Today was our final morning in Rome before we headed to the Roma Cruise Terminal at 11:00 AM. The weather was much cooler than previous days. It was cloudy and windy with temps in the 70s to start the day. It got much warmer, but the highs were supposed to stay in the 80s.
Today was a highlights of Rome kinda day where we hit a lot of spots around this awesome city! It was another scorcher with highs in the upper 90s, and crazy humidity, but we did a better job today carrying and drinking water.
When in Rome! What a fantastic day for Team Agee in this great city. We left our hotel around 7:30am to begin our adventures. For today we had two guided tours booked for the Vatican in the morning and the Colosseum in the afternoon.
This morning, our plane landed in Rome after around 10 hours. I was so excited to have finally made it to Rome after a day of travel; though, once again, day one and day two seem like one continuous day to me.

Today began our two-week family trip along the Mediterranean, and I am so excited! I’ve been looking forward to this trip for such a long time. Honestly, I say today even though I’m writing it on day two— the plane ride makes it feel like one gigantic day.
Happy Fourth of July! Weird to be celebrating in Rome!
I ended my last post by saying that our flight to Rome had been uneventful. Well…the second half of the flight over the Atlantic was quite bumpy for a couple of hours. Even so, I was finally able to get a little bit of sleep.
It’s finally time to depart on our two-week family trip to Italy, Greece, and Turkey that we’ve been planning for months. The itinerary begins with three nights in Rome before boarding Voyager of the Seas for a 7-Day Mediterranean Cruise. During the cruise we will visit the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, Santorini, Kusadasi (Turkey), Mykonos, and then disembark near Athens. Our plan is to then spend two additional nights in Athens before flying home.
See below for PDF copies of the handouts and notes from my Wednesday night class at Pleasant View Church of Christ on Hebrews
Lesson Handouts & Notes
See below for PDF copies of the handouts and notes from my Wednesday night class at Pleasant View Church of Christ on Galatians
Lesson Handouts & Notes
See below for PDF copies of the slides, along with audio and video of the lessons, from my Sunday night series at Pleasant View Church of Christ on Why Should I Believe
Lesson 1 – What If I Already Believe? (Slides)
Lesson 2 – Holes in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution (Slides)
Lesson 3 – What About Dinosaurs? (Slides)
Lesson 4 – Arguments for the Existence of God (Slides)
Lesson 5 – Can We Really Trust The Bible? (Slides)
Lesson 6 – Who Did Jesus Claim He Was? (Slides)
Lesson 7 – The Resurrection (Slides)
Lesson 8 – Why Should I “Go To Church”? (Slides)
Lesson 9 – Is Jesus Really the Only Way? (Slides)
See below for PDF copies of the handouts and notes from my Wednesday night class at Pleasant View Church of Christ on The Life of Abraham
Lesson 1 – Summons from God (Genesis 11:27-12:9) – January 24, 2024
Lesson 2 – Sojourning in Egypt (Genesis 12:10-13:4) – January 31, 2024
Lesson 3 – Separation From Lot (Genesis 13:5-18) – February 7, 2024
Lesson 4 – Soldiership of Abraham (Genesis 14:1-16) – February 14, 2024
Lesson 5 – Sovereigns and Abraham (Genesis 14:17-24) – February 21, 2024
Lesson 6 – Sureties for Promises (Genesis 15:1-21) – February 28, 2024
Lesson 7 – Scheme of Sarai (Genesis 16:1-16) – March 6, 2024
Lesson 8 (Part 1) – Speaking With God (Genesis 17:1-14) – March 13, 2024
Lesson 8 (Part 2) – Speaking With God (Genesis 17:15-27) – March 20, 2024
Lesson 9 (Part 1) – Speaking With God (Genesis 18:1-15) – March 27, 2024
Lesson 9 (Part 2) – Speaking With God (Genesis 18:16-33) – April 3, 2024
Lesson 10 – Shame in Gerar (Genesis 20:1-18) – April 10, 2024
Lesson 11 – Son of Promise (Genesis 21:1-19) – April 17, 2024
Lesson 12 – Summit with Abimelech (Genesis 21:20-34) – April 24, 2024
Lesson 13 – Sacrificing of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19) – May 1, 2024
Lesson 14 – Sepulcher for Sarah (Genesis 22:1-20) – May 15, 2024
Lesson 15 – Spouse for Isaac: Part 1 (Genesis 24:1-28) – May 22, 2024
Lesson 15 – Spouse for Isaac: Part 2 (Genesis 24:29-52) – June 2, 2024
Lesson 15 – Spouse for Isaac: Part 3 (Genesis 24:53-67) – June 2, 2024
Our tour of Israel in 2024 has the opportunity to be a life changing experience but that opportunity is greatly dependent on the amount of investment our group members are willing to make in preparation for our trip. With that in mind, below are written resources that are being provided in order to help with your personal preparation for the trip. All of these volumes are in PDF format.
Volume 1 (September 21, 2023) – Caesarea Maritima and Herod the Great
Volume 2 – Coming Soon…
PDF copies of the handouts and notes from my periodic series on Sunday nights at Pleasant View Church of Christ looking at Unsolved Mysteries of the Bible.
Lesson 1 – Who Was the Pharaoh of the Exodus? (September 3, 2023)
Lesson 2 – What Time of Year Was Jesus Born? (September 10, 2023)
Lesson 3 – Where is Noah’s Ark? (September 24, 2023)
Lesson 4 – What Happened to the Lost Tribes of Israel? (October 1, 2023)
Lesson 5 – Where is the Garden of Eden? (October 8, 2023)
Lesson 6 – Where Did Melchizedek Come From? (December 3, 2023)
Lesson 7 – What Happened to the Holy Grail? (December 17, 2023)
Lesson 8 – Where is the Ark of the Covenant? (January 7, 2024)
Lesson 9 – Who Was Cain’s Wife? (January 28, 2024)
Lesson 10 – In What Year Was Jesus Born? (February 4, 2024)
Lesson 11 – Did Joseph’s Coat Have “Many Colors”? (February 18, 2024)
Today has been a very long yet good day. We woke up at 6:15 and had breakfast at our hotel. We left the hotel at 8:00
After arriving at the U.S. Capitol, we walked to our first stop, the Senate Building. We didn’t go inside because the court was in session, but we sat on the front steps and listened to a talk from the Senate Chaplin, Barry Black. He taught us how to apply the message of James 1:5 to our lives. The verse reads, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” He urged us to pray for God to give us wisdom every day.
Next, our group entered the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center for lunch. After this, we got to walk around the lobby and gift shop. The lobby featured a lot of interesting statues of various people, as well as a full scale replica of the statue of freedom on top of the Capitol.
At 12:00, we went on a tour of the actual Capitol. The first place our tour guide took us to was the crypt. She told us about how under the crypt, there is a tomb that was originally made for George Washington, but he didn’t actually end up buried there.
We then climbed up into the famous rotunda in the center of the Capitol. Our guide talked about the history of the paintings inside as well as the statues. The dome was absolutely gorgeous!
The final place we visited on the tour was the hall of statues, where many of the statues for people in various states in the Capitol are located. We also got to experience the “whisper effect.” Because of the room’s irregular shape, our guide stood on the opposite end of the room, and we could hear her as if she were right next to us.
After we finished at the Capitol, we visited the Library of Congress. The architecture in this building was absolutely astounding. We got to see an overhead view of the reading room (the line to actually get in was way too long since we only had 30 minutes). We also saw Thomas Jefferson’s personal collection of books he’d read and donated to the library.
We boarded the bus after this and drove to the Museum of the Bible. This may have been my favorite part of the day. Our group began at the exhibit featuring the Old Testament Walkthrough. This was an incredible experience that featured many theatrical effects, and it did a great job of summarizing the Old Testament story. We also watched the New Testament movie experience, and we visited the history exhibit. This exhibit was very cool, as it contained a Gutenberg Bible, manuscripts from the Septuagint, and some of the first Luther and Tyndall translations of the Bible.
We then drove to the Marine Corps Memorial and were told the story of how many members of the Marine Corps lost their lives at Iwo Jima. After this, we drove into Virginia and had dinner at Primos.
Our final stop for the day was the Pentagon Memorial, which honors the people who lost their lives on 9/11 when the plane crashed into the Pentagon. This memorial is definitely what stood out to me most about today. Every person who died on the plane and inside the pentagon had their own personal bench. This is another one of those places that just creates a horrible feeling inside, and it’s hard to even grasp.
When we returned to the hotel, it was after 10:00, and we were all exhausted. We all went to bed soon after we returned.
6:00am came early this morning, but we had a nice breakfast at 6:45am, and the kids in our group did a great job of getting everything packed up and out of their room. Today our little group changed a bit as we had one of our girls to a different bus because of being on a different flight home. This meant that Emma joined us for the day. All of the busses pulled out around 8:00am with a goal of going to Arlington National Cemetery.
Unfortunately due to traffic, and the massive crowds at Arlington, we had to leave shortly after arrival in the parking lot in order to make it to our scheduled time for the Holocaust Museum.
We headed back to DC and took a short walk over to show the group the front of the White House.
This morning we got to sleep in an extra hour and had breakfast in the hotel at 8:00am. The busses left by 9:00am and headed toward the Naval Academy in Annapolis Maryland.
Every year, the Lipscomb Academy 8th Graders go on a class trip to Washington D.C. This year, it’s finally my turn! I’ve been so excited for this trip since the beginning of the school year, and to make things even better, I get to go with my dad!
My day started at 3:45 AM, and we got to the airport at 5:30. After getting through security, my dad took us to 8&r Coffee and got me a hot chocolate! The flight process was pretty smooth, and I spent the time listening to Broadway tunes with a friend.
When we got to D.C, we almost immediately boarded a bus to go to a food court at a mall. We stayed a while, and my friends and I browsed in the various stores.
Our first destination for touring was the Museum of African-American History and Culture. This museum was very interesting, but it is definitely a lot to take in. Learning about the horrors African-Americans have gone through all throughout history creates a terrible feeling.
After this, we went to dinner at Buca di Beppo. This was a very good meal, and it was family style, so we could all help ourselves to a little bit of everything.
Our final touring destination for the day was the John F. Kennedy Center, which features both the Hall of Nations and the Hall of States. On the top level, there was also a beautiful terrace where we all took pictures.
We didn’t get to spend long in here, but after we went to the terrace, we got to explore an exhibit highlighting the growth of various arts programs over time. What really stood out to me about this exhibit was that each sign I read pointed out how the specific art form told the story of America as a whole. As much as I love music and theatre, this is something I’d never really thought about.
We arrived at our hotel at about 8:30, and we were all very tired. However, it was a very good day that we all enjoyed in one way or another.
Our second morning began with a lovely breakfast at the hotel and we pulled out just after 8:00am. The first stop of the day was the US Capitol Building. We parked on the front side of the Capitol and then walked up the hill to the back.
From there we walked over to the Supreme Court building and took a photo of the group.
At the start of this post, I want to acknowledge the school shooting that took place at Covenant School this morning just after we arrived in Washington D.C. Covenant School is less than two miles from the Lipscomb Academy Lower School where my wife Olivia works, and less than three miles from the Upper School where both Kate and Sara attend. Learning about this during our day was overwhelming, and difficult to deal with emotionally. This was especially true considering the many connections those in the Lipscomb family have with the families who lost loved ones. While we still enjoyed our day in D.C., it understandably cast a heavy shadow. I cannot comprehend this act of evil nor the loss of these precious souls. My heart hurts and my prayers will be continually lifted for all involved.
This week I am accompanying Sara while serving as a chaperone for the Lipscomb Academy 8th Grade field trip to Washington D.C. I was able to go on the same trip four years ago with Kate, and am thrilled to be going again with Sara. Olivia dropped us off at the airport at 5:30am to meet up with our group of approximately 125 students, teachers, and chaperones. The group was split into two flights (Southwest & United), leaving at two different times, and flying to two different airports (Reagan & Dulles). Even with all of this going on, the process of getting boarding passes and navigating through security was pretty smooth. Kudos to Bob Rodgers Travel, Southwest and United Airlines for having everything ready to go!
PDF copies of the handouts and notes from my periodic series on Sunday nights at Pleasant View Church of Christ covering the feasts, festivals, and holy days of Israel.
Lesson 1 – Introduction (February 19, 2023)
Lesson 2 – Sabbath (February 26, 2023)
Lesson 3 – Passover-Part 1 (March 19, 2023)
Lesson 4 – Passover-Part 2 (March 26, 2023)
Lesson 5 – Passover-Part 3 (April 2, 2023)
Lesson 6 – First Fruits (April 16, 2023)
Lesson 7 – Pentecost (May 7, 2023)
Lesson 8 – Trumpets (May 21, 2023)
Lesson 9 – Atonement (May 28, 2023)
Lesson 10 – Tabernacles (June 4, 2023)