I meant to set the alarm for dawn that third night in Israel with my church group. I wanted to get up with the sun and say my prayers like I did at home. I especially wanted to pray while the sun rose over the Sea of Galilee, the very sea where Jesus sailed, and take a snapshot. I put my camera on the nightstand, then rested my eyes. Only for a second, I promised myself, then I’ll set the alarm.
The next thing I knew sunlight filled my room. It was morning! How could I have let this happen? I jumped out of bed and from the balcony looked at the fat sun hovering above the sea. That had been our last night in Galilee. I’ll never see the sunrise here, I thought.
The rest of the trip through the Holy Land went well. I shot rolls and rolls of film, but in the back of my mind I was frustrated. The picture I wanted most would never be.
When I got home I developed nearly 300 photos. One was of a glorious sunrise over the Sea of Galilee. That’s odd, I thought. I could only guess that my hotel roommate, Kitty, had taken the picture with my camera and wanted to surprise me.
At our tour group’s reunion several weeks later, I showed her the snapshot. “Thanks, Kitty,” I said.
She looked bewildered. “I didn’t take that,” she told me.
I asked around the group if anyone had taken a picture with my camera. No one had, but someone had made sure I got the shot I wanted.
