Chloe's first Christmas

My niece on her first Christmas. So cute!!!

Israel and Jordan part 4

Don't forget to check out parts 1, 2, and 3....

Friday started with a trip to the pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the blind man. (Read the story here.)
We weren't able to go into the pool but entered a large cistern that used to hold water for the city.

Lions Gate, one of the gates into the Old City of Jerusalem

inside the gate

ruins of the old city

ruins of the pool of Bethesda

going down into the cistern under the old city

underground

Mom, in the cistern

Near the pool is a church built by the Crusaders called St. Anne's Church. (Read about it here.) The church is usually full of visitors but we were lucky enough to get our group in there by ourselves. The architecture is very simple, with wooden benches to sit on. We had a short message and then sang "How Great Thou Art." It was another very inspirational moment.

St Anne's Church

From the Cathedral we walked down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane. I have to admit that, although it was neat to go to the garden, it was a bit disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was great to have been there, but it is very small, and the trees are all fenced off, so you can't really touch them, or sit amongst them like we had been hoping to. That being said, just the fact that we were walking among 2000 year old olive trees that Jesus could have rested under during His last night before the crucifixition was amazing.

Garden of Gethsemane

It is entirely possible that Jesus rested under this very tree.

From the Garden, we headed to the Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall. The wall is the only remaining wall of the Second Temple that was destroyed in 70 AD. It is tradition to write prayers on slips of paper and stick them in the cracks of the wall. Unfortunately, we didn't know this, so we weren't prepared. So our prayers went into the cracks between the stones written on gum wrappers. Twice a year the prayer are cleaned out and buried on the Mount of Olives. The prayer plaza is divided into men's and women's sections. There were many Jews gathered here praying, and crying. They are praying to God for the messiah to come, but we know that their prayer has already been answered in Jesus, if only they would realize it.

inside the walls of the old city.. there is a path that you can walk around, it was used to defend the city in ancient days.

Stacy and Mom

Me, preparing to defend the city against invaders. :)

The Wailing Wall

hundreds of prayers

sticking my prayer into a crack in the wall

the men's side, on the left, had tables and chairs. the women's side, did not

Mom, Me, and Stacy at the Wailing Wall

Tales from the ER....

It was another one of those nights at work. It started out innocently enough, nothing too exciting until about midnight.
We got an ambulance run with a patient who called 911 because he stubbed his toe. Yup, he stubbed his toe. I'm sure it was really life threatening and worthy of that 911 call. Anyway we xrayed his toe, nothing was broken so it was time to send him home. He sat there and said he wasn't going. His exact words were "You can't make me." So we called the police. Before the police got there tho, he got into a yelling match with the one male nurse we have on nights. So the patient gets up and is yelling "You wanna take this outside?" So our nurse says yeah, opens the doors to the ambulance bay and the patient walks out ahead of him. Our nurse quick closed the doors. That got rid of that patient. Ha, dummy. Next time don't threaten to go outside, when that is all we want from you. Stupid.
Then I got a patient, a girl in her early 20's who mom brought in because she was acting weird. So we get her in the gurney and sent mom back outside because the patient didn't want her back there. So we're asking her what is going on, why she's acting weird and she keeps saying "my mom is the culprit" So of course I ask her, "What did she do?" The patients response "I told you she's the culprit. She's been culpriting." When I asked her again, I got the same response "She's been culpriting"
Nice, so I can see where not going to get anywhere here. So we get her undressed and into a gown and of course she takes the gown right off. So then she's sitting there nekkid and yelling that she wants "my Jeffrey, bring me my Jeffrey." Yelling, at the top of her lungs. We finally get blood drawn and IV infusing and she promptly rips it out. So then I'm pissed. We ended up medicating her 3 times, and each time I used a bigger needle than the last. (That'll teach her this afternoon when she feels those bruises.)
So anyway even after all this medication she's still screaming and yelling, trying to undress herself, and trying to throw punches. So we got out the restraints and tied her arms down. She immediately tried to kick me in the head, luckily her aim was a little off. So anyway, we all walk away and just wait for the meds to kick in, and she's still screaming. "Get me out of here, I hate you all." They she says "Hey I know how to sing" and so the next hour or so goes like this...
"I HATE YOU....think of me, think of me fondly....GET ME THE F*CK OUT OF HERE....think of me.....WHERE IS JEFFREY......think of me fondly.....I WANNA GO HOME....think of me....GET ME Out of heee...."
The meds had finally kicked in. Thank goodness. Then she slept for the next 4 hours, and I got to go home and pass her off to day shift. Yay for me. Unfortunately, I really like Phantom of the Opera, and that song will never be the same for me again. :)