שָׁלוֹם (Shalom), blogworld.
That was too predictable, wasn’t it?
😉
I just wanted to say hello.
My mind is still a bit muddled from the jet lag but the tiny fact that I can’t seem to make out a single coherent thought has never stopped me from talking heretofore so I shall proceed.
And besides, y’all are forgiving and this should help:
Just another thing I love about Atlanta: Octane cappuccinos. By the way, what is the best cappuccino you’ve ever had? That is a random but profound question for a Friday, don’t you think? It just makes my entire week when the barista makes the little intricate designs with the foam.
Have I mentioned that I keep waking up at 4:00 in the morning hungry for hummus?
Yesterday I spent hours on end making this very basic video slideshow from my pictures from Israel. My new hobby as of late is photography (and yes–it has taken the place of cooking for now). Israel is quite a location for the photo enthusiast, let me tell you. Please understand several things before you watch the slideshow:
- 1) I am not Rich Kalonick, though he did walk me through several things via text message yesterday. For the first time I think I fully respect the work he does when he creates the slideshows for the LPL events. It takes more time and work than you might imagine. So thanks, Rich!
- 2) The slideshow is quite long, running about twelve minutes. By no means should you watch the whole thing if you are bored to tears. You have complete control and you can’t say I didn’t warn you! 😉
- 3) This slideshow reflects about 5% of the people and places on our trip to Israel. I literally whittled down 2,000 photos to about 200. Sadly, there was just no way to include them all here. But on the bright side, if I had included all 2,000 the video would have been about six hours.
Having made this disclaimer, I do so much hope you enjoy it!
Israel Trip from Melissa Fitzpatrick on Vimeo.
Music added: “Beautiful” by Shawn McDonald & “I Stand Amazed” by Chris Tomlin.
Our trip was truly incredible. I have some more substantial thoughts that I would like to share but I will get back to you with those ponderings when I am not in such a fog–hopefully sometime next week.
Have a wonderful weekend, Siestas! We sure love you!
Warmly,
Melissa
Melissa, it was beautiful! I thought my heart was going to beat plumb out of my chest while watching. Thanks for blessing us with your photographs.
Awesome Video, and I’ll bet being there was even more incredible! Thanks for sharing the beauty with us.
Gorgeous!! What great pictures and thank you for sharing with us!!! You did very good Melissa! Love ya all!
Lori in SW MO
ohhh Melissa, Thank you so much for sharing! It brought back so many wonderful memories of my Holy Land Trip 2 1/2 years ago! Thank you so much for going to all the work to put this together. I appreciate it so much! So thankful you all had a wonderful trip. Blessings!
Melissa you did a fantastic job with the video. Thanks for sharing
What a wonderful glimpse of the Holy Land! You did a great job, Melissa! I think you should go ahead and add a few hundred more pictures–so interesting!
My goodness, what a captivating slideshow! I felt like I was there. I have tears in my eyes–how wonderful it must be to see the places where He walked. Thank you for sharing this, Melissa.
Oh, and you all have such cute sunglasses!
Stunning! Thank you so much for sharing.
Wow Melissa, The pics are incredible! The colors, the sights, I could almost hear the sounds and smell the city, the food, the sea air. What a wonderful trip you all had.
Isn’t photography so fun? It’s something I’m always playing in and wish I knew more about. All you ladies look so gorgeous. I love some of the pics of your mom, they could be used on a book jacket, conference flyer or hey a blog 🙂
Beautiful! I watched the whole thing.
So glad you all had a great time. High on my list of places to go.
What filter do you use on your camera to get such amazing color?
WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for sharing this. I canNOT wait to hear Melissa’s ponderings, but for now I hope you all get some good sleep & adjusted to your time zone.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a cappuccino look so pretty!
Melissa,
Thank you so much for sharing! Such a blessing to be able to see all these sites! And what a gifted photographer you are. Seriously.
I loved all the pictures of the signs. Just so amazing to see places that I only know from only reading on a sign…sounds wierd but just so cool to see.
I can’t get over how blue the water is…it is just so blue. And I especially loved the pictures of the city at night. So beautiful and breathtaking.
Thank you again for putting this together. It really is a blessing to see.
Michelle in VT
That was simply AMAZING! What an incredible video! The combination of the pictures and the music…breath-taking! I can’t believe how much it spoke to my spirit. Wow. Thank you Melissa and thank you Lord, I needed that.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I still can’t believe that just 3 short years ago, I did not know my Father….since the day I surrendered to HIM my life has transformed and so has my family…my daughter and I had the wonderful blessing of going to the Holy Land in January..seeing your slideshow brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes….I long for Israel…I have missed it since the day I left….Thank you Father for Melissa and her family Lord, we Praise YOU Jesus…thank you for this means of communicating….
So beautiful!!! Thanks for taking the effort and time to share this slide show with us. The faces show the wonderful time you enjoyed there together.
The pictures are just incredible. Makes me want to go even more!! So amazing and beautiful.
Wow.. I’ve got to watch that again. Beautiful. That moved so many emotions in me. Can’t imagine how it felt to really be there and to experience all of that. Thanks so much for sharing. To choose 200 pics out of 2000! That must have been so difficult. Now I want to see the other 1,800! 🙂 So glad you let us experience a little of your trip. You did a great job with the video, and I loved the songs you chose!!
Wonderful Presentation!
I loved Sista Beth with the bread – that’s Priceless!
So thankful for your safe return. We must pray for Israel.
Blessings,
Sista Staci <3
oh my word, i sat here and cried!! thank you so much for putting that together melissa and giving us such a wonderful glimpse… i felt like i was truly peeking in! i could have sat for all 6 hours and all 2000 pics… what a meaningful, sacred trip! just seeing the pics makes me love Jesus even more and long for that trumpet call. incredible. and yes, i know how much stock that perfect cup of coffee holds for the day… loving your foam with you! happy getting over jetlag… been there/done that too many times; i know the fog! 🙂
one Q: why did the video have to end?? Thanks for making that!!! I felt like I was there with you all and now I want to go myself. Maybe one day…if not when Jesus returns!
anyone who would be bored watching that needs to check their pulse…just sayin’.
Thank you so much for the video, Melissa. My husband’s family (grandfather’s side) still live in Israel and we talk about visiting but I am nervous about the turmoil in the region so it was great to see some of what they are living around. My husband also enjoyed the video for the same reasons. Our family lives in the little town of Hanita. In the Kibbutz, near Sea of Galilee. Anyway, thanks again. Very well done.
Thank you for sharing with all of us! How wonderful to get to “see” Israel through your pictures!! AWESOME pictures!!!! Going there is on my to do Dream List!! 🙂
Love to you all!
Hey Melissa,
That was so beautiful! My family is military and stationed in England and my husband and I are wanting to take a trip to Israel while we are little bit more in that direction. I have always wanted to do a trip like you guys did that covered the life and walk of Jesus. Can you tell us, did LPM organize it’s own tour and stops or did you follow some particular organizations ‘outline’ and use their guides that we could also contact to possibly set up a trip? Thank you so much for such a beautiful photo art display of your trip, it just makes me hunger all the more for the Holy Land! God bless you, Cindy
Tearing up…amazing.
Oh…the tomb. Be still my heart. I love our amazing God. What a BEAUTIFUL slideshow.
Yea….Melissa, you look so awesome in that pic. And you sound just like your Mom…can’t wait to hear re: your trip. So happy for you going!
I can’t wait to go watch the slideshow at the library. I only have dial up internet at home. Years ago I used to have a cappucino maker and drank lots of wonderful cappucino– mostly made with hazlenut coffee.
Thank you Melissa, thank you so much. As I watched, tears streamed down my face and I was blessed.
The most beautiful, breath taking, inspiring video I have ever seen.
THANK YOU!
GORGEOUS!!
Beautiful slide show! Thank you so much for sharing it.
I feel so blessed, last evening I was at church to see slide show and hear from the 42 “Pilgrims” who went to Isreal from Bethlehem PA in March this year. and now I got to see your photos too. I just dug out my small bit of Journaling from the trip I was on in 2007 with Turning Point and David Jeremiah…Our trip was awesome. One thing I journaled was that I had thoughts like “Is this really the Holy Land? Am I really here? I thought I’d feel different being here” then I wrote “prepare your hearts, the kingdom of God is truely among his people, the Living Stones of his temple. He is not resident in these limestone ruins but in the hearts of men”. My trip comes more alive to me each time others share their own experiences and each time I’m in Gods word……one last point…..I had my first cup of Turkish Coffee ever in Old City Jerusalem, and I felt totally blessed!
Enjoy rest and recovering…..but does one ever recover from a trip like that? It’s all good, glad you are all safe & home :o)
First, congrats on finishing up at Columbia Theological Seminary. I live in Decatur! Didn’t know that you lived here until I read the blog post about your graduation. Looks like you all had a wonderful trip. I’m in a neighborhood bible study and was wondering if you are staying in Atlanta and leading any studies in the future? Best, Giffney
Thank you sooo much for sharing your fantastic pictures! Many of us may not have the opportunity to see it first hand but God has given us this wonderful chance to see it through your lens. It takes my breath away. From the pictures, I can tell it was a whirlwind trip and I am so looking forward to you and your mom sharing some of your experiences. Thank you so much to all of you who put so much effort into this blog. It is a blessing to so many.
Thank you Melissa. Now I am ready for the six hour version!! So glad that you are all home safely.
Love, Linda
One of the very best cappacinos that I have ever had was in a small town about 30 minutes outside of Munich, Bavaria, Germany. The small inn we where we stayed had a beautiful outdoor patio to sit and sip the lucious drink. A bakery right across the street and a church down the street. Awoke each morning to wonderful smells and gorgeous church bells. That’s the life. Then in the evening sitting on the patio watching the locals bring there cows down the mountain right through town, stopping all traffic. Wonderful, wonderful.
So glad you were able to go and sooo…glad you took the time to share your pictures! Outstanding job!!
Absolutely fantastic…loved this…really takes your breath away.
Thank you so much! For those of us that longed to go but weren’t able, you made us feed like we were there!
Thank you for the wonderful photographs… they brought back so many memories of my trip to the Holy Land.. I noticed the “rope-cars” (as I was calling them) in Masada… did y’all take them up to the top or did you walk the steps? Next time, I’ll take the steps!! :))
Melissa! Thanks so much for your hard work. This is awesome. It pulled out all the emotions as if I was there with you. There is nothing like a visit to Israel. Thanks for sharing!
Shalom.
Melissa:
You AMAZING multi-talented woman! I loved this so much because it isn’t “touristy,” but rather a very real behind-the-scenes beautiful tribute. Does that make sense? Thank you for giving your time to bless us. I especially LOVE the Garden of Gethsemane gate.
She can cook, read Hebrew, loves her family, has 12 degrees, is a photographer/videographer, a fashion queen, etc., etc.
I also love that you said “another thing I love about Atlanta…” Something I love about Atlanta is that YOU are there…just a mere 90 miles north of me, but always close at heart!
Bless you girl,
Mrs. Jan
Okay, that made cry and cry. I wanted to jump in the computer in the worst way! Great new hobby and thank you so much for sharing. Glad you are home safe and sound. I don’t know that I will ever get there dirt side, but I can look forward to the New Jerusalem! Not a bad trade off I think!
WOW! Awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!
I have been struggling…but to take the time to watch and absorb and worship through pictures, I feel completely “undone”! Still struggling but thankful to be reminded of Whose I am!!
Thank you so much for sharing this Dear Melissa. It really blessed me. Thank you for your sweet servant heart and your ministry through this blog.
Shalom, Melissa, WOW! I am slackjawed at the images and variety of scenes. Thanks for the labor of love and hobby and for sharing.
Wow! Truly a treat to see that. The images and the music both were powerful.
I went to Israel for the first time last November. Its now June and I’m STILL processing it all. I took my most beloved Bible. Its old and falling apart (like me) but I wrote notes in it, put olive leaves, Eucalyptus leaves, flowers etc, everywhere I went…
Now when I read my Bible… its so precious. And I remember….
Your slide show touched my heart and made me weep. Especially the sign before you went into the wailing wall. “The Divine Presence”… and how awesome and yet how very familiar it felt to be there.
He has permeated all of Israel with himself….
Thank you Melissa!
Heidi
Fayetteville, GA
By the way… I live in Fayetteville and you live where they have all the fabulous restaurants… but I won’t whine. I still like a plain old cappucino from Starbucks. Suits me fine.
“How marvelous, how wonderful…” No words could have described better the beautiful pictures of the Holy ground you covered. What a beautiful showcase of an amazing land. Thank you for sharing. Can’t wait to hear even more about it and how you all use it in your ministry!
Oh, Melissa, moved to absolute tears! Thanks for sharing your photos and the music just made the emotions run wild! There’s not words to express how this video has moved my heart! The joy of the Lord is my strength and I can truly tell you, watching this video allowed me to go to a deeper place with Him!!
Many thanks for your time!
Sharon