Yep its that time again, and Wes and I are committed to being healthy this year! I downloaded a new book... thanks to my mom for the gift card! And we're gonna start a new approach to life this year. I am committed to getting healthy... read: hormone balanced, not crazy weight loss. So I found this book called "This is Why You Are Fat (And How To Get Thin Forever)". I chose this one because she focuses so much on hormone balance and regulation. We looked at some of the Detox diets but most of them require obscure and spendy supplements which are not available here. As it is we don't have any access to whole wheat or whole grain so we'll just make do, but I know my body is not functioning well, and the hormone therapy my doctor here has me on, makes me feel crazy! I'm hoping to treat this imbalance with a change in our diet and excercise. Wes isn't needing a change beyond the fact that he isn't excercising as much as he used to, but he's roped into it since I am.
Any recommendations for cookbooks, books etc that you have found helpful in 'going green' in your diet would be great. I really desire to get away from some of the chemicals I keep reading about, MSG etc, I think these might be having a huge impact on my migraine cycle as well. I do need to lose some of the weight I've put back on since I was sick, but I'm not too worried about that, I know once I am working out again I will lose the ten pounds I put on from the twenty I lost after moving here. One of my biggest stumbling factors is the major headaches/migraines I get after working out, so I'm hoping the diet change will help prevent those as well. I think now I am beginning to see more of a cycle with the migraines, but since being put on Progesterone the migraines are much worse again.
So, all that to say... When we go home in a year I hope to be a much healthier minded person, aware of what is in my food, how it affects my body, and in control of my crazy hormones! If I lose weight great, if not I know that I am healthy no matter the size! :) Anyone want to join in on this 'fun' challenge let me know, we'll be each others motivators and accountability partners! I miss my work out buddy, the elyptical is NO fun! :)
I better go gobble up my last christmas goodies before January 1! :) hahaha
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Crazy Days
We are in for some long nights ahead. I just keep clinging to the truth that God is in control and we are able to have His Peace in all situations. His peace really does surpass understanding.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Vacation Part II
So it took me two weeks instead of next Thursday but here's the second summary on our vacation in Turkey. The second half we were in Istanbul for a conference and then some time just hanging out in the city. Ya know like Starbucks?! Yep, totally paid 4 euro for a chai but Oh So Worth IT!!! Amazing the little things that just seem more special when you can't have them at your fingertips, like McDonalds'... just for the record way more disgusting tasting if possible, but yet strangely satisfying!
Well I can't divulge much about the conference other than to say it was great to be with like minded people, get a pulse on all that is happening in the world, and see the kids play with other kids who speak a second language and are third culture kids as well. Very encouraging. Cedar made a friend who reminded me so much of one of his friends back in Billings, it was bittersweet to say the least. I remember one conversation they were having, definitely not the average American 4 year old conversation...
Cedar- "We have to go on a airplane to get to I....q".
Boy- "Yeah we have to get on a airplane too."
Cedar- "I could get on an airplane and come see you."
Boy-"Yeah but you would have to get on like 3 airplanes, and you can't get on the one that I am going on this time cause you didn't buy your ticket."
Cedar- "Yeah and sometimes you have to take trains and buses too, and then lots of airplanes."
The whole time I was eavesdropping and thinking to myself that is so neat, and yet there was this part of me that was so saddened. It's such a difficult thing to describe but I grieve my sons lack of normalcy, judged by our culture. As in he doesn't have conversations about ipods, psp, or some other typical 4 year old conversation in America (I went dramatic with the example to try and show the difference) instead he talks about what language are you learning, how many airplanes do you have to fly to get home, and do the little boys beat you up too where you live? Again note dramatics, sorry hard to supress that side of me :) So while I was very thankful a cute, little, adventurous, bi-lingual but mainly English speaking boy became friends with Cedar, I was just sad that it wasn't what he used to have. How terrible is that?! I know, I know, but that is my struggle. Really I think its because Cedar has voiced his discontent or displeasure with this life, I don't blame him, but I don't know how to help him either. I struggle too.
Oasis did great with the childcare at the conference which was a huge relief because since moving she's really struggled with fear of strangers, and doesn't like to be separated. Again the volunteers spoke English, were parents themselves and it went very smoothly. Then there was a moment where I stood and listened to voices singing, a actual band playing, and a leader praying. I was so stunned with how my life had changed. It had been 9-10 months since I had stood in a corporate body and been moved, not because of desire, but because there isn't anything like that here. So much has changed not just how I seek and find God but just my relationship with Him. I was able to sit down with a gal and have her help me through some things, we had a really intense time of prayer that was very moving and very healing. Some of you might remember my experience from a couple of summers ago? Well its the same kind of prayer and with some inspiring interaction with our Creator. We took some seminar classes that were fantastic and of course inspiring as well.
The second half of our time in Istanbul was pretty good without much incident which was refreshing from our normal everyday lives. :) We had planned to go to the aquarium there, it was a bit on the pricey side but supposedly it is the largest aquarium in Europe. I'm glad we did it, the kids loved it and us adults did too. We went through a walk through tunnel thing where the fish are swimming on both sides and right over you. Oasis wasn't too sure about the sharks but it was so cool, and once she realized they couldn't touch her she got into it pretty well. I think Wes was the most excited about the shark feeding and when he gets his mind set on something you better have your running shoes on cause he'll go Mach 10 till he get there! Then there was some other neat exhibits inluding a Nemo themed tank. Afterward we decided to go to IKEA, because it is right there at the same place as the aquarium which is at one end of this gigantic mall while IKEA is at the other end. We've never been in an IKEA before, but everyone always raves about them so we thought we'd check it out. Well Rach needed to get some things for her daughter, so we sent the guys ahead of us and told them to meet us at the IKEA and we would be right behind them. So we run into a store get what we need and rush on over to where the guys and all three kids should be waiting. Did you note the 'should' in that sentence. That's right, they weren't there, so Rach and I went inside to see if they had gone in. Ok, there's three things you should know 1. Middle Eastern people travel in packs of twelve or more, its like their entire extended family all get together and say let's go somewhere today, 2. they do not have personal space, and 3. THERE IS NOT EXIT WITH IKEA, you HAVE to go through the ENTIRE store to get back out... EVERY TIME!!!!!!! I Hate IKEA! Ok, on with the story. After wandering at the first section of the store which happened to be the kids section (1 of like 10 kids sections we came to find out) the guys were still nowhere to be seen, so we start to try and find an exit... as mentioned above we didn't know we'd have to go through the entire store and warehouse to get out, but now we know. Long story short 1 hour later, the guys finally come through the check-out stands and were just as aggravated as we were, only us girls didn't even get to look at anything because we had been racing to find an exit the whole time. Now you might at this point in the story be contemplating having sympathy for our men, after all they had three children, they were 'shopping' and their wives were no where to be found, but the OTHER side of the story was, they stopped off at a electronics store instead of going to the IKEA and didn't think it would bother us. Moral of the story, do not separate before going, entering, or leaving the devil store a.k.a., IKEA.
The rest of the week went great, Turkish tea, Saltahnamet, Blue Mosque, Topeki Palace, and awe at the fact that Turkish people could in fact be more rude than I had previously thought. With the exception of our hotel, they were fantastic! We all got sick and passed it around, that's just inevitable anyways, and we made it back here safe and sound, rested and bonded. :)
Well I can't divulge much about the conference other than to say it was great to be with like minded people, get a pulse on all that is happening in the world, and see the kids play with other kids who speak a second language and are third culture kids as well. Very encouraging. Cedar made a friend who reminded me so much of one of his friends back in Billings, it was bittersweet to say the least. I remember one conversation they were having, definitely not the average American 4 year old conversation...
Cedar- "We have to go on a airplane to get to I....q".
Boy- "Yeah we have to get on a airplane too."
Cedar- "I could get on an airplane and come see you."
Boy-"Yeah but you would have to get on like 3 airplanes, and you can't get on the one that I am going on this time cause you didn't buy your ticket."
Cedar- "Yeah and sometimes you have to take trains and buses too, and then lots of airplanes."
The whole time I was eavesdropping and thinking to myself that is so neat, and yet there was this part of me that was so saddened. It's such a difficult thing to describe but I grieve my sons lack of normalcy, judged by our culture. As in he doesn't have conversations about ipods, psp, or some other typical 4 year old conversation in America (I went dramatic with the example to try and show the difference) instead he talks about what language are you learning, how many airplanes do you have to fly to get home, and do the little boys beat you up too where you live? Again note dramatics, sorry hard to supress that side of me :) So while I was very thankful a cute, little, adventurous, bi-lingual but mainly English speaking boy became friends with Cedar, I was just sad that it wasn't what he used to have. How terrible is that?! I know, I know, but that is my struggle. Really I think its because Cedar has voiced his discontent or displeasure with this life, I don't blame him, but I don't know how to help him either. I struggle too.
Oasis did great with the childcare at the conference which was a huge relief because since moving she's really struggled with fear of strangers, and doesn't like to be separated. Again the volunteers spoke English, were parents themselves and it went very smoothly. Then there was a moment where I stood and listened to voices singing, a actual band playing, and a leader praying. I was so stunned with how my life had changed. It had been 9-10 months since I had stood in a corporate body and been moved, not because of desire, but because there isn't anything like that here. So much has changed not just how I seek and find God but just my relationship with Him. I was able to sit down with a gal and have her help me through some things, we had a really intense time of prayer that was very moving and very healing. Some of you might remember my experience from a couple of summers ago? Well its the same kind of prayer and with some inspiring interaction with our Creator. We took some seminar classes that were fantastic and of course inspiring as well.
The second half of our time in Istanbul was pretty good without much incident which was refreshing from our normal everyday lives. :) We had planned to go to the aquarium there, it was a bit on the pricey side but supposedly it is the largest aquarium in Europe. I'm glad we did it, the kids loved it and us adults did too. We went through a walk through tunnel thing where the fish are swimming on both sides and right over you. Oasis wasn't too sure about the sharks but it was so cool, and once she realized they couldn't touch her she got into it pretty well. I think Wes was the most excited about the shark feeding and when he gets his mind set on something you better have your running shoes on cause he'll go Mach 10 till he get there! Then there was some other neat exhibits inluding a Nemo themed tank. Afterward we decided to go to IKEA, because it is right there at the same place as the aquarium which is at one end of this gigantic mall while IKEA is at the other end. We've never been in an IKEA before, but everyone always raves about them so we thought we'd check it out. Well Rach needed to get some things for her daughter, so we sent the guys ahead of us and told them to meet us at the IKEA and we would be right behind them. So we run into a store get what we need and rush on over to where the guys and all three kids should be waiting. Did you note the 'should' in that sentence. That's right, they weren't there, so Rach and I went inside to see if they had gone in. Ok, there's three things you should know 1. Middle Eastern people travel in packs of twelve or more, its like their entire extended family all get together and say let's go somewhere today, 2. they do not have personal space, and 3. THERE IS NOT EXIT WITH IKEA, you HAVE to go through the ENTIRE store to get back out... EVERY TIME!!!!!!! I Hate IKEA! Ok, on with the story. After wandering at the first section of the store which happened to be the kids section (1 of like 10 kids sections we came to find out) the guys were still nowhere to be seen, so we start to try and find an exit... as mentioned above we didn't know we'd have to go through the entire store and warehouse to get out, but now we know. Long story short 1 hour later, the guys finally come through the check-out stands and were just as aggravated as we were, only us girls didn't even get to look at anything because we had been racing to find an exit the whole time. Now you might at this point in the story be contemplating having sympathy for our men, after all they had three children, they were 'shopping' and their wives were no where to be found, but the OTHER side of the story was, they stopped off at a electronics store instead of going to the IKEA and didn't think it would bother us. Moral of the story, do not separate before going, entering, or leaving the devil store a.k.a., IKEA.
The rest of the week went great, Turkish tea, Saltahnamet, Blue Mosque, Topeki Palace, and awe at the fact that Turkish people could in fact be more rude than I had previously thought. With the exception of our hotel, they were fantastic! We all got sick and passed it around, that's just inevitable anyways, and we made it back here safe and sound, rested and bonded. :)
Monday, November 29, 2010
Vacation Debrief
We've been back from vacation a week today. Since we've come back we've celebrated Thanksgiving, Cedar attempted (and succeeded) to break his nose, tried to start winterizing the house, had two migraines, and Wes hasn't stopped working yet. Fortunately for us neither of us felt like we needed to recover from our vacation because it was truly wonderful. It really was. The kids traveled great (so proud), and we got along with our friends the Jaffe's really well, and even the conference was good. There's so many photographs in my mind that I wish I could describe all of them for you. Sometimes its easier to start from the end and work back towards the beginning but I'll try and keep it in order.
There's always a feeling of freedom when we sit down on the plane and know we are finally leaving. I suppose this is true for any of us headed away from our everyday lives for a short span of fantasy living. But not to be cliche, it's especially true for us. The weeks leading up to our vacation got really stressful, team dynamics, politics, etc. We all were more than ready to get the house in order and get out of here. There's this fear in me right before we leave that I won't want to come back. I mean there's so many days when I am here and I don't want to come back ;). But this time I didn't have that feeling, I just knew we would and that I needed to just be present in this adventure and allow God to speak so that I would be refreshed for what He has in store for us. Wes was the one who struggled this time. It took several days before he 'decompressed'. He continues to struggle to know God is faithful. I keep saying you can't 'know' you have to have 'faith'. It's a hard battle with this lie satan has sold to my husband, but I see Wes become more and more the warrior God has designed him to be, and there were times on this vacation when he did battle and came out victorious!
The start of the trip was typical with two families and 3 three small children traveling together... Chaos! The Jaffe's forgot their credit card, we left our stroller at the first baggage screening, and so on! But eventually we all made it through the various passport and security screenings to do the inevitable before any flight, we waited. Did I mention the three small kids?? Yeah well, in this part of the world don't expect anything to happen on time, including our flight. An hour after we were supposed to depart they started to show signs that we would maybe get on our plane today, eventually we did and poor Adelynn just cried and cried for the first 1 1/2 of the flight. Eventually I went back helped our friends out and she feel asleep on my shoulder. It was one of those pictures I was telling you about. (I remember traveling with Cedar when I was 7 months pregnant with Oasis, and he cried and cried and I was all alone, it was such a hard time for me, and remember 7 months pregnant for me is like 11 months pregnant for anyone else... I GET HUGE!! lol) Anyways, I was bouncing Addy and praying for our trip when I realized I wasn't alone, and what I mean is that if one of my kids were crying and I was hugely pregnant and all alone on an airplane I wouldn't feel alone anymore. That's confusing sorry, all I'm saying is that the last 10 months have show me the truth of 'We are never alone', I've struggled so much, spent so much time isolated in our house, but the loneliness has lifted because I know He is with me.
We made it to Antalya our next day (I forgot my 300$ nightguard at our hotel in Istanbul, but later got it the day we flew out back to S---ly.) and we were so blessed by this hotel. It was huge, right on the beach, and it was beautiful. We got our room, which they had upgraded for free, and immediately changed into our swim wear to go exploring. This is my next picture, watching the kids be so free, so happy, so un-inhibited, that was the moment I finally released the last few months. I've worried about them so much. This life is hard on them, I knew coming into it, I know it now, and contrary to what some people may think I love my kids and suffer when they suffer, I think even more, so seeing them in the sand, playing with the waves, and Cedars' face when he came out of the water and realized it was salty!! Priceless moment. But what God showed me was He desires me to be this way all the time, and through that I can free my kids to live this way all the time. We don't have to escape our current culture in order for them to know joy in living, but Mommy needs to emulate it more for them. He also showed me, "They're ok". They're not broken, they're not in need of intensive counseling, they've weathered all this really well, and Wes and I are doing a good job helping them process it all. We even talk about those sticky things called, emotions! Hey don't laugh, its a big step for my husband! :) We spent 5 wonderful days walking the beach, I even went for a run, we looked for seashells, went out to a fancy dinner while the kids were sleeping (don't worry the fancy restaurant was at our hotel, 2 min from our room), we played in a Turkish hammam, our kids were pretty good at giving us 'turkish baths', we swam a ton, and even got a tan. But most of all we interacted. We didn't take any computers, our phones didn't work, and we had nothing to distract us, so we were just us, our family of four. The kids were on such great behavior, except maybe with the temptation of the elevator, but they were so entertained and outdoors everyday. (That is something about our life here I was I could change for them, but until they are a little older I'm not sure how to rectify it for them.) It was a wonderful time with them as much as it was to be with Wes, to hold his hand, to have him put his arm around me as we walked, or maybe even sin of all sins kiss me in public! We took a lot of pictures with our camera, and so many of them are of the kids, it was impossible to not be struck by their joy and their faces each day. Cedar REALLY loves to dig, and he misses his sandbox so very much, so to have a hug sandbox we knew was going to be a blast for him and it was. It took a while to get used to being in 'civilization' again. I kept forgetting to flush the toilet paper, or when the lights were off I just though we didn't have power instead of thinking, "umm maybe I just need to flip the switch and they'll turn on!". I guess our time in Antalya could best be described as therapeutic, restorative, and unifying.
I'll do the other half of our trip another time, I'm gonna go up on our roof and have some time with God. Today is my day without kids in the morning, and I desperately need some alone time with Him, breathing in some fresh air. So I'll get to the other half maybe Thursday morning when I don't have any kids again. :) Blessings on each of you, you are missed deeply.
There's always a feeling of freedom when we sit down on the plane and know we are finally leaving. I suppose this is true for any of us headed away from our everyday lives for a short span of fantasy living. But not to be cliche, it's especially true for us. The weeks leading up to our vacation got really stressful, team dynamics, politics, etc. We all were more than ready to get the house in order and get out of here. There's this fear in me right before we leave that I won't want to come back. I mean there's so many days when I am here and I don't want to come back ;). But this time I didn't have that feeling, I just knew we would and that I needed to just be present in this adventure and allow God to speak so that I would be refreshed for what He has in store for us. Wes was the one who struggled this time. It took several days before he 'decompressed'. He continues to struggle to know God is faithful. I keep saying you can't 'know' you have to have 'faith'. It's a hard battle with this lie satan has sold to my husband, but I see Wes become more and more the warrior God has designed him to be, and there were times on this vacation when he did battle and came out victorious!
The start of the trip was typical with two families and 3 three small children traveling together... Chaos! The Jaffe's forgot their credit card, we left our stroller at the first baggage screening, and so on! But eventually we all made it through the various passport and security screenings to do the inevitable before any flight, we waited. Did I mention the three small kids?? Yeah well, in this part of the world don't expect anything to happen on time, including our flight. An hour after we were supposed to depart they started to show signs that we would maybe get on our plane today, eventually we did and poor Adelynn just cried and cried for the first 1 1/2 of the flight. Eventually I went back helped our friends out and she feel asleep on my shoulder. It was one of those pictures I was telling you about. (I remember traveling with Cedar when I was 7 months pregnant with Oasis, and he cried and cried and I was all alone, it was such a hard time for me, and remember 7 months pregnant for me is like 11 months pregnant for anyone else... I GET HUGE!! lol) Anyways, I was bouncing Addy and praying for our trip when I realized I wasn't alone, and what I mean is that if one of my kids were crying and I was hugely pregnant and all alone on an airplane I wouldn't feel alone anymore. That's confusing sorry, all I'm saying is that the last 10 months have show me the truth of 'We are never alone', I've struggled so much, spent so much time isolated in our house, but the loneliness has lifted because I know He is with me.
We made it to Antalya our next day (I forgot my 300$ nightguard at our hotel in Istanbul, but later got it the day we flew out back to S---ly.) and we were so blessed by this hotel. It was huge, right on the beach, and it was beautiful. We got our room, which they had upgraded for free, and immediately changed into our swim wear to go exploring. This is my next picture, watching the kids be so free, so happy, so un-inhibited, that was the moment I finally released the last few months. I've worried about them so much. This life is hard on them, I knew coming into it, I know it now, and contrary to what some people may think I love my kids and suffer when they suffer, I think even more, so seeing them in the sand, playing with the waves, and Cedars' face when he came out of the water and realized it was salty!! Priceless moment. But what God showed me was He desires me to be this way all the time, and through that I can free my kids to live this way all the time. We don't have to escape our current culture in order for them to know joy in living, but Mommy needs to emulate it more for them. He also showed me, "They're ok". They're not broken, they're not in need of intensive counseling, they've weathered all this really well, and Wes and I are doing a good job helping them process it all. We even talk about those sticky things called, emotions! Hey don't laugh, its a big step for my husband! :) We spent 5 wonderful days walking the beach, I even went for a run, we looked for seashells, went out to a fancy dinner while the kids were sleeping (don't worry the fancy restaurant was at our hotel, 2 min from our room), we played in a Turkish hammam, our kids were pretty good at giving us 'turkish baths', we swam a ton, and even got a tan. But most of all we interacted. We didn't take any computers, our phones didn't work, and we had nothing to distract us, so we were just us, our family of four. The kids were on such great behavior, except maybe with the temptation of the elevator, but they were so entertained and outdoors everyday. (That is something about our life here I was I could change for them, but until they are a little older I'm not sure how to rectify it for them.) It was a wonderful time with them as much as it was to be with Wes, to hold his hand, to have him put his arm around me as we walked, or maybe even sin of all sins kiss me in public! We took a lot of pictures with our camera, and so many of them are of the kids, it was impossible to not be struck by their joy and their faces each day. Cedar REALLY loves to dig, and he misses his sandbox so very much, so to have a hug sandbox we knew was going to be a blast for him and it was. It took a while to get used to being in 'civilization' again. I kept forgetting to flush the toilet paper, or when the lights were off I just though we didn't have power instead of thinking, "umm maybe I just need to flip the switch and they'll turn on!". I guess our time in Antalya could best be described as therapeutic, restorative, and unifying.
I'll do the other half of our trip another time, I'm gonna go up on our roof and have some time with God. Today is my day without kids in the morning, and I desperately need some alone time with Him, breathing in some fresh air. So I'll get to the other half maybe Thursday morning when I don't have any kids again. :) Blessings on each of you, you are missed deeply.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Vacation Time Vacation Time!
We're headed out today! Praise God!! I was so excited I woke up and GOT up at 6:30 this morning! I came downstairs and did the 'we're going on vacation song and dance' and my husband just looked at me with grumpy eyes. Uh oh! Well I did a repeat performance for Cedar when he got up and he looked at me with excitement in his eyes and said, "Mommy I like that song!"... NOW we're talking! Yummy food, normal clothes, ability to just be me, go for a run, take a walk ANY time of the day and not care about it, no cooking, no cleaning, and... SALAD! Oh gosh I am so excited to have some time off and away! We received a package last night and in the package was a card, the package and letter are from a lady in Rodneys' Sunday School Class he teaches (wes' dad). She wrote the nicest note saying as how the Lord had really put us on her heart, and she has a brother and sister-in-law who have lived over 'here' for the last 5 years and fall and Christmas were always the hardest times. It's true so far for me! She sent some 'fall leaves' for decorating and pumpkin pie fixings, and this neat old Magazine with poems and stories about the fall and the holiday season. It was very encouraging, and very touching how God spoke to her to encourage us. That's really the theme of our lives since we moved over here, its such a blessing to see how God uses people, people we don't know and do know, to encourage us. He speaks in such a clear way when we are looking for Him to, and He does it often. I'm looking forward to this vacation but I'm also glad I'm doing so in a different way than I did our last one. I feel so releases from whatever was 'riding our spirit' before our last vacation, I think Wes may be struggling a little still though. I told him last night, even when I know there's this sadness inside of me that I'm not quite dealing with there's also this wall of faith surrounding my heart too. And when I start to feel like I am or should be sliding into that great sadness I hit the wall of faith, and like a trampoline it bounces me back up to where I should be. I guess its perspective or I guess its just the gift God is giving me right now, but either way I continue to be amazed at the depths my faith grows while we are here. I'm not the most righteous person I know, but I guess that's what I'm learning, that isn't important because Christ is, He's the most righteous and He lives in me, He is my new self, and I am free to become like Him. So Praise God! And Praise God for vacations! And praise God for people who are obedient to His 'prodding'.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Picnic
We had a great day yesterday going on a 'picnic' with friends. Now a picnic Kurdish style is a little different than the way we all would do it. And I love it! There's always Chai (kurdish tea), kabobs or Tika in Kurdi, yesterday they had a Gorsht (sheep meat). We could walk right up to Pomegranate trees and pick our own to nibble on. Dolma was the main meal of the day, its a special kind of dish they make here, and I keep hoping to write down a complete recipe someday so I can make it for everyone when we come home. Dolma is when the rice and meat is wrapped with lettuce leaves, but Yuprah is when it is wrapped in grape leaves. Needless to say it is all very tasty! So did you notice the theme of Kurdish picnics?? Food!! Always food, oh did I mention the fresh walnuts from the trees too? And the fresh cherry tomatoes, and the fresh cucumbers and the fresh grapes off the arbor above our heads??!! So fantastic. And the really truly best part was it was only lower 80's upper 70's in the shade with a nice cool breeze blowing in from around the mountains we were nestled between! So beautiful to just look out and be amazed to this land that God has brought us to.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Oasis
Oasis' eyes light up a little too much when she is about to give me a 'shot'. Granted its pretend but you let her poke you with something with that look in her eyes! I get a little scared everytime!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Post this
I know I should do a blog update, and yet I am so uninspired... So we're still alive, the weather is getting cooler, the kids are getting older and bigger, and yep that's all I can think of :) Lol, just kidding, we're good. Finally transitioning fully. Praise God for His abundance! Blessings to you all...
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Mommy Paranoia
So occasionally it happens, I get paranoid about the kids.
This weekend Wes took them to this blackberry 'patch' he found while scouting out some climbing options. I didn't go because
1.)Anyone who knows Wes knows how his 'scouting' trips go.
2.)It's still snake season.
3.)I was really needing some alone time.
Those are enough reasons for me. Anyways so they went they found, they picked, and sure enough there's enough maybe for a small pie this Thanksgiving. Oh well they had fun. Not long after they were home I noticed Cedar scratching at his ear, then I noticed some red blotches on his ear and neck, and then I noticed Oasis also getting red blotches. So I start peppering Wes with questions...
'Were you with them the whole time?'
'Did you see any poison ivy or anything?'
'Well did Cedar get berries on his ear?'
'Was there bugs or no?'
Wes' usual vague replies sent me over the edge and I started looking for signs of allergic reaction. Keep in mind our kids are pretty tough, and they don't really have reactions to anything. I start listening to their chest, checking for more hives or anything. Then I start spiraling.
'I hate this country!'
'How are we going to find a doctor to deal with this?'
'Is there a doctor to deal with this?'
'Will they even be there since its Ramadan and its the middle of the day?'
'I'm not qualified to deal with these things, when I became a mom I didn't get a MD too!'
and blah blah blah, wah wah wah the thoughts went! Bwahaha... classic Niki.
Moral of the story, they used our interns sunscreen and had a little reaction, it was gone the next morning when they woke up!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thoughts on childhood
So part of our assignment for that book we're working through 'How We Love' is to sit down and write a letter to our parents about how we felt as kids. We're supposed to use 'soul words' to describe our relationship with out them. It's really gotten me to thinking about my life as a parent and how my kids feel about our relationship with each other. It also made me realize my parents had to feel as tired and burned out as we do. My mom worked a full time job, and my dad worked in a factory or with his hands, always tired out and worn out. He used to make me take his work boots (leather, steel toe) off his feet, and his socks! What kind of abuse is that? Yet when I think about it, it makes me smile. I guess its the little ways we let our kids into our lives that helps us feel connected. So, I should probably let them dump the flour into the batch of whatever I'm cooking, 'wash' the dishes which really means the floor, the front of the cupboard and anything else within a 2 foot radius, I suppose it means letting them interrupt me for the twentieth time while I'm just trying to pee, and I suppose it means I better get my attitude in check cause if these kids are gonna follow Jesus I need to be a better representative of who He is. I'm pretty sure He doesn't get irritated or aggravated by my 220 petty interruptions through out the day... and night.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Maggies Wedding.
This last weekend Wes' sister got married on Saturday. We found out the wedding was August 7th at 7:30 AM, when they got engaged about three to four weeks ago. We scrambled around and tried our best to buy tickets, I prayed so hard, but to no avail. The tickets plus other expenses totaled over 7 thousand dollars.
Recently I finished the book "Same kind of different as me" which my friend Rachel gave me for my birthday! (Thanks Rach) I loved the book. It's hard to accept but there are some really great life lessons to walk away with from this book.
Sometimes we pray with out ceasing, asking for God to answers our prayers, sometimes we pray the right way, we do the right things, and still the outcome is not what we would desire. We didn't get to go to Maggie's wedding, and the author of the book lost his wife to cancer. How do they relate? Well sometimes we desire something that in our minds could only be good, yet God in His wisdom and rightful power does not allow us to have it that way. I battle with this so much. A good friend is battling cancer back in the US right now, and I just can't stop thinking/praying for her, but how do we pray? I've read books, I've studied God's word and yet this continues to be a puzzling issue for me. Was it wrong to pray for God to provide a way for us to go to her wedding, is it wrong to pray for the healing of a loved one, is it wrong to pray that our life would be easier, or that our children would be better behaved? There's so many things we pray for each and everyday, the only thing I think is correct to pray is the Praise of God. Because indefinitely it will always be right to honor Him, and give Him glory. So that's what I've been doing for the last 5 weeks or 6 months, praising Him, honoring Him, giving Him glory. I still cry and I still regret the heartache I am battling with, but I know what is right. What is right, is what right now, feels wrong. Praise God.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
don't wanna be left out
Since Phyllis and Alicia did it, I gotta do it too... so here's my regular day recorded moment by moment, maybe this will help me be in the moment! :) My day started last night though, so it'll be a different time schedule than theirs :) Yesterday evening I was talking on the phone with my mom and Cedar tripped and fell (I didn't actually see it) in our dining room. His head hit the cement tile floor and instantly started to bruise and swell. It stopped swelling when it reached the size of a raquet ball! I was really worried all night because I was afraid of a severe concussion.
9:15 pm (-1 day) Went to bed.
9:16 pm Cedar started crying in bed, his leg was hurting.
9:30 pm Cedar went back to sleep
9:45 pm Cedar woke up crying again, Wes went to help him out this time, they walked around and Cedar says "daddy walking around isn't working".. I chuckle to myself in bed.
10ish pm Cedar went back to sleep.
11 pm woke up because the power turned off and it was too hot to sleep.
11:10 pm Listened to the conversation two men were having on the street, sounded like they were outside our window.
11:12 pm Gave up since I couldn't understand them.
12 am power came back on
5 am Woke up hot because power turned off again.
5:15 am Power turned back on went back to sleep.
6 am Power turned off and I woke up hot again.
6:10 am Power turned back on went back to sleep
6:30 am Wes' cell phone alarm goes off, I roll over and go back to sleep.
6:50 am I hear Oasis' door open, then Cedar talking, they go downstairs with daddy.
7:50 am I wake up the power is off and I am hot, I get up since my alarm is supposed to go off in ten minutes anyways
8:10 am Power turns back on, guess the breaker downstairs flipped.
8:11 am Go downstairs and turn on the english speaking cartoons on the satellite for the kids.
8:20 am Turn off the cartoons because Wes made us eggs and potatoes for breakfast, my favorite and I've been sick all week so he was being nice :)
8:22 am We fight with Cedar about eating breakfast together as a family, we win :)
8:40 am Cartoons are back on and Wes cleans up breakfast while I go upstairs to clean Cedar's and Oasis' rooms
8:55 am Power turns off
9 am Our 'wastah' guy comes to work on Cedar's ac that has been broken for two months.
9:35 am Folding laundry and listening to Wes speak kurdinglish with our "wastah" guy.
9:40 am The Wastah leaves cause we don't have power. Says he'll return this afternoon.
10 am Power comes back on its national so it should stay on for a while :)
10:10 am The 'Wastah' guy comes back, yeah its not the afternoon... who knows?
10:20 am Sweeping and mopping downstairs, wastah leaves ac still not fixed but he took it home with him to work on it.
10:40 am Take Wes to work, he's going to 'K' town today.
11:10 am Return home, put on The Swan Princess for the kids,rearrange dining room, wash off table, finish mopping, do dishes, clean sink.
11:15 am Collect all the trash and take it outside for the trash collection, and give kids a snack from the freezer, finish everything I just wrote before :) National water is on so our tanks are getting filled, I start the dishwasher since we'll have enough water now :) Woohoo!
12 pm Funch, froot loops :) It's a cereal kind of day!
12:15 pm Get on computer to check email and see lots of really encouraging emails :) thanks! Get on blogspot to do this silly blogging :)
12:22 pm turn on 'Cars' movie for the kids before naptime.
12:40 pm run referee with the kids and markers :) Back to facebook :)
12:47 pm Cedar went potty and yells out at the top of his lungs his usual.. "MOOOOOOM I went POOOOP!!!!!" I get him some candy as a reward, remember pop rocks?? :)
12:54 pm watched Cedar run to the mirror to watch the candy pop in his mouth... ahahahhaha.. love it! Oasis has disappeared.. hmmmm...
12:55 pm Found her in her diaper dressing up in a orange black and decker construction workers vest :) hahahaha I love my kids. Still weeding through the internet trying to find good parenting books.
1 pm Shoo Cedar out of the book cabinet.
1:03 pm Give up trying to find parenting books, and get a book to read with the kids before naptime.
1:29 pm Laid kids down for naps after reading two golden book stories and getting caramel popcorn from our friends :) What should I do? Ahhh, bible time :)
2:10 pm Checked on kids to make sure they are sleeping, now time to read some books... 'how we love' and 'same kind of different as me'...
2:16 pm Lost power, went to bed to read and maybe nap
2:30pm Power back on
2:44 pm Oasis wakes up and we go downstairs, mickey mouse time, she changes into her second outfit of the day.
2:49 pm Give Oasis some snacks, chips... just being cultural ;)
3:15 pm Clean up kitchen from lunch and previous messes from the week while I was sick... left the stove for another time, it was too depressing. Exactly what does Wes do when he is cooking? Emptied dishwasher. Had a genius book idea while cleaning counter tops... "a pastor (think Billy Graham) is in an accident and wakes up with amnesia and no longer believes in God, the story unfolds as all the questions of faith are asked as he tries to fight the journey back to God." Good one right??
3:16 pm Head upstairs to mop Oasis' room. All our flooring is cement tile.... woopee!!
3:21 pm Forgot Cedar was sleeping, and I can't mop until I vacuum, so I woke Cedar up so he'll go to sleep early tonight, and I'm still worried about his head. Back upstairs now that he's settled with a snack.
3:47 pm finished mopping with Oasis' help... "mommy, no walk, i washing ok?"... well I had to mop that spot all over again, but she was very proud of herself! :) Time to go try and light the oven, we don't have a switch so I have to stick a lighter into a hole to try and ignite the burners underneath the metal plating :)
3:50 pm Kids are in time out cause they were fighting over the T.V.
3:54 pm time to make cookies together, this should be interesting....
4 pm Oven still not lit, on attempt number 4
4:08 pm We realized the lighter is out of fluid.. no cookies :(
4:11 pm Playdough :)
4:50 pm Cedar comes over to tell me what he made.. its the tower of Jericho he says, its made of really strong rocks, sticks to help the rocks, and really really big sticks for the roof! :) Time for dinner... hmmm??
5pm made clay turtles
5:03 pm Oasis has destroyed her turtle... still haven't made it to cook something for dinner, would cereal be so bad?
5:12 pm Kick Cedar out of the corner cupboard while I am trying to make dinner. Thanks mom! The hamburger helper complete meal fetuccini alfredo yummy!
5:15 pm Send kids upstairs to play in their rooms after getting Oasis out of the corner cupboard! :)
5:21 pm Wes just texted saying he'd just traded vehicles (from the armored plated one to the normal one) so that means he'll be home in just over an hour!! Wow, surprise for me! This has to be a record! I hope he's got some mail!! :)
5:23 pm Go upstairs to check on kids and use the normal toilet.
5:24 pm Forgot to pee
5:25 pm Discover a bowl of chips spilled over Oasis' floor, how'd they get up there??!! Vacuum up chips, hah jokes on them, I hadn't hauled the vacuum back downstairs yet! :D
5:56 pm Just crashed, time to clean up from dinner but the couch is calling
6:24 pm Kids go into time out for carrying their little table across the living room, after being told not to.
6:30 pm Kids go upstairs to play until its time to go and get Daddy.
6:38 pm Kids are watching Pink Panther on satellite, I'm going to look for some free ebooks online :)
6:54 pm Oasis serves herself from the water cooler, Oasis gets in trouble for serving herself from the water cooler... lol....
7 pm Go pick up Wes at office
7:12 pm Open packages in mail, one from my mom and one from an order Wes placed for the boyscouts
7:25 pm Noticed my feet have broken out in hives, I'm hoping its not a reaction to the amoxicillin I'm taking. Wes is putting the kids to bed.. ahhhhhh :)
8 pm Wes kicks me off TV
8:21 pm Blogger kicks me off of the post
8:30 pm We lose power, cause Wes uses the microwave! grrrrr....
8:57 pm I'm thinking I lost the whole stupid blog post, but nope here it is and only lost the last couple of entries :)
Have a good weekend!
9:15 pm (-1 day) Went to bed.
9:16 pm Cedar started crying in bed, his leg was hurting.
9:30 pm Cedar went back to sleep
9:45 pm Cedar woke up crying again, Wes went to help him out this time, they walked around and Cedar says "daddy walking around isn't working".. I chuckle to myself in bed.
10ish pm Cedar went back to sleep.
11 pm woke up because the power turned off and it was too hot to sleep.
11:10 pm Listened to the conversation two men were having on the street, sounded like they were outside our window.
11:12 pm Gave up since I couldn't understand them.
12 am power came back on
5 am Woke up hot because power turned off again.
5:15 am Power turned back on went back to sleep.
6 am Power turned off and I woke up hot again.
6:10 am Power turned back on went back to sleep
6:30 am Wes' cell phone alarm goes off, I roll over and go back to sleep.
6:50 am I hear Oasis' door open, then Cedar talking, they go downstairs with daddy.
7:50 am I wake up the power is off and I am hot, I get up since my alarm is supposed to go off in ten minutes anyways
8:10 am Power turns back on, guess the breaker downstairs flipped.
8:11 am Go downstairs and turn on the english speaking cartoons on the satellite for the kids.
8:20 am Turn off the cartoons because Wes made us eggs and potatoes for breakfast, my favorite and I've been sick all week so he was being nice :)
8:22 am We fight with Cedar about eating breakfast together as a family, we win :)
8:40 am Cartoons are back on and Wes cleans up breakfast while I go upstairs to clean Cedar's and Oasis' rooms
8:55 am Power turns off
9 am Our 'wastah' guy comes to work on Cedar's ac that has been broken for two months.
9:35 am Folding laundry and listening to Wes speak kurdinglish with our "wastah" guy.
9:40 am The Wastah leaves cause we don't have power. Says he'll return this afternoon.
10 am Power comes back on its national so it should stay on for a while :)
10:10 am The 'Wastah' guy comes back, yeah its not the afternoon... who knows?
10:20 am Sweeping and mopping downstairs, wastah leaves ac still not fixed but he took it home with him to work on it.
10:40 am Take Wes to work, he's going to 'K' town today.
11:10 am Return home, put on The Swan Princess for the kids,rearrange dining room, wash off table, finish mopping, do dishes, clean sink.
11:15 am Collect all the trash and take it outside for the trash collection, and give kids a snack from the freezer, finish everything I just wrote before :) National water is on so our tanks are getting filled, I start the dishwasher since we'll have enough water now :) Woohoo!
12 pm Funch, froot loops :) It's a cereal kind of day!
12:15 pm Get on computer to check email and see lots of really encouraging emails :) thanks! Get on blogspot to do this silly blogging :)
12:22 pm turn on 'Cars' movie for the kids before naptime.
12:40 pm run referee with the kids and markers :) Back to facebook :)
12:47 pm Cedar went potty and yells out at the top of his lungs his usual.. "MOOOOOOM I went POOOOP!!!!!" I get him some candy as a reward, remember pop rocks?? :)
12:54 pm watched Cedar run to the mirror to watch the candy pop in his mouth... ahahahhaha.. love it! Oasis has disappeared.. hmmmm...
12:55 pm Found her in her diaper dressing up in a orange black and decker construction workers vest :) hahahaha I love my kids. Still weeding through the internet trying to find good parenting books.
1 pm Shoo Cedar out of the book cabinet.
1:03 pm Give up trying to find parenting books, and get a book to read with the kids before naptime.
1:29 pm Laid kids down for naps after reading two golden book stories and getting caramel popcorn from our friends :) What should I do? Ahhh, bible time :)
2:10 pm Checked on kids to make sure they are sleeping, now time to read some books... 'how we love' and 'same kind of different as me'...
2:16 pm Lost power, went to bed to read and maybe nap
2:30pm Power back on
2:44 pm Oasis wakes up and we go downstairs, mickey mouse time, she changes into her second outfit of the day.
2:49 pm Give Oasis some snacks, chips... just being cultural ;)
3:15 pm Clean up kitchen from lunch and previous messes from the week while I was sick... left the stove for another time, it was too depressing. Exactly what does Wes do when he is cooking? Emptied dishwasher. Had a genius book idea while cleaning counter tops... "a pastor (think Billy Graham) is in an accident and wakes up with amnesia and no longer believes in God, the story unfolds as all the questions of faith are asked as he tries to fight the journey back to God." Good one right??
3:16 pm Head upstairs to mop Oasis' room. All our flooring is cement tile.... woopee!!
3:21 pm Forgot Cedar was sleeping, and I can't mop until I vacuum, so I woke Cedar up so he'll go to sleep early tonight, and I'm still worried about his head. Back upstairs now that he's settled with a snack.
3:47 pm finished mopping with Oasis' help... "mommy, no walk, i washing ok?"... well I had to mop that spot all over again, but she was very proud of herself! :) Time to go try and light the oven, we don't have a switch so I have to stick a lighter into a hole to try and ignite the burners underneath the metal plating :)
3:50 pm Kids are in time out cause they were fighting over the T.V.
3:54 pm time to make cookies together, this should be interesting....
4 pm Oven still not lit, on attempt number 4
4:08 pm We realized the lighter is out of fluid.. no cookies :(
4:11 pm Playdough :)
4:50 pm Cedar comes over to tell me what he made.. its the tower of Jericho he says, its made of really strong rocks, sticks to help the rocks, and really really big sticks for the roof! :) Time for dinner... hmmm??
5pm made clay turtles
5:03 pm Oasis has destroyed her turtle... still haven't made it to cook something for dinner, would cereal be so bad?
5:12 pm Kick Cedar out of the corner cupboard while I am trying to make dinner. Thanks mom! The hamburger helper complete meal fetuccini alfredo yummy!
5:15 pm Send kids upstairs to play in their rooms after getting Oasis out of the corner cupboard! :)
5:21 pm Wes just texted saying he'd just traded vehicles (from the armored plated one to the normal one) so that means he'll be home in just over an hour!! Wow, surprise for me! This has to be a record! I hope he's got some mail!! :)
5:23 pm Go upstairs to check on kids and use the normal toilet.
5:24 pm Forgot to pee
5:25 pm Discover a bowl of chips spilled over Oasis' floor, how'd they get up there??!! Vacuum up chips, hah jokes on them, I hadn't hauled the vacuum back downstairs yet! :D
5:56 pm Just crashed, time to clean up from dinner but the couch is calling
6:24 pm Kids go into time out for carrying their little table across the living room, after being told not to.
6:30 pm Kids go upstairs to play until its time to go and get Daddy.
6:38 pm Kids are watching Pink Panther on satellite, I'm going to look for some free ebooks online :)
6:54 pm Oasis serves herself from the water cooler, Oasis gets in trouble for serving herself from the water cooler... lol....
7 pm Go pick up Wes at office
7:12 pm Open packages in mail, one from my mom and one from an order Wes placed for the boyscouts
7:25 pm Noticed my feet have broken out in hives, I'm hoping its not a reaction to the amoxicillin I'm taking. Wes is putting the kids to bed.. ahhhhhh :)
8 pm Wes kicks me off TV
8:21 pm Blogger kicks me off of the post
8:30 pm We lose power, cause Wes uses the microwave! grrrrr....
8:57 pm I'm thinking I lost the whole stupid blog post, but nope here it is and only lost the last couple of entries :)
Have a good weekend!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Constancy of God.
It's funny to me how people can look at life and say God is the inconstant. I mean have we really looked around lately? And we think God is fickle? I've been thinking about this because our electricity can be so crazy, and with 120+ degree temperatures you feel the pain! We joke alot about electricity here, and it was one of the first words I learned in the language! How true is that for God too? I mean we all talk about God all the time don't we? Sure there's different words for it, feelings, conscience, higher power, but in truth we can't escape Him, He's everywhere, He's the constant in our universe. While life fluctuates, and the various ups and downs occur, God sitll exists. When life passes away, or relationships fizzle out, God still is. I've taken so much comfort in this concept. The Bible talks alot about the constancy of God, and I have been wanting to do a name study for a month or so, and I think this next month I am going to committ to doing it. The promises of God are often thrown around, but do I fully realize the names and promises of God and their complete security? I don't think so. I know that this last year was hard, and I mean HARD. I was challenged by people who I thought loved us and supported us, I was challenged by my own lack of faith, and I was challenged by the enemy. Yet even through all that fluctuation, God never left me. I mean I would have! Ok, Wes never left me either, but that could be attributed to God in him as well! :) I was talking with my mother-in-law a couple of weeks ago, and she said something that keeps ringing in my head about my battle with depression. I just keep thinking there's more to the picture than I understand. If I truly believe God healed me of depression a year ago this month, then why wouldn't He remain faithful in His work? I mean the blind man never went blind again did he? And the lame didn't become lame after Jesus moved on to the other town right? So why would I place limits on how God has worked in my life, just because of the passing of time, or changing of circumstances? God is God, before during and after my life, He's the only one who has that claim.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Austria, Munich, and Istanbul
We had a great time on vacation. Our friends Rachel and Rob joined us, and I think we sufficiently turned them off from having kids anytime soon! :) We all had a great time, I'll let them speak for themselves, and found some much needed refreshment for the mind, body and soul. The last full day there we spent in a half day of prayer, which turned out to be a half morning of soul wrenching hearty fight for Wes and I, but in the end our souls felt so cleansed and we were back to being teammates again. Marriage is hard, marriage with kids is harder, and marriage overseas for the first time with kids is harder still. God does not promise it will be easy, he provides a way for us to stand up underneath the burdens. I'm remembering some of my memory verses and remembering the lessons buried in their richness. God hasn't abandoned us, and as we looked up to the mountains... THE ALPS!... we were quick to remember the verses about finding His strength for us, His being our right arm. God is God, and we sometimes forget our feeble minds, attempts and struggles aren't too much for Him to handle, or that we aren't so insignificant for Him to see. When sharing our lives with other people, I try to be as honest as I can. I suppose that has brought me some unwanted attention or criticism, but I hope it has also blessed others with knowing the truth behind the facade. I know we all struggle but I just hope someone benefits from our struggles. Communication is so key to marriage, isn't it? I'm starting to think it is the most important thing, even more so than having God, because it seems Wes and I were following God yet we didn't communicate that with each other, and as the struggles became heavier and heavier we were sinking from not being united through communication with God, with each other. Last month we went swimming in a canyon before the waters dried up, and I attempted to swim across a lagoon with the picnic blanket over my head, in the end I went under and couldn't get up because I didn't want to let go of the blanket and get it wet, I finally came up gasping for air and laughing at myself, to see Wes and Ben standing on the shore laughing at me too, and wondering just what I was doing. I suppose you could say the last couple of months has been like that for both of us. We're swimming along bearing this burden independent of each other, certain the other one has too much for them to help, and we just end up drowning in our burdens. Jesus stands on the shore shaking His head, and at the same time is in the water waiting for when we will let Him share in the burden bearing, but so is Wes. Wes desires to partner with me as well, and I with him, and if we together partner with Jesus... well what burden would be too great then? None.
We went hiking, biking, mountain biking, walking, swimming, played cards, saw beautiful places, lost my perscription sunglasses and 'pass the pigs', but I think I will learn more from our last morning in the woods with Wes and Jesus than I did from any other part of the trip. It was surreal to watch the World Cup in Austria in a pub though :)
I was grateful God allowed Rach and Rob to come and meet us there, but I can't help but think they didn't know what they were getting into! We were seriously messed up and in need of some serious debriefing and decompressing! But its so great to reattach a friendship, one that lives on past memories and past things in common, we were able to gain some new memories and some new things in common. I suppose in this stage of my life, that is pretty important to me, and God allowed me to have that need met. So besides the fact the hotel didn't have a pool right there, and everything was in German, we had a blast! And some amazing pics we'll get posted soon! :)
We went hiking, biking, mountain biking, walking, swimming, played cards, saw beautiful places, lost my perscription sunglasses and 'pass the pigs', but I think I will learn more from our last morning in the woods with Wes and Jesus than I did from any other part of the trip. It was surreal to watch the World Cup in Austria in a pub though :)
I was grateful God allowed Rach and Rob to come and meet us there, but I can't help but think they didn't know what they were getting into! We were seriously messed up and in need of some serious debriefing and decompressing! But its so great to reattach a friendship, one that lives on past memories and past things in common, we were able to gain some new memories and some new things in common. I suppose in this stage of my life, that is pretty important to me, and God allowed me to have that need met. So besides the fact the hotel didn't have a pool right there, and everything was in German, we had a blast! And some amazing pics we'll get posted soon! :)
Friday, June 4, 2010
More beautiful places
A few more beautiful picutures of our new home. Did I mention it has been over 100 every day.
Mood Gauger
I'm guessing you all can guess what my mood has been like lately, since I haven't posted in a long while. Well, quite frankly I just get tired of saying we're struggling. So this morning we're doing great! We had fresh homemade biscuits for breakfast (sans shortening) with cut up fresh strawberries and one of our hoarded packets of gravy! Yummy, and the best part is I didn't wake up until 9:30, and there it all was in the kitchen, and the dishes are even washed! I love my husband. Looks like we might be over the flu and I am working through another migraine, the kids and Wes are up on the roof working on their bikes (pictures to follow) which were their birthday gifts from us this year. Oasis' is from here, and Cedar's is a hand-me-down from some friends. So I ordered some training wheels and a bell, to make it special :) He has been so excited and I know Oasis is going to love hers too once she tries it out. Unfortunately Cedar's came with some repair issues but Wes (of course) has gotten those mostly fixed. I think today we will also try to put up an awning on the roof so we can have a pool up there! I am very excited for this, when the power goes out it is HOT and I mean you are sitting still sweating a pool yourself, HOT! It's been over 100 degrees for two weeks, and its here to stay... until August! Oh dear :)
I will get some pictures taken and uploaded today. The kids are growing so much, and becoming such little people all their own.
It's Friday which for you all is like Saturday for us. Wes has been putting in a lot of time with work, and we have been putting a lot of time into visiting lately so we are really in need of a weekend. We might even go for a drive. I love going for drives. When I was a kid my parents and brother and I would pack into whatever car we had, or truck, and go for a drive in the country. Since we lived in SouthWestern NY its pretty easy to go for a drive in the country. We might take a map but we wouldn't look at it, just drive and drive and drive and when we'd come to a stop sign we'd decide which direction simply by saying 'That Way!'. It's some of our favorite times as a family, Mom and Dad never fought when we went driving, and it was such an adventure. Dad and Mom would tell us stories when they were kids, or when Dad used to drive the Beer Truck, or maybe his band had played there or that used to be a one-room school house! So many fun memories. And now our kids are going to do the same things with us, cause Wes and I both love to go for drives too! The difference? Google Earth is taking over my husbands mind!
So we'll have our Saturday of fun together as a family, with a little adventure and maybe some Kurdish language practice, maybe some time with Rachael and Adelynn and we'll all take some time to revel in the God who gives us such grace as to live this life joyfully.
I will get some pictures taken and uploaded today. The kids are growing so much, and becoming such little people all their own.
It's Friday which for you all is like Saturday for us. Wes has been putting in a lot of time with work, and we have been putting a lot of time into visiting lately so we are really in need of a weekend. We might even go for a drive. I love going for drives. When I was a kid my parents and brother and I would pack into whatever car we had, or truck, and go for a drive in the country. Since we lived in SouthWestern NY its pretty easy to go for a drive in the country. We might take a map but we wouldn't look at it, just drive and drive and drive and when we'd come to a stop sign we'd decide which direction simply by saying 'That Way!'. It's some of our favorite times as a family, Mom and Dad never fought when we went driving, and it was such an adventure. Dad and Mom would tell us stories when they were kids, or when Dad used to drive the Beer Truck, or maybe his band had played there or that used to be a one-room school house! So many fun memories. And now our kids are going to do the same things with us, cause Wes and I both love to go for drives too! The difference? Google Earth is taking over my husbands mind!
So we'll have our Saturday of fun together as a family, with a little adventure and maybe some Kurdish language practice, maybe some time with Rachael and Adelynn and we'll all take some time to revel in the God who gives us such grace as to live this life joyfully.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Boyscouting of the Middle East
I attached some photos from the first ever boyscouts of america branch camping trip in our country. They were gracious enough to let Cedar and I come along.
Swimming hole. The water was very cold. I was very proud of Cedar he was fearless and swam all over with his floaties.
A cool arch with a cool kid.
Ancient Zoorastrean tomb. It is about 20' off the ground and we couldn't get in.
Preparing to do some rappelling
Can see the rope for rappelling over the cave.
Camp
Swimming hole. The water was very cold. I was very proud of Cedar he was fearless and swam all over with his floaties.
A cool arch with a cool kid.
Ancient Zoorastrean tomb. It is about 20' off the ground and we couldn't get in.
Preparing to do some rappelling
Can see the rope for rappelling over the cave.
Camp
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Thank you Thank you Thank you!
Thank you! To all of you who have sent packages, cards, notes, pictures and fun things through the mail! It continues to make us so happy and encouraged to press on. As we read the notes, which I confess a tendency to hoard, we are so touched and truly engaged in the feeling that the body is truly connected! So amazing, that some of these notes were written months ago yet the scripture and words written by such loving and prayerful hands hit our struggle... spot on! I love seeing the Lord work in this way!
The Olferts sent us a package, and it was full of the most random things, so you would think we would shake our head and wonder, but in truth we pulled out thing after thing and it sounds weird but they were all things we needed! Hilarious! Wes was especially excited about the Farm newspaper!
We continue to be so humbled by all the support that goes into us living so far away from many of you!
One day we came home to find a phone message on the answering machine and it was Cedar's friend Conner leaving Cedar a message! How fun for a 3 year old to have a message just for him!
My mom sent the coolest book. She's the one reading to the children as they flip the pages! Hallmark came up with a recordable book and you can record the person reading the book to the kids! So special, and as Cedar was thanking Grandma he said, "Could you see me reading the book since you are in there?" :) love it!
Sometimes I have the tendency to think that people don't really care about me, at least not in the way I think of them, so I am always humbled and so touched when we get these notes, emails, phone calls, and packages, because I know there was effort put into all that went into doing them! It's not easy to call, or write or go to the post office, and so many of you have young children which makes for an even more interesting adventure! :)
I guess what I am saying is, we all fall short of supporting/encouraging one another at times, but I realize the fullness of love I am surrounded with because of our rather odd circumstances. I just wanted to write and say that I feel the same way about all of you who have been/continue to be part of our lives! I mean it when I say I think of you often, and I remember to pray for you. I'm not the best at staying in touch, but that doesn't lessen the love I have for you in my heart! Since knowing Jesus some of the most extraordinary people have crossed my path and journeyed alongside me. I am so richly blessed to count you friend.
The Olferts sent us a package, and it was full of the most random things, so you would think we would shake our head and wonder, but in truth we pulled out thing after thing and it sounds weird but they were all things we needed! Hilarious! Wes was especially excited about the Farm newspaper!
We continue to be so humbled by all the support that goes into us living so far away from many of you!
One day we came home to find a phone message on the answering machine and it was Cedar's friend Conner leaving Cedar a message! How fun for a 3 year old to have a message just for him!
My mom sent the coolest book. She's the one reading to the children as they flip the pages! Hallmark came up with a recordable book and you can record the person reading the book to the kids! So special, and as Cedar was thanking Grandma he said, "Could you see me reading the book since you are in there?" :) love it!
Sometimes I have the tendency to think that people don't really care about me, at least not in the way I think of them, so I am always humbled and so touched when we get these notes, emails, phone calls, and packages, because I know there was effort put into all that went into doing them! It's not easy to call, or write or go to the post office, and so many of you have young children which makes for an even more interesting adventure! :)
I guess what I am saying is, we all fall short of supporting/encouraging one another at times, but I realize the fullness of love I am surrounded with because of our rather odd circumstances. I just wanted to write and say that I feel the same way about all of you who have been/continue to be part of our lives! I mean it when I say I think of you often, and I remember to pray for you. I'm not the best at staying in touch, but that doesn't lessen the love I have for you in my heart! Since knowing Jesus some of the most extraordinary people have crossed my path and journeyed alongside me. I am so richly blessed to count you friend.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Proverbs 16
Todays' Proverbs reading was really impacting. I have been praying for many years, yes years, that God would take the desire I have for us to live in Idaho near Wes' family. Instead of taking it, it seems to have multiplied in a burning desire to live there. I have often wondered about this 'desire of my heart'. I guess the prosperity gospel would say I should move there since its my desire and it hasn't gone away, but I just knew there was more to it, and I continued to wrestle with what to do about this desire I have surrendered time and again and asked that God would wrestle from my spirit. Today Proverbs 16:1 said, "To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue." Sometimes the heart can be so misleading, and while there are times to trust what God is saying through your heart other times it is hard to weigh the motives because I am so close to the issue at hand. Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." And again in Proverbs 16:2 "All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD." So I am finding that God is speaking to me through His Word this morning. I need to not trust this desire of my heart and recognize God's judgement and rational response to my hearts desire.
The other thing I have been struggling with is my words to the kids. I just feel like I don't speak enough into their hearts and I struggle to know how better to respond to them. Especially after that third or fourth reprimand for the same thing! This morning I read in Proverbs 16:24 "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." And again in Proverbs 16:13 "Kings take pleasur in honest lips; they value a man who speaks the truth." So I am learning from God in response to my prayer for wisdom with the children that while I can speak honestly of their sin/disobedience that I must also speak sweetly, so as it will be better for them to accept the instruction. I guess you could say I need to do what the Father God did for me this morning, honesty and sweetness even though it was humbling. Praise God for answered prayers, and for softening a hardened heart.
Some other verses that spoke into this issue;
Proverbs 16:20 "Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is hewho trusts in the LORD."
Proverbs 16:21 "The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction."
and especially Proverbs 16:25 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
The other thing I have been struggling with is my words to the kids. I just feel like I don't speak enough into their hearts and I struggle to know how better to respond to them. Especially after that third or fourth reprimand for the same thing! This morning I read in Proverbs 16:24 "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." And again in Proverbs 16:13 "Kings take pleasur in honest lips; they value a man who speaks the truth." So I am learning from God in response to my prayer for wisdom with the children that while I can speak honestly of their sin/disobedience that I must also speak sweetly, so as it will be better for them to accept the instruction. I guess you could say I need to do what the Father God did for me this morning, honesty and sweetness even though it was humbling. Praise God for answered prayers, and for softening a hardened heart.
Some other verses that spoke into this issue;
Proverbs 16:20 "Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is hewho trusts in the LORD."
Proverbs 16:21 "The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction."
and especially Proverbs 16:25 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."
Friday, May 14, 2010
Didn't hear much from that last one
So I haven't heard much reply from that last post. I was really hoping some of you all would give it a go. I think I'll put it in our next update and see if we don't get more bites that way!
We've been doing pretty good here in the Fertile Crescent. It's starting to get HOT and I mean HOT. It went from being rainy and cool to "oh crap I'm living in a desert!" In fact we saw our first scorpion last night. By the way we were told by two different sources that they don't have scorpions here, so must be that one traveled up from the desert oh about 25 miles away! I was pretty freaked out about it, since it came out from underneath the giant blow-up slide Oasis and the other girls had been playing on for over an hour! Thank you God for keeping the kids safe, especially my little monkey girl!
Wes and Cedar are off on a boy scout camp-out. I am pretty excited for them, even though it comes on the tail end of a crazy week. Wes worked 10-12 hour days this week as they are plugging away at the first phase of a project due the beginning of June. He's hoping it will be back to normal after Monday, and I am hoping too!!
Today I was really struck with how blessed I am to be married to such a great guy. Not every guy wakes up early with the crazy children, makes breakfast and even brings it to me to wake me up, or puts up with one obstinate and I mean OBSTINATE wife like he does, or helps her die her hair, or listens to her cry and say "I just want to gooooo HOOOOOOME!!!". Here he is living his dream and I am still complaining! Not to mention the fact that I know in my heart, where I have been studiously avoiding looking, that we are where God desires us to be. He's so patient with me. I really don't like living here. It's beautiful and the people are nice, but it gets hard. And when I say hard just think of a never ending winter of the soul, that's how it has been here for me. Dramatic? Yes, but true to how I have been feeling. We have been here only 4 months so there is room for improvement. But after two days of no electricy or AC I was ready to pack it in because all I could think was "this isn't even the hottest part of the summer yet!" and I am a whuss when it comes to heat.
There's so much that comes from living here that is good. I just have the hardest time battling my heart to be positive and joyful. I am constantly praying, "lord PLEASE give me the strength, PLEASE take away this desire to see our children grow up near our family." I do pretty well for a couple of days, then I slack off and WHAMMO!! I am right back at square one of being sorry for myself. What a whimp! Oh well I am learning that God's grace is so sufficient even for a sinful willful joyless person like me! Praise God that he doesn't judge me on my own merit, but that I have the blood of Jesus to wipe me clean of my sins and make me pure again.
The kids are champs. And we are seeing them starting to show more of their 'normal' selves again. Now to get Oasis to stop eating and licking everything in sight! It's been a miracle that she has not come down REALLY sick, because out of all of us she has the most exposure by far! Cedar is so smart. I have been tracking more of his development and he is performing at a 5 year old level! The only exception being the reading. I haven't been too motivated because he drives me crazy when I try to teach him, but he is recognizing letters and sounds, so I should probably get on the ball! :) Oasis isn't far behind her big brother and tracks everything he does! She's talking in sentences, coloring in the lines, and building some impressive towers with their blocks. Of course her best skill is irritating her brother! I have GOT to stop finding it so funny, so that I can discipline her, but seriously its not like he didn't get his punches in the last 2 years! Crazy to think Cedar is turning 4 and Oasis is 2! It did go so quickly, and as wild and crazy as the two of them are, they are some sensitive and loving kids, which is good cause otherwise I might sell them to the LOWEST bidder, forget the highest! lol!
I have been able to write some more poetry lately, and that continues to be a blessing to my soul. I know when I am near to God because He inspires my heart to overflowing that I have to sit down and write it out once in a while! Thank you God for drawing near as I cry out to hear your voice, and see your face.
I hope as you all read this that where ever you are in the world that you feel this same peace with the Creator God, and that no matter the challenges and trials you are going through that you are able to rest in the Shadow of the Almighty and know even when you doubt, He at least remains constant and true to His character, even if your own is wavering! :)
We've been doing pretty good here in the Fertile Crescent. It's starting to get HOT and I mean HOT. It went from being rainy and cool to "oh crap I'm living in a desert!" In fact we saw our first scorpion last night. By the way we were told by two different sources that they don't have scorpions here, so must be that one traveled up from the desert oh about 25 miles away! I was pretty freaked out about it, since it came out from underneath the giant blow-up slide Oasis and the other girls had been playing on for over an hour! Thank you God for keeping the kids safe, especially my little monkey girl!
Wes and Cedar are off on a boy scout camp-out. I am pretty excited for them, even though it comes on the tail end of a crazy week. Wes worked 10-12 hour days this week as they are plugging away at the first phase of a project due the beginning of June. He's hoping it will be back to normal after Monday, and I am hoping too!!
Today I was really struck with how blessed I am to be married to such a great guy. Not every guy wakes up early with the crazy children, makes breakfast and even brings it to me to wake me up, or puts up with one obstinate and I mean OBSTINATE wife like he does, or helps her die her hair, or listens to her cry and say "I just want to gooooo HOOOOOOME!!!". Here he is living his dream and I am still complaining! Not to mention the fact that I know in my heart, where I have been studiously avoiding looking, that we are where God desires us to be. He's so patient with me. I really don't like living here. It's beautiful and the people are nice, but it gets hard. And when I say hard just think of a never ending winter of the soul, that's how it has been here for me. Dramatic? Yes, but true to how I have been feeling. We have been here only 4 months so there is room for improvement. But after two days of no electricy or AC I was ready to pack it in because all I could think was "this isn't even the hottest part of the summer yet!" and I am a whuss when it comes to heat.
There's so much that comes from living here that is good. I just have the hardest time battling my heart to be positive and joyful. I am constantly praying, "lord PLEASE give me the strength, PLEASE take away this desire to see our children grow up near our family." I do pretty well for a couple of days, then I slack off and WHAMMO!! I am right back at square one of being sorry for myself. What a whimp! Oh well I am learning that God's grace is so sufficient even for a sinful willful joyless person like me! Praise God that he doesn't judge me on my own merit, but that I have the blood of Jesus to wipe me clean of my sins and make me pure again.
The kids are champs. And we are seeing them starting to show more of their 'normal' selves again. Now to get Oasis to stop eating and licking everything in sight! It's been a miracle that she has not come down REALLY sick, because out of all of us she has the most exposure by far! Cedar is so smart. I have been tracking more of his development and he is performing at a 5 year old level! The only exception being the reading. I haven't been too motivated because he drives me crazy when I try to teach him, but he is recognizing letters and sounds, so I should probably get on the ball! :) Oasis isn't far behind her big brother and tracks everything he does! She's talking in sentences, coloring in the lines, and building some impressive towers with their blocks. Of course her best skill is irritating her brother! I have GOT to stop finding it so funny, so that I can discipline her, but seriously its not like he didn't get his punches in the last 2 years! Crazy to think Cedar is turning 4 and Oasis is 2! It did go so quickly, and as wild and crazy as the two of them are, they are some sensitive and loving kids, which is good cause otherwise I might sell them to the LOWEST bidder, forget the highest! lol!
I have been able to write some more poetry lately, and that continues to be a blessing to my soul. I know when I am near to God because He inspires my heart to overflowing that I have to sit down and write it out once in a while! Thank you God for drawing near as I cry out to hear your voice, and see your face.
I hope as you all read this that where ever you are in the world that you feel this same peace with the Creator God, and that no matter the challenges and trials you are going through that you are able to rest in the Shadow of the Almighty and know even when you doubt, He at least remains constant and true to His character, even if your own is wavering! :)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Culture challenge for your week:
Go three to five hours a day without any electricity. (in the middle of your day, roughly noon till 5:30 pm, or 8:30 am till 2 pm.)
-you have a gas powered stove, water, and a laundry line
-you have a back-up battery for your phone and internet
When grocery shopping you can only buy fresh produce, long life milk (powdered milk in the US), eggs, mozzerella cheese, and some soup bases (powdered style), oh spaghetti sauce, tomatoe paste and most canned vegetables, especially anything pickled!! You also can purchase noodles, rice etc. But the main ingredients are fresh, and chicken only comes in whole chickens. (there's no broths canned).
Your children (if still at home) have coloring books, play-dough and some toys to entertain them. Around 11 am you need to do 'school' for 1/2hr.
Dump all water down the squatty toilet in hopes it will somehow make the smell stop! ( I don't know what you can do, maybe the bath tub?)
Shower only
One sink in the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Every other day go outside and wash off your patio, entrance way and driveway using a hose but without the nozzle.
No social outings except Sunday fellowship, grocery store, and maybe one other entertaining guests. (try some international dishes for your guests, Ann and Alicia this will seem natural for you!)
And my personal favorite, when communicating with those outside your immediate circle you can use only a kindegartners' vocabulary and sentence structuring, and for some reason you really struggle remembering the numbers above 11.
(giggle and snickering on my part)
Have fun! Let me know how the experiment lasts, what you think of it all. I think you will find somethings are a great relief, some feel good cause its healthy and some just drive you batty on those crazy days! I'll have more challenges to come, this is just to get you started! :)
-you have a gas powered stove, water, and a laundry line
-you have a back-up battery for your phone and internet
When grocery shopping you can only buy fresh produce, long life milk (powdered milk in the US), eggs, mozzerella cheese, and some soup bases (powdered style), oh spaghetti sauce, tomatoe paste and most canned vegetables, especially anything pickled!! You also can purchase noodles, rice etc. But the main ingredients are fresh, and chicken only comes in whole chickens. (there's no broths canned).
Your children (if still at home) have coloring books, play-dough and some toys to entertain them. Around 11 am you need to do 'school' for 1/2hr.
Dump all water down the squatty toilet in hopes it will somehow make the smell stop! ( I don't know what you can do, maybe the bath tub?)
Shower only
One sink in the kitchen to wash the dishes.
Every other day go outside and wash off your patio, entrance way and driveway using a hose but without the nozzle.
No social outings except Sunday fellowship, grocery store, and maybe one other entertaining guests. (try some international dishes for your guests, Ann and Alicia this will seem natural for you!)
And my personal favorite, when communicating with those outside your immediate circle you can use only a kindegartners' vocabulary and sentence structuring, and for some reason you really struggle remembering the numbers above 11.
(giggle and snickering on my part)
Have fun! Let me know how the experiment lasts, what you think of it all. I think you will find somethings are a great relief, some feel good cause its healthy and some just drive you batty on those crazy days! I'll have more challenges to come, this is just to get you started! :)
Caramel roll inspiration
As I sit here at our dining room table, I can look out our big window and see a huge tree growing in an impossible situation. There is a cement wall about 10 feet high on its one side where the base is only a foot away from the wall, the power line (Iraqi style) is going through the tree, the house behind the tree has a balcony that reaches partly into the tree as well. And it is lush, green, full, and beautiful. I look at this tree a lot, and all I can think is how is that skinny little trunk supporting all that foliage and in such a small space, how has it not destroyed the foundation of the house or the fence at least? But it hasn't, and it provides me with daily inspiration, and hope.
I love nature. I love being in nature, hiking, skiing, backpacking, rockclimbing, kayaking, whatever. I love nature. And I live in a city, full of trash, squashed with people, no yard, and little opportunity to do the things I love to do in nature. But I can't help but think that tree is part of nature, and yet it grew there in its distorted environment, maybe someone watered it, nurtured it through the growth or maybe it was just there and they built up around it, either way its there and thriving.
The Creator of nature I love even more, so much more I am willing to live in a city, go through so much transition, lose my identity as a women and a nature lover, to embrace... what? I don't know yet, but He knows, and even now He is nurturing me, loving me, giving me the will to go right on producing beautiful fruit. How is it possible in this environment to thrive on such a skinny trunk of faith? I don't know. But the Creator knew where that tree was planted and it thrives, so if this is what a tree can do, what about me? After all I was made in the image of the Creator itself. Hmmmm, I guess we'll make it after all.
I love nature. I love being in nature, hiking, skiing, backpacking, rockclimbing, kayaking, whatever. I love nature. And I live in a city, full of trash, squashed with people, no yard, and little opportunity to do the things I love to do in nature. But I can't help but think that tree is part of nature, and yet it grew there in its distorted environment, maybe someone watered it, nurtured it through the growth or maybe it was just there and they built up around it, either way its there and thriving.
The Creator of nature I love even more, so much more I am willing to live in a city, go through so much transition, lose my identity as a women and a nature lover, to embrace... what? I don't know yet, but He knows, and even now He is nurturing me, loving me, giving me the will to go right on producing beautiful fruit. How is it possible in this environment to thrive on such a skinny trunk of faith? I don't know. But the Creator knew where that tree was planted and it thrives, so if this is what a tree can do, what about me? After all I was made in the image of the Creator itself. Hmmmm, I guess we'll make it after all.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Some relief
I woke up today after taking another sleeping pill, only half of one this time!, and have felt some relief. My focus and eyesight is still 'off', but the pain isn't nearly as intense.
We are going to go to a doctor this afternoon that has been recommended to us so we will see if they are able to help at all. At this point I just want to rule out some things that give me stress and anxiety to think about :)
We've decided on the Swiss Alps for our vacation this summer. Many of you know vacations twice a year are mandatory for us now, and I can't help but feel a little guilty that we aren't able to spend the time with family, but I am SO looking forward to having a real vacation. This will be one of the first times we will vacation as a family without the added stress of meeting with someone, or being at a certain place at a certain time. We can just decide what we want to do and do it, or not! I know Cedar will love the train ride and Wes and I are so ready to be in the mountains, do some hiking, and feel 'free' again from expectations and burdens. Our friends Rachel and Rob are going to make the journey over to join us and I just can't believe we will get to spend time with them! It's so amazing how God provides! We won't be going until the end of June, beginning of July but we are having to plan and make reservations now so it has been something really great to look forward to. So if any of you find yourselves with a vacation budget and the time please come join us on our Alps vacation!! :)
We are going to go to a doctor this afternoon that has been recommended to us so we will see if they are able to help at all. At this point I just want to rule out some things that give me stress and anxiety to think about :)
We've decided on the Swiss Alps for our vacation this summer. Many of you know vacations twice a year are mandatory for us now, and I can't help but feel a little guilty that we aren't able to spend the time with family, but I am SO looking forward to having a real vacation. This will be one of the first times we will vacation as a family without the added stress of meeting with someone, or being at a certain place at a certain time. We can just decide what we want to do and do it, or not! I know Cedar will love the train ride and Wes and I are so ready to be in the mountains, do some hiking, and feel 'free' again from expectations and burdens. Our friends Rachel and Rob are going to make the journey over to join us and I just can't believe we will get to spend time with them! It's so amazing how God provides! We won't be going until the end of June, beginning of July but we are having to plan and make reservations now so it has been something really great to look forward to. So if any of you find yourselves with a vacation budget and the time please come join us on our Alps vacation!! :)
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Day 14 in Migraine Headache cycle
Many of you have been praying for us, thank you. I still have a headache that flares into a migraine at different times of the day or on different days. Thank God for medicine and the fore-thought to get the perscription filled before coming over. And thank God for a flexible work schedule. That is how I have felt throughout this process, thankful. Thankful for my husband, for his job and the flexibility it allows, thankful for help with our children that he has been able to provide, thankful he knows how to cook, thankful for people willing to hear me out and pray or me, just thankful.
The pain in case you were wondering, is usually a full pressure throughout my head, with occasionally going to the left side of my head resulting in tunnel vision, sometimes with a decreased ability to see in general. I can't talk quite normally, which is quite funny, and when I try to type I type my letters backwards and switched, also quite funny.I am super sensitive to the light, and have to wear my sunglasses or keep a eye mask on my eyes for most of the time. I GET SO BORED!! lol :)
All this time resting in my room away from light and noise has given me a much needed break from life here, and a much needed solid, loooooooong prayer time! Praise God for His neverending conversation and exciting stories that fill my head from His Word. However I battle a continuous feeling of guilt, guilt for not providing for my family as I should, for not cleaning our house, or getting the laundry folded, guilt for having it so 'easy' in my room while Wes is the 'mommy'. It's hard to allow others to pray for me while I am there, and it is REALLY hard to tell people I am not feeling well. It just isn't done in this culture, this is really hard to explain but it isn't all bad. Again God is our strength when we are weak. Again God is showing me how I try to do so much on my own strength for all the wrong reasons. So Lord I trust in You, I trust you will give me strength for the tasks You think I need to get done. I trust You will give grace to my family and to Wes that you will help Him to stay strong and not get discouraged by the ongoing pain. I Trust You to provide for my children where I can not and that they will turn to you in their little hearts. Thank you Lord Jesus that I can trust in You and not live this out on my own. Wow you are really amazing Lord.
The pain in case you were wondering, is usually a full pressure throughout my head, with occasionally going to the left side of my head resulting in tunnel vision, sometimes with a decreased ability to see in general. I can't talk quite normally, which is quite funny, and when I try to type I type my letters backwards and switched, also quite funny.I am super sensitive to the light, and have to wear my sunglasses or keep a eye mask on my eyes for most of the time. I GET SO BORED!! lol :)
All this time resting in my room away from light and noise has given me a much needed break from life here, and a much needed solid, loooooooong prayer time! Praise God for His neverending conversation and exciting stories that fill my head from His Word. However I battle a continuous feeling of guilt, guilt for not providing for my family as I should, for not cleaning our house, or getting the laundry folded, guilt for having it so 'easy' in my room while Wes is the 'mommy'. It's hard to allow others to pray for me while I am there, and it is REALLY hard to tell people I am not feeling well. It just isn't done in this culture, this is really hard to explain but it isn't all bad. Again God is our strength when we are weak. Again God is showing me how I try to do so much on my own strength for all the wrong reasons. So Lord I trust in You, I trust you will give me strength for the tasks You think I need to get done. I trust You will give grace to my family and to Wes that you will help Him to stay strong and not get discouraged by the ongoing pain. I Trust You to provide for my children where I can not and that they will turn to you in their little hearts. Thank you Lord Jesus that I can trust in You and not live this out on my own. Wow you are really amazing Lord.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Morning Musings
Most every morning I wake up to the tink tink tink of the propane truck as it drives by. The back of the truck is filled with propane tanks and their is a little boy that sits up on top of them banging a stick against one of the tanks, sometimes with a rhythm only known to him! :) And when I wake up to this sound it is a very real reminder of where I am waking up, and usually it is a stark contrast to what I was just dreaming about, home, family, friends.... ice cream :). But it is also a great opportunity to wake up praying. I love the mornings I wake up speaking with my Father. He alone hears all my joys, complaints and worries. He is my best friend. Even more so now that I don't have one to call in the morning and plan out my day. As I have been processing the last couple of hard weeks, I have been thinking on the idea of the 'old' self and the 'new' self. I read the verses, I listen to the teaching but it is still so difficult to put into practice in my life. When we moved here God gave me two lessons to remember, one was about Lots' wife looking back and turning to the pillar of salt, the other was the young apprentice burning his plow to follow the priest. We've burned our plow and released all our worldly possessions, but it is so difficult to not look back. We are a new creation in Christ, but it is so difficult to release that rotten, stinky, diseased flesh.
So on these mornings when I wake up sharing my heart with Jesus, I am able to keep my eyes forward, but I am also able to leave that fleshly self behind. I have to stop here, we will lose power soon :) Let me know what you think on this. I am struggling and could use some words of wisdom and insight :)
So on these mornings when I wake up sharing my heart with Jesus, I am able to keep my eyes forward, but I am also able to leave that fleshly self behind. I have to stop here, we will lose power soon :) Let me know what you think on this. I am struggling and could use some words of wisdom and insight :)
Saturday, April 3, 2010
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=159338&id=556387513&l=6d9c033f74
The latest photos for you all. We went hiking one day this weekend. What a breath of fresh air, and for the soul as well. We all had a great time, the kids, Wes and I and our neighbors son. Who I think will be in trouble cause he didn't tell his parents he went with us instead of studying.. oops we spilled the beans on that one! Aw well, lesson learned, you shouldn't lie to your parents!! :)
There's some pictures from eating out, since many of you have asked about the food. It's difficult to explain so I thought maybe some pictures would help. I will try to get some more for you soon. There's also a couple of the kids from an outing we took to the Rand Gallery Mall here. It was good, and we found a coffee shop! Definitely worth the trip.
Sorry I'm not up for writing much tonight. Just kind of tired and worn out. I will try to write more real stuff another time...
The latest photos for you all. We went hiking one day this weekend. What a breath of fresh air, and for the soul as well. We all had a great time, the kids, Wes and I and our neighbors son. Who I think will be in trouble cause he didn't tell his parents he went with us instead of studying.. oops we spilled the beans on that one! Aw well, lesson learned, you shouldn't lie to your parents!! :)
There's some pictures from eating out, since many of you have asked about the food. It's difficult to explain so I thought maybe some pictures would help. I will try to get some more for you soon. There's also a couple of the kids from an outing we took to the Rand Gallery Mall here. It was good, and we found a coffee shop! Definitely worth the trip.
Sorry I'm not up for writing much tonight. Just kind of tired and worn out. I will try to write more real stuff another time...
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Sara Groves says it for me...
It's difficult I think to share how I have felt these last two weeks. Its been hard. I was listening to this song by Sara Groves and I can't say it better so I typed out the lyrics. Again Romans 5:3-5...
Its been a hard year but I am climbing out of the rubble,
these lessons are hard healing changes are subtle,
but everyday its less like tearing more like building,
less like captive more like willing
less like breakdown more like surrender
less like haunting more like remember
I feel you here and you are picking up the pieces
forever faithful
my seeing out of my head is a bad situation,
you are able
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars and more like character
Less like a prison more like my room
less like a casket more like a womb
less like dying more like transcending
less like fear less like an ending
I can feel you hear and you are picking up the pieces
forever faithful
seeing out of my head is a bad situation
you are able
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars
and more like character
just a little while ago I couldn't feel the power of hope
I couldn't cope, couldn't feel a thing
just a little while back I was desperate, laid out hoping you would come
and I need you and I want you here and I feel you and I know you"re here and you are picking up the pieces
forever faithful
seeing out of my head is a bad bad situation
you are able
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars and more like character
Its been a hard year but I am climbing out of the rubble,
these lessons are hard healing changes are subtle,
but everyday its less like tearing more like building,
less like captive more like willing
less like breakdown more like surrender
less like haunting more like remember
I feel you here and you are picking up the pieces
forever faithful
my seeing out of my head is a bad situation,
you are able
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars and more like character
Less like a prison more like my room
less like a casket more like a womb
less like dying more like transcending
less like fear less like an ending
I can feel you hear and you are picking up the pieces
forever faithful
seeing out of my head is a bad situation
you are able
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars
and more like character
just a little while ago I couldn't feel the power of hope
I couldn't cope, couldn't feel a thing
just a little while back I was desperate, laid out hoping you would come
and I need you and I want you here and I feel you and I know you"re here and you are picking up the pieces
forever faithful
seeing out of my head is a bad bad situation
you are able
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars
and in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars and more like character
Monday, March 22, 2010
Judgeni Nawroztan Perozbit!!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=156663&id=556387513&l=bfeae4253e
Here are the latest pictures of our most recent adventures. And well timed they were too. We have had a most difficult two weeks, but with Nawroz (the Kurdish New Year) came not only the celebration of Spring, but of friendships as well.
We started our celebrating by going to visit our friends house three/four houses down, and it went great. The kids even did well. Their youngest son is always so good to play with Cedar. That is one (of the many) thing about this culture that is so great, the older always helps with the younger. The other day the children were out playing in a rock pile outside and our neighbors second oldest son (a senior is H.S.) came out and played with them, then another neighbors son did the same when they were out their by themselves. So cool.
After visiting Friday night, we went to Salim Street on Saturday. I can't begin to describe this experience. Well for one because we forgot our camera!! And for two it is just too big to describe. Supposedly there were no hotel/motel rooms left in the city. So many people had traveled from Iran, Turkey, and other parts of Iraq to be here. Again the kids did great, Wes and I were glad to be done with it by the end though. It's kind of like a mosh pit and state fair all rolled into one, with everyone dressed in their best! At one point when we were walking/pushed along in the heaviest part of the crowd I didn't know where my body ended and where my (now very close) friend's began. :) lol It was an experience to say the least.
Last but not least came Sunday and picnicing in Dukon. Our first excursion outside the city, but if you can imagine the whole of the city picking up and mass exiting at the same time, it didn't feel very different from the cit in the end. :) We started at 8 am after packing up our pickup and connecting with our neighbors whose bumper our trucks front bumper would be within 1 foot of for the next 2-3 hours! I don't know how many times Wes and I were praying 'Please God keep us safe." As we drove up to the mountains. Let me just say, driving into oncoming traffic going about 100 km/h is not our sort of adrenaline rush! After getting yelled at by the police twice, and missing near death crashes umpteen times, and avoiding a fender bender 100's of times, we landed at our picnic spot. An area of about 8 x 10 feet, with a hill on one side and a foot path on the other! But I must say it was still wonderful. These people know how to celebrate and enjoy one another's company. Something Wes and I have always held in high regard. By the end of the night, with two kids sleeping on the blankets, starring at the stars, shivering with a sort of contented coolness, I prayed to God and thanked Him for meeting my hearts' need so deeply. The inversion that had settled on my soul lifted with every deep breath I took, and with the feel of my childrens' warm bodies sleeping in my lap. A beautiful memory and one I am not likely to ever forget. We made it home safe and sound, avoiding the worse of the traffic crush by leaving after dark. The kids woke up several times in the night because of ear aches. I think Cedar's is minor, but Oasis' is probably an ear infection. We'll try to find some antibiotics today or tomorrow. Depending on when we can find a pharmacy open. I hope you enjoy the pictures and seeing us in them. I was just thinking how not long ago you had probably seen some similar scenes, but now we are there! So crazy to me still. I miss home, and I miss family and friends. But yesterday the sadness lifted for a little while as I talked about God and family, and the important things of life with our Kurdish friends. Now is time for a much needed nap and quiet time. Know that you are missed.
Here are the latest pictures of our most recent adventures. And well timed they were too. We have had a most difficult two weeks, but with Nawroz (the Kurdish New Year) came not only the celebration of Spring, but of friendships as well.
We started our celebrating by going to visit our friends house three/four houses down, and it went great. The kids even did well. Their youngest son is always so good to play with Cedar. That is one (of the many) thing about this culture that is so great, the older always helps with the younger. The other day the children were out playing in a rock pile outside and our neighbors second oldest son (a senior is H.S.) came out and played with them, then another neighbors son did the same when they were out their by themselves. So cool.
After visiting Friday night, we went to Salim Street on Saturday. I can't begin to describe this experience. Well for one because we forgot our camera!! And for two it is just too big to describe. Supposedly there were no hotel/motel rooms left in the city. So many people had traveled from Iran, Turkey, and other parts of Iraq to be here. Again the kids did great, Wes and I were glad to be done with it by the end though. It's kind of like a mosh pit and state fair all rolled into one, with everyone dressed in their best! At one point when we were walking/pushed along in the heaviest part of the crowd I didn't know where my body ended and where my (now very close) friend's began. :) lol It was an experience to say the least.
Last but not least came Sunday and picnicing in Dukon. Our first excursion outside the city, but if you can imagine the whole of the city picking up and mass exiting at the same time, it didn't feel very different from the cit in the end. :) We started at 8 am after packing up our pickup and connecting with our neighbors whose bumper our trucks front bumper would be within 1 foot of for the next 2-3 hours! I don't know how many times Wes and I were praying 'Please God keep us safe." As we drove up to the mountains. Let me just say, driving into oncoming traffic going about 100 km/h is not our sort of adrenaline rush! After getting yelled at by the police twice, and missing near death crashes umpteen times, and avoiding a fender bender 100's of times, we landed at our picnic spot. An area of about 8 x 10 feet, with a hill on one side and a foot path on the other! But I must say it was still wonderful. These people know how to celebrate and enjoy one another's company. Something Wes and I have always held in high regard. By the end of the night, with two kids sleeping on the blankets, starring at the stars, shivering with a sort of contented coolness, I prayed to God and thanked Him for meeting my hearts' need so deeply. The inversion that had settled on my soul lifted with every deep breath I took, and with the feel of my childrens' warm bodies sleeping in my lap. A beautiful memory and one I am not likely to ever forget. We made it home safe and sound, avoiding the worse of the traffic crush by leaving after dark. The kids woke up several times in the night because of ear aches. I think Cedar's is minor, but Oasis' is probably an ear infection. We'll try to find some antibiotics today or tomorrow. Depending on when we can find a pharmacy open. I hope you enjoy the pictures and seeing us in them. I was just thinking how not long ago you had probably seen some similar scenes, but now we are there! So crazy to me still. I miss home, and I miss family and friends. But yesterday the sadness lifted for a little while as I talked about God and family, and the important things of life with our Kurdish friends. Now is time for a much needed nap and quiet time. Know that you are missed.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Post before the battery runs out
Well I know I should post something and have known for the last couple of days, but I just couldn't get myself to sit down and write. I was convinced anything I said would come acrossed as whiny, and complaining. Which it probably still will but I need to let you all know we're alive. Cedar and Oasis are doing great. A big relief because since we arrived they have been really hard to deal with. Now they are getting back to a settled routine of play dough, books, coloring, dvd's, snack time, nap time, school, and even adding in the occasional craft time (a BIG step for mommy). They continue to surprise Wes and I with their grasp of the Kurdish language, and are doing pretty well at saying the greetings in Kurdish. I have noticed after Oasis has spent time around the language her English becomes pretty garbled. But you should hear some of the international children they speak 3 languages fluently! Their native language, Kurdish and English. So I am excited for Cedar and Oasis to have this advantage in learning. I believe Cedar will start Kurdish school in September. This is a switch from what we were originally thinking, but we have prayed long and hard and believe the best for him would be to integrate into the schools here. We will give it a try and see how he fairs. I confess it would be nice to have some one on one time with Oasis and maybe tame her bad habits she's learned from her big brother. She is one wild and crazy little girl at times she is so obedient and at others she is so not :) Sounds like a two year old right? Which she will be next month. We haven't decided on a party theme yet, but birthdays have always been celebrated in my family in a big way, and I hope to pass that on to our kids, so we'll do what we can here.
Wes is working hard. They have been working on a big project since the second week we arrived. I know he enjoys his work here so much, knowing how it will benefit the people of Iraq, can you imagine? So cool. I am one for sure who would benefit from some clean drinking water. I am still sick, which at this point it has subsided to a 'deal with it' condition. I think the hardest part is the tiredness, but we are working through that as well. It seems that I am learning to work through a lot lately. One of the main things being stuck inside our house. This weekend is Nawroz so we will go picnicing with our neighbors which will be a welcome respite from the normal routine of cleaning, teaching and cleaning. :) There have been transitions which we have gone through since arriving and still more to come. One thing is for certain to make all of these transitions on our own strength would not work, and so I daily find myself resting in the strength of the One who is without any weakness. Praise His name.
Wes is working hard. They have been working on a big project since the second week we arrived. I know he enjoys his work here so much, knowing how it will benefit the people of Iraq, can you imagine? So cool. I am one for sure who would benefit from some clean drinking water. I am still sick, which at this point it has subsided to a 'deal with it' condition. I think the hardest part is the tiredness, but we are working through that as well. It seems that I am learning to work through a lot lately. One of the main things being stuck inside our house. This weekend is Nawroz so we will go picnicing with our neighbors which will be a welcome respite from the normal routine of cleaning, teaching and cleaning. :) There have been transitions which we have gone through since arriving and still more to come. One thing is for certain to make all of these transitions on our own strength would not work, and so I daily find myself resting in the strength of the One who is without any weakness. Praise His name.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Pictures pictures
I will post about these pics later, it is late here and I am tired. But I was so excited about Oasis trying on her jillykurdy, and that our neighbors returned our visit with the neighbors we had met before, they speak pretty good english. And so I wanted you to be able to see the gift they brought us. So cool God, we have friends, thanks.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153735&id=556387513&l=b86026e710
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153735&id=556387513&l=b86026e710
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Quiet Ramblings
So lately I have had some rich time with Jesus during my 'quiet times' with him. The other day I was on the roof and this poem came from that time...
How I love thee LORD Jesus
always my comfort, my guide
How I love thee LORD Jesus
for you have never left my side
When darkness flees, and
the mist of confusion rescinds
There you reside, the light,
the love, found deep with in
When the sorrows and oppression
blocks the light of love
So I'll choose to seek your
face in the heavens above
You'll find me LORD Jesus upon
my rooftop
Praying LORD Jesus, never let
the rain of your mercies stop
And as I sit and pray
with my face toward the wind
your Spirit LORD Jesus restores
my soul once again, deep within
So... how I love thee LORD Jesus
is it possible for me to say?
I love thee LORD Jesus for you
provide the way.
This other excerpt is from a time of prayer and meditation on Song of Songs 2: 8-17, and 7:10. It was a group prayer meeting to pray over I... and as I meditated I heard Jesus speaking so clearly to me...
Lord Jesus I desire to come with you, to be with you, seeing the world throughyour eyes. I run with you Lord jesus, I run with you my hand is clasped to yours. do you feel my heart beating? It beats with love for you Lord God, it beats with passion for exploring who you are. You are my beloved and I am secure in being yours Lord Jesus hear my cry, I come out from my hiding place, see I am exposed to all that you are, my heart is not hidden from you, its released from the winter of my soul, how beautiful is your springtime. Seek out that which keeps me from your fruit from blossoming, water my soul with your love Lord Jesus. As your love shines like the sun, make the shadows in my soul flee. You rejoiced when I truned to you, the day our hearts wed. Rejoice in me your bride again with the passion of our first love. Rejoice in your bride Lord Jesus. I am adorned with beauty, I am kissed with the dew of spring, renew the love within me. Bring forth the blossoms in the vineyard. Help me to be your treasured beloved again. Once your desire was to great for me, now Lord Jesus I seek the fullness of your desire. You are mine and I am yours. Praise you LORD, praise your Holy name...
As I wrote this my mind was filled with visions of running and leaping over the mountains giddy with my first love. The verse in Revelations was fresh in my mind, and I remembered the rebuke given and I turned to him.
This journey we are on (wes and I and in your way you are too) we are constantly under pressure. We are under pressure to perform for those who are behind us on this service, we are pressured to perform because of our own desires for the kingdom, we are pressured to perform for our team, we are pressured to perform for the culture. At times it is overwhelming and it kills the spark of fire in our souls that drove us to this place to begin with. So this time of prayer was very special to me, again I remembered my first love. I have been so caught up in the supremacy of God, I had forgotten His love for me, I was bound by the law again, but now I am set free from the law, and I run with Him through the vineyard, touching, seeing exploring the world of my Beloved as He sees it. I am in love with my Lord. All of this is because of Him and His word. Its not something within me, its not me striving, trying or forcing it to be. I rested in His word, and He spoke to me. In that moment I felt His arms, I felt His breath on my face, and I cried as I wrote these words, because He loved ME, ME, amazing.
Its the same for you. Even more amazing because His love is without limit, it never runs dry, it always keep pouring out upon His bride. Praise Him.
always my comfort, my guide
How I love thee LORD Jesus
for you have never left my side
When darkness flees, and
the mist of confusion rescinds
There you reside, the light,
the love, found deep with in
When the sorrows and oppression
blocks the light of love
So I'll choose to seek your
face in the heavens above
You'll find me LORD Jesus upon
my rooftop
Praying LORD Jesus, never let
the rain of your mercies stop
And as I sit and pray
with my face toward the wind
your Spirit LORD Jesus restores
my soul once again, deep within
So... how I love thee LORD Jesus
is it possible for me to say?
I love thee LORD Jesus for you
provide the way.
This other excerpt is from a time of prayer and meditation on Song of Songs 2: 8-17, and 7:10. It was a group prayer meeting to pray over I... and as I meditated I heard Jesus speaking so clearly to me...
Lord Jesus I desire to come with you, to be with you, seeing the world throughyour eyes. I run with you Lord jesus, I run with you my hand is clasped to yours. do you feel my heart beating? It beats with love for you Lord God, it beats with passion for exploring who you are. You are my beloved and I am secure in being yours Lord Jesus hear my cry, I come out from my hiding place, see I am exposed to all that you are, my heart is not hidden from you, its released from the winter of my soul, how beautiful is your springtime. Seek out that which keeps me from your fruit from blossoming, water my soul with your love Lord Jesus. As your love shines like the sun, make the shadows in my soul flee. You rejoiced when I truned to you, the day our hearts wed. Rejoice in me your bride again with the passion of our first love. Rejoice in your bride Lord Jesus. I am adorned with beauty, I am kissed with the dew of spring, renew the love within me. Bring forth the blossoms in the vineyard. Help me to be your treasured beloved again. Once your desire was to great for me, now Lord Jesus I seek the fullness of your desire. You are mine and I am yours. Praise you LORD, praise your Holy name...
As I wrote this my mind was filled with visions of running and leaping over the mountains giddy with my first love. The verse in Revelations was fresh in my mind, and I remembered the rebuke given and I turned to him.
This journey we are on (wes and I and in your way you are too) we are constantly under pressure. We are under pressure to perform for those who are behind us on this service, we are pressured to perform because of our own desires for the kingdom, we are pressured to perform for our team, we are pressured to perform for the culture. At times it is overwhelming and it kills the spark of fire in our souls that drove us to this place to begin with. So this time of prayer was very special to me, again I remembered my first love. I have been so caught up in the supremacy of God, I had forgotten His love for me, I was bound by the law again, but now I am set free from the law, and I run with Him through the vineyard, touching, seeing exploring the world of my Beloved as He sees it. I am in love with my Lord. All of this is because of Him and His word. Its not something within me, its not me striving, trying or forcing it to be. I rested in His word, and He spoke to me. In that moment I felt His arms, I felt His breath on my face, and I cried as I wrote these words, because He loved ME, ME, amazing.
Its the same for you. Even more amazing because His love is without limit, it never runs dry, it always keep pouring out upon His bride. Praise Him.
Monday, March 1, 2010
What a day... the women in the window... again
So there I was just chatting away with the women in that window across the street when they start gesturing and speaking very loudly in Kurdish, I turn, and there's our truck rolling backwards with both Cedar and Oasis in the truck, Oasis is strapped in her seat looking at me through their open door, and Cedar is looking very sheepish... in other words a little kid version of oh.... you know what!! You better believe it. That kid was goofing around, right after I had told him to get his belt on, and either knocked the gear shift or moved it intentionally. Either way it shifted it to neutral and slammed into the truck behind about a good couple hundred yards away. I was running towards them and it took long enough to hit the other truck that I reached the truck before it hit. They were both fine, can't say the same about mom though. The man who's truck it was, was very understanding. By the time he came out to assess the damage I was shaking and crying, and he says to me in very broken english, why you crying its nothing?... its nothing?? yeah right. Needless to say I called Wes and had him put our translator on the phone and talk with the guy. The guy's response to all of this? "It's nothing, we are neighbors you do not have to pay to have it fixed." Seriously?? Wow... its not like people here don't take pride in their cars cause they do. They cause more bumper to bumper traffic issues cause they slow down to like 2 mph to go over the speed bumps, or suddenly veer into oncoming traffic to avoid a mud puddle... "It's nothing". I just can't convince myself of that. I am so thankful God provided a semi-english speaking man to have us hit his truck with our truck. Damage assessment? Kids fine, our truck fine, the other man's bumper totally dented like a taco, and me a wreak.... I wanna come home now :)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tripping over red tape
Thought I'd share an interesting experience that explains some of the challenges people here face. For weeks now we have been trying to get our house approved by the security department in our city. If harm comes to us it reflects badly upon them so they want to have some say in where we live despite the fact the we are all moved in and have lived here several weeks already.
So I traveled down to the middle of town with Howa our office assistant. Apperently all records are kept in a hard copy filing system. No electronic filing to speak of. With this knowledge I expected to see a cazillion filing cabinets lined up to serve the large city rather I found that records were kept in clip in binders and hardcover books on shelves. Apparently the offices have moved quite frequently so finding the same office that a record had been previously filed in was a challenge. Our first obstacle was to find the book in which the company we work for is registered. This was the general procedure: ask a half dozen to find the office hidden in some obscure building with and obscure entry and obscure halway, check your cell phone at the door, get patted down for weapons, enter the office tell them what you are trying to do, they then tell us that this is the wrong off ice for that and you need to go to another office which we had just arrived from, we then insist that we were just sent here from that office, at this they would usualy holler back to a deeper portion of the room where a more expert figure would respond and he would tell us that we needed to go back to the office we just came from, after explaining again that we had just been sent from there they would dig out the most worn book on the shelf and search through for our name, when it was absent they would tell us which office we should check with, quite often the last one we came from. We ran this process in at least 20 offices as we worked our way through the maze trying to find one specific room with one speceific person who had any idea what we were talking about. We revisited about half of these offices at least once. I got patted down untold times and decided I might not carry quite as much stuff in my front pocket next time. And amazingly we each came back with our own cell phones. Finally our saving grace was that we ran into a freind of Howa who was an important person in security. He runs the security office in our area of town and we had seen him a few days earlier trying to resolve the same issue at the local office. Bumping into him down there was truely a Godsend. He took our letter and hussled around through doors we previously couldn't get through and soon our letter had three new markings on it and we were finally finished. Makes a person thankful for computers and organization. -Wes
So I traveled down to the middle of town with Howa our office assistant. Apperently all records are kept in a hard copy filing system. No electronic filing to speak of. With this knowledge I expected to see a cazillion filing cabinets lined up to serve the large city rather I found that records were kept in clip in binders and hardcover books on shelves. Apparently the offices have moved quite frequently so finding the same office that a record had been previously filed in was a challenge. Our first obstacle was to find the book in which the company we work for is registered. This was the general procedure: ask a half dozen to find the office hidden in some obscure building with and obscure entry and obscure halway, check your cell phone at the door, get patted down for weapons, enter the office tell them what you are trying to do, they then tell us that this is the wrong off ice for that and you need to go to another office which we had just arrived from, we then insist that we were just sent here from that office, at this they would usualy holler back to a deeper portion of the room where a more expert figure would respond and he would tell us that we needed to go back to the office we just came from, after explaining again that we had just been sent from there they would dig out the most worn book on the shelf and search through for our name, when it was absent they would tell us which office we should check with, quite often the last one we came from. We ran this process in at least 20 offices as we worked our way through the maze trying to find one specific room with one speceific person who had any idea what we were talking about. We revisited about half of these offices at least once. I got patted down untold times and decided I might not carry quite as much stuff in my front pocket next time. And amazingly we each came back with our own cell phones. Finally our saving grace was that we ran into a freind of Howa who was an important person in security. He runs the security office in our area of town and we had seen him a few days earlier trying to resolve the same issue at the local office. Bumping into him down there was truely a Godsend. He took our letter and hussled around through doors we previously couldn't get through and soon our letter had three new markings on it and we were finally finished. Makes a person thankful for computers and organization. -Wes
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Bronze over Technology
We were confronted by culture shock this morning. I woke up to what sounded like someone dissembling our gate at about 4:00. I got up and looked around and discovered the origin of the noise was a group of workers gathering at the new house that is being built across the street. They had built a fire and were making tea. Soon after I got settled back into bed the hammering began and I knew our restful night was over.
I've been facinated watching this house being built. They seem to prepare all week for a big push on Fridays (the start of our weekend, Fri.- Sat.) when I expect they get extra reinforcement from family members and friends. This week they had been forming up the floor for the second story and building a rebar mat. So this morning come 4:30 they fired up the generator for there cement mixxer and got busy. Mind you it was pitch dark at this point and they didn't use lights of any kind not even flash lights. When it got light after about an hour and a half I realized that they had really gotten BUSY. It looked like an ant hill in hussle mode. There were 20 guys working on mixxing and pouring the cement. It went like this: 1 bucket water, 1 bucket cement, 3 buckets sand, 4 buckets gravel into the mixer, dump into the hoist, hoist to the second floor, dump into waiting wheel barrow, repeat. The whole process took 11 seconds. A wheel barrow full of concrete dumped every 11 seconds!!! 5 dumps per minute without skipping a beat. It was incredible. I figured they were pouring about a cubic yard per minute which would be the equivalent to a full cement truck in the states every 10 minutes. They had the whole thing knocked out by 9:30.
This is something I'm loving about the men here. They just bear down and get the work done forget about technology lets talk about manpower.
Let me give you another example. The same house across the street. I noticed a large hole at the corner of the street. After a day or two I realized that there was a man down working in that hole. He had dug it so deep that I hadn't been able to see him. I guessed he was attaching to the water line which may have been but after a few days they brought a power pole and dropped it in his hand dug hole.
Last example. Because most places only get water from the city every few days we have several 500 gallon tanks on our roof that provides water during the other days. It ends up we needed one more so we called someone to order one. 15 minutes later two men showed up at our door with a water tank. These guys looked like the were in their 50s (though I have a hard time guaging as people seem to age quicker here). The dropped two straps and tied them onto the tank from our roof which is the 4th story (it is a flat roof as is normal here and great view from up there). I thought maybe they would use block and tackle to lift up the tank which probably weighed 150-200 lbs. Instead, they rolled up their sleaves and climbed up on top of the concrete railing around our 4th floor roof and started pulling the tank up. Once they got the tank up near their feet they both fell back onto the roof and the tank popped over the rail and squished one fellow. They got up and brushed off all smiles just another day on the job for them. I was a little shocked but also quite impressed. They just MANHANDLED that thing.
I've been facinated watching this house being built. They seem to prepare all week for a big push on Fridays (the start of our weekend, Fri.- Sat.) when I expect they get extra reinforcement from family members and friends. This week they had been forming up the floor for the second story and building a rebar mat. So this morning come 4:30 they fired up the generator for there cement mixxer and got busy. Mind you it was pitch dark at this point and they didn't use lights of any kind not even flash lights. When it got light after about an hour and a half I realized that they had really gotten BUSY. It looked like an ant hill in hussle mode. There were 20 guys working on mixxing and pouring the cement. It went like this: 1 bucket water, 1 bucket cement, 3 buckets sand, 4 buckets gravel into the mixer, dump into the hoist, hoist to the second floor, dump into waiting wheel barrow, repeat. The whole process took 11 seconds. A wheel barrow full of concrete dumped every 11 seconds!!! 5 dumps per minute without skipping a beat. It was incredible. I figured they were pouring about a cubic yard per minute which would be the equivalent to a full cement truck in the states every 10 minutes. They had the whole thing knocked out by 9:30.
This is something I'm loving about the men here. They just bear down and get the work done forget about technology lets talk about manpower.
Let me give you another example. The same house across the street. I noticed a large hole at the corner of the street. After a day or two I realized that there was a man down working in that hole. He had dug it so deep that I hadn't been able to see him. I guessed he was attaching to the water line which may have been but after a few days they brought a power pole and dropped it in his hand dug hole.
Last example. Because most places only get water from the city every few days we have several 500 gallon tanks on our roof that provides water during the other days. It ends up we needed one more so we called someone to order one. 15 minutes later two men showed up at our door with a water tank. These guys looked like the were in their 50s (though I have a hard time guaging as people seem to age quicker here). The dropped two straps and tied them onto the tank from our roof which is the 4th story (it is a flat roof as is normal here and great view from up there). I thought maybe they would use block and tackle to lift up the tank which probably weighed 150-200 lbs. Instead, they rolled up their sleaves and climbed up on top of the concrete railing around our 4th floor roof and started pulling the tank up. Once they got the tank up near their feet they both fell back onto the roof and the tank popped over the rail and squished one fellow. They got up and brushed off all smiles just another day on the job for them. I was a little shocked but also quite impressed. They just MANHANDLED that thing.
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