December 22

We are less than six days until we leave. In one week we will wake up in Bethlehem, the first place in which Jesus awoke from sleep. Bethlehem is also famous as the home of King David, about 1,000 years before Jesus. The name "Bethlehem" means House of Bread. It is no longer like the song, "O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie." It is a fairly large town, and not quiet during the day. On our early morning walks we should see it quiet and still, as you see in the picture here. This was taken by me on my last trip in April of 2008, at about 5:30 in the morning, well before dawn.

At our meeting Sunday afternoon, we went over the itinerary, picked up our tickets, and figured out how we will get to the airport. The next time we will all be together we will be at the beginning stages of the actual trip. Please pray for us. We are also collecting any prayer intentions people have to take with us to the holy places we will visit.