Great Story

Prior to my adventure over to Israel, I signed myself up to take Biblical Hebrew. I was so excited to learn the native language of Israel, but as God would have it... I changed, figures. Similar to how my favorite color has recently been changing every month, so have my plans, hopes, and dreams. Hebrew would fall under the category of a dream, and to only prove myself correct... this dream changed.

I have been reading a book on Islam, and have found myself becoming increasingly more interested in this religion, its roots, and the people that follow. It would only make since that I would want to take Arabic instead of Hebrew... thus, I am taking presently taking Arabic. I love, love, love it. Our class consists of 8 students and one energetic, wisdom-filled, spunky Palestinian woman. ahh... she's wonderful. In order for us to get to our classroom, we have to travel on a city bus. The title of this post is, "Great Story", so allow me to tell you this "Great Story".

Yesterday, I had the privilege to sit next to a 40 year old Muslim woman and her 4 year old daughter. Just like the young boy I met on the airplane to Tel Aviv, this little child was filled with energy. Due to her uncontrollable laughter, I will refer to her as Giggles. Giggles was anything BUT shy. This little girl would laugh anytime I tried to talk to, look at, or make a conversation to either her or her mom. The bus ride is about 45 minutes long, which allowed us plenty of time to chat. We talked about marriage, children, and what I am studying in college. One of the best things about this conversation would have to be the moment Giggles pulled a bag of candy out of her mom's purse to offer me a piece of her favorite candy. I could have cried. Everyone knows that a child loves their candy, I was amazed with how generous and willing Giggles was to offer me such a great gift. However, the best thing about this conversation was God. I believe that God created everything good and perfect, in which, he is the creator of laughter. In the moments where Giggles, her mom, and myself were without words, we used laughter. I didn't want this bus to stop. We laughed and laughed. There is something so beautiful when you see three different generations, two different religions, and the creations of one God coming together to bare the same good and perfect gift: laughter.