How can it be this cold??

We braved another day of cold weather, but everyone agreed that the weather has made for tremendous adventures. Carrie Hoye commented that the weather has punctuated and accentuated every site we have visited. So true. We've all commented that we couldn't imagine Jesus in a snowball fight but the odds are pretty good that He experienced snow (especially given the biblical references to whiter than snow).

We drove around Amman this morning, but the government had declared today a national holiday because of the impending snow blizzard! So, most sites were closed, but we still enjoyed incredible vistas of the "white city" formerly known as Philadelphia. And, yes --another rainbow. This makes four days of rainbows!

Pam Davis, Jim Ledbetter, Inez Hodge, Melissa Maher and Susan Parish. 

We then drove to Madaba where we saw a replica of an ancient mosaic floor from 557AD which depicted the Holy Land from Mt Sinai to the Jordan River and Jerusalem/Bethlehem. The detail was stunning.  Jordan is known for their mosaics which we saw icon mosaics at the modern-day St George Church in Madaba. 

Then we began the long drove to Petra trying to stay ahead of the blizzard and descend into the mountains before temperatures really dropped. The rain and sleet was a challenge but we pressed on and even stopped at Mt Nebo, despite the conditions. Appreciating the view into the Peomised. Land in the midst of such harsh conditions was quite inspiring, actually. (See the reflections from Jeff Hoye above). 

Ahmed our tour guide is a real trooper for taking us around in these conditions. He has shared his faith and his life with us in such gracious and eye-opening ways. 

View from Mt Nebo into Jordan and Israel. 

Sun setting in Petra

A local artisan making and art.