As I watch the world events unfold, especially in Afghanistan, I am reminded of a painful time in my childhood. A pain no child should endure, yet so many are, even today. When I lived in Northern Iraq, we faced so much persecution due to my Christian faith, my family’s missionary work, and our service to the American organizations such as United Nations, Red Cross, and UNICEF, which is typical and expected. However, every so often, we received news of the United Nations leaving Iraq. The UN and the American presence in Iraq was the only form of peace we…

Nostalgia is a sentimental longing for the past, for a place with a happy personal association. Nostalgia is listening to Assyrian music and feeling an intimate connection to my culture. It is, going to the Middle Eastern store and finding childhood candy for the first time in 20 plus years and indulging it with my girls; or eating watermelon and bread for lunch, as we recently did. Growing up with very little, borderline of poverty, and spending months eating our neighbors’ leftovers for survival, one of the affordable meals my family consumed was bread and watermelon. The large watermelon lasted…

One of my birthday traditions is to go on a family hike. Being new to Idaho, it took some time to find the right one, and it was beautiful. The hike had a reasonably easy trail, very well shaded, and right next to a creek. As we walked, mesmerized by God’s masterpiece, we came across a fork in the road. A wide path with an incline is to the left, and to the right is a narrow and flat one. Considering we haven’t done much hiking this year, we chose the narrow and flat path. It wasn’t long before we…