Shalom Wonderful Family and Friends,
I have exciting news: Tomer proposed yesterday and we are engaged!
Though I will see many of you in person very soon, I just couldn't wait to share the story of our engagement because it was so special:
A couple of weeks ago, Tomer asked me if I would like to climb
Masada at sunrise this weekend. I agreed that I would like to but that we didn't have to pick a certain weekend. We could just go when we felt like it because the past couple of weeks for he and I have been very long and tiring with the training course he is taking for the police and my workload at CFI. He seemed unusually concerned about setting a specific date for this but I didn't think anything of it at the time and agreed to go climb Masada on July 21st.
On Friday, the day before our Masada trek, I told him that I was really tired and not sure if we should go to Masada on Saturday. I said that maybe we could go next weekend or when we returned from the States. Usually, he would agree to that, but this time he became a little nervous and said, "It is really important that we do this. Let's please do this tomorrow!" I agreed, of course!
I set my alarm for 3:00am yesterday morning and got up to get ready. He called me at 3:05am to make sure I was awake and he sounded unusually alert for it being so early in the morning... almost as though he didn't even sleep at all that night! (I found out later on that he, in fact, didn't sleep at all!)
He picked me up at 3:45am and we began our drive in the dark through the Judean Desert to Masada (near the Dead Sea). All along the way, I remember feeling the cool desert air through the windows and looking up at the bright stars in the sky. We worship music on and just absorbed all the words and allowed our minds to drift back to the times when the Israelites walked through this very desert for forty years, when Yeshua went to the desert to fast for forty days, and we talked of how special the desert is to God because of how He revealed Himself to His people in so many miraculous ways. We both talked of how surreal it felt to drive through the very same desert at the early hours of the morning... almost as if time hadn't elapsed for the past two thousand years.
When we reached Masada at 5:00am we parked, grabbed our stuff and started our hike. I felt perfectly fine at first but as we got about a third of the way up, I started to feel very ill. I had a headache and was really battling the heat, which usually isn't such a struggle for me. Tomer stopped with me and I remember looking down to the bottom of the mountain. I then remember feeling an inner struggle inside me that was more spiritual than physical. I could almost feel a strange prompting to go back down to the bottom, to give in and stop my journey up to the top. I actually began to cry a little and Tomer seemed as though he understood this perfectly, almost as if he knew it would happen. Though I didn't know he was going to propose, I knew in my heart that this journey was symbolic for me. I had a choice: I could give up, return to the familiar and play it safe, or I could continue the journey to the top, conquer my fears and have victory. Tomer then placed his hand on my back, prayed in Hebrew over me in the name of Yeshua and I felt my strength restored. I climbed all the way to the top without even pausing! I was going to keep going, regardless of the obstacles or challenges and let go of the past for good.
When we got to the top we were so excited and I felt so free! The sunrise was amazing and we sat by ourselves on the eastern side of Masada overlooking the Dead Sea and the mountains of Jordan. Tomer began to share with me about why he wanted us to climb Masada. He said that he had prayed about it for months and felt that it was something God wanted us to do together as an analogy of our lives. That life would not be easy for us, but that he would stand beside me all the way and help me reach the top of the mountain. That he would never shame me, push me on too fast, nor would he let me give up. He would be there for me all the way and through all the paths of our lives. And that God would give us the strength to press on because He loves us. (I began to cry) Tomer also said that he remembered it was ten years ago to this very month that I had first climbed Masada at the age of seventeen on my first visit to Israel. He said that ten years ago I had made up my mind to serve God in this land. Now, ten years later, here I am - fulfilling my dream and calling in life, having overcome so much in order to get here.
Tomer pulled out his Bible and said he wanted to read some verses to me that represented our relationship:
I Corinthians 13:6-7
"(love) does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth; (love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."
and
Philippians 3: 12-16
As he read these verses, I noticed that his eyes were tearing up. He then pulled out a small box, got down on his knees in front of me and said, "Erin, will you marry me?"
I was so shocked and began to cry out of sheer joy and I said, "Yes!!!" as he placed a beautiful ring on my finger. We hugged each other and cried out of happiness and I don't think I can ever explain how special that day was to me!
After sitting together, laughing, crying and sharing all about the proposal, I said, "When I first climbed Masada, I never guessed that ten years later I would be proposed to in this very same place!" Tomer then shared about how he had asked permission from my dad and mom earlier that week. They did such a great job keeping it a secret - I had no idea what was in store!
We then went back down and began our drive back home while I made several phone calls to start telling everyone the good news.
And that's the story of how Tomer and Erin got engaged... I started out two years ago by myself in the Promised Land and I now have a partner to join me in my continuing adventures in Israel. What does God have in store for us both during these amazing times in Israel?
To Be Continued...
This is Erin reporting LIVE from Israel... and living in a state of sheer joy!!!