Imagination Help

I feel like I have an imagination, though probably it's somewhere in the middle as far as imagination quotients go.

That's why I don't mind having some help here in Israel when it comes to imagining what life was like back in the time of Jesus.

We visited Nazareth Village, an open air museum that helps to peel back the layers of time and give you a window into what life was like 2000 years ago.

They've done an exceptional job at carving out a beautiful spot, right in the heart of the city center. Although completely surrounded by modern day life, this little gem of a place sparkles as it brings to light a possibility of what the sights, sounds, smells and tastes were of the early days of Jesus' life.

After a delicious lunch, which they assured us would have been typical food back in the day, we walked through the open air museum to see what they've prepared and developed in order to help you grasp a tiny bit of this period of time.

From animals, to tools, to vegetation, they have sought to create something authentic for the visitor.

Even showing how wool was died using such things as onions, walnuts and the inside sea creature of a shell (to get the beautiful purple color!).

This dear woman, who was there a year ago when I visited as well, cheerfully greets her "guests" as she sits at her spinning wheel to show us the process of what it took to create a garment or a rug.

And with that little bit of help, my imagination is free to incorporate all I know from Scripture about Jesus to understand better where he came from, who he was, and what is so extraordinary about him today!