Through Him all things were made: Meteora

This past week we went on a two day excursion to Meteora. You probably think you've never heard of it, I didn't until I saw pictures of where we were going, but I guarantee you'll recognize it when you see the pictures. Meteora in Greek means "suspended in the air." Ancient Greeks believed that the rocks came down from the sky... like meteorites and just sort of took over this field.

Anyway... a 5 hour bus ride brought us to Kalambaka, Greece, a small town that completely thrives on  tourist activity. Kalambaka sits right at the base of Meteora and was bustling... even on a weekday night.

Meteora was mind blowing. God really used the couple of days to reveal himself to me. On the way to Meteora I just happened to read Psalm 19, and it just replayed in my mind the whole time I was there. God's majesty, power, and love for us was completely on display for me. What a perfect place for monasteries. (At one time there were 24 of them!) Anyway, here's the portion of the chapter that I meditated on the whole trip.

The heavens declare the glory of God; 
   the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
   night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
   no sound is heard from them. 

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
   their words to the ends of the world. 

Meteora was the quietest place we've been thus far, but the rock formations, caves, moutains and sky powerfully communicated the greatness of our heavenly Father. It was almost instinctive to whisper, even when there was no reason to. I wish the pictures really captured it.

Monastery of Saint Nikolas... I think... Anyway... the monks get to ride across in a cable car... we had to climb all the way down, then take a HUGE staircase that is carved into the side of the rock.

(This is cool... it's a big cave that contains a bunch of other little caves with wooden platforms that the first monks lived on before the monasteries were built... what a life.)

Like my skirt? The monasteries don't allow women to enter without one... sleeveless dresses for women and shorts for men are also not permitted. A small price to pay for how cool it was to see these places. This picture was taken on the back terrace of Grand Meteoron... the first and largest monastery in Meteora.

Anyway... thanks everyone for your prayers for me while I'm here. God's working in my heart and teaching me a lot while I'm here. So excited for the rest of this semester!