February 7, 2026

The Diary of My First Trip to Israel—pages 1-2

Can you imagine what it would be like to travel to Israel for the very first time? Maybe you’ve been wanting to go for a long time. Maybe you’ve been there multiple times, but I bet you can still remember well your very first trip. I remember mine. I was 36 years of age and it changed my life, so I’d like to share my personal memories of that trip straight from my diary.

First of all, I want to thank the Lord for my friends Deb and Richard Taylor from Lake Charles, LA, where I was pastoring at the time. They gave me a diary as a gift before that trip, and I’m so glad they did. Here’s what I wrote with only minor changes to make it a bit more readable.

Page 1: My journal journey has begun. It’s Tuesday, May 11th, 1999, 2:29 p.m., and as I look out my window seat, 21 E, countless wisps of heaven’s cotton lay below. The ride is bumpy, but my hopes are sky high. I think back now on the morning. Alexandria, LA lies directly below. Atlanta ahead. Houston behind. The faces of Lee, Obe, James and Shirley rush to mind. There are other faces yet to meet.

The Delta agent checked my bag to Tel Aviv and playfully scolded me for not knowing Mom’s telephone number by heart, needing next of kin for her records. June, an elderly Christian Scientist, completely emptied my checked bag at her security post without apology, but with a forthright explanation that it was because I was headed to the Middle East. Others in my party weren’t checked.

With well wishing to her newly wedded daughter, I left June and the noise of Terminal A for a seat at Gate 18. Now an empty bag of snack mix, a refreshing glass of apple juice having already served its purpose, Mel in 21D and a redwood lass with blonde hair and a southern accent, concerned about making my flight comfortable—these are my latest and abiding images.

The clouds have now erupted into an avalanche of sun glittered beauty. It’s the first I’ve seen the sun today, and it’s creeping closer now to the left side of my page. Its warming influence moves my heart now towards the Son and his brilliance of which this present beam can be no more than a shadow. “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” No more window pleasures. We have descended from our perch at 33,000 feet and Atlanta’s 82° is rushing toward me.

Page 2: After a well organized jaunt through crowded corridors, I again find myself high above the clouds. It’s now 8:15 p.m. as time passes for the land of Dixie and the people of the Eastern seaboard. This time I hail from 28E on the left aisle. There are ten across this Zurich-bound bird. Lee and Obe directly to my right. A brown headed Swiss miss has served bread, crackers, pasta, a lemon dessert bar, dinner salad with ranch dressing and hot tea. We soar at the standard 33,000 feet at 575 mph. Our trip time is 8 hours and 5 minutes real time, but we will arrive in Switzerland at approximately 8:12 a.m., local time. We will have traveled by then around 4684 miles, but with an outside air temperature of -61° F, I’m content to remain patiently for that time to come despite the cramped quarters of the moment.

We’ve been treated to the music of the Beatles, reruns of the Pink Panther, the latest on CNN and today’s Wall Street Journal. A blue blanket, red pillow, and sweet dreams await. As the lights have begun to dim after our leisurely dinner, I’ve noticed that the Swiss flight attendants speak English, German and French with apparent ease and I was somewhat surprised that the meal came with cheddar, not the expected Swiss cheese. Tonight’s feature movie is taking center stage—Patch Adams.

My conversation with Lee thus far has been enjoyable. He’s a bright 27-year old, single Houstonian studying philosophy at the University of Houston. We’ve discussed Hume, Kierkegaard and Bertrand Russell, the marvelous working of God in the life of one of his friends who has been marvelously saved and delivered from sexual sin, and the need for relevance in our communication with unbelievers about the Lord.

I have a slight headache at the moment, due in part to the omission of lunch, but I’m relaxed and expectant. The sun outside the cabin has long been extinguished. We shall surely beat its rays to the European mainland, but no doubt at considerable cost to our physiology.

The news from Jerusalem has been about the political tensions in advance of elections, and I am glad that you, Lord, are on the throne of my heart and on the footstool of Jerusalem, the city of peace. Amen.

Daniel McCabe

Trivia Question (Answer at bottom of page)

Israel’s largest passenger airline carrier is called El Al. What does it mean?

Life in the Land: Beet Veggie Crisps—

I wasn’t quite sure what to think of these chips when I first saw the bag. After all, beets didn’t even make this year’s list of America’s Top 50 Favorite Vegetables, according to yougov.com. But, then again, black olives came in on the list at #48 and I can eat them like candy, and green olives fell all the way to #50, and I’ve never made a trip to Israel without ordering a green olive pizza. So perhaps you’d be pleasantly surprised by beetroot chips. I was! Now, I must warn you that the rest of my family let me finish the bag on my own until a family friend dropped by who tried them and quite liked them.

A father-son duo wanted to produce a healthy, protein-packed snack that tastes good, and I think they did just that! Their business, Super Natural, has faced some unique challenges over the last few years as the manufacturing plant in northern Israel has dodged missiles fired from both Hezbollah and Iran, but they have persevered to offer four other chip flavors in addition to beet, including vegetable, sweet potato, quinoa and seaweed. Hmmm, again, not sure about that last one. In any event, you can find them online if you’re interested in trying them out. I recommend the beet!

Daniel McCabe

History: Man on the Moon

Do you know how many nations have landed men on the moon? The answer is one, the USA! But we aren’t done, for in cooperation with international partners NASA’s Artemis program intends to return with America’s first female astronaut as early as the summer of 2027. No other nation has landed astronauts on the moon though China is making plans to do so by 2030; however, other than the USA, only four nations have landed unmanned crafts on the moon, including the Soviet Union (now Russia), China, India and Japan.

But did you know that Israel made an attempt to land an unmanned craft on the moon in 2019? Launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this privately-funded spacecraft sadly crashed on its final descent to the surface after aerospace engineers from SpaceIL lost engine control. America has named its space programs Pioneer, Ranger, Surveyor and Apollo, but I think I like the name of Israel’s program the best—Beresheet, which means, “In the Beginning,” based on the Hebrew of Genesis 1:1. How fun! There were plans for a Beresheet 2 to return to the moon sometime this year or last, but unfortunately funding problems have grounded the mission to date.

Daniel McCabe

Anthropology – Man’s Essence and Nature, Part Two

On a previous topic, theology proper, we talked about the essence and nature of God. But here we’re exploring the essence and nature of man. Adam was created in the image of God, after His likeness. That’s the best way to understand the Hebrew construction in Genesis 1:26-27 when God says, “Let Us create man AS Our image, according to Our likeness.” We ARE God’s image. It’s what we are. We also take after God’s likeness.

As God’s image, we represent Him in the created order, and man is the only creation of God which specifically bears His image. WE are His image. Angels are not. Animals are not. Nothing else is His image. Thus, we are the pinnacle of all creation with utmost value.

God was working through the first six days to get the created order ready to house mankind, which is really the main purpose of creating anything in the first place. We are the pinnacle of His creation and we have the utmost value over everything else because we are His image.

But how are we like God? Well, we’re intellectual, moral, spiritual, emotional, relational, creative and physical beings, for example. There are many things that make us like God in a way that really nothing else is. You might say that angels are like God. They have moral agency and intellectual capacities. They’re spiritual and, I suppose, emotional as well. However, God created only man to take His image, which points to man’s dominion over the creation. The main thrust of being God’s image, if you will, is that He has entrusted dominion over the created order to His image—to us, everybody in the world. Every single person who has ever existed is part of that image of God. That’s why people have value, true value, and I would say infinite value just by being human. That’s why life is precious.

Each human being has a definite point of beginning. We didn’t pre-exist. We didn’t exist as souls in heaven before God placed our souls in our bodies. We all have a definite point of beginning at conception, and we will exist for all eternity. We will exist forever. We’re not snuffed out upon death or after we have spent a certain amount of time in hell. He doesn’t do that. We exist forever, so, let me ask you, “After death where are you existing? Will you be with God or will you be apart from Him?”

When we trust in Jesus Christ, then our sins are forgiven and we receive eternal life with God. If we do not trust Jesus, then our sins are not forgiven, and we spend the everlasting state apart from God. But either way you exist forever.

There is a concept known as annihilationism which teaches that God will snuff out people if they’re not saved. That’s not true. We have a definite point of beginning, and we will exist forever. Each person is generated by his parents as a body and soul, thus we are composed of two elements, the physical and the spiritual.

There are some who believe in a three-part composition of man—that there is a body, a soul and a spirit. Personally, I think that biblical references to soul and spirit are synonymous. So, I accept a duality of man, the physical and the immaterial, and that is when you are whole, when you have your physical and immaterial aspects combined, starting at conception, when you are generated by your parents. Thus, in a special way, a man and woman get to partake in God’s creative activity when they come together and have a baby. Ultimately God is the Creator of all things, but parents get to participate in that. I think it’s very special.

So a person inherits both elements from his parents. He’s created by them and he inherits both his physical and, in some sense, his immaterial elements from his parents. He is a union of body and spirit, and he’s incomplete without both elements.

Now at present when we die, our soul departs our physical body, but even in heaven we’re not yet entirely complete. Our spirit will spend some time apart from our body, but eventually our body and soul are reunited at some point before entering our eternal destination. This is discussed in John 5:29, 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 and Revelation 20:5-6, 14. Just before the new heavens and new earth, the real everlasting state, there will be a resurrection. Our body is reunited with our spirit, and then we are truly and forever whole, the way that God intended for Adam and Eve in the garden and for us.

Adam Keim–Trip Diary, October 6, 2022

Chocolate, Pigs and a Gold Wedding Ring

Are you familiar with the carob tree? Native to the Middle East, the long, brown pods of the carob tree are sometimes ground into a flour or powder for baking, which can even be used as a substitute for chocolate. Historically, however, ground carob pods were used as feed for animals. The “carob pod” even appears in Scripture. In Luke 15 Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son who filled his stomach with the “pods” [or “carob pods”] that the pigs ate.

What do you see pictured in the hand of our Israeli tour guide, Dani? Last month our group had just descended the hill of Azekah, which overlooks the valley where David killed Goliath, and as we hurried toward the bus, looking for a break from a September heat wave, Dani stopped us, and asked, “Does anyone have a wedding ring?” In the palm of his hand he then displayed the proffered ring alongside a small seed that he had extracted from the pod of a nearby carob tree. Dani explained that the seeds of the carob tree are remarkably symmetrical with each one weighing almost exactly 1/5 of a gram.

Looking for a way to uniformly measure gemstones, sellers throughout the Middle East once used the ubiquitous carob seed as a standard weight. Thus, a 24-carat, gold ring would be equivalent in weight to 24 carob seeds. The word carob comes from an ancient Arabic word for “bean pod,” and the word carat is simply a modern form of the same word.

“Thanks, Dani!” What a fun fact!

Daniel McCabe

Answer to the Trivia

D. To the skies

Who We Are

Shalom Y’all Ministries is a 501(c)(3) organization, and all gifts to our ministry are tax-deductible. SYM was formed in 2021 to teach the Bible and lead tours to Israel. Our teaching and presentations feature the acronym S-H-A-L-O-M, which means “peace” in Hebrew.

Our Mission

To teach and encourage those who love the Bible, the land of the Bible and the people of the land and to lead educational tours to Israel that forever change the way you read your Bible and worship the Lord

Our Prayer

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).