The Hands of Heaven on Earth

IAT = I am thankful

for home and family.
for new found friends.
for the ability to come and go.
for my unforgettable Israel experience.
for rain!

 Sea of Galilee

We just returned from 16 amazing days in the Holy Land. And I want to record some of our experiences and information we learned so I don't forget. If you don't write it down, you do forget. But I wanted to start with the most important thing I learned from some of the faces on our trip. That no matter who you are, your country, your citizenship, your religion, skin color, occupation, you can serve Heaven. I used to love this song called the Hands of Heaven on Earth that Julie Azevedo sang. 

"We are the hands of heaven on earth,
Reaching out to each other through our good works.
We know the Lord is there,
And through us He can answer prayers,
We are his hands,
The hands of heaven on earth."

The first 2 people, were our guides for most of the trip. One was Israeli and Jewish. (OK, Rolly was really from India originally and had a very interesting story that went from Hindu to Christianity, to Judaism, but that's not the important part). She was more interested in peace than being right and she shared that message with us repeatedly. Mike was Palestinian and Muslim, although he liked the best parts of Muslim, Christianity, and Judaism. He too, felt peace was the important thing. And their love and enthusiasm for their country and their "friends" was obvious. "Ok friends?" There's only 33 people I can think of that will smile at that.

Bassam was our bus driver for the whole trip. He kept a special eye out for one of our travelers who had a dairy sensitivity and would question the cooks at each meal what did or did not have dairy, and then let her know what was safe to eat. Hands of heaven. He was instrumental the last few days with Brother Halverson in rerouting our schedule when we realized it was Ramadan, which meant an extra 300,000+ people in the city. He knew just how and when we should be in what places and he put in extra hours to make sure our comfort was the most important. 

I wish I had taken a picture of this girl's face. She had as much light as I've ever seen in anyone's face. She is a Jew and she works at the Temple Institute.  She did the most beautiful job explaining to us all of the things used in Solomon's temple and what they were used for. We were not allowed to take pictures because of the sacred nature of it all.

I love this lady. What a great example of hands of heaven. She is a retired nurse and she was definitely in the right profession. I knew her kindnesses to others when she was a hospice nurse in our area. We were able to be friends for a few years before they moved. I was the recipient of her loving concern on this trip. Her follow up to see if I was doing well. I knew of her loving concern for others and was fortunate enough to be invited along to help where I could. Hands of heaven.

Look around and see the hands of heaven around you. It could be a spouse, a friend, a child, a visiting teacher, a stranger, or hopefully your own self at times. The Lord's work depends on all of us being His hands. Find a way each day to make it happen. The benefits are heavenly. :-)

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