Looky there, that's me and my best friend! I'm afraid I can't take credit for her corsaige actually matching her dress, the ladies at the flower store just knew what they were doing. I like that... all the guy needs to know is what color the dress is that the girl is wearing and the lady knows what kind of flowers to get! Well, I did actually pick pink, even though in the picture it almost looks red. I won't be getting red roses until next year.

The night went just fine. We got there ontime (actually, a little early) and went on in. We stood around for a little while waiting for everyone to head into the ball room and then we went and sat down. After that we went and sang the national Anthem. That was fun, I think that was my favorite part. Then we ate dinner. I had steak and Megan had chicken and I was very surprised to see that she ate it all. (expects to get poked later) After that we listen to a guest speaker and then it was over. Hee... looks rather boring when you state it in words that simply... and sure, formal things aren't meant to be extreemly exciting but it was "Exhilarating". (To cause to feel happily refreshed and energetic) We left early because they were dancing afterwards and we decided not to join them, so we went back and watched a "Flight Plan" with Melissa, Joel, and Jessica Lansford. Overall, it was a very pleasant evening that will have a special place in my memory for the rest of my life.

Wow! Jesse is putting something in his Xanga? What in the world is that all about? Haha... Well, life has been good for me since the summer. A semester and a half of school has already gone by and I'm looking forward to spring break!

My brother got married! (as most of you know) I was living with him before hand... but I got kicked out when he got hitched (which is a good thing) so now I'm living back where I was a year ago. I have two great roommates named Dave and Phil. Phil is on the Cedarville soccer team and he is thinking about going into Missions after college. Dave is a Mechanical Engineer (a friend of Joel's) and will probably get... an engineering job after college! Me on the other hand... I'm a math major in Army ROTC. So what would you expect me to do after college? Math?!? Hahaha... Well, that is actually a possibility. For the first little while I'll be in the army starting out as a 2nd Lieutenant (spelled it right the first time!) and will hopefully be flying helicopters. After I get out of the army, I hope to use my helicopter skills in missions. I'm leaving that open to God though... which I have found to be a very good idea in everything you do. If you look in the last part of chapter 4 in James you'll find a section about that. We may have our big plans, but if they don't include God but just our vain boasting... they aren't worth squat. That's S Q U A T. Which isn't much at all to begin with. "Slang. A small or worthless amount; diddlysquat."

Tomorrow is the Military Ball and my best friend gets to go with me! I know it would greatly surprise the world if I actually put pictures of something on here a day after I post something for the first time in half a year... but we'll see. I won't promise anything, but I'll put a small amount of effort into it. (grin)

Goodnight world...

Jesse Wayne Lansford

Impression #13

“Modern Jerusalem”

June 30, 2005

            This was my last bus ride for my entire Israel trip. I’m going to miss the bus with its comfortable seats that made it so easy to sleep as we traveled from site to site. We had some great times on this trip. Well, today we boarded the bus and headed to a model of Jerusalem on the eve of the Roman attack in 67 AD. This model is a 1/50 ratio to what the real thing was almost 2000 years ago and is actually made out of stone. In this model is the 2^nd temple, beautifully displayed on the temple mount high above the rest of the city. I greatly appreciated this model because it helped me see what the city probably looked like from the air. It is much better than just looking at a map. One problem they have with this model is that they aren’t sure exactly where the 2^nd wall used to be. They know where the 1^st and 3^rd walls were because there is plenty of evidence to show their locations, but with the 2^nd wall there just isn’t enough evidence out there. So they did their best guess where the wall probably was. Next to the temple is the Antonia Fortress where Paul was taken to in protective custody when the Jews thought he brought a gentile into a forbidden area in the temple. This was another structure that they weren’t sure what it was supposed to look like, but what they came up with is still pretty impressive. If I remember right, my mom and dad came and visited this same model a year ago. It was fun to have their memory with me. I’m looking forward to seeing them when I go home.

            Once we were done looking at the model, we hopped on the bus and headed off for the Israeli Museum. We first went to the Shine of the Scroll, which pretty much looks like a giant white chocolate kiss with water being sprayed on the sides of it. I was told that it was actually a representation of a cover that was used on one of the Dead Sea scroll containers. So we all went under ground to walk into it. The first room we went into had a lot of little pieces of Dead Sea scrolls displayed on the walls with little signs explaining what they were and how they were significant. Although I’d be perfectly content without it, one is always pleased to find physical proof that their religion isn’t a recent theory that someone made up in the last couple hundred years. Then we walked into the innards of the giant white chocolate kiss. I stepped on the stairs and I could hear my steps echoing throughout the whole building. I thought that was pretty neat, so I “quietly” did it a couple more times until a guard asked me to stop. Now that was embarrassing. Note to self, never tap your foot while standing in the middle of a white chocolate kiss. In the middle of this shrine was a much larger document wrapped around what looked like a huge scroll handle. I walked up to it but kept one eye on the guard who was looking around for any other unsuspecting tourist that might want to try tapping their foot. Who knows, if I sneeze or something he might throw me out. The scroll looked pretty cool but since I don’t know how to read Hebrew, I decided to explore a little more. I went down some stairs and had a little space away from the guard’s persnickety eyes. Down there I found a historical account of the Dead Sea scrolls from the time of their discovery until their move to this huge chocolate kiss. But by then it was time to go, so I went and explored the rest of the Museum. I could give you a step by step account of the rest of the time there, but I’d have to make it sound really funny to make it interesting. So, I think I’ll close my final impression report with an exclamation point!

Impression #12 “From Zippori to Nazareth and back home to Jerusalem” June 27, 2005

by Jesse Wayne Lansford

                Today was our last day on our trip to Galilee, which means it was our last day on a fieldtrip outside of Jerusalem. We packed up all our bags from our nice dwellings at Ein-Gev, and headed to our first stop at Zippori. This city is located up on the top of a hill and was the capital of the Galilee district during the reign of Herod the Great. Following the death of King Herod in 4 BC, the Jews living in Zippori revolted and the Roman army came in and burnt the city to the ground and enslaved its inhabitants. But Herod Antipas rebuilt the city and restored its former glory as capital of Galilee. During the great Jewish revolt of 66 AD, Zippori signed a pact with the Roman army and avoided being destroyed. But years later after an earthquake and the take over by the Moslems, Zippori slowly disappeared. What remains are some beautiful mosaics that are preserved in some nice air-conditioned rooms, a theatre, and a citadel which was used by Moslems in Israel’s War of Independence.

            Our next stop was in the city of Nazareth. I saw a good bit of the city, because it is still a major city even to this day, but the church that we were going to look at, I didn’t get to see. I was wearing shorts and the church didn’t allow people who were wearing shorts into it. So, I wandered around the town for a little bit wondering what I was going to do because most of everyone else had something they could throw on top of their shorts (Joel wore a wrap-around skirt that he borrowed from a girl)(and yes, I did get a picture of that). But I did find the bus, so I climbed aboard and talked with the bus driver and a couple of other people who couldn’t get in. I ended out just sitting in the back of the bus writing an impression report for yesterday. I’m afraid I stayed up too late last night and couldn’t get it written until today. But I’m sure ya’ll will forgive me.

            We then went to a beautiful spring that fed a large swimming pool. They engineered a little stream bed that flowed around the whole park for the spring water to flow through. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. The swimming pool was very large compared to most swimming pools in Israel. I think the only reason they could have such a large pool is because of its location next to the spring. (duh) We ate lunch there. I bet you could guess what we ate. Go ahead, guess. Nope, we didn’t eat pizza. Why in the world would you guess pizza? We haven’t eaten pizza since the 3^rd day that we were here. We had pitas! Again! You’d think I’d be sick of pitas by now, but they are still pretty good. I suppose if I were one of the children or Israel and I had to eat pitas everyday for 40 years as I wandered around in the desert, then I’d get tired of them. But for now, I’ll eat a pita.

            Our last stop for the trip was at Bet Shean, a huge Greco-Roman city that was destroyed by an earthquake. Out of all the ruins that we have visited so far, this has been the most impressive. I suppose the reason for this is because the city wasn’t destroyed by an invading army that would have knocked all of its walls down, but just a natural disaster. A good many of the pillars were still standing, and the huge theatre was in excellent shape for how old it is. This city had roads that were paved with basalt and many impressive buildings that were typical for a city of its origins. If one were to travel to Greece, he would find many cities just like this one.

I’m afraid this may be my last impression report unless I have another one. So, farewell for now.

.

Impression #11 “A boat ride around the Galilee and some more ruins” June 26, 2005

by Jesse Wayne Lansford

Sometimes when one awakes, he is immediately awake. The mind is working well, and he can just hop out of bed and start getting things done. But on other days, the brain just seems like it needs a few minutes to reboot. Well, that’s what happened to me this morning. Sleeping sounded really nice, but today we were going on a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee. So I got out of bed anyways and went and ate breakfast (after I got dressed, of course). We all boarded the bus and the bus driver drove us to where the boat was supposed to meet us. I must say that was a neat experience. I’ve been on plenty of boats so far in my lifetime, but actually being on the sea that I’ve read about so many times in the bible made this experience much more special. We started on the south side of the sea and went all the way across the northeast side and went along most of the north coast. I sat on the side of the boat and enjoyed the sun as I looked at the water flowing past the boat. And then I did what most people would probably do if they were in my shoes, I thought about what it must have been like for Jesus to walk on the water. Josh and I had a short discussion on how He actually did it. Did He change His density so that He was lighter than the water, or did He make the water firm? We finally decided we should just wait until we can ask Him personally.

            Then we all ran off the boat (well, we probably just walked off, but that doesn’t sound as exciting) and went into the “Jesus Boat” museum. No, the boat probably wasn’t Jesus’ boat, but it was probably the type of boat that Jesus may have used. I thought that was cool, mainly just because I knew my parents had been there last year. I know that sounds funny, but I was more excited about the fact that they had been there then the fact that there was a really cool boat there. Not to say that I wasn’t excited about looking at an old boat, I was just more excited about the other.

            We then went to several different churches on the shore of the Galilean Sea that were built in remembrance of several of Jesus’ activities. And what I found sad is that most of these churches had turned mainly into just tourist attractions. But we stopped at the Church of the Beatitudes and had a small service there remembering the words of Jesus. Afterwards we had a time of meditation where we all split up and had our own quiet time. That was very special.

Our next stop was at Chorazin. The weird thing about this place is that it has a Jewish synagogue that has many Roman influences in it. This is strange because in Jewish culture the synagogue is a place that should be kept pure from pagan worship. So finding Roman images of gods in it is very strange. It could be that these images were brought there after the Jews quit using it, but that’s just a theory.

Lunch is one of our most favorite activities. This time we went and ate at another youth hostel. Unlike the one that was way off in the desert, this youth hostel was filled with kids who were running around and having fun. They kept on coming up to us and speaking Hebrew to us and then laughing at us when we had no clue what they were saying. I could recognize a few of the words that they were saying so I knew that they were amused that we couldn’t understand them.

Our last two stops were at Capernaum and a place that some people think is Bethsaida. At Capernaum we saw the site for the house of Peter. On top of it was a church that was build completely suspended on pillars so that you can still see the original site underneath it. I’m afraid that by now seeing more ruins isn’t as exciting as it was at first. I don’t think being a archeologist  is my calling, but I am enjoying it.