Johanna's Journey: Call to Freedom

ENDORSEMENT FOR

JOHANNA’S JOURNEY

Cindy has been a member of the church I attend for many years and has been effective in reaching girls. Her burden to encourage, protect, and equip girls in the vulnerable tween-aged years has led to Johanna’s Journey which I highly recommend.

—Dr. A.A.(Buzz) Baker, assistant to the President,

Child Evangelism Fellowship International

Johanna’s Journey

Call to Freedom

This is historical fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

© 2013 by Cindy Murray Hamblen

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-62020-260-9

eISBN: 978-1-62020-360-6

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cover and interior art: Kaysha Siemens

Cover design and typesetting: Matthew Mulder

E-book conversion: Anna Riebe

AMBASSADOR INTERNATIONAL

Emerald House

427 Wade Hampton Blvd.

Greenville, SC 29609, USA

www.ambassador-international.com

AMBASSADOR BOOKS

The Mount

2 Woodstock Link

Belfast, BT6 8DD, Northern Ireland, UK

www.ambassador-international.com

The colophon is a trademark of Ambassador

In honor of Joyce Barker—teacher and friend—who helped a wobbly seventh-grader find her sea legs upon the ocean of junior high school. You were a definite godsend in my life.

Table of Contents

Half Title Page

Endorsement for Johanna’s Journey

Full Title Page

Copyright Information

Dedication

To my Readers

Acknowledgements

Chapter One: Johanna's Dilemma

Chapter One Life Tip

Chapter Two: Johanna's Hope

Chapter Two Life Tip

Chapter Three: Waiting

Chapter Three Life Tip

Chapter Four: Warrior Women

Chapter Four Life Tip

Chapter Five: Birthday Joys

Chapter Five Life Tip

Chapter Six: Pithom

Chapter Six Life Tip

Chapter Seven: Trouble!

Chapter Seven Life Tip

Chapter Eight: Time to Plan!

Chapter Eight Life Tip

Chapter Nine: Plagues!

Chapter Nine Life Tip

Chapter Ten: Final Days and Moments

Chapter Ten Life Tip

Chapter Eleven: The Journey Begins

Chapter Eleven Life Tip

Chapter Twelve: The Lord Protects His People

Chapter Twelve Life Tip

Chapter Thirteen: Water and Shelter

Chapter Thirteen Life Tip

Chapter Fourteen: Work and Rest

Chapter Fourteen Life Tip

Chapter Fifteen: Miracle in the Desert

Chapter Fifteen Life Tip

Chapter Sixteen: Danger!

Chapter Sixteen Life Tip

Chapter Seventeen: War!

Chapter Seventeen Life Tip

Chapter Eighteen: The Spoils of War

Chapter Eighteen Life Tip

Chapter Nineteen: Livna Keeps Her Promise

Chapter Nineteen Life Tip

Chapter Twenty: Finally There!

Chapter Twenty Life Tip

Chapter Twenty-One: The Lord Speaks

Chapter Twenty-One Life Tip

Falafel Recipe

Author’s Note

Contact Information

TO MY READERS:

Like Johanna, you are on a journey. Like her journey, yours will be exciting with ups and downs, joy and sadness. Knowing that the Lord God loves you and cares about the details of your life will help you grow in your faith as Johanna did in hers.

While Johanna and her friend Kenyeh are fictional characters, they represent real girls your age who lived during the time when God freed the Israelite people from years of slavery in Egypt. Although their lives were very different—their cities looked different with hieroglyphs on buildings and pyramids, they used bread the way we do silverware, and they dressed in tunics and wore only sandals—you’ll see that Johanna and Kenyeh cared about many of the same things that you do today—friendship, fairness, beauty, and boys. They also faced the biggest decision—to follow the Lord or to go one’s own way.

As you read the series, you will learn along with Johanna and Kenyeh. Life Tips for each chapter of the book offer you advice to help you on your journey. My prayers will be with you as you read!

With love,

Mrs. Cindy

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I owe a debt of gratitude to my husband Steve and sons Drew and Chris for their belief in my vision for this book and for their exhortation to me to get it published. Many thanks to those who willingly read my original manuscript and gave their thumbs up: Donna and Howard Brown, my mother-in-law Mary Jane Hamblen, Sonya Ables, my sister Betsy Fowler, Leslie Neurenburg, Amy Fletcher, and Ruthie Stephens. Thanks to Carol Clark for introducing me to the ICBS Convention and the world of book publishing! Thanks to my gracious and patient editor, Brenda Covert. I also thank my many dear encouragers at North Hills Community Church whose names I won’t try to list lest I forget someone! You all have served me as the body of Christ by encouraging me to follow this little spark within my heart as unto Jesus. Unto Him be all the glory.

CHAPTER ONE

JOHANNA’S DILEMMA

JOHANNA SPIT THE OBJECT FROM her mouth, turned, and ran. She could hear the two girls laughing behind her. One called out, We’re glad you enjoyed our treat, Johanna!

Face burning, she cut out across the grassy field and headed home. Mean! She wiped a tear from her eye. How COULD they be so mean? In her nine years, she had never felt such humiliation. Her bare feet padded across the grassy field as she ignored the calls from her cousins playing in the distance. She rounded the corner made up of the low, mud brick houses of Goshen and ran up to a larger one atop a small hill. Finally home!

She burst through the wooden door and ran straight to the large crock of water kept in the cooking area. Ignoring the calls of her baby brother and the questioning looks of Grandmother and Mother, she ladled water into her mouth and ran outside to spit it out. She repeated this again and then came back into the house. She headed straight for Mother, who had sat shelling peas but stood up once she saw her daughter’s strange behavior. Johanna fell into her arms.

Oh, Johanna, what’s happened? Tell me! said Mother.

They . . . they told me it was a treat Rivka’s mother made from dates. I felt unsure about accepting it. It DID look like a . . . a sheep’s dropping, but I really wanted to believe it was made of dates! She burst into tears.

Mother looked at Grandmother and asked, Who, Johanna?

Rivka and Mara! I wanted to trust them. Even though I felt uneasy, I wanted to trust their offering. They said it was an apology for hiding from me, and then they laughed! She felt the humiliation all over again and sobbed in Mother’s arms. After a little time of crying, she lifted her head, wiped her eyes, and sniffed.

Oh, yes, the old pecking order, said Grandmother, shaking her head.

The pecking order? asked Johanna as she wiped another tear.

Have you ever watched a flock of geese? There’s always one, usually an older, bigger one, who pecks the other geese to show who’s in charge—from other adults down to the little ones. Sometimes people do that too. They want to feel powerful, so they pick on the younger or smaller ones.

And when it comes to children, sometimes two will gang up on the third, added Mother. You often play nicely with Mara when it’s just you two, don’t you?

Johanna nodded. And I once spent an afternoon with just Rivka, helping her bake bread in the neighborhood oven. We had fun. But when the three of us are together, it doesn’t work! I’m the youngest and—

You receive the pecking! said Grandmother. We need to find you a friend of your own. She reached for an herb that was lying on the table. Here, take this parsley to chew. It will help cleanse your mouth. She held out the green sprig to her granddaughter. And then you can have a real date.

Johanna broke away from Mother’s hug, took the parsley, popped it into her mouth, and chewed. It did help. The wretched taste began to leave, along with her anguish. She sighed as the love and understanding of two older women soothed her spirit. The date fruit that followed was smooth and sweet.

There are plenty of other girls in Goshen besides Mara and Rivka. What about Rachel for a friend? said Mother as she went back to her pea shelling.

Oh, she’s too afraid of getting dirty, so she won’t run and play with the rest of us. If she gets dirt on her toes, she goes home!

How about Miriam?

She only thinks about boys! She wants to follow them everywhere. She doesn’t like to run and pretend and play games unless boys are there.

Oh, I see, said Mother. We’ll give this matter some thought. Meanwhile, pat your face with this cool, wet cloth and talk to your baby brother. He’s been watching for your attention since you burst through the door.

After wiping her hot, sweaty face, Johanna felt a little better. She knelt down to two-year-old Samuel.

Hi, Samuel! What are you busy with here?

He had an old basket and was busy putting items into it and then dumping them out on the rug—a spoon, a smooth stone, some wooden blocks, a roll of yarn, and other simple items. He smiled up at her and held out a smooth piece of wood saying, H-nah, H-nah!

She played with Samuel for a while, and then Mother said, It’s almost time for Grandfather to return from the city, and then your father will return from the work site. Go brush your hair, wash up, and then come and help us ready our supper.

The women lit the wicks of several small, bowl-shaped oil lamps. When Johanna rejoined them, she set the lamps around the main room and on the table. Then she filled a basin with water and set it on the floor near two stools. Each evening she washed Grandfather and Father’s feet when they came home. After the men sat down and removed their sandals, Johanna worked quickly to clean their dusty, tired feet. One by one, she would lift a foot into the shallow basin and, cupping her hand, she would pour water over the foot and then wipe it with a long cloth she had fastened around her waist.

Thank you, Johanna! I feel refreshed! Grandfather would say.

Father would always ask her, And how is my Johanna today?