Hey everyone, I cannot wait to tell you all about my trip. I have had so much fun the last two weeks. Yes, I was able to check off some of my lifelong bucket list dreams. So where did I go?🤔 Let’s start with one of my great desires, and that was to climb Mount Sinai!!! 🤗 I actually went where Moses was…I did it!!! I have a lot of bruises from pinching myself so much!!🥰 I figured if I didn’t do it now, I never would! 🤣 Man, it was amazing, and I’m so grateful to have traveled to a land I have only read about and dreamed of visiting.
Mt Sinai is on the Sinai peninsula. Which was also the scene of my first camel ride!!🤗 Yep, you heard me 🐪 crazy fun!!! Mount Sinai is known by many different names, including Mount Horeb, Mount Musa, Gebel Musa, and Jabal Musa. (I am so ready for the Mt Sinai category on Jeopardy!😂) I love the Old Testament, so to climb where Moses climbed to receive the Ten Commandments was incredibly special for me, and to do it without any Motrin was a true miracle. 😂🤣😂
The hike is approximately 4.35 miles up and takes about 3 hours to get to the top. We started at 1 AM on camels. They took us 1/2 way up in the dark of night with just the moon shining, and because the desert is completely dark, the stars were electrifying, and the Milky Way was magnificent. From where the camel drops you off, there are about 1000 steps remaining to walk to the top, and 760 of them are steep rock steps that one man spent his life’s work creating. The people there called him Stephanose. What incredible work he accomplished, and I am especially grateful for those steps now.😉
Coming down, there were two ways to descend the mountain. One is a short way down with 3,750 incredibly steep steps.
The other is a winding snake path that people usually ride down on camels, or you can walk, which is what my son and I decided to do. It’s a bit longer but much better on the knees and joints, but mostly I wanted to savor every single moment. I’m also glad we did this climb at night because I’m terrified of heights, and I’m not sure I could’ve done it if I saw the height of what I was attempting to climb. Coming down, I psyched myself out and became an intrepid traveler but still, yikes….Oh, I fell once (it’s slippery up there) and still have a nice shiner on my knee😂 but it was well worth it!!!!
Being in the Holy Land has made it much easier to clarify the topography in the Old Testament. Everyone has tried to imagine where Moses took the children of Israel into the desert when he escaped Pharaoh, but it’s all speculation. Our guide and friend, Clark Anderson from Anderson Tours, was simply fantastic! He gave us all the options to consider. The part that gets me every time when I think about Mt. Sinai is…It was where Moses met God. When Moses came down from the mountain, scripture says he had to cover his face because it glowed so brightly. It really is hallowed ground - and from my view on top of Mt. Sinai, I could feel it! I cannot adequately explain how sitting there waiting for the sunrise impacted me. I have thought of that moment often and the feeling of majestic awe of God's power and love for us. I was where Moses received the 10 Commandments, the foundational law for 4,000 years!… Moses climbed that mountain 10 times in his lifetime. Especially the last few at his age, with no Motrin! So I sure didn’t have anything to complain about! The 10 Commandments are so beautiful in the sense they provide us with common sense and are psychologically sound in their outcome.
I still can’t believe it. I don’t have adequate words to describe how incredible the view was. What was interesting is the mountains are pretty much red all around, but on Mount Sinai, there’s a grayish ash color that looks like it was chard. Many guides there said it was the correct location because the mountain shows it was on fire. Whether that's true or not or even the correct Mount Sinai, I don’t know. But sitting up there pondering upon what took place was simply incredible!!!
I’m so grateful to my sweet husband, who provided this opportunity to go with our son, Matthew. My son Matt was so cute; he asked me several times if I really wanted to go to the top (he was worried about me💖). I assured him I was OK and reminded him I didn’t come all this way not to make it to the top and that my mode of operation is, “I am a finisher!!!” I told him if I start something, I finish it! If I don’t like it I’ll never do it again - but no matter what I finish!!!! 😂. He kept repeating that throughout our whole trip… “I know, Mom, we finish it!😁#PersonalBest!! 👍😁
When I was at the top, I kept thinking of these scriptures in John 15:
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
( I love this next part)
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
( as I thought of this last verse. It made me teary-eyed)
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
This trip sparked a whole new area of interest in my soul, especially after 60 years of working. And physically, I want to do things I love and desire to do while I can. I’m so grateful for this opportunity, and hopefully, you enjoyed seeing the photos and hearing about it.… Let me know cause I have more places and pictures from this bucket list trip I’d love to share with you. But for today, all I can say is God is amazing… He loves us all so much. How do I know this? Look at the world He created for us to live in during our mortal existence. His only ask is that we keep His commandments. They were never given to control us. God’s commandments are there to bless and protect us and help us become the best versions of ourselves possible. I’m going to try now with all my heart to be a finisher for Him.😂👍😘