It was a cold stormy night my burdens were anything but light. I thought the new hobby would fit in but it seemed to toss me as the wind. I couldn't figure out why but I needed to tell this hobby goodbye. Now you're probably finding yourself asking what this hobby is. It's mountain biking from the ridge. I picked it up just for fun but found myself out in the sun. It was so hot and not for me I craved the cool wind from my AC. That stormy night when I kissed it goodbye felt so good. That was a lie. I missed it every hour I knew bike riding gave me power. One night I had a dream it was me, my bike, and a ravine. I tore it up and down this caused me to wake up in a frown. Why had I given up my newfound hobby this was the cause for my sobbing.

I found myself in sorrow. I looked from the mountaintop down at the people in the valley below. I thought to myself where is the love, everyone is hateful? Where is the charity, everyone is selfish. Where is the discipline, everyone is slothful. As my heart grew sad I asked my Father why it was like this in the valley. He told me a story about a tempter and accuser. Once the valley had been beautiful and prosperous everyone loved and was charitable. But there was one among them who sewed the seeds of doubt in the valley. The people of the valley began to question the point of morality, the point of being loving, of being charitable, of being disciplined. They crowned the tempter as king of the valley. My Father began to weep for those in the valley. He said “Son I have sent One who has made the way possible for those in the valley to come to the mountaintop” and then He said, “Won't you go invite them”.

I started my day as an other. Tired. The cool atmosphere around my warm and cozy bed made the thought of getting up seem ridiculous. I said to myself “But I have to get up so I can visit that new antique shop”. So I burst out of bed got ready and left for the shop. Upon arrival my eyes widened, my heart began to palpitate, and my fists clenched. “This place looks amazing” I shouted. I searched and searched but nothing fully caught my eye. But then I saw this old Middle Eastern-looking vase. I lunged and grabbed the vase. “Woah this thing is heavy” After almost throwing my back out for this vase I decided it was coming home with me. I had a fascination with things that looked old and from other places in the world. So I took it to the check out line “$1000” My eyes nearly burst out of there sockets. “$1000 dollars for a vase?” I asked. With an annoyed face the employee answered “That is correct”. Against my better judgment, I bought it. I set it in the back of my car and headed off for home. About halfway through the car ride home I heard a “ksshhhh”. This terrified me I pulled over immediately to see what happened. When I looked in the back I was taken a back. I didn't know what to say, I wiped my eyes and looked again. I now understood why the vase was so heavy I looked now at hundreds of gold dinars littering my trunk.