By Jamie Bogaard
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27 Oct, 2023
I'm supposed to be on a plane headed to Atlanta and then on to Tel Aviv. A trip that I have dreamed of taking for years. It was to be the highlight of my Renewal. That all changed of course when war broke out. I am grateful however that I was not there when this all happened. My tour company offered me a refund, minus a few fees and hopefully peace will return to the region and one day I will be able to go. Everything happens for a reason and God always has a plan. Sometimes that plan is very clear and other times it is harder to understand. My disappointment and inconvenience pales in comparison to the heartache and disruption of the lives of all of those in Israel. I know that God has a plan for this land and it's people and I pray that peace will return soon. I have my family and we were all able to be together in Galena, IL for the weekend. The colors were beautiful and we had a great time together. We slipped over to the Field of Dreams and I was able to have a catch with my boys. We walked out of the cornfield and ran the bases. What a treasure we have in Iowa. There were families there enjoying the same thing. I appreciate the fact that the decision was made to not commercialize this but keep it simple for families to enjoy for generations. We played a lot of golf, ate a lot of good food, played games and just enjoyed our time together. We all went to a local church together on Sunday. During the greeting time a gentleman was asking where we were from, I shared that we were all able to get together here during my Renewal. He was very excited to hear that and we had a great conversation afterward as they are working on a Sabbatical plan for their pastoral staff and I was able to share some great information with him. Through everything God is good. In his plan for me not being able to travel to the Holy Land made me available to conduct a funeral tomorrow. I guess God knew that I was needed here. He always knows best and I'm glad he leads my life.