Hello!

Never underestimate the power of “hello.” I wander through the world and walk streets and I say hello to people that I pass along the way. In Israel, we walk around our neighborhood and we get to say “shalom” to people as we pass. Not only are we saying “hello” to them, it’s also an opportunity to literally speak blessing into people’s lives by saying “shalom.”

The word for “hello” here is also a word of blessing and it represents the fullness of life. Not just peace or happiness, but really the fullness of ones being. It’s a deep and meaningful word that the right person could no doubt write an entire book about just to expound its meaning.

While Earlene and I were out for an evening walk yesterday we were up to our usual antics saying “shalom” to everyone we passed. Sometimes they have headphones in as they exercise and some flat out ignore us and offer no response. Others gives us strange looks and quietly respond. Some offer an alternate greeting of “erev tov” or “boker tov” if we are walking in the morning. It’s an eclectic mix of greetings or the absence thereof.

Last night was a little different though. It was the end of an exceptionally busy day for us here in Israel. I was sore from helping a family unload their shipping container as they had just moved to Israel a couple of weeks ago, but Earlene convinced me to take a stroll anyway. We were only a few houses from ending our walk and ran across a man holding his dog. It was a small dog and almost looked like he was preventing the dog from barking at us as we passed.

As we do with everyone, we said “shalom” and he quickly responded with a shalom in return. We were about five paces beyond him and he asked us “where are you from?” We responded that we are from the United States and he said “you definitely aren’t from here, because you greet people on the street.” He spoke of how it warmed his heart with appreciation.

We began to chat a little more and exchanged a few different bits of information. He’s from South Africa and lives nearby with his family. He guessed we were here because of our love of the people and the Lord. By the end of the discussion the man was saying we should come by for coffee and talk with him and his wife more. We exchanged numbers and went about our way excited to build another new relationship here in Israel. We had confirmed during the conversation that he didn’t know anyone that we are currently in contact with, which in this village so far seems rare. Everyone seems to know everyone else. In no uncertain terms we’re excited that we were blessed with a second divine appointment for the day. (See Earlene’s post “Itsik” to read about the first.)

Yesterday was by far the busiest day we’ve had thus far in Israel. By the end I was exhausted and pushing myself to study Hebrew before I went comatose for the night. The day began early as we delivered a package for a Holocaust survivor by 8:30 a.m., had our first unexpected divine appointment with Itsik, helped a family prepare 200+ love packages for more Holocaust survivors, helped our neighbors unload their shipping container (meeting several people in the process), and closed the day with our second unexpected divine appointment. The series of events that God leads us through is often confusing, but it’s continuing to be awe inspiring and fun along the way.

As Earlene’s post “Water” suggests, we’ve been in the calm waters for a time while we’ve been in Israel’s lockdown. In some respects, it looks as though HaShem is slowly reintroducing us to the rapids of life in preparation for the season ahead. We are both excited to continue meeting more people and really getting to know this land, her people and their language.