Of my recent running around, I just got back from one of the coolest trips I've taken. The scheduling wasn't ideal (see, many continents in not many days), but the trip itself was amazing.
Nana (my maternal grandmother, on the extremely low chance that you are reading this and don't know her) and I went to Greece and Turkey for 12 days or so to trace the Apostle Paul's footsteps on his second missionary journey from Acts 16-19--the trip during which he set up the churches in Philippi (and we got Philippians), Thessalonica (1 and 2 Thessalonians), Corinth (1 and 2 Corinthians), and Ephesus, the start of his third journey, (Ephesians).
While we were there, we also looked at Revelation (which John wrote on Patmos), Titus (a letter Paul wrote to Titus while he was checking on the churches on Crete), and while we were cruising the Greek Isles we threw in Mykonos and Santorini for fun.
We went with Precept Ministries, a ministry dedicated to teaching Christians to study the Bible on their own. Nana and I have known and loved Precept for many years, and this tour has been on my wish list forever. Everything fell together this year for us to go, and I'm so glad we did.
There's nothing quite like looking into an excavated jail cell in Philippi and reading:
When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely... But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!" And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:23, 25-31)
Want to see just Paul's Journey (a mini album)? Go here.
Want to see ALL of the pictures? Go here.
ευχαριστώ, Nana. Σ 'αγαπώ.