In Memory of My Oma

Last Sunday, we got the call no one wants to hear: “Oma isn’t doing well. It would be good if you came soon.” She battled for 2 more days, and this morning, joined her husband, parents, brothers, and beloved dog, Heidi, when she went home to be with Jesus at 90 years young.

Oma was a warrior, a woman of both the Word and prayer. Born in Germany in 1930, she survived WWII and then met the love of her life, our Opa, from Puerto Rico, while he was serving in the Allied forces occupying Germany post-war.

After they married, she emigrated to a new country, while her husband continued to serve. In all, through more international and cross-country moves, she raised 4 children, who gave her 8 grandchildren and, so far, 5 great-grandchildren.

When Opa’s health started failing, I was in college and later moved away, eventually to spend 2 years in Argentina. From afar, I watched and heard of her faithful care of my grandfather as his health declined for more than 10 years. Her commitment to him was formidable; an example of what it means to care for someone else no matter what. When he passed in 2019, I was sad for myself, but even more for her, who had lost a spouse of almost 70 years. It still boggles my mind... I was in college when I realized that my grandparents had a biracial marriage in the 1950s- to me they were always just Oma and Opa, from Germany and Puerto Rico. They had a love that lasted through the ages, despite hardship and war, different languages, cultural differences, and everything in between- because it was grounded in their shared faith. And their story is extraordinary because of their awesome God.

We share a love of dogs, and, some of my favorite, most recent memories are of taking Annie over to see ‘her Oma’. I can quote so many of her German phrases, even though I have no idea what they mean, but the greatest legacy of all that she left everyone in our family is deep, great, unwavering faith.

I’m on Susie Larson’s “daily blessing” email list, and when I saw the one posted on my birthday but sent via email yesterday, I didn’t want to read it. Oma was still here, but we knew her time was short. Today, after hearing the news of her passing, I went to finally read it.

I can’t wait for the day when I am there with her, experiencing this- with our beloved dogs and family together again- in eternity with Jesus. She always called me “Angel”; I most definitely am not one, but one day we will sing with them together.

*first pic from Christmas 2011

Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews

Of Fire and Lions, by Mesu Andrews, is a fictional depiction of what some of the Israelites could have experienced from the time of Babylon's first invasion of Jerusalem in 597 B.C. under King Nebuchadnezzar all the way to King Darius' allowance for a group to go rebuild the temple 70 years later.

But before we explore the book, can we talk about this GORGEOUS cover? #coverlove

Andrews chose a really interesting time period to explore in this book, focusing it around Daniel and his contemporaries, best known by their non-Jewish names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Told through the alternating view points of Daniel and a female character named Abigail/Belili, the reader travels with the first wave of Jewish captives from Jerusalem all the way to Babylon and beyond. 

For me, the best part is seeing the most well known stories of Daniel put into a narrative, from his friends being thrown into the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar's transformation into a beast, the lions' den, and the hand writing on the wall. Because this is the first novel I've read dealing specifically with this part of Israel's history, it was so fun to explore it all in story form. I found myself captivated by the story, looking forward to the events still to come as I turned each page. 

If you love Biblical fiction, I definitely recommend this book. Click here to find it on Amazon!

Chosen by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Last week, I re-read a beloved series from the 1990s, the Full Circle Series by Lisa Tawn Bergren. It's a fun series because each book is set in an incredibly picturesque (and adventurous!) location, and the main characters of each novel are loosely connected to each other (a relative, friend, or roommate of the heroine/hero of the previous book... hence, a full circle). 

Even though I've read this series many times, I'd forgotten the setting of book 5: Israel!

(it has a different cover on Amazon, but this is the cover I have)

Like I said, I'd completely forgotten about this book! But in addition to describing so many places I visited on my first trip to Israel, it reminded me of A Chosen People novels by Robert Whitlow and all I've been reading about the conflict and dynamics of Israel and Palestine. Like Hana in A Chosen People, the main character is a Christian Palestinian woman, and she has one of the most fascinating jobs (to me!) ever: a biblical archeologist!

For me, it's all so incredible to explore, but the dynamics of a Palastinian Christian biblical archeologist- WOW!

So if you've ever wanted to join to a dig (at the Temple Mount!) in the heart of Jerusalem (#goals), and have an incredible adventure, all while exploring the culture and issues and modern day Israel, this is definitely the book for you!

You can buy it here on Amazon (Oh, and while reading the whole series will give you the #fullcircleeffect, you don't necessarily have to read the other books in the series to read this one- although I do recommend them all... ESPECIALLY book 4. Don't get me started on that one!)!

The Scribe by Francine Rivers

The final book of Francine Rivers' Sons of Encouragement series, The Scribe, is probably my favorite.

The Scribe follows a person we really don't know that much about: Silas. The book itself follows his view of Paul's ministry from mid-end of Acts, and to me, it is fascinating. 

I loved the storytelling of this novella, as short as it is. My favorite part is her suggestion of Silas' possible other appearances in the Bible: as the rich young ruler who challenged Jesus, one of the two men walking the road to Emmaus after Jesus' crucifixion... maybe even the writer of Hebrews. Who knows? We don't... but God does. It'll be fun to figure out one day. As it is, it was fun to consider that possibility through this Biblical fiction.

If you love Francine Rivers, or anything having to do with the early church, this is a great read! Click here to find it on Amazon!

Happy New Year! And the latest news from Israel!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated it by getting the all-clear from the vet for 7-month-old Annie to run and jump again, as she was spayed the week before Christmas. I'm not sure who is more relieved—her to be able to play freely, or us, who don't have to deal with her pent-up energy!

(this photo is from the day before her surgery, but it definitely captures her essence as #poodletough)

A lot happened in Israel in the last 2 weeks! First of all, they entered into their 3rd national lockdown of the year. This one is supposed to only last for 2 weeks, but could be extended to a month if the covid-19 rate doesn't lower enough.

But before that, they began vaccinations, and as of the writing of this, have vaccinated more people per capita than any other nation. They plan to start vaccinating the general population by this week, and Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel could be the first country to come out of the Covid-19 crisis. There is hope of herd immunity by Seder night (Passover) 2021.

One other HUGE thing has happened, pictured in the first news image above. The emergency coalition government formed in 2020 was unable to pass a budget at the end of the year, triggering their 4th election in 2 years, which will happen on March 23.

Wow! That's a lot. What do you think of this latest news? Let me know in the comments below!