We sit in a circle on the floor of Nina’s house. I hope that listening to the women converse in this foreign language will help me learn it. Learning a foreign language is not easy. Sometimes things spiral out of control. Nina’s two-year-old grand-baby, Ali, is running back and forth in the house, charming me with his adorable smile. Maybe…
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. (Mark 16:9)* First Piece: The most amazing, history-altering, eternity-determining miracle of and for all time. God beats Satan. Second Piece: A possessed woman—a woman whose body and mind was controlled by a demon. Got the picture…
The Botanical Gardens. Here I sit on a bench by a brook, in the shade of a clump of bamboo trees. I feel the breeze on my face, I see ants and dragonflies, and I watch water bugs dancing in the still parts of the water. When I close my eyes, I hear the babbling water, a variety of birds…
Time for recess! Why? Because the snack lady is here. She calls in the front door. “Cemil cemilan!” (pronounced chu-meel chu-meel-ahn) That’s Javanese for, “Snacks!” The snack lady walks the streets, balancing a large round double-decker basket on her head. Inside its woven walls lie treasures in the form of a variety of colorful snacks. Pink spongy cupcakes, brown sugary…
Bucky broke his neck. The sleek gray cockatiel with his yellow cone and his orange cheeks probably only had hours to live. Ando (pronounced AHN-doo), our night guard who had discovered the wounded bird, carefully separated him from the others. I got the aviary for the kids really. We filled it with parakeets and cockatiels, thinking it would be an…
I can hardly believe I’m going to college. COLLEGE! And with my best friend too. Life feels so perfect right now. My name is Kerrie May and my best friend in the whole world is Mary Kay. No, not the make-up variety. In fact, I don’t think the person who chose her name even knew that “Mary Kay” was a…
