We are extremely undeserving to have a God that loves us enough to give us the tablets of the law. To show how unbelievably sinful we are and how we run from Him, just look at what God's first commandment was/is. "I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me...". But as we read a few chapters later in Exodus, it didn't take long for the people of Israel to lose their patience, gather all their jewelry, and form a golden calf in their camp fire. I guess it kinda shows us how ridiculous some of the gods we put before God. But, undeservingly we have the gift of grace.
Location of the town of Saint Katherine where Mt. Sinai is located
Here we are at one of the stops Moses made while going to Mount Sinai. When the people were wining, again, Moses, poor guy, pleaded with the Lord to provide water, and he did. Supposedly in this spot.
Before we begin I would just like to note that nobody warned me this would be the most strenuous "walk" I would ever take. I was nowhere near being mentally prepared for what was coming. I may be over exaggerating just a little, but still, I have done a lot of athletic things in my life, but this was tough. I feel bad for Moses for climbing that everyday for quite sometime (well, and the fact that he had to deal with the Israelites). As soon as we got back to Maadi and I found our friends Dave and Julie (who had just gotten back from there), and my first words were why didn't you warn me I would be in pain the whole time going up? They actually thought it was funny because nobody warned them either, so now we all have this "thing" going that if you hear someone is going to climb Mt. Sinai, we don't tell them it is hard, and see what their reaction is when they get back.
This is the beginning of our hike. The guy in front is our "tour guide". When we were walking up, the tourist police stopped us and asked us where we were from. We responded, "America", and they said, "Oh yes, you need a guide". Of course we thought they were just ripping us off, but he ended up not being so bad.
Just some camels enjoying the day, hoping that we don't mess it up by riding them.
I remember this was about 10 minutes into the hike and I was already feeling my state of not being in any kind of shape. Thats what a semester of sitting in a chair and studying will do to you. I am trying to work on that this semester. I finally went and saw where the gym is, just haven't actually gone yet....BL
This guy was being a little shy. His name is Edward, and although he has an attitude problem he is one of the best camels on the mountain. Actually none of that is true, but I think Edward would be a good name for a camel. BL
My mom making a friend on the way. We were stopping to take this picture, but actually I was stopping to catch my breath.
Getting closer to the top.
A little something we like to call "steps of repentance"... 700 of them. Not a good way to end a hike.
At the top!!! We finally made it to the top for sunset. It was a great experience, not only for the biblical history behind it, but for the scenery as well. But, if any other family comes over here and wants to climb this, you will have to do it alone. We think once is good for us.
Grace,
Sarah and Ben
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