His Cherry Blossom

  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...

Gold is a common topic here, especially when it comes to marriage. "How much gold did he give you?" "Have you seen this latest design?" "I'm going to buy a piece of 24k gold as an investment for my future". There is this impression for the women specifically that gold is a safe keeping, and quite literally plan B in case anything goes wrong with their marriage. There are literally entire market places consisting solely of shop after shop of gold jewelry. Much of the gold is bought by the bride's family from the groom's money given for the woman who is engaged to be married. This gold is for the bride to keep for the rest of her life. Often she will wear it all or most of it on her wedding day and for the first year of marriage. Then will pack most of it away only to be worn on very special occasions (like a close family member's wedding) or to be sold in return for another style of gold jewelry.    In America I don't hear people talk so...

 Imagine growing up believing music, color, laughing, fun, and anything pleasurable was a sin. You learn to cloak yourself behind a facade so that no one can see the real you. Why? Because you believe that to please God, no can know that deep down you love singing songs, you thrive in lively conversation, you hate the rigid rules, and are scared that you'll never be good enough. On top of it all, you are told that thinking outside the box, asking questions and being creative is going against the very commands of God.  Now tell me - if you have any fear of the Lord and you truly believe this, can you imagine how you would live your life? Can you feel the fear choking your throat when you go to speak up in a tense situation? Can you picture your stomach in knots at the thought of someone hearing you singing in public? Can you feel the shame that covers your heart every day as you wrestle with the ever present question - did I keep up my facade? Did they see my real colors? ...