5 Weekly Graces Vol. 12

Greetings from Jerusalem friends! My class and I arrived on Thursday after a looooong day of travel and have been loving every minute of our time here. It's such a holy place filled with amazing people.

As you can probably tell, I won't be posting as regularly until we return. Thanks for understanding!

I did want to post this week's graces so that I can both reflect on fun things happening and keep up with the habit.

1) Jerusalem

I don't think much explanation is necessary here. This place is so rich with history and religion - it's unbelievable. We've barely even chipped away at our trip and already my heart is so full from the people we've met and the places we've seen. So far, the Church of the Visitation is my favorite place we have visited. There's a gorgeous statue of Elizabeth and Mary, both pregnant and filled with joy. Behind the statue you can see Mary's Magnificat posted in many languages from around the world. It's quite stunning. 

2) Christmas, Round 2

When I arrived home to my apartment last Monday, I was greeted by so much snail mail, some expected and some not expected! From the beautiful cards, to wonderful packages, it was like Christmas all over again and made me feel very welcomed coming home to an empty apartment. I'm so thankful for the incredible people in my life. 

3) Organization is key.

I love coming home to a clean house/room after traveling. It makes the transition back 10x easier. On the day before we left for Jerusalem, I deep cleaned and re-organized my entire room which felt amazing! I don't want to go home just yet, but I am pretty excited to come back to that fresh space. If you've never cleaned house before leaving for vacation, I highly recommend it. It might seem like an extra thing to add to your list of vaca-prep, but trust me, coming home to a tidy house will be worth it.

4) Journaling 

One of my resolutions this year is to journal every day. It's one of those practices that I always feel so great after doing but haven't been keeping up with consistently. So, I figured making it a goal might help. It has been hard to not fall asleep writing after such long, full days, but overall I am feeling a nice sense of peace from the daily reflection time. I really hope that I continue to keep up with this pattern. It's lovely. 

5) MinimumJet-lag 

While it took me almost all of my trip to Ohio to adjust to the time change, I settled into the time difference here in Jerusalem pretty quickly which is such a blessing. Very random grace, and not that exciting, but it is getting late and I am ready for a good night's sleep.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. Please keep me and my classmates in your thoughts and prayers during our travel and know that we will be praying for you as well.

Peace,

Sarah