Playing in a Sandbox

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since my last update because I have been in the desert!  And the desert is a desolate, dry, beautiful place.  After visitng Luxor, Egypt we crossed from Africa into Asia and headed toward the Sinai wilderness.  We arrived early afternoon and geared up to climb Mt. Sinai.  This needs to be said; Moses was a stud.  I naively thought that my sherpa and backpacking days would have prepared me well for a day hike, but it was hard.  And to imagine Moses didn't have a well laden path to follow.  One thing is for sure, our God is a God of adventure.  Climbing to the top was a dangerous, captivitating adventure.  If God had chose He could have handed Moses the ten commandments while he was safely on the ground, but no, He called him to the very top of a rugged mountain. 

After singing at the top and watching the sunset we came down the moutain and spent the night near Saint Catherines monastery (the oldest in the world).  The following day we crossed the Red Sea (by ferry, not foot) into Jordan.  We spent a day in Petra and then went into the Wadi Rum desert.  And when I say into I mean literally into the middle of the desert.  We stayed at a Bedouin camp, sleeping under the stars in Bedouin tents.  This was definitely one of the highlights of our trip I was most looking forward to.  Our first day there we took an off roading jeep ride through the desert making a few stops to climb rocks, run over sand dunes, and explore caves.  We ate delicious Bedouin lamb cooked by burying it with coals and allowing the sand to conduct its heat.  Yesterday we rode camels nearly the whole day.  My inner thighs can attest to it.  I have a whole new outlook on the Israelities!  Although I didn't complain, after a week of camel riding, hot sun, and limited water, you can bet I'd be tempted to whine.  To think that the Israelites spent 40 years in this desert...