Much of the action in Prize of War takes place in Acsah’s house. Acsah and Othni live in a typical Israelite home, also known as a four-room house. These mud-and-brick houses are characteristic of the Iron Age of the Eastern Mediterranean. The inhabitants lived on the second floor, and the ground floor—divided into four sections by pillars, half-walls, and walls—was used as a stable and for …
Learning to Let Go
The last few weeks have been quite busy at our house. My two youngest turned sixteen and are driving (with a permit). Johnny was asked to escort a pretty young classmate to the Navy Ball for NJROTC, and John took him to buy a new suit since he’s grown so much over the last year. Dara signed up to go …
The Year We Missed Easter
Eighteen years ago, we missed Easter. Twice. On Sunday, March 27, 1999, we met Mira in Kazakhstan for the first time. All the next week we came to visit her, driving up a long and curvy, still snowy road from the capital city of Almaty to Esik, a journey of about only 40 miles but over an hour by car. I …
The Perfect Gift
November and December are my kitty’s favorite months. Our tree goes up November 1. It might take a week or two to get all the ornaments up, but that red velvet skirt goes around the base right away, and she loves to lie on it. It’s also about nine feet tall, which means the base is about six feet wide, …
Gotcha!
I always think of adding my kids to our family in terms of the holidays. Emma was born on Christmas Eve. Mira was born on December 21, but we met her on the day we celebrate Easter in the west and brought her home on Orthodox Easter, one week later. And Dara and Johnny we brought home two days before …
Bringing Up … Daughters
Life with three very daughters is, to say the least, interesting. When the kids came home from school yesterday Dara was wearing her volleyball jersey because they had a game last night. I mentioned that I thought it looked a little tight across the chest, even though it seemed to fit everywhere else. She said it was because she was wearing a regular …
How Far for Some Jack-in-the-Box?
J is for justification. Justification is God removing the guilt and penalty of our sin while at the same time declaring us, as sinners, righteous through Christ’s atoning sacrifice. Christ’s righteousness is credited to our account through faith alone. I live between Washington, DC and Baltimore. Justice, in a legal sense, is elusive. Wrongs committed often go unpunished, leading to frustration, …
When Losing is Winning
I must now declare myself a Nano “loser.” They call it “winning” when you write 50,000 words, though you actually get only bragging rights and a “Purple Bar of Glory” for your website. I did not write 50,ooo words in November. I only wrote a little under 31,500. But I’m OK with that. It was taking too big a toll on …
A Threefold Cord Is Not Quickly Broken
G is for girlfriends. I have a group of friends I met soon after we moved here, 18 years ago. We’re all still very close, although we see each other less now than we did when our kids were all in kindergarten. Now we either have teenagers, and/or are working to pay for those insanely expensive college educations, and it’s just …
By the Light of the Silvery Moon
F is for flowers. I like flowers. I don’t know much about them, can’t identify too many of them. Roses. Carnations. Sunflowers. That’s about it. But they make me happy. Sometimes I add the $4 bouquet of carnations to my cart the grocery store when I’m buying food. They last forever and they make my kitchen a brighter place. I think John …
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