His Cherry Blossom

The last rays of the sun glanced off of the rock walls of the wadi where Stephen and I had parked our car. After checking our apps and taking one last swig of water, we embarked on, for me, the longest run yet - 10 miles. The beginning of the path consisted of rough stones beside a windy road with cars flying around the corners. After about a hundred meters, we turned off the road and headed along a flat concrete shoulder which took us to a dam. The smell of campfires and grilling drifted through the air as we ran past families huddled around fires to stay warm and cook their food.  The street lights twinkled off of the glistening water and the cool temperature invigorated my body. I love the exhilaration of first starting to run. Past the other side of the dam we came across some more families camped by the side of the path having picnics. The children ran around exploring the rocks and water while the adults sat sipping tea on mats or camp chairs. Everyone paused and took a seco...

  “The metro is open” “Is it real?” “Has the long awaited moment finally arrived?” The whispers floated around on that first of December. For over 15 years people had been waiting for this momentous occasion and yet after many false start dates, doubt and questions began to creep in - would it ever be finished? What would it actually be like?  I, too, was one of those people wondering if Dec. 1st was another false date. It wasn’t until I started to see the posts on Instagram and hear from my friends that I actually believed the time had finally come to ride the metro. Everyone was raving about how at last a new era was dawning. The videos popping up on social media showed beautiful stations and sleek train cars. Even better than that was the potential of there being less traffic on the roads as commuters began utilizing this modern, self-driving metro.  About  a week later after downloading the metro app and checking the routes, Stephen and I decided to go with some ...

  The adventure began the moment our Nissan Safari hit the red tinged sand dunes. The mountains of glistening golden orange almost shone in the sun until a gust of wind blew over, dancing with the dust in the air. Stephen circled the car around several clusters of standing quads and makeshift tents aiming for the natural runway. Finally, we were positioned and embarked our ascent up the imposing slope. If you're familiar with walking on sand at all you'll know that sometimes you find hard spots where your feet can stay on top of the sand and other times your feet simply disappear into the softness. Now multiply that by the weight of a several ton car and you can imagine it's no easy task to maneuver over the shifting sands - especially where on one side you have a drop off and on the other side quads and other cars driving up and down the slope!! Normally, a car needs to get a lot of momentum and speed to make it to the top, but with all the obstacles Stephen only made it a...

The driver creeped along the dusty desert road trying to find a way across the sand. The directions indicated that the house we wanted to find was somewhere on the other side of the desolate lot to our right. Finally, he found a dusty track to get us across and headed towards the friendly lights shining off the courtyard walls.  This was my first time going to tutor piano at this young lady’s home, or actually her parent’s home where she lived. I quickly sent her a text as the Uber dropped me off to ensure that I had landed in the right place. After all, addresses are often slightly inaccurate or the location pin could be incorrect. Tall palm trees surrounded the imposing villa with a well tended garden in front. Right behind me, a red SUV pulled up and a young lady stepped out of the passenger side in her regal robes. Waving her hand she dismissed her driver and approached. Her scarf half-draped gracefully over her hair was more like a decorative veil than a restrictive cover. She...

Yesterday I walked in the footsteps of a great woman of God. I heard her stories, I tasted of her history with God. She speaks 6 languages and serves in countries around the world - always loving, always sharing a smile, always filled with hope. I was so inspired to share a few days with her and introduce her to some of my friends. We walked through the market talking to the local ladies, laughing with them, sharing stories. She brought so much life and joy to every shop that we entered.  She loved the new ring that she bought as a present. It means "Traveler of the Way". My local friend had the exact same ring and together we bonded over the God who leads us on the only True Way.  Today I am walking my own story written by God. I much prefer to read another’s story to look back with them and see with clarity all the ups and downs. I much prefer a stable, predictable path, and the false feeling of control. Yet here I am in the place of God’s appointment - insecure, uncertain,...

I live in a culture where presentation and hosting is a BIG deal. If you have a mere stranger in your house, you'll at least serve a drink, but if you have a guest of honor - the sky is the limit! That is when you quite literally slaughter a goat and make a feast. You may even go above and beyond your means just so everyone knows that you are a generous person. There can be a beautiful generosity to this or on the other hand guilt that one hasn't done enough and judgement if others don't do enough. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the story of Mary and Martha. In this simple story, our Lord comes and visits his good friends in Bethany - Lazarus, Martha and Mary. Both women are busy hosting in different capacities - Martha is busy in the kitchen and with preparations and Mary is sitting with the Lord captivated with His every word. Then Martha goes to the Lord and complains that Mary should be in the kitchen helping her because there is so much to do. That is the kind of judg...