Award-Recognized Memoir: Christlit Book Award 2026Firebird Book Award — First Place, Christian CategoryReaders' Favorite — Five StarsChristian Book Excellence Award — Five StarsLiterary Titan Gold Book award — Five Stars Only forty days until they left for Israel. That is how long thirteen-year-old Lydia had after her father's announcement turned her world inside out. By faith, Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going. He was a stranger in Canaan, he was a stranger in Egypt, and he was a stranger in the very land God had promised him. Lydia was about to learn the same road. She was a stranger in Arab East Jerusalem, in an Israeli high school in the Upper Galilee, and on the ice rinks of Northern Israel under the shadow of rockets from Lebanon. Even when she went back to the USA, to the Ozarks, to Grandma, she was a stranger there too. She could not outrun it because it had been written into her. This is how she discovered that in being a stranger, she had someone pursuing her through every foreign room, one who had been a stranger himself.Lydia takes you on a journey to Jerusalem, living in a Jewish neighborhood, attending an Arab school in East Jerusalem, then moving to the Israeli-Lebanese border. She joins a hockey team and a speed skating team. Rockets fly overhead while her father works in South Lebanon with Christian radio. As the only believer in Jesus among her friends, she grapples with how to live set apart for God. But as tensions build, she runs away to the Ozarks to live with her Grandma and experience a normal American high school life. During that time, she comes face to face with her dreams and the deeper calling placed on her life. She has a destiny set before her, but will she choose the comfort of familiar ground, or will she return to the Galilean Hills where Someone was waiting for her?This is the raw testimony of a girl and how she began to see how heaven and hell fought over her. As one who has moved between many places, she discovers a single constant: the mystical presence of God. He opens to her the language of the Song of Songs and reveals that He wants her for a Bride, drawing her into deeper intimacy through poetry and Divine love. This is the true story of a teenager who begins her journey and slowly finds the Lover of her soul. This is the early journey. Part two is coming, as the mountains of spices await Lydia's return.Lydia wrote in her diary as a teenager. She wrote this book as an adult who never forgot what it cost. For readers thirteen and beyond. Her story and poetry speak to anyone who has ever felt like a stranger at any age: anyone walking this journey of life and searching for meaning and purpose, Third Culture Kids navigating between worlds, ministry families facing cross-cultural moves, men and women wrestling with questions of belonging, seniors who want to reignite their passion for God, and teens grappling with confusion about identity and vision.Between the Holy Land and the Ozarks, one reluctant pilgrim discovers you cannot outrun a love written before there was time.The Diaries of a Teenage Pilgrim inspired me to remember what God can do in the life of a woman who is submitted to Him... It's a rare and remarkable piece showing how God works in a young girl's heart to draw her close. It is a testimony to the truth that when a girl embarks on a pilgrimage with God, He will use her for His glory and for her good.— Leah B. Thomsen, MA (Theological Studies) MA (Journalism), CBEA Head Evaluator

Award-Recognized Memoir: Christlit Book Award 2026Firebird Book Award — First Place, Christian CategoryReaders' Favorite — Five StarsChristian Book Excellence Award — Five StarsLiterary Titan Gold Book award — Five Stars Only forty days until they left for Israel. That is how long thirteen-year-old Lydia had after her father's announcement turned her world inside out. By faith, Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going. He was a stranger in Canaan, he was a stranger in Egypt, and he was a stranger in the very land God had promised him. Lydia was about to learn the same road. She was a stranger in Arab East Jerusalem, in an Israeli high school in the Upper Galilee, and on the ice rinks of Northern Israel under the shadow of rockets from Lebanon. Even when she went back to the USA, to the Ozarks, to Grandma, she was a stranger there too. She could not outrun it because it had been written into her. This is how she discovered that in being a stranger, she had someone pursuing her through every foreign room, one who had been a stranger himself.Lydia takes you on a journey to Jerusalem, living in a Jewish neighborhood, attending an Arab school in East Jerusalem, then moving to the Israeli-Lebanese border. She joins a hockey team and a speed skating team. Rockets fly overhead while her father works in South Lebanon with Christian radio. As the only believer in Jesus among her friends, she grapples with how to live set apart for God. But as tensions build, she runs away to the Ozarks to live with her Grandma and experience a normal American high school life. During that time, she comes face to face with her dreams and the deeper calling placed on her life. She has a destiny set before her, but will she choose the comfort of familiar ground, or will she return to the Galilean Hills where Someone was waiting for her?This is the raw testimony of a girl and how she began to see how heaven and hell fought over her. As one who has moved between many places, she discovers a single constant: the mystical presence of God. He opens to her the language of the Song of Songs and reveals that He wants her for a Bride, drawing her into deeper intimacy through poetry and Divine love. This is the true story of a teenager who begins her journey and slowly finds the Lover of her soul. This is the early journey. Part two is coming, as the mountains of spices await Lydia's return.Lydia wrote in her diary as a teenager. She wrote this book as an adult who never forgot what it cost. For readers thirteen and beyond. Her story and poetry speak to anyone who has ever felt like a stranger at any age: anyone walking this journey of life and searching for meaning and purpose, Third Culture Kids navigating between worlds, ministry families facing cross-cultural moves, men and women wrestling with questions of belonging, seniors who want to reignite their passion for God, and teens grappling with confusion about identity and vision.Between the Holy Land and the Ozarks, one reluctant pilgrim discovers you cannot outrun a love written before there was time.The Diaries of a Teenage Pilgrim inspired me to remember what God can do in the life of a woman who is submitted to Him... It's a rare and remarkable piece showing how God works in a young girl's heart to draw her close. It is a testimony to the truth that when a girl embarks on a pilgrimage with God, He will use her for His glory and for her good.— Leah B. Thomsen, MA (Theological Studies) MA (Journalism), CBEA Head Evaluator

Award-Recognized Memoir: Christlit Book Award 2026Firebird Book Award — First Place, Christian CategoryReaders' Favorite — Five StarsChristian Book Excellence Award — Five StarsLiterary Titan Gold Book award — Five Stars Only forty days until they left for Israel. That is how long thirteen-year-old Lydia had after her father's announcement turned her world inside out. By faith, Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going. He was a stranger in Canaan, he was a stranger in Egypt, and he was a stranger in the very land God had promised him. Lydia was about to learn the same road. She was a stranger in Arab East Jerusalem, in an Israeli high school in the Upper Galilee, and on the ice rinks of Northern Israel under the shadow of rockets from Lebanon. Even when she went back to the USA, to the Ozarks, to Grandma, she was a stranger there too. She could not outrun it because it had been written into her. This is how she discovered that in being a stranger, she had someone pursuing her through every foreign room, one who had been a stranger himself.Lydia takes you on a journey to Jerusalem, living in a Jewish neighborhood, attending an Arab school in East Jerusalem, then moving to the Israeli-Lebanese border. She joins a hockey team and a speed skating team. Rockets fly overhead while her father works in South Lebanon with Christian radio. As the only believer in Jesus among her friends, she grapples with how to live set apart for God. But as tensions build, she runs away to the Ozarks to live with her Grandma and experience a normal American high school life. During that time, she comes face to face with her dreams and the deeper calling placed on her life. She has a destiny set before her, but will she choose the comfort of familiar ground, or will she return to the Galilean Hills where Someone was waiting for her?This is the raw testimony of a girl and how she began to see how heaven and hell fought over her. As one who has moved between many places, she discovers a single constant: the mystical presence of God. He opens to her the language of the Song of Songs and reveals that He wants her for a Bride, drawing her into deeper intimacy through poetry and Divine love. This is the true story of a teenager who begins her journey and slowly finds the Lover of her soul. This is the early journey. Part two is coming, as the mountains of spices await Lydia's return.Lydia wrote in her diary as a teenager. She wrote this book as an adult who never forgot what it cost. For readers thirteen and beyond. Her story and poetry speak to anyone who has ever felt like a stranger at any age: anyone walking this journey of life and searching for meaning and purpose, Third Culture Kids navigating between worlds, ministry families facing cross-cultural moves, men and women wrestling with questions of belonging, seniors who want to reignite their passion for God, and teens grappling with confusion about identity and vision.Between the Holy Land and the Ozarks, one reluctant pilgrim discovers you cannot outrun a love written before there was time.The Diaries of a Teenage Pilgrim inspired me to remember what God can do in the life of a woman who is submitted to Him... It's a rare and remarkable piece showing how God works in a young girl's heart to draw her close. It is a testimony to the truth that when a girl embarks on a pilgrimage with God, He will use her for His glory and for her good.— Leah B. Thomsen, MA (Theological Studies) MA (Journalism), CBEA Head Evaluator