Iscah

Iscah was a girl who lived long ago and far away.

When Iscah was little, her house was on a hill. The hill had a lot of rocks and some bushes. In the spring, the hill had yellow and orange wildflowers. Iscah liked to pick the flowers and put them in her hair.

From the top of the hill, Iscah could see a city called Jerusalem. That was a bigger city on another hill about an hour's walk away.

Iscah's house was built from dried mud bricks. It had a flat roof made out of wood and straw.

There were windows, but there was no glass in the windows. Instead, the windows had blankets covering them.

During the day, Iscah's family pulled the blankets back to let in the sunshine and the breeze. Sometimes, bugs came in.

At night, Iscah's family closed the blankets to keep things warm and dry. Sometimes, the cold got in anyway.

Iscah's family was big. She had four big sisters and two big brothers. Her oldest brother, Gideon, was almost grown up when Iscah was born.

Iscah also had an older brother who died before she was born. Sometimes she felt sad that she had never met him.

Iscah spoke a different language from us. She called her mother "Imma", and her father "Avva." Iscah's word for rain was X, and her word for sun was Y.

There were no cars or TVs or phones in Iscah's world. When her family wanted hot water, they had to boil it on a pot over the fire. When they wanted to go somewhere, they walked. Sometimes they took a donkey to carry heavy things with them. If they were going far away, they could ride on camels. The only way to have light at night was to use a candle, or to depend on the light of the moon and stars.

That was the way it was for everybody back then.

Iscah's Avva owned many sheep and goats, and he paid men to take care of them. He also owned six camels, but Iscah didn't see them very much, because they were usually gone on long trips.

One of Iscah's sisters was her twin, Naomi. Naomi was the same age as Iscah, because they were born on the same day. Naomi was born first, and then Iscah was born an hour later.

Iscah liked to play with Naomi. Naomi was her friend as well as her sister. They had dolls made out of rags and yarn.

Iscah had brown hair and beautiful brown eyes.

Iscah's favorite time was at night when she was going to bed, because sometimes her Imma would come in and sing her a song before she said a prayer and went to sleep.

Iscah's Imma had a beautiful voice, and it made Iscah feel warm and safe and happy when she sang.

One night when Iscah was four years old, she had a hard time falling asleep. Naomi was snoring softly next to her in the bed, but Iscah was listening to the wind. It made the blankets at the window flap. Iscah could feel cold air on her nose, where it poked out from the blanket.

Then she heard a funny noise coming from the side of the house where the sheep slept. It wasn't a mommy sheep rolling over. It wasn't a baby lamb bleating for milk. It was a little bit like a thump.

This made Iscah nervous. Was there a jackal bothering the sheep?

She pulled her blanket over her head.

She closed her eyes.

She snuggled up next to Naomi.

But she could not go to sleep.

Then she heard the noise again. This time it was louder.

Iscah could her her mother and father talking in the other room. She thought she would feel safe if her mother would come and give her a hug. So she called out.

"Imma!"

But she was afraid to do it really loud, because maybe it would wake up Naomi, and maybe it would make the noise by the sheep louder and scarier.

"Imma!"

But Imma didn't come.

She tried calling for her father, too.

"Avva! Avva!"

But her father didn't come, either.

What could Iscah do?

She started to cry.

Then Iscah remembered that she could pray.

Heavenly Father would listen to her, and He would hear her, every time.

Iscah closed her eyes and said a prayer.

"Dear Father, I am scared. There is a scary noise outside."

Iscah opened her eyes a little bit. It seemed like maybe there was someone standing next to her. But she didn't see anything. It was still dark.

Iscah closed her eyes again. "Will you help me feel better?"

Iscah listened.

She felt like someone was standing next to her -- someone who loved her very much.

She felt better.

"Thank you," she said, in her prayer.

Iscah snuggled under the blanket.

Then she heard footsteps.

It was Avva and Imma, together.

"Did you call us?" Avva asked.

Iscah nodded, even though they couldn't see that in the dark. "Yes," she said. "I was scared."

"It's a windy night," said Imma. "It blew over the manger that your father set up with grain for the sheep."

Avva put his arms around Iscah. "It's okay now, little Almond." Little Almond was what he called Iscah sometimes.

Iscah nodded again. "I know it's okay," she said. "I prayed, and Heavenly Father sent someone to help me feel better."

Imma patted Iscah's head. "I'm glad you remembered to pray," she said. "I always feel better when I do that."

"Me too," said Iscah.