. Everyone who has been here before has told you, 'it's a once in a lifetime experience' and you'll get told a hundred times that it is an amazing opportunity. Believe them. It is. Don't let the everyday nature of it let it become a hindrance to what you get to experience. Don't get jaded by what you hear, believe every word of it and live like it."

He is so right. Even in a week it is easy to think "oh, look, another old rock that David looked at or Jesus touched or whatever (-eyeroll-)." It sounds crazy, but it happens fast. We've visited Jerusalem 3 times in a week and we'll be there again tomorrow and Wednesday. It's hard to not get tired of walking all day, even in Jerusalem. Every day is packed with cool stuff, but at the same time so much information and walking around and anticipating two more days of similar things makes it seem less real, more manufactured, more short-term. I don't want that for me.

I'm here for 3 months and week or so. That's a lot of time right? Wrong. That's nothing. It will go so fast and soon involve a lot more classroom and a lot less field time. I was thinking about this today as we walked in and around the Old City. I am tired. It's Sunday and we're basically doing school. I should be resting, instead I get a 6 day school week this week. But who cares? "Eli. Stop worrying. Stop whining." I thought to myself. People kill (figuratively speaking) for opportunities like this. That was a good moment.

What am I doing here? I'll tell you what I'm doing here: I'm having the experience of a lifetime. I am getting to go and see and do things that many of us only dream of. I am learning and growing and being tested. Most of all, I am fighting to make the most of it. It's a fight to make the most of what the Lord gives us. It becomes routine or it looks too hard or we get stuck in a mindset of survival rather than thrivival (I made it up ok? It's not a word I know, but it should be now). So to you my faithful readers I am telling you, don't let me waste a moment.

I may be walking on a million old rocks a day that all look and feel the same. I may be cramming names and dates and sites down my throat like chicken-fried steak (since we don't really get such tasty morsels around here I thought it was an appropriate example) but I am not going to fall prey to this jaded business. Oh no. You will not find me being tripped by the tricky tales of the tiresome tramp of boredom. I am on to his sneaky game.

All that to say. Today we toured the Old City a little more. Actually, we were just sort of inside. We visited a couple sites then went out of the walls. So we saw the Zion gate (which is so covered in bullet marks you would hardly believe it) and spent some time looking at the southern and western walls of Temple Mount. We looked at some of the lower areas of the eastern hill (the part that is south of Temple Mount), which is known as the City of David. It's known as the City of David because it Is, just in case you were wondering. Then we got to hike through Hezekiah's tunnel. If you have some time, check out this website about it. We learned and saw so much of the Bible today. It was great, really. I loved it even though my feet hurt and I have homework to do tonight.

Another great day, another day where the Lord taught me more than facts about His land, more than facts about His people, more even than facts about His word and the events therein. Today I learned a lot about God Himself. Today I learned a lot about how to love Him by using every moment of every opportunity. He's good at teaching me with patience and grace.

I'm pretty excited about all of that.