Saturday May 31, 2008 – Returning from Jordan to Tel Aviv

We’re in a beautiful hotel in Jordan, right on the Dead Sea and we have some time in the morning to go down to the Dead Sea for a “swim”, which should be more accurately described as a “float”. We walk down around 5:30am while the sun is not punishing and the water is merely “very warm”. Wading in, you can feel the pressure of the 30% salt content water pushing up on your feet. I’m told that if you get beyond the point where your feet are not on the bottom, you are upright in the water like a cork. We opt to go in a bit, and lie on our back. And you do truly float. I should have brought the morning paper to read!

We enjoy some time in our beautiful room and Marilyn paints in the area outside our sliding door, overlooking the pool. I blog away. But it’s time to check out.

On the bus, Kim picks up on the “thankfulness” theme as we begin to wind down, and there’s so much to be thankful for after a trip like this. Duke cranks it up with his guitar on the way to the border.

Glen had to return early to a conference in Vancouver, but he’s left a letter which Kim reads and it’s packed with thanks and encouragement. He thanks our guide Tom, he thanks us for our gift and he asks us to remember Duke and Kim. He reminds us that our spiritual growth is most important and that we should lay aside whatever is keeping us from a full relationship with God. He asks us to take a quiet moment to invite Jesus into our life, again. Through Christ’s sacrifice, we start eternal life right now. And he closes with “Let’s have fun!”

The border crossing back into Israel was a lot smoother than coming into Jordan and we’re able to stay on the bus with our bags all the way to Israeli customs and security. Our Israeli guide Tom is there to meet us and we drive back through Jerusalem, lunching in Jaffa before getting to Tel Aviv for one last “night”, if you can call it that – we’ll be up at 1am to head for the airport and more security before we board a 5:30am flight.