memories

... this morning i went to a new church in the area i had never been to before... it was a bit of a strange service since a lady from the church died this morning and the church did not want to act as if nothing had happend...
at some point a lady stands up and reads hebrew 12:1-2... memories come back, wild...
sri lanka, port orientation, over christmas, can't remember which year... seelan had read those same verses... and every once in a while i still think about them, in that context... a great cloud of witnesses... in the midst of 350 people from 50 different countries... that's indeed a great cloud... and a special cloud... i couldn't help it... tears came to my eyes... the lady next to me must have wondered why i was crying, since i don't know the lady who passed away... but she doesn't know me... she doesn't know what this passage means to me...
so i came home, i decided to email seelan about it... and i read carlien's blog... guess what... i read that the ship was sailing over new years, through the suez canal first and then into the read sea... and where was i on new years? on the sinai peninsula... no wonder ship's memories became so alive again those days...
seeing jordan from israel knowing that the last time i was there i was on the other side, looking at israel from jordan... the people i was with, the jokes we cracked on the decks, the shawarmas we ate... the blessings we received... the fellowship we shared...