Her name was Katie. She took right to the girls in a grandmotherly sort of way. She had a beautiful English accent which mesmerized the girls and SHE LOVED JESUS! It poured out of everything she said and did. She directed the tour entirely to the girls. Telling them how much she loved Jesus and how much Jesus loves each of us.
In the Garden, you see a mountain that appears like a skull, recognized by a man who was walking through his own garden, reading his Bible early one morning, looked up and said "this must be it!" This same man actually hosted the man who penned "It Is Well".
After seeing the "place of the skull" we went on through the garden to a few more stations. But, because of our tour guide, one of my favorite stations was one that most people probably quickly overlook. It was that of a wine press. There in the garden is an old wine press, used in those days to smash the grapes and make wine. Our tour guide sat my girls down and so gently shared with them the importance of treating grapes with care and not crushing them but gently treading over them to provide something far more valuable than the grapes themselves. She looked my girls in the eyes (as I tried not to cry) and said "you must give everything that you love to Jesus and trust Him with it because He will tread lightly on that which you love and only make it sweeter!" Now that is a hallelujah moment for you hallelujah-wallas out there. ;)
Oh God! May I give you my passions. My children. My life. After what you went through for me.
We went on from there where we saw the spot where it is believed that the most amazing, most rewarding miracle of all time took place! To step into that tomb and just imagine having been there to have heard those words "He is not here! He is risen as He said!" Wow!!! We sat together and read the passage from God's Word and it all just made so much sense!
So many songs went through my mind while I sat there afterwards just thinking through what all I had seen and heard. But one that I could not get to leave was this simple tune:
"Thank you Lord for saving my soul thank you Lord for making me whole. Thank you Lord for giving to me, Thy great salvation so rich and free!"
And over and over I heard myself repeating, "He is not here! He is risen AS HE SAID! Come see the place where The Lord lay!"
"Why do you seek the LIVING among the DEAD?!?"
It's interesting how, when we actually study God's Word as a whole, we begin to see how it all makes sense. Jesus was condemned for saying "I will destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days." Even my seven year old, after having thought it through, could tell you that what He said is truth. He did destroy that temple on the day He took our sins on the cross and suffered and died for us. And then, three days later, as He promised, He rebuilt a much more glorious Temple in raising from the dead!
For those of you who may not have given Him your life, I beg you to do so! He won't trample it, He won't judge your past mistakes, your sins, He'll only carry them for you! Remember Peter... He made a fool of himself by denying Jesus three times. He could have given up and counted himself a failure, but instead he picked himself back up and went on to do such amazing things for his Lord. He'll take your faults, your failures, your big fat mess-ups and He'll make them so glorious!
... Just to be in the place where my savior lived and died. But what's so amazing is He rose again!!!!!!!! And He did it all for me!
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