For as long as I can remember, I've wished I could travel back to the first century and meet Jesus. Even before I had actually given my heart to Him, I wanted to meet Him and talk to Him. I thought time travel would be the only way to do that. Now that I know better, I still would love to visit that part of the world in its first century form.
A bit of history about the area. Don't get the wrong impression--this book doesn't take place in Israel. Most of it happens in Tyre. In the first century, Tyre was part of the Phoenicia, now Lebanon. Tyre is presently part of the city of Sur, and there is a sizable chunk of this piece of land jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea (formerly called the Great Sea) where archaeologists dig for artifacts. Tyre was at one time an island with a super high wall around it (150 feet high!). Apparently, Alexander the Great considered this an irresistible challenge, so he and his men built an earthen causeway out to the island and proceeded to break down the wall and capture the city. Now that causeway is much wider and the area only faintly resembles an island.
My own challenge was to put flesh and personality on the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21-28. Yes, she's the heroine of my story. Most people of that coastal area (Tyre to Sidon) probably didn't believe in God, but something about Jesus or what she'd heard of Him brought her to His feet to beg for her daughter's health. And so Sarah, her daughter Tamara, and her husband Paulos, took anchor in my mind and came to life.
What would a mother do for her child? Almost anything, right?
I invite you to travel with me from modern-day Phoenix, AZ, to ancient Phoenicia. The faith of a child, a mother's love, and a father's search fill the pages of Blessed by Time. Available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
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