Field Note: We were having lunch when a young guy came up to us.

He was from New Jersey, but had moved to Israel to join the army.

I could tell he just wanted to talk. Probably just happy to see Americans.

I remember that feeling.

He told us he never wanted to leave Israel.

Said he didn’t know why, just that something had pulled him here.

I told him it reminded me of the animals heading for the ark.

They didn’t know why either.

It was against their nature…

to walk into something so unknown and even dangerous.

But God was preparing a place for them.

He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “That’s exactly it.”

And I felt it too.

Because being here, right now, with the war, the uncertainty, the distance from everything that feels normal.

it’s against our nature, too.

And yet we’re here.

When we got back to the car, someone had slammed into it.

Left a big dent. ָThe note on the windshield was not from the culprit but surprisingly from a caring witness.

But I didn’t think too much about it.

We’ll pay for it and move on.

What stuck with me was the ark, and the feeling I shared with this young Jewish kid.

Just a quiet reminder that God is doing something.

That pull toward something eternal, even as life leaves its unapologetic dents in my side.