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| View of the Sea of Galilee from the church balcony |
As a devout Christian and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I was SO EXCITED to tour around Israel! I had explained to Landon that we were going to be visiting places where Jesus Christ lived and taught and he was pretty stoked too. We arrived in Israel on a Thursday morning, and after a half day of work orientation for Austin on Friday, we started checking out the area. We were careful not to do too much with our jet-lagged boys, but we wanted to make the most of this incredible opportunity! One of the things I was most excited about was visiting the Sea of Galilee, and attending church in Tiberias. The boys were still pretty jet lagged on Saturday morning (Owen was up for a few hours in the night, and Landon was up for the day at 3:30 am!), but that didn't matter, we were going to church and see the place where Christ spent a significant portion of his ministry! We never know how long it is going to take us to find church, so we left plenty early for our hour drive and had about 20 minutes before the start of the meeting. We all walked down to the end of the cul-de-sac and the views of the lake and the wildflowers and the mountains were breathtaking! I could not believe that we were really here! As we're walking up the hill, a tour bus arrives and out come a huge group of people- a tour group of people from the British Isles- who are also attending church with us. The church building in Tiberias is a converted house, with the main church service (sacrament meeting) taking place in a large, converted living room. The seats face floor to ceiling windows, out of which is an incredible view of the lake. We did not want to get settled too early, because an hour is a long time to sit for little boys, so we admired the view from the down stairs and upstairs patios before sitting down.
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| The boys at church |
Cue Owen screams. With the tour group taking up most of the seats in the living room, we were stuck in a small row of three seats with no room for the little guys to spread out. With the small space and very tired boys, it was only a matter of time. For Owen, it took about 5 minutes for him to realize that he did NOT want to be there. He wanted to be outside exploring, or sleeping, or downstairs playing with the balloons left over from YW camp. But NOT in the meeting. The main reason we go to church is to take the sacramental bread and water and renew our covenants we have made with God to always remember Jesus and try to live our lives in a way that would be pleasing to God. Where better to remember Jesus than sitting in a room looking at the Sea of Galilee? I was super excited for this, but Owen was not having any of it. Screeching during the opening song and announcements. I took him downstairs. I heard that the sacrament was getting ready to be passed, so I came back upstairs for just long enough to take the emblems. Owen was still screeching and squawking and crying loudly. I thought to myself that these poor (mostly older) people came from a very long way away to come to this meeting and to participate in this ordinance and think about Jesus in this specific place. I didn't want Owen to ruin that for them, so I immediately went back downstairs after taking the water.
Do you ever have those moments when you just hate your children? Question why you decided to grow them and give birth to them in the first place? Well, this was one of those moments. I was so excited to come to this meeting and to focus on Jesus Christ and deepen my relationship with Him by quietly contemplating all that He has done for me, However, what I ended up doing instead was wrestle and try to cajole a screaming, crying, screeching toddler for long enough to take a bit of bread and a little cup of water and then retreat back downstairs/outside where hopefully no one could hear him being a butt. It was NOT at all what I had in mind, and I'm sure my own sleep-deprived brain did not help matters. Owen is usually such a delightful child, and I know that jet lag is a beast, but I did not expect him to have that much trouble! I could hear Landon, who is usually quiet and reverent during sacrament meeting, also having a hard time. Ugh, I was so annoyed.
However, in my flustered, annoyed, and tired state, a little beam of sunshine came into my life. Downstairs in the Tiberias branch building was this painting by Simon Dewey. It depicts Christ with two young boys. It's called "
Men of Galilee". It just so happens that one boy is about Landon's size, with light hair and holding a boat. The younger boy is about Owen's size, with darker hair, and just melted into the lap of Jesus. They are sitting by the lake, with fishing boats in the background. I imagined my boys sitting by the shore of the lake right outside the window with Jesus. I thought about the stories of Jesus and the children. I bet some of those kids were not perfect, quiet little angels. I know that Jesus loved the little children, and taught us that we needed to humble ourselves and become like little children. This painting reminded me that my kids are precious, that they need me to teach them, and that Jesus loves them unconditionally! They are so pure and innocent, but with that they are relatively new and inexperienced on earth. Owen had no idea how important this was to me, he just knew that he needed out of that crowded room and that he was beyond tired, and probably hungry too. I'm grateful that I was taught that Saturday in church that ideally, yes, I would have the chance to sit quietly and contemplate the Savior during the sacrament, but that as a mother, I am part of a very important work as well, and I can have spiritual moments in different ways. Jesus loves me and my kids. Even when they are being butt heads.
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