We left Grand Rapids MI Tuesday Aug. 28th at 1 pm (EST) and arrived in Jerusalem Wednesday August 29th at 11am (EST). Israel is 7 hours ahead of EST so we arrived at 6pm their/now our time. Our Wednesday was incredibly short which was a blessing since Bryan and I were both exhausted. We were able to get a good night’s rest the first night which helped us acclimate to the time change quickly, at least so far.

Our longest flight was Atlanta to Tel Aviv, about 11 hours. On the flight the lady next to me counted 5 babies- including hers’, but about 2 dozen older kids as well. Needless to say Bryan and I were slightly nervous about being to get sleep on the plane. We took off at 11 pm. Once again God proved Himself faithful and for the most part the kids all slept. The loudest thing on the plane was a cat that meowed every ½ hour or so.

On Thursday we were able to move into our apartment. It was about a 2 minute walk from our hotel. I don’t think anything could have gone easier- God has been incredibly faithful and EVERYTHING has gone smoothly.

According to our landlady our apartment was built in 2005 so it’s relatively new. However, Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world, and its street design reminds me more of Europe than America. The streets are small and curved with buildings on both sides. There are many small walk ways from one street to the next with doorways and shops lining the sides. Everything is built out of stone and most buildings have Jerusalem stone which has a whiter color.

We’ll have pictures of Israel and our apartment in the next few posts. All in all, God has been faithful and we are doing well. Thanks for your prayers.

-Erika