Day 3 (part 1)

Before I begin to describe the events of my first Shabbat in Israel, I'd like to first mention something else that God had been stirring in my heart.
My intention in coming to Haifa had been to continue my Arabic studies of the last year and a half, however, almost immediately upon arriving, I felt that this was not the right choice. Intellectually, I have many reasons for and against taking Hebrew or Arabic, but, at the end of the day,I truly felt that God was asking me to commit to learning Hebrew here in Israel. Even in just the two short days I had been here, this began to weigh very heavily on my heart simply because I feel that the decision to take Hebrew actually represents a much larger commitment for me.
Over the last seven months I feel like God has taken the strings of my heart and tied them tighter and tighter around this land, and more specifically,(much to my surprise) to the Jewish people. I honestly can hardly believe myself how drastically my heart has changed, and how humbled, and honored, I now feel to bring the love of Jesus here, even if only in the most simple ways.
I feel that choosing to switch to Hebrew is a very serious commitment to God for me, an act of recognizing that He is, and has been calling me to Israel, and that I will do anything, regardless of how much earthly "sense" it may make, in order to chase after Him and His will for my life. This has been a surprisingly difficult thing for me mostly because when you choose what God calls you to, you also have to "unchoose" all the other stuff. But, as my mother so lovingly reminded me, this is merely the choice between better and best, and I would certainly be a fool to think that I can find joy and peace in anything less than God's best for my life. While getting ready for my first Shabbat experience with a Messianic congregation here in Haifa, I made a concrete decision to begin studying Hebrew, and, as He is always so faithful to do, God has been confirming this to me again and again.
One of the biggest ways God did this was through meeting and spending Shabbat with another American student here, Kelsey. On the way to the Shabbat service, Kelsey and I shared with each other our stories. We were both very moved to discover that we have almost identical stories, except that she is just about to leave Israel, and I have only just arrived. I was very blessed to gain further wisdom and perspective from her experiences here, but more than anything I began to feel that my coming here was most definitely not just the result of happenstance, but that I am actually part of a movement. I may be getting a bit ahead of myself, but already in my five days, I have discovered EIGHT students, from all over the world, just here in the International program at Haifa University (which is only composed of only 98 students to begin with) who are here doing EXACTLY what I am doing. Over and over I have been hearing the words, "God is breaking my heart for Israel and asking me to return to the firstborn with His love." I can't even describe to you how thrilling, humbling, and inspiring this is to me. I am so encouraged to be a part of what God is doing here in Israel, and am now, more than ever, certain that I have only seen the very slightest glimpse of what God has in store, both for my time here this semester, and throughout the rest of my life.