Outside of knowing Jesus, the greatest joy of my life is leading tours to Israel. It is a place like no other and no one comes home the same! There is nothing like the front row seat a trip leader is given to watch the Lord God reveal Himself in the most incredible ways as tour guests EXPERIENCE ISRAEL. Those shared experiences also create a “forever family.”

Thus, it was with both heaviness and great joy this past weekend when word came that a third member of our 2019 tour family, Karen K, went home to be with the Lord. I join her family and our tour family in grieving the earthly loss but rejoice with the angels of heaven as Karen is now in the presence of her beloved Lord Jesus.

God brought Karen into my life many years ago and I was so blessed to be a friend, a mentor, a teacher and a trip leader to her. She trusted the Lord with big challenges in her life and was relentless in her desire to follow Him. She also had unimaginable faith that God would heal her of her infirmities, and even if not on this earth, she would be healed in heaven. She never wavered from that, and many of us who knew her benefited by her example of faith. Today, we know Karen is healed!

I can only imagine the greeting she received from Judy (her Israel roommate) and Sandi, our other two tour family members who have left us since that particular tour. None of the three knew one another prior to the tour, but what a unique trio they were! Each had significant health challenges, and each had a unique relationship with the Lord. Each was also profoundly impacted by their own personal experiences in Israel.

In preparation for tours, our guests are challenged to expect the Lord to meet them in a way that is unique and specific to each of them. No two tour guests ever have the same experience, and no one returns home without being changed. Everyone experienced that and, at the end of the tour, Karen, Judy and Sandi joined the rest of the group in sharing their experiences. But ironically, following the tour, all three individually made an effort to take me aside to express just how powerful the tour was, and to tell me specifically how the Lord had changed them.

That’s what Israel does to you. Indeed, you will never be the same!

Today, Judy, Sandi and Karen are fully healed and enjoying their new heavenly bodies! Knowing them, they are singing and dancing in different styles of joyous praise to the One they adore. Beyond worship, I don’t really know what goes on in heaven, but if I’m given a tiny bit of sanctified imagination, I suspect they reminisce about that special trip to a special place where God prepared them just a little bit more for the homecoming they would have!

Karen, Sandi, Judy…your memories are a blessing, and we can’t wait to join you in the presence of Jesus one day! Goodbye is not forever…we will see you again!