Wishing and Hoping and Dreaming and Praying.....(sung like the Dusty Springfield song)

As I wrote about it being R*madan in my last post, I started to add this but decided it warranted its own posting. I ask that you pr*y for the millions of M*slims in our country, and particularly the ones in our city as they enter this, their "holy month". As they fast daily, do good works and seek forgiveness during this month. As they look forward to the "night of power" where they are often encouraged to stay up and may be visited by angels and spirits carrying out the will of All*h since it is believed he more readily hears their pr*yers on this night. I ask that you pr*y that the Truth will visit them and that blind eyes will be opened and deaf ears made to hear. That they will understand that they cannot earn favor with the CEO but that they need to believe in the Son and the work that He did on the cr*ss to set them free, truly free.

Our family and Katrina went to visit the grand m*sque in our city

Even now as I type, I can hear about ten m*sques as they teach and lead the "call to pr*yer" over their loud speakers. Their loud long mournful wail of crying out to All*h. For their rituals to be received and good deeds to be enough for the forgiveness of their sins. Pr*y that we can be light in the darkness. That our relationships are fruitful and bear not just a good friendship but bear fruit for the Kingdom.

Just the other day after the girls spent the afternoon playing with their national friends I overheard Haddon tell Campbell, "I had so much fun! I hope they are able to go to Heav*n!" That is when I knew that they were "getting" it. You see, Haddon wanted a drink of water and as usual she asked them if they were ready for one too. The girls usually respond eagerly with a "yes" because of the heat and all the running around they do, however this time they said they couldn't because the fast had started. It was very sobering for her because often the kids don't participate in the fast, even though they are still encouraged to do so, and it was a very personal experience for Haddon to see her friends trying to earn their way to Heav*n. We are hoping to be able to share Truth with the girls' family in the coming days.

I cannot express enough just how grateful we as a nation need to be that we received the Truth and built a nation around it's principles. There but for the grace of the CEO, go we.

I love this picture....out of the darkness into the light!!

MARVELOUS LIGHT

by Charlie Hall

Into marvelous light I'm running,

Out of darkness, out of shame.
By the cross you are the truth,
You are the life, you are the way

I once was fatherless,
a stranger with no hope;
Your kindness wakened me,
Awakened me, from my sleep

Your love it beckons deeply,
a call to come and die.
By grace now I will come
And take this life, take your life.

Sin has lost it's power,
death has lost it's sting.
From the grave you've risen
VICTORIOUSLY!

Chorus
Into marvelous light I'm running,
Out of darkness, out of shame.
By the cross you are the truth,
You are the life, you are the way

My dead heart now is beating,
My deepest stains now clean.
Your breath fills up my lungs.
Now I'm free. now I'm free!

Lift my hands and spin around,
See the light that I have found.
Oh the marvelous light
Marvelous light

Lift my hands and spin
See the light within...

Basking in Bali

Well.....did you think that I fell off the planet? I am so sorry for being delinquent in keeping up with the blog this summer. I think it was a combination of many things but......I'm baaack! :)

We had a great time again this year in Bali. You will notice a disproportionate number of pics of the girls versus the boys, that is because the boys are always gone with a crowd of friends and come in only for sleep!! LOL The teens had a great time having two and a half weeks with each other, it is such a treat for all of these tck's. Not to mention for the parent's as well!

A big shout out to the B*ptist General Convention of Arkansas for again bringing a great group of people over who served our families with such love! Many of them were the same ones from last year so that was nice, the youth had the same leaders and that made for such a great time for them to establish and keep those relationships. Campbell and Haddon's teacher was back and Haddon was in her class again. Love her, Miss Debbie is so sweet to my girls! The WMU lavished us with all kinds of treats that we could pick from so we came away with handmade pillow cases for the girls, velveeta, a card game and...pencils with erasers!!! LOL All treasures!!

Thanks also to the anonymous donor who gave some money for us to take a little vacation this year. We had to come a few days early because of meeting the kids from camp, and then stayed a couple of days after the meeting. It is truly a blessing to get out of our city for a while, catch our breath and get some family fun and B*blical refreshment in such a place of beauty.

However, while there we received the sad news that one of our teammates, the Whitakers, would not be returning to the field. That was tough to swallow, I wept through the sermon the morning I found out, I'm sure the speaker must've thought I was really moved by the Sp*rit, but I was grieving. They have since returned and packed up their house and now reside in the States...they are missed here for sure.

More posts are coming, I promise. Although things won't be too adventurous this month since it is R*m*dan and that brings a different atmosphere here. People are a little less friendly to us foreigners and their is constant teaching over the loudspeakers at the m*sques. Pray for us during this time, it is a hard month to go through.

Thank you for your continued pr*yers, they truly mean the world to us. Hugs and blessings to you all!!
Enjoy the slide show..you can just click on the arrows and got through the pics at your own pace!

Free picture slideshow created with Smilebox

The Cure for A Love of Shopping

This particular weekend the mall event theme was "Vegetarianism". So they had people dressed as Chicken Little, Nemo, a cow, a strawberry, and a carrot walking around carrying signs that said, "Be greens". LOL

We went clothes shopping the other night. In the past those words would have come out of my mouth with much enthusiasm and excitement. Today......here.......they are said in the same tone that you would say that you got a flu shot. I am not kidding. Nix the excitable tone and enthusiasm. You are just stating that you did something necessary but not necessarily enjoyable. Let's just say for someone who has never had headaches, I always have a headache when I leave the malls here. Always. Why you ask? Let me explain mall shopping here to you.

First, you arrive to the mall and if it is the weekend you are guaranteed there will be some spectacular event being held in the center, maybe a fashion show, a battle of the Asian pop bands (talk about a photo op, man was I sorry my camera died) or some other reason they can have for blasting music at mind numbing levels. For a relatively quiet people, they like really loud music. Really. Loud. Music. I am not kidding.

At the mall you have the larger department store option (only one, the same one, in all the malls) or the smaller chain stores and independent shops. When you enter you are literally rocked back on your heels at how loud their music is playing. I am not kidding. In many of the stores tonight we could not hear each other, even though we were shouting. I am not kidding. The next issue with the loud music is that it is American music...more often than not it is the worst kind of American music. There are no filters on the language. In fact, I heard more of the worst kinds of curse words (at concert level decibels) tonight than I have heard since my days as a sailor (okay...I have never been a sailor, but you get the idea) This happened while we were in all variety of stores, even a little teeny bopper Claire's type store. Yikes, it was bad, every song was raunchy, and with it blasting the hair off your scalp there are no missing the words! UGH!! The sad thing was, that I was painfully aware that this was my culture that they were welcoming into their culture. For all the talk, there is a definite "wanna be" aspect over here. I hate that this is what they take from our part of the planet. It was a bit heart breaking.

Next, you enter a store to shop and quickly realize that there are 10 employees for every one customer. I am not kidding. They are blocking the aisles, many times they don't move, you have to maneuver around them. Once you stop to look at something, or express minor interest, someone is by your side. By your side means standing in your personal space looking you eye to eye saying "Silikan" (like..."Please look") and they don't leave you. They. Don't. Leave. You. As you rummage through a rack they immediately straighten everything you touch as soon as your fingers leave it. I am not kidding. Coming from someone who once worked retail....I would have been fired for doing what they do! I try to smile and adjust but many times I just end up leaving because it drives me crazy. I am very much a shopper who just wants to look and decide and I will ask you if I need help, and I was an employee who offered that same freedom to my customers. Their approach is so opposite of that, that I really have to make myself shop over here, and only do it when necessary. And since all my children eat and therefore feel like they have to grow, it has become something I can no longer put off.

Lastly, a word on skinny jeans. Are you ready......."Just say no." It is that simple, really. It use to apply to Drugs but now it applies to skinny jeans too! Are they still popular in the States? The reason I ask is because I think I now live in "skinny jean heaven". I am not kidding. All skinny jeans come here when they die. I. Do. Not. Like. Skinny. Jeans. There, I said it. I think they don't look good on or flatter anyone. If you are skinny your legs look like twigs and if you are big you look like you are trying too hard to be skinny. I am not kidding. Oh my, I have so much to say about skinny jeans here, especially in this context, but for fear of offending I will hold my tongue...er pen, as it were. I mention this because shopping for jeans here is a zoo trying to find jeans that are not skinny, be it for male or female. Ugh, all I need is for Marshall to wear jeans that make him look like he has a muffin top oozing out the top with a smashed bottom and then have two skis (feet) protruding from the bottom hem. How's that for a mental picture!! LOL


*Disclaimer: If you own and love to wear skinny jeans, I still love you and promise to pray for you to see the error of your ways and repent from this fashion disaster! LOL

So there you have it. My shopping nightmare in a not so small nutshell. I'll leave you with this little incident ~ I left the boys in the men's department to go look with the girls, as I made my way back to the boys I was searching to see which section they were in. A man stops me and says, "Justin Beiber is over there." When I look in the direction he is pointing, I see Marshall. As I laugh and say thank you the man smiles and walks away. I am not kidding. :)