An Egyptian Flower

Amisi was the daughter of a peasant. Her name meant flower in her native Egytian language. She was a beautiful girl with a beautiful name. Her family never had much, but they got by... that is, until the drought. Amisi's father borrowed against a harvest that never came, and when payment came due, the only thing of value he had was his daughter. Lots of daughters were sold as servants that year. Amisi was lucky to be sold to a decent family, wealthy foreigners. They were older and had no children. They had lots of servants, but her duties were to attend to the wife. She spent most of her time cooking, cleaning, and going to the marketplace. There were times she even got to see her parents there on shopping days.

Then came the news she never expected. Her master had decided it was time to go home... his home, somewhere far to the north. Long after she walked out of town she could still hear her mother wailing somewhere behind her. She walked and walked dazed at the prospect of never seeing her parents again.

They settled near a place called Hebron. Amisi missed her home immensely, but life went on. It seemed like her master and mistress spent a lot of time fighting. Her mistress was angry that her husband's god had never seen fit to give her a child. Then something happened she never considered. Her mistress came into her tent and instructed her: Tonight you will present yourself to my husband. If God will not give me a child, then you will.

That night was a blur of confusion and emotions. She did her best to forget, until a few weeks later when she knew she was pregnant. This brought a whole new flood of feelings she had never before experienced. As her belly began to swell, she was embarrassed until her embarassment gradually gave way to pride. She saw how her mistress's husband looked at her. She started thinking that since she was pregnant by him, perhaps he would make her his wife. Instead of being a servant, she fantasized about having her own servants. And besides, her mistress was old. Surely her master could see that Amisi would make him a much better wife and give him many children...

Join us for this week's Sunday celebration to hear the rest of this story of broken dreams, broken relationships, rejection... and hope.