The Moral of the Story

Cindy Trane Christeson

“The heavens tell of the glory of God, the skies display his marvelous

craftsmanship.”

-- Psalm 19:1

For the past month I’ve written about our trip to the Middle East. The

night before we flew home to California, we listed what we referred to as

five-star, exceptional experiences. Within minutes, we came up with 15

different ones, and you have read about some of them.

As you know, the main purpose of our trip was to work with a wonderful

church in Cairo. Our time there was very productive, but also very

nonstop, so we were all tired when we left.

We then enjoyed a total change of pace and place when we spent three days

in a Bedouin village on the Sinai Peninsula. It was clearly one of the

most unique and unforgettable experiences any of us had ever had. Jon is

famous for putting together adventurous trips, and this certainly

qualified!

We met our guides, loaded our bags and drove on a paved road for more

than an hour. It was hard to believe we were really looking over the Red

Sea at Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia all at the same time.

Then we turned and drove another hour and a half on a desolate dirt road

dotted with only an occasional acacia bush. It was desert in every

direction.

Several times one of our team members named Brian said, “We are out in

the middle of nowhere,” and yet we continued to drive. It wasn’t hard to

see why the Israelites wandered for so long in the desert!

We finally came to the Red Sea, turned and drove next to it for awhile

longer. The sun was just starting to go down and I was starting to wonder

what we were looking for, as there were no signs and no hotels in any

direction I could see.

Then we saw a little Bedouin village, which would be our home for the

next few days. Our guide, Doron, told us we were going to a “hotel of a

million stars,” and he was right.

The contrast to where we had just been was incredible. There were no cars

or crowds, only our Land Cruisers, camels and seven families. Our “hotel”

was a three-sided structure covered with colorful rugs, facing the Red

Sea. There was no electricity, no running water -- in fact, there were no

facilities of any kind, yet we had everything we needed.

The Bedouins were phenomenally hospitable and generous. They shared

their food, their camels and their stories. We were happy to buy handmade

jewelry from the women and children and we were honored when the sheik of

the village let us pray for him.

The Bedouins, our Israeli guides, and our group certainly came from

different backgrounds, but we all clearly enjoyed many of the same

things, especially the beauty of God’s creation.

Several times as I looked out at the Red Sea and up to the millions of

stars. I couldn’t help but sing to myself one of my favorite hymns

called, “How Great Thou Art.”

Everywhere I looked, everything and everyone I saw reminded me of just

how great God is.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She can be reached via e-mail at

cindy@onthegrow.com or through the mail at P.O. Box 6140-No. 505, Newport

Beach 92658.