A weekend to remember

On the spur of the moment, having seen a good friend's wedding announced on Facebook, we decided to jump on a plane and fly to Istanbul to attend the event! When we told our friend that we would be coming, he was so thrilled and we were excited to be part of this special day. It meant the world to the family. Our friend gave us the address of the wedding hall which was 4 lines long. We were landing in Istanbul at 11:30PM so decided to get a hotel near the airport and then ask someone about the address the next day. We learned that it was about 1 1/2 hours away and we'd need to take a taxi, several buses and then walk. We were amazed at how friendly & helpful everyone was and we made it to the correct place 15 minutes early. It was so great to see many old friends from Kurdistan and to be part of this great event in the life of our dear friend. It also made us sad that we were no longer part of this group of people that we love dearly. I couldn't believe how my Kurdish language (limited as it is!) came flooding back and I understood so much. An interesting part of the Turkish culture (which is where the bride comes from) is that they put satin ribbons around the necks of the bride & groom and all the wedding guests went through the line and pinned money and gold to the ribbons. They were loaded with $100 bills and other currency plus tons of gold. After the wedding ceremony which was very short, we all made our way to a restaurant down the street where there was lots of food, drink and dancing. We had to leave by 10PM because we were afraid the public transportation would stop running and didn't know how it would be getting back to our hotel late at night. The party was still going strong and no doubt lasted several more hours. The Kurds are great dancers and although I thought I had forgotten how to do the Kurdish dance, it came right back to me and was so much fun! Ah, we love these people and miss being with them. It was a great weekend and we were so glad we went. I wanted to post a video here but it's not working so you'll just have to imagine how fun it was:)

My morning walk

Often in the morning when I walk from my house to work at the Family Place, I formulate a blog entry in my mind. It is a very short walk, maybe less than 5 minutes but it is full of sights & sounds & smells that need to be described for you in order to fully comprehend what I experience each day. On the corner down from my house is a cafe (there's one on just about every corner) where men line the sidewalk, drinking their tiny cups of espresso, playing cards and smoking their cigarettes. Two feet from them is raw sewage running in the middle of the street and I have to gingerly walk way around it to avoid stepping in it. The smell is so gross and I try to imagine what it must be like for those men sitting there drinking their coffee! How can they possibly be enjoying it with that smell?? There is a sidewalk from my house all the way to the FP and the safest thing would be to stay on it so I don't get hit by cars speeding by on the narrow little road. But the sidewalk is full of cars and garbage so I usually have to walk in the road. The other day one of those fast cars actually knocked my purse off my shoulder.  The garbage situation in our city has gone from bad to worse. On the other side of the narrow road is a train track. Along the fence that separates the road from the train track is where people hang their garbage. Large, mangy cats rip open these bags and spill the contents out into the road. Some of those mangy cats can be found dead on that narrow road, having been hit by those speeding cars. I find myself thanking God every time I arrive safely at the Family Place! Just another day in our crazy lives...

Bombarded

Lately the workers in our country have been bombarded with sickness and disease. There is hardly a day goes by that we don't hear of someone else who has been admitted to the hospital, given a diagnosis of cancer, broken a bone or had some unusual fall or mishap. The workers that have left this country since we arrived are more numerous than those that have arrived. Satan is attacking in the area of health and we desperately need you, our prayer warriors, to fight for us in prayer. Pray for a hedge of good health to surround us. Pray against discouragement for many who are having to leave because of serious illness. It is likewise demoralizing for those that are left behind. We are reminded of how temporary this life is and how in a moment, everything can change; all our plans, hopes and dreams. We look to the author of our faith and we once again declare that He does all things well, even when we are baffled and confused. Thank you for not abandoning us here! We're counting on you.

Memorial Day in Long Beach

I have not lived much of my life in the United States of America so I have never been super patriotic. Today however, my heart swelled with pride and tears filled my eyes as I observed Memorial Day commemorated here at the North African cemetery where more than 3,000 US soldiers are buried. Hearing the national anthem and taps being played and seeing the US flag flying high, walking among the graves of hundreds of soldiers was really quite moving. We took all the kids from our team to this celebration and then went out for lunch afterward. It was a great day and truly memorable!

Greetings friends! If there is still anyone checking this blog, you will be shocked today to find something actually written here. I realize it has been a long spell and I have many excuses but I won't bore you with them. The greatest thing that happened during this long silence was that I became a Grandma. I always heard that the feelings of being a Grandma are indescribable but I had no idea until I held my precious grandson in my arms. God was so good to allow me to be home for the birth of William and to be able to help my daughter after having a C-section. We spent 2 months in the US, visiting 10 churches on weekends, enjoying lots of quality time with our daughter and re-fueling to come back to the Family Place. We were pretty exhausted when we left but were ready to come back and tackle things after a 2-month break away. I hope I can be more faithful in keeping in touch with you in the coming days. 

Here a sheep, there a sheep, everywhere a sheep sheep!

The Feast of Sacrifice is upon us again. This year we closed The Family Place for 4 days in celebration of this "big feast" as it's referred to. I must say I was dreaming of this little vacation and had dozens of plans of how I would spend it. Leading up to this holiday, you can find sheep parked on every corner waiting to be bought for the sacrifice. The streets are strewn with straw for the sheep to eat. Children especially love this holiday as they are allowed to parade their sheep around and play with them until the day they are killed. The day after the feast, we will see piles of rotting sheep skins, heads and yucky intestines on every garbage pile and the smell is horrible. Fortunately the weather is turning cooler so it may be better this year? At any rate, we did not stay around to celebrate the feast but went south with some Tunisian friends to celebrate at a 5-star hotel:) We mostly sat around the luxurious lounge and talked and ordered coffee and tea. It was a wonderful break from the ordinary. Our little vacation is almost finished and my "to do" list is still very long! Still, it has been good to have this break and I feel refreshed.

A relaxing pause from our busy lives

We decided to go on a picnic with our team for our "team meeting" which usually occurs the 3rd Saturday of every month. I envisioned going far out in the countryside and letting the kids run and play in the wild. We ended up just outside of the city in a park that had lots of stuff for kids to do and beautiful pine trees, picnic tables and lots of room to roam freely. It turned out to be a lovely day, the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we were able to unwind and refuel a bit. Here are a bunch of pictures of the day.