Showering in a foreign country shouldn’t be difficult. There are readily available shower fixtures that require a single pull and twist. The good folks at the Sheraton Atakoy Hotel in Istanbul are not aware of this. One lever toggles between the upper shower head and the lower, hand-held variety. Another lever directly in front of that one adjusts the output of water. A third unmarked lever sets the temperature for the shower. A fourth lever plugs and unplugs the tub. On our first night, we were unable to break the code on simply filling the tub with water, so we had to sit on the hand-held shower head which can be painful and may void the warranty. If you become frustrated, as I did, and turn all four levers at once, the bidet at the nearby commode blasts water on your unsuspecting spouse, who shouldn’t be sitting there while you’re showering anyway.

After surviving three blasts to the face in the trial-and-error shower, I accompanied my bride to the dining room for the first of what I believe will be 12 days of incredible meals. We had salad, roast beef on a bed of sweet potato puree, broccoli, and cheesecake with raspberry sauce, white chocolate, and a biscotti. The following morning, our breakfast options included a custom omelet bar, a bread bar, a cheese and meat bar, a 20-ingredient granola station, a coffee bar, six canisters of hot food, and an assortment of juices. I knew we were in for a treat when I realized I could carve a section out of a real honeycomb.

What do we know about Istanbul?

• Home to 16 million people, making it the largest city in Turkey and the 18^th largest city in the world. 
• It sits on two continents—about 2/3 of the population live in Europe and 1/3 in Asia.
• It is in the Top 5 of most visited cities in the world. 
• It straddles the Bosphurus—one of the world’s busiest waterways—between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. 
• It’s considered one of the most significant cities in history, having served as the capital of 4 different empires.
• It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold and the seat of the last caliphate. 
• It sits on the North Anatolian Fault and is highly vulnerable to earthquakes.

By the way, in case you didn’t get the memo, Turkey changed its official international name to Türkiye (“TUR-kee-yay”) to better reflect the country’s cultural roots and to distance itself from the English word “turkey” (the bird) and its slang definition for failure. This would be like if you were from Loser, Louisiana and the city council changed the name to Loser-Yay to make it sound better.  

Istanbul has been featured in many movies, including:

• Skyfall (2012) – Features a high-speed motorcycle chase across the rooftops of the Grand Bazaar and a thrilling opening sequence on the Varda Viaduct.
• Argo (2012) – Used neighborhoods like Balat and Eminönü as a stand-in for Tehran, and filmed key scenes inside the Hagia Sophia.
• Taken 2 (2012) – The Liam Neeson action sequel famously features Bryan Mills driving through the winding streets of Istanbul and fighting on the rooftops.  
• The Accidental Spy (2001) – The Jackie Chan action movie highlights a famous chase and fight sequence winding through the Spice Bazaar.

We spent two days in Istanbul. My general observations:

• It’s really, really old—over 2,600 years old as an established city, with human habitation in the region dating back nearly 8,500 years.
• For a big city, it’s relatively clean. 
• In a city of 15 million people, I didn’t see a single homeless person. According to our guide, there are two reasons: 1) Families take care of their families here. However difficult it might be to take in a struggling family member, it would be shameful to leave them on the street; and 2) People here don’t want to be homeless, which isn’t always the case in our country.
• There are mosques everywhere—over 3100! Over 90% of Istanbul’s population identifies as Muslim, however the level of religious observance varies significantly. About 47% of adults actively practice their Muslim faith, another 45% culturally/traditionally identify as Muslim but are secular/non-observant, and less than 10% identify with Christianity (including Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Catholic communities) or are Jewish. 

My Top 5 Favorite Things We Saw/Did in Istanbul:

1. Basilica Cistern – unforgettable! I never thought I’d be this excited about an underground watering hole. It was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I. In From Russia with Love, an early James Bond classic, 007 boards the Orient Express and navigates these waters. 

• Bosphorus Cruise – sticking with the water theme, we boarded a boat for a 2 hour tour… a 2 hour tour! I’ve never seen such an incredible assortment of water-side palaces, fortresses, universities, and getaways for the rich and famous, and it’s always a treat to be out on the water on a sunny day. However, there was the “Tilley Hat Incident”, featuring my friend Joe Johnson (aka Gilligan), who is determined to “out faux pas” me on this trip. With the wind gusting in the middle of the Bosphorus Strait, he decided not to use the strap on his Tilley hat—a strap designed to keep the hat on your head when you’re in, say, heavy winds on the Bosphorus. Next thing we know, Joe’s hat has blown overboard and is floating in 200 feet of water! He was distraught because it’s his favorite hat and they no longer make it in that color. Before Mary Anne and Ginger were able to console him, the captain whipped our party boat around and went on a daring search and recovery effort to retrieve Joe’s hat. When the deckhand scooped the hat from the water in a fishing net, the entire crowed erupted in applause and shouting! One gentleman in our party was so determined to get a picture of the hat being retrieved that he stumbled down the ladder, severely cut his hand, and is at the ER this evening being treated. (Thurston Howell III is footing the bill.) Of course, I blame Joe for the injury, because I can. But he provided the most entertaining moment of the day so… hats off to him!

• Punto Carpet demonstration – Sadly, the Grand Bazaar—the largest and oldest covered market in the world, with 61 covered streets and 4,000 shops—was closed during our visit due to a holiday. In 2014, it was listed No. 1 among the world’s most-visited tourist attractions, with 91,250,000 annual visitors, but we were not able to add to that total.  As an alternative, we spent a couple of hours at the nearby Punto carpet shop, where the owner treated us to drinks and a demonstration on how Turkish rugs are made. These are some of the finest in the world, ranging from a few hundred dollars to over $25,000. It was nice to get off our feet, sip some Turkish coffee and tea, and learn about a centuries-old trade that is important to these folks. Several in our group bought rugs.

• Hagia Sophia – this iconic church building, built in 537 AD, is a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrated as the epitome of Byzantine architecture. It started as the primary Christian Orthodox cathedral of Constantinople, but later served as an imperial mosque, a museum, and later was reconverted into an active mosque. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. While it is certainly impressive, I had to drop it to 4^th place because it is undergoing a major renovation (due to earthquake damage) and so there is significant scaffolding visible inside and out.

• Hippodrome Square – I enjoyed standing on the grounds where crowds of 10,000 people or more cheered on chariot races during the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Bonus points for beautiful views of Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi Palace and some famous obelisks. 

Honorable Mention: the Archeological Museum and the Chora Church… google them to learn more! I’ll post some photos from our trip on FaceBook eventually–but not all 200 and counting!

The ladies were required to wear scarves at certain religious sites. I asked Janet if doing that would make her more subservient. She made me do 20 push-ups!

Wonderful couple of days in Istanbul! Our focus was more on history and culture than “spirituality”, per se, but that’s about to change! We have arrived in Thessaloniki—just like the Apostle Paul , Silas, and Timothy did around AD 50 on Paul’s second missionary journey. 

It’s time to walk in Paul’s footsteps, both literally and figuratively!

I almost got arrested this week—nearly ended up in a Turkish prison. I’ll get to that.

A few years ago, Janet and I decided to do a tour of Greece for our 40^th wedding anniversary in 2028. Both of our sons had spent time in Greece and raved about their experiences. We also did a tour of the Holy Lands in 2013 and consider it the best trip we’ve ever been on.

Our timeline accelerated, however, when we learned of a faith-based tour to Istanbul and Greece being offered by Kenneth Mills’ Tours, with commentary provided by Dr. Bruce McLarty! Bruce was the Harding University President when our youngest, Kyle, was the Student Association President, so the two of them worked closely together and Kyle speaks highly of him. 

As added incentive, I have felt increasingly compelled not to wait on bucket list items. We’re not guaranteed good health or even to be alive in two minutes, much less two years. If there’s something you really want to do and have the opportunity to do it, don’t wait for the “perfect” time. Go get it while you can! If you can bring along dear friends, as we did with neighbors Joe & Jan Johnson and Kevin & Dana Townsend (friends of 37 years), all the better.

Our first challenge was at the Atlanta airport, where we had to get from Terminal A to the international Terminal E in the 23 minutes between landing and boarding again. To add to the excitement, Joe inadvertently left his Fannie pack on the plane and tried to return and re-board to find it. The stewardesses were having none of that but agreed to retrieve the pack on his behalf. We then activated OJ Simpson mode—no, not murdering our spouses but running through the airport, hurdling strollers, and pushing nuns out of the way.

We made it just in time and found our seats. Joe, who was sitting behind me, pointed out the floor panel along the wall between us was dislodged! We could look down and see the underbelly of the plane—the place where you can find landing gear and the skeleton of the winner of the Delta Airlines 1987 hide-and-go-seek contest. 

Joe called the stewardess over. I told her I was a former Sojourner and could repair the panel with some duct tape. She declined my offer, said she’d submit a work order, and suggested we not drop anything like our cell phones into the 12” x 15” hole. To her credit, she also put 5,000 miles on each of our Delta accounts! I figure if we knock out and then point out three more 12” x 15” holes on future Delta flights, we’ll earn a free trip.

The 8 hour, 45 minute flight across the pond was as pleasant as it can be for a 6’ 2” guy in a seat designed for Kevin Hart, next to a gaping hole in the floor. I didn’t sleep but was able to watch the movies Marty Supreme and Mercy.

In Amsterdam, we began running into some of the 40 green-lanyard wearing people also on the Walking with Paul tour. I showed my appreciation for them by finding an empty bench nearby and sleeping for an hour.

At 11:30 a.m. local time on Thursday morning, we began boarding Delta 9568 to Istanbul. We showed our passports, swiped our boarding passes, and headed over to the entrance to the gangway. Unfortunately, the door was closed and locked even though several passengers had already gone through it. Another passenger and I pushed, pulled, and turned the doorknob, to no avail. It was locked. 

I looked to the left of the door and spotted a green button, labeled “Open Door”. Whenever I need to open a locked door and I see a sign telling me to push a green button to open the door, I’m going to push that button. So, I did. Well, folks, it turns out it was a fire alarm and sirens were now blaring throughout the Amsterdam Airport!

The next thing I saw was a gate agent from KLM’s Royal Dutch Airlines—the blond gal in a pigtail probably named Heidi who had told me to “enjoy your flight” two minutes earlier—come barreling toward me with her hair on fire (which, technically, would justify me pulling the alarm). I looked for a hiding place, not unlike young Anne Frank and her family did in 1942, a mere 17 kilometers away. If Heidi had been wearing wooden shoes, I’m convinced she would have beaten me with one of them. I tried to avoid blame by subtly pointing my elbow toward Janet, but there were too many witnesses.

Heidi stared me down and yelled, “Jij stomme Amerikaan!” which does not mean “Enjoy your flight!” Moments later, an angry fire marshal arrived and I explained my actions. He said, “Did you not read the other sign to the right of the button, written in English—“Only use in emergencies”? 

“No, sir, I did not. I’m very sorry.”

“Do you want to go to prison?” (At this point, Janet started laughing. She clearly has no concept of what goes on in Turkish prisons.)

“No, sir, I do not want to go to prison.” I wanted to add, “Listen, I’ve been awake for 23 of the past 24 hours, just had to straddle a terrifying, gaping hole in the floor of the plane while flying over the North Atlantic Ocean–right over the Titanic wreckage, was just served a slice of cheese and cold, ground up eggs between two slices of bread for breakfast, I really just need to get to Istanbul for some Baklava, so how about turning off the alarm, calling off your attack dog Heidi, and opening the door?”

I only thought these things.

After being shown Dutch mercy and finally arriving in Istanbul, we met up with long-time friends Kevin and Dana and the rest of the Walking with Paul tour! Our amazing tour guide, Pinar, herded us like tired, elderly cats through the massive airport, with only one person falling.

We made it to Istanbul, y’all! The ancient, ~ 8,500-year-old city spans two continents, physically bridging Europe and Asia. We’ll spend two days and two nights here for a cultural immersion, before flying to Thessaloniki, where we’ll begin walking in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul.

I hope you’ll join us!

Until then, don’t push any green buttons!

I haven’t cried for my mom in 10 years.

The last time was May 8^th, 2016. I was alone in my tent, about 11 miles southwest of Pearisburg, Virginia… 623 miles and 58 days into my journey along the Appalachian Trail.

I remember it like it was yesterday. The pain in my bruised feet was excruciating. My right elbow was sore and swollen from an earlier fall. As a side sleeper who rolls around a lot, that made for a restless night. I crawled from my tent, hobbled to a nearby tree, retrieved my food bag, and walked gingerly back to my tent. I sat there for a few minutes rubbing my foot with one hand and eating a pop tart with the other. 

A quick glance at my phone reminded me that it was Mother’s Day, the first since my dear mother had passed away from cancer. Emotion overwhelmed me. I’m not much of a crier—ENTJs tend to not be all that emotionally expressive. But with a mouth full of pop tart, I laid back on my air mattress and had my first good, long AT cry. I thought about my mom and how much I missed my wife. To make matters worse, I was alone in the middle of the Virginia wilderness, nursing an injured elbow, and dealing with foot pain that made it difficult to take a single step, much less cover the 1566 miles remaining. On my 58^th day on the AT, I had reached rock bottom. 

Margaret Elizabeth Johnson… Peg… MeMe… Mom… was a remarkable woman. She had a boundless, unconditional love for her children and grandchildren. She was my biggest fan. 

For a couple of decades, Mom provided respite care to families with special needs children and adults. There was a steady stream of special people who showed up in our home for a few hours or a few days… Lurleen, Tommy, Marge, the list goes on and on. Through her actions, Mom taught me to notice, love, and care for “the least of these”—to find the best in them, wherever I found them.

Mom also had a passion for yard sales and flea markets. On my first treasure hunt with her as a young boy, circa 1972, we walked down Fiddlers Green in Dover, Delaware, pulling a red wagon. At our neighbor’s house, I spotted a box full of used action heroes, priced at 25 cents each. I retrieved a worn Spiderman, incredulous that someone would depart with a still-functioning action hero. I asked Mom if I could get him. She examined him closely, looked toward the heavens, then said, “See if she’ll take 20 cents.” I thought, “Are we that poor?” I walked over to our neighbor and made the offer. She looked at Mom, looked at Spidey, and then told me we had a deal. I came to realize that it wasn’t about the money. It was about the art of the deal—finding the bargain—and using those moments to interact with neighbors.

I could describe how Mom treated every ailment, from runny noses to sucking chest wounds, with J.R. Watkins’ Menthol Camphor cough suppressant rub—better known as “green salve”. The jar reads, “remedies for the body” and mom took that literally. My sisters, our kids, our spouses, and I continue to use the magic ointment regularly. My oldest son Jason still has the original jar MeMe gave him, uses it liberally, and refills it as needed. Mom’s legacy lives on.

I could tell you about Mom’s tendency to fill her purse with crackers and non-dairy creamer containers from restaurant salad bars and tables. She’d tell us, “It’s okay. We’ve already paid for it.”

I could tell you about a thousand Christmas and beach trip memories with Mom at the center. She made sure every family member walked away knowing they were loved.

I’m oh so thankful for Mom. For raising me. For taking me and my sisters to church every Sunday. For loving us unconditionally. 

Mom may be gone in a physical sense, but I’m struck, especially each Mother’s Day, with how her legacy lives on in many ways and through many people. 

When Janet holds a crying Bradford tightly to comfort him from a double ear infection, or caregives her parents for 5+ years, I see Mom.

When daughter-in-law Rachel is up all night, feeding, changing, and holding an upset Roo, I see Mom.

When daughter-in-law Laci juggles the demands of working and serving with motherhood, to help provide for her family, I see Mom.

When I see Rachel and Laci’s moms, Jackie and Tami, care for hurting friends and loved ones, or read Bible stories to their grands, I see Mom.

When I see sibling Ellen distributing special thrift store finds to the family at Christmas, or I see a jar of “green salve” by Stacy’s bedside table, I see Mom.

If your Mom is alive today, be thankful for that. Tell her you love her. Cherish every moment. Tell her you appreciate the sacrifices she surely made to raise you. Store up memories at every opportunity.

If your Mom has died and you’re feeling that loss today, I’m sorry. I feel your pain. I wish I could tell you it was temporary but that hasn’t been my experience. I carry the love and the grief with me but mostly focus on the love. As someone put it, “Grief is the last act of love we have to give those we loved. Where there is deep grief, there was great love.”

If your mom is no longer around physically, I hope you’re able to cling to fond memories of her. 

I hope you’re able to forgive any times when she came up short, something we all do from time to time. 

I hope you’re able to see the best of your mom in the lives of other women, especially mothers, who are still around.

If you knew my Mom, you were blessed. She was not a perfect woman—we all have our struggles. But she loved God and loved her family—words anyone would want on their tombstone.

I said earlier I haven’t cried for my mom in 10 years. Well, that’s no longer true. We’re going to need to reset the clock. 

I love you, Mom! Can’t wait to see you on the other side. Since our bodies require no “remedying” in heaven, I suspect you’ll no longer have that continuous, feint smell of green salve. Or maybe everyone in heaven uses it, God’s way of ensuring no pain or suffering.

Regardless, I’ll find you. I promise you that. I’ll be looking for the dear, sweet, little lady, walking around checking on other souls, pulling a red wagon.