Holy Land Holy People Blog Day 1:

I am writing from seat 14A on flight DL6068. The trip has officially started! After a two hour delay of course :) But hey, the boys aren’t complaining that left more time for a quick Bojangles run before our first official devotional. 

Mrs. Henderson got all of our hearts and minds aligned with a reading from Genesis 12:1-3,

"Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse and all peoples on earth will  be blessed through you."

I couldn't think of a better passage to start our journey. Covenant has given us an incredible opportunity to use our blessings and hopefully become a blessing for others. Sitting around killing time in the terminal I realized what a great group God had assembled. Some faces I’ve known since preschool, others just a few short years, and some I just met yesterday!

As Carla passed around a bag of stones, each with a different word inscribed on their surface, I thought to myself, “Wow, Carla is probably happy she’s not carrying those suckers in here backpack anymore!” Just kidding. What really struck me was the symbolism. Each of us brings a different perspective to the table. Just as no stone is the same.

Having just finished my first year at the University of Georgia, I am more aware now than ever of how little I know about the world around me. Granted, I have been fortunate in my travels, getting to go to the Yucatan with my graduating church class just last summer. A trip I will not soon forget. But Israel is a whole new story. I found myself getting sweaty palms this whole week in anticipation of the culture shock. I imagined myself saying the wrong things, wearing the wrong clothes, and accidentally offending the native people of Israel. But last night at the send-off dinner, the knots in my stomach slowly unwound as I sat next to my secret saint and prayer partners. Everyone at my table, three of which had been to the Holy Land before, assured me that this trip would change my life. So here I come! I have left my country, my people, and my father’s household. I pray for and open mind, and understanding heart. I seek to more fully comprehend a struggle and fight that has been going on since long before I was even born. 

This trip may not change my life, but it will change my outlook on a problem I have grown up with and now face as a young adult. So thank you covenant family for supporting, loving, planning, and praying for our group. See y’all in ten days!

-Maggie Whitley