We have two of them and I can see them out of my kitchen window. The almond trees are the first to bloom every year and I take much pleasure in their white, delicate blossoms in contrast to the dark deodars standing behind them as if guarding them, protecting them. The blossoms are long gone and they are bearing their fruit now.
It was the day Jerome chose the almond tree for his nature notebook entry that we met Summer. The boys had just finished eating dinner on the picnic table outside and Seth came to tell me that one of my friends was at the park. I walked out with Ian on my hip and saw a woman I had never met before peering over the wall. I admit I was rather guarded and suspicious, but I soon realized what she wanted. Summer is from Palestine and recognized the almond tree and asked for some green fruit to eat. She told me that in her homeland they eat them green like that and often served with salt. We got her a few handfuls in a bag and chatted on tip toe, seeing only each other from the noses up. I don’t think I had ever seen such amazing eyes as she has! I wish I had remembered my cell phone in my pocket to take down her number, but I’m not quite used to having it back and didn’t recall it. She said she would come back, and I have been praying that she will. I want to share with her, I want to know her story, I want her to know my Jesus.
