When the Sun Rose

A Beautiful Morning

I wake up to the sound of people walking in and out of the courtyard below us. The tall wooden door squeaks and creeks with the light breeze blowing outside. The birds begin chirping, and I squint my eyes toward the small window beside the door. Only a glimpse of light appears, so it must only be sunrise. I pull the cloak off of me and look to see if the others are awake.

"It's a beautiful morning!" Susanna cheerfully declares. She walks up from behind me where we have our belongings placed. She pours water from the household jug into our individual water pouches.

"Oh, it is! You really don't have to do that. I could have. Thank you though," I tell her. Susanna is another woman that I highly admire. Like Joanna, she gives everything to Jesus and His ministry. She is always joyful and going out of her way to serve others, even something as simple as filling a water pouch.

"It's my pleasure. We have a full day ahead of us. We must get going to meet up with Jesus and the others," Susanna tells us. Her long red hair is gathered together on the right side of her head braided together like a rope. She has already gotten ready today, so most of her long locks are tucked into her head scarf. Like all of the women here, she wears a long tunic, but on Susanna, it doesn't look like just a normal tunic. The overlay material is very light and a soft tan color. She is radiant. As we have seen through our journeys, clothing can easily get ruined. Once, while in Bethany for a visit, I was talking with some children. Behind me more children were playing with a ball, just cloth wrapped together. Apparently there was a puddle of mud, and they accidentally kicked the ball into the mud, splashing it on my tunic. From then on, I said I must forget about my clothing, so I can always be ready to help change a life. Now I carry about three to four different mismatched items to pair with each other.

"Hi, are we off to Jerusalem again today?" Joanna asks as she peeks up from her slumber and rubs her eyes. I glance at Susanna for today's agenda.

"We are. Let's get going!" Susanna says.

~~~~~

Once we are all ready, I open the tall door leading into the open world. Every morning when I open the door, I get a feeling that I'm making a difference, but today, that feeling is so much stronger. It feels like this Passover is going to be very memorable.

I walk down the stairs leading into the small courtyard. Three children sit playing with a ball made of rice and cloth. Animals roam around the area. We take a left turn and gently knock on the tall door.

"Well good morning! Is everyone off so early?" The older woman, who provided the upper room for us asks. She sits in the middle of two women at a round table in the middle of a room used for cooking. I'm guessing the women are her daughters, and the children outside playing are most likely her grandchildren. The older woman's husband must have already started on his work today, because he is not here.

"We are. Today we are heading back into Jerusalem. And thank you so much for providing us a place to sleep. It means so much!" Joanna says. The little lady's eyes light up, and she hands us some bread for the travel. We exit the room, and walk out of the courtyard into the busy town. Many people walk the streets with animals, food, children, and many other things. A lot of people are heading the same direction as we are, most likely going to Jerusalem too. Jesus and his other followers are gathered together talking with some people from Bethany. We head toward the Temple in Jerusalem.