Today I met two women from Russia, one woman from Indonesia, one from Northern Ireland, talked with a friend from South Africa, went to the British Club, and interacted with some Bahraini Muslim women at the park.  I’m really appreciating this unique opportunity to be surrounded by people from all over the world.  It can be great fun.  Last night Jeff and I had dinner with our South African/British friends Andre and Sally and laughed for at least ½ hour over all the differences in the English words we use.  The difference in this phrase says a lot about the culture where it originates:  “Honey, can you pop the hood?”, vs. “Honey, can you lift the bonnet?”   Bahrain is truly a unique place with a wonderful mixture of culture.  

I’ve really enjoyed spending some time with my friend Faeghe lately.  We’ve had some interesting discussions and I’ve just really enjoyed her company.  Two weeks ago we sat in the mall discussing our different faiths.  It was a great exchange that I think we both really enjoyed.  Faeghe continues to emphasize to me that she is more concerned with spiritual life than with vanity or material possessions.   We share this in common and it enhances our friendship and makes for great discussion.

Tad is growing in his understanding of his world and of the English language, in addition to his ability to actually speak the English language.  He seems to amaze us each day with something new.  We’re seeing a sensitive side emerge from him as he is exposed to more socialization with children.  Today he sobbed for about five minutes after a little girl yelled at him in his play group.  Breaks my heart….but it’s only the beginning of a world of hurts ahead.   I pray that God will protect his heart and soul wherever they need protecting. 

All for now, off to spend some time with Jeff.  

Hi all,

Nothing terribly exciting going on here recently. I have been doing lots of research on varied topics such as:

-how to get our shipping container to Tehran

-how many non-accredited people the Securities and Exchange Comission rules say can invest in our company (35)

-the legal basis for forming a company in Iran

-the albedo of grass compared to the albedo of pistachio trees

-the evapotranspiration value for pistachio trees (first you have to know the albedo of pistachio trees)

As you can see, it’s some pretty exciting stuff. It’s about as fun as watching grass grow. Actually, it’s READING about grass growing. Plus, there’s no grass here to watch so reading about it is as close as I’ll get.
I suppose that it can’t all be thrilling all the time so for now I’ll just keep reading about how trees breathe and wait for the fun stuff that the future will bring.

Jeff

Last week we went to Istanbul in Turkey to meet with folks from our church back home as well as friends from all over the region. It was a time for rest, reconnection, and networking to share ideas.

We mostly stayed at the hotel but we went into the city one afternoon to tour the Hagia Sophia and a sistern.

Here are a few pictures from the time:

Pictures

If you recall, I’ve been slowly reading through Andrew Murray’s “Humility”. Every word is a blessing, God really gave Murray the ability to express the important aspects of faith without mincing words.

At the end of Chp 9 there is a paragraph that is exactly what I needed to read today.

Brother! nothing can cure you of the desire of receiving glory from men, or of the sensitiveness and pain and anger which come when it is not given, but giving yourself to seek only the glory that comes from God. Let the glory of the All-glorious God be everything to you. You will be freed from the glory of men and of self, and be content and glad to be nothing. Out of this nothingness you will grow strong in faith, giving glory to God, and you will find that the deeper you sink in humility before Him, the nearer He is to fulfill the every desire of your Faith.

I have been feeling sensitiveness, pain, and anger because of an earthly desire to be remembered and considered in the last week or so. Murray reminds me that I need to “seek only the glory (through faith and humility) that comes from God”. I want to get my thinking straight and remember that the only thing I need to worry about is what God thinks of me. The remembering and considering He gives me greatly overshadows anything I could get on earth! Pray that this will sink in and that I can get back to right-thinking regarding where I look for my value. Thanks!

It turns out that the whole Humility book is online in several places. Give it a try at:

http://www.unveiling.org/Articles/humilitytoc.htm

Jeff

November 1, 2006

Here it is the beginning of November!  So hard to believe.  It’s amazing how time flies when you’re in limbo!  Of course I think we all seem to be amazed at how quickly time passes regardless of the situation.  Watching Tad grow up each day is a constant reminder of how quickly time is going.   I have thoroughly been enjoying him lately.   It really brings me joy to watch him discover new things, to learn and grow.  Stacking blocks, knocking on doors and turning on and off the lights are a few of his favorite things right now.  This morning as he was taking his bath I decided to sit down next to the tub and just let him play.  Then I had the thought that I could just read out loud one of my “Minute Meditations for Busy Moms” book while he played, so I began reading.  He stopped playing and started listening, just staring at me as I read.  And whenever I stopped he would say “ma, ma” meaning “more” not mama.  So I read on.  He liked listening to me read, no matter what it was that I was reading.   I enjoy moments like thatJ

Here are a few recent pics:

This morning I had coffee with Sawsan and Christen.  Sawsan could use a lot of prayer as she is learning how to walk with God daily and how to find security in Him.  She is trying to change her style of parenting with her son and it’s a huge challenge for her.  She struggles with both anxiety and depression.  It’s a daily battle.  I took along my Minute Meditations book to show her something that made me think of her this morning as I read it to Tad.  It was about worrying.  Psalm 55:22 – Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you….   We had a good discussion about what “sustain” means and how God can provide everything we need.  

I’ve been going to the local women’s prison each Thursday with a group of women from church to encourage, comfort and pray with the women that are there.  This last week I prayed with a woman from Sri Lanka who has 4 more months to serve.  She wasn’t sure how she could make it.  She grew up Christian and has a Bible with her in prison.  I encouraged her to look at this time of waiting as an opportunity to focus on God, to spend time in His word and to pray.  As I spoke the words I kept thinking that I’m not sure how well I would handle that type of confinement either.  After our time at the prison, all the volunteers went out for coffee to discuss how things went.  One volunteer shared how she feels like we all have our own “prisons” metaphorically speaking  (situations where we feel stuck or trapped), but we can choose to look at these situations as opportunities for waiting upon God, relying on Him and seeking Him.  It was very similar to what I had shared with the woman from Sri Lanka and I began to see that it’s also true of our time of waiting here in Bahrain.  I continue to desire to use this time of waiting for God’s glory.  Pray for me that I would.