Happy Birthday to Me!

I've celebrated 19 birthdays in this city. That's hard to believe. It occured to me that I have lived here in each decade of my life since age 27. Here I am now in my 50s and I am reflecting on the various stages of my life here in this city. I first came here with 1 child, and now I have 3 children, married, with 2 grandsons, each one a blessing from God.

Likewise, I have watched the changes of this city - my neighbhorhood - transform since we first came here in 1980. The growth of this city has caused new housing tracks all over, bursting at the seams it seems.

Today we celebrated my birthday with a lunch just on the outskirts of Jerusalem in an Arab village called Abu Ghosh. Israeli's love to come here because they are welcomed as customers, especially on the weekend when they go out with their families. This restaurant is called Lebanese Restaurant, which boasts the famed "best humous" in Israel award! Their speciality is the stuffed chicken with rice, raisins, and pine nuts. Abu Ghosh stands as an example of a community that is blessed by God because of their choice not to join in the a conflict with their Jewish neighbors. Instead, they have chosen to act neighborly. As a result, their economic exchange with Israel has caused their village to be quite wealthy. Those who own businesses are friendly, courteous and hospitable towards their Jewish neighbors.

I always enjoy going to Abu Ghosh to have lunch because of the friendly atomosphere and delicious foods. Today we selected a Kubbeh, homemade pickles, humous, salads, kabobs, lamb, and barbeque chicken. We were surprised at the end of the meal when the waiters brought in a plate of baklava, sweet Turkish coffee and sparklers! They heard us talking about my birthday! Happy birthday to me!