When I am stressed, feeling down, or even excited, I listen to music. I have a different genre for each mood. Early in the mornings or late at night, when I can’t sleep, I listen to Christian music. When I’m writing or feeling nostalgic, I listen to Assyrian music. When I am exercising, I listen to hip hop or even rap music. Music has been my escape ever since I was a little girl. It allowed me to daydream into a fairytale land away from my environment, the war, and everything else that was happening. This past week, one of…

Easter celebration is one of my favorite. I grew up with so many particular cultural traditions, which I love passing onto my girls. I also love having deeper conversations with them about the true meaning of this holiday. As we celebrated every part of Easter, from Palm Sunday to Last Supper, to Good Friday and the Resurrection, a valuable observation evolved. Most of us are familiar with Judas Iscariot and his betrayal of Jesus. What gets overlooked, however, is Christ’s love for Judas despite the outcome. He chose Judas as one of the twelve disciples; He mentored him and treated…

I recently heard someone say, “no one benefits from an easy route.” As I reflect on the past six months and the season of change my family has experienced, it has not been a smooth route. Yet, I wouldn’t trade it for a better one. We hope and pray for a peaceful and effortless path, but we know that personal growth is labored from a bumpy one. The more rugged the road is, the stronger and more resilient we are. The most challenging part of our journey has been watching my girls leave behind everything they’ve known, their home, family,…