Pilgrims finish their journey

While at first glance it might seem odd to speak of finishing our journey just as it is beginning, there is a "begin with the end in mind" approach that we as pilgrims have been challenged with today.  After studying Philippians 1:1-11, we recognize that our journey is not so much a movement in geographical space, but rather a movement IN us as our individual destination/purpose emerges for each of us along the way.

Half of the group started the day off with a 5:10 am pick up for a morning in the skies above Cappadocia...in a hot air balloon.  Stunning, amazing, awe-inspiring, fantastic, exhilarating...these adjectives do little to really capture the beauty and excitement of the adventure.  It was truly a blessing to watch the sun rise while hanging as part of a sky dotted with over 100 hot air balloons, all rising and falling slowly to greet the day.  We took, literally, hundreds of pictures and while some are very good (click HERE to see all of the shots of the day), they don't capture the peace and beauty of the time over the region of Cappadocia.

We took the morning (after the hot air ballooners were back, of course), to visit a couple of sites before leaving for the airport.  The first stop was Uchisar, a natural citadel that was established back in the 4th century to help protect the people in the region by serving as a lookout to spot would-be-invaders or other hostile visitors.  It offered a spectacular view of the Cappadocia region and rewarded all who took the hike to the top with a breathtaking, 360 perspective of the countryside below.

Avenos pottery was our final stop in town - admittedly not one of the more hallowed spiritual destinations on the tour, but an interesting demonstration on how the regional pottery of the area (4 generations of family members have and continue to make these unique pieces) is thrown, dried, fired, painted and glazed.

Our travels for the day ended in our current location - Izmir.  In addition to now being in a completely different part of Turkey (now very metropolitan), we are in eager anticipation of the rest of our pilgrim group,  scheduled to arrive tonight and rumored to be somewhere over Croatia as we type this blog.

When next you hear from us, we will be a complete group of 23 and our journey to follow in the footsteps of Paul will be officially underway!