A marathon 5 days not to be soon forgotten

Many people were praying for us as we made the 8-hour trip to south Long Beach to look for houses for us and 2 other families. Since so many have been following this journey, I think I'll just write a detailed account of our time for you. We left on Tuesday morning at 6:00 to start our journey. When we left, we had zero leads and could not get anyone to answer our phone calls when we tried to line up real estate agents. We made the trip with no problems, arriving in the south where the temps were over 100 degrees. We continued to try and make phone calls to line things up for Wednesday so we could start seeing houses but no one would answer their phones. We finally decided that we should go to our friend Aziz's restaurant for dinner and let him make some calls for us. He seems to know everyone in town! Sure enough, Aziz saw us coming and warmly welcomed us with kisses and loud hellos. When we told him we were in town for 5 days to look for houses, he said "no problem. my niece just married the guy who's in charge of such & such real estate agency" and he immediately began making phone calls. Within minutes we had an appointment to call a man at 10AM Wednesday and he would show us some houses. Funny little thing happened while we were eating dinner under a beautiful moon that glistened on the sea in front of us. We were enjoying our food when Aziz came yelling for us to grab our plates and run inside. Before we could get going, a huge storm descended on us and a ferocious wind that filled our eyes and mouths with sand from the beach. Aziz could smell it coming and knew to warn us, though a bit too late. He says they get a lot of these in the month of May. After breakfast the next day, we prayed together for God's blessing and clear leading as we proceeded out to hunt for houses. We were to meet our man at the big mosque downtown. We waited for quite awhile in the car and then Darrell decided to get out and wait outside. He was looking at his phone when this crippled beggar came up to him carrying a bag of medicine. He ignored him, hoping he'd go away but the guy kept trying to talk to him in several languages. Thankfully Darrell didn't reach in his pocket and give him a coin or "shew" him away for being a bug. It turned out he was our real estate agent, ready to show us houses. He became a great friend as he dragged his half-shriveled body around all day with us for 3 days! After seeing the first several houses, we all felt discouraged and depressed. Nothing was to our liking and it seemed hopeless. We looked for 6 hours straight with 3 young children tagging along, no lunch or anything until 4PM. They were absolute angels, much better than the adults! Uncle Darrell rewarded then with ice cream:) The first day did not turn up anything solid, although we saw a few we thought we could make work. But we were a little downhearted that night. We started out again the next morning, now working with 2 real estate agents simultaneously (that was a bit tricky!). The second day we landed one house for one of our families and that felt like a huge victory but we only had one more day to secure 2 more houses because Friday at 5PM the municipality closes for the weekend. That's where you have to go to get a contract signed and legalized. Well, Friday morning came and we had decided on a house for us finally. It was not going to be available until mid-August but we had decided to live in a furnished apartment and store our things until it was ready. It was the perfect house with a swimming pool! We picked up our real estate agent and before we could tell him of our decision, he informed us that the house we wanted was not available anymore. So, back to the drawing board we went. At this point I was ready to take anything and didn't really care where I lived! We looked for hours at many more houses, 30 in all. We were weary yet needing to push on because the hours were ticking away. Along the way I have mentioned that we would love to find a building for our new project that would have guest quarters above it. We had seen one such building the day before but I didn't even bother to get out of the car to see it because I thought we should find our own houses before looking for buildings for our center. We decided to go back and look at that building and on the way, we stopped at another house that the agent thought of on the spur of the moment. It was 10AM on Friday. We liked the house and decided to sign a contract with the owner. We can see the Mediterranean Sea in the distance and beautiful olive groves all around us. Before we signed on our house, we stopped by to see the big building that might work for our project. It could not have been more perfect and above it were 3 guest apartments that were simply amazing. The price is what made us simply not be able to walk away from the deal. We cannot believe what God did in allowing us to procure this building! It is more than we ever dreamed of and will provide lots of work for all the short-term teams that are coming our way in the fall:) So by 11:00, the guys were flying off to the municipality to sign papers before it closed at noon for lunch and Friday prayers. They finished in the nick of time. We still had one more house to find and it just wasn't happening. There was very little time left and the stress level was rising in some of our members who were weary of house-hunting. We finally told the agent that we would see just one more house and then make a decision because we were simply out of time. Wouldn't you know that the 30th house was the one! The owner came straight from Friday prayers at the mosque and one hour before everyone closed for the weekend, the last contract was signed. 3 houses and a building for our center!! WOW, we could not stop thanking the Lord for what he did for us in those few days. On Saturday, the guys drove down to the Lib border and prayed there for that enormous country that is so very lost. When they returned we took off for a nearby island to visit a worker family who has 3 young children. The visit was a great encouragement to them and to our families with young children. They hit it off and had a wonderful time together. God just kept answering prayer after prayer. Sunday we returned back to the capital for another month. We are overwhelmed at his goodness and YOU all certainly had a great part in it all.Thank you!

My complaining put into perspective

Today I went to visit a young woman who has been put in the category of “unwed mother” for the rest of her life. In a moment of weakness, she had an affair with a man she had passionately loved for 9 years. When he found out she was pregnant, he took off and never saw her again until the baby was 8 months old when he came to give her his name legally. What I encountered when I walked into this girl’s tiny room was quite shocking. All of her earthly possessions were piled in one corner and one small cupboard. One single light bulb hung on the wall, no light in the “bathroom”, if you can call it that; a bare sink on the wall and a seatless toilet with no water. She pours bottles of water in to flush it. She is a beautiful girl with a winsome personality and it is painful to think that she will never get married or be loved by a man again. She showed us pictures of her before she got pregnant; dashing young woman with fancy dresses and make-up. There were pictures of her in the arms of her lover. Now she sits alone in her tiny room with only her TV for companionship and has nothing but dreams & photos of that life not-so-long-ago.  Her mother and sister are the only ones that know about the baby but have nothing to do with her. When she goes to visit them, she must leave the baby behind. No one else in the family knows about this dark secret. It would bring such shame on the entire family that they’d likely have to kill her.  In spite of this awful existence, the girl kept saying over and over that she praised God for her own place where she could raise her baby. She has a daily job taking care of an invalid woman and takes her baby to a neighbor lady who watches her while she’s at work for a mere $35 a month. With no frig or fan of any kind and the intense summer months coming, she is already wondering how she will survive. Today she asked lots of questions about how it was possible for someone in this country to change their religion. (the friend I went with told her she had left her families’ faith and embraced Christ) She wants to come to church sometime and see what it’s all about.

Lately, I've been complaining to my husband that I want a new dining room table. The one I have now is wobbly and home-made. But it’s a table and it seats lots of people and I need to realize how fortunate I am to have all the wonderful things that I do! Today’s visit put everything into perspective for me and my dining table suddenly seems to be just fine. I am blessed beyond measure!

A ginormous hiccup in the flow of life

I was sitting in the office enjoying a cup of coffee and reading my emails. Our kitchen helper, who is really my right-hand at the Family Place, walked in and said she needed to talk to me! Couldn't possibly be good news): She informed me that she would be leaving by the end of the month to go to Lebanon to study theology. I was shocked and my mind started to run wild thinking of how I would replace her. She knows how to make fresh bread and soup and chocolate chip cookies. She knows which customers like ketchup and which ones like mayonnaise. I've spent over a year training her to do things the way I like them. The thought of training a new girl is overwhelming. Granted, she didn't always do things the way I like and she was lazy at times but I still love her and feel very sad that she's leaving. I decided not to make a hasty decision but to think it through and give myself time to pray and ask the right questions. If you're reading this blog, would you pray with us that we'll get the perfect girl to replace her and that I'll have time to train her well before I leave for the US in a few weeks? I really didn't need this right now but God had other plans and evidently thought I could handle just a little bit more stress in my life. Ah, thanks for hanging in there with me! Isn't this life fun?? 

feeling a little overwhelmed yet not crushed

I know it's been forever since I've written anything here. Can't say I've made a new year's resolution to write more or anything like that. Just stopping by to say hello to all my readers who have probably long left me. I thought a blog would be a great way to express myself but alas, it only makes me feel guilty for not writing on it. (not really that guilty) Life here is just a bit overwhelming most of the time. What makes it feel overwhelming right now? The list is long but some of the things are: trying to keep up with the needs of a large team (and feeling like a failure always), running a business that largely depends on me and figuring out how to turn things over when I leave, thinking about yet another move in the summer to a new place 7 hours away, 5 weeks of tour looming in the near future with lots of messages to prepare and feeling like I have nothing to say, relationships I should be pursuing or following up, way too many emails to answer and many of them people who want to come and visit & see the work here, the budget process for two teams coming up this month. There are more but I won't take time to list them all. I often say to myself "is this the abundant life that Christ promised me?" It occurs to me that abundant life isn't about our circumstances or our agendas and calendars. It's a state of the heart where we are at peace with our maker, knowing that we have given him the first fruits and are trusting him daily, hourly to lead our steps and give us wisdom in our choices. I think this is something that needs practice just like anything else and it then becomes a habit. As I daily take up my cross and follow him, he teaches me how to live abundantly. What a crazy paradox this is. To the world it is foolishness but to us, it is abundant life! So we keep pressing on. I am 57 years old and I should have this down by now, no? Maybe I'll finally get it right in 2014. Happy New Year to all my dear friends.

blogger's cramp

I realize I have become a failure at blogging! Believe it or not, I have written dozens of them in my head but I guess that doesn't count if you can't read them! I'm pretty sure many of my regular readers have quit checking this site and I don't blame you!! Now my busy life has taken a completely different turn; I have my daughter and grandson living with me. It is totally wonderful but with an 8-month old in the house, he usually trumps all and demands our attention so the little work I might have gotten done, goes by the wayside. Darrell has been gone for a month of tour in the US and it would have been a miserably long month had I not had the company of my daughter & grandson. I can't think of anything in the world that brings more joy than being a grandma! Perhaps because of my up-bringing as an MK and the myriad of goodbye's and separations that I endured as a child, I find myself always thinking about them leaving and how terrible it will be. They are still here for at least 3 more months but I constantly wonder how I will endure saying goodbye to this precious little human being who has captivated my heart forever. It will be terrible, I know, but I also know that many other grandma's have survived the separation and kept the bond alive and strong. Sometimes, (well, lots of times) I dream of just living a "normal" life and not being torn from my children and grandchildren all the time. I realize there are many grandparents in the US that only see their children and grandchildren once or twice a year but somehow it's different being on the other side of the world. Ah, this life of pain and separation...but we press on:)

Sidelined in the news

Many of you probably have no idea that our country is in major turmoil right now. Because of other major news events this past week, I'm pretty sure you're not seeing our country in the headlines of the Nightly News. Nevertheless, we have seen an important opposition leader assassinated in front of his house and 8 soldiers tortured and killed within the past week. Even before that, there were demonstrations in the streets but these events fueled the anger of the people and there are now 100's of 1000's of people out in the streets every night demanding the overthrow of the government. They are fed up and angry with how things are going. The pot has been boiling for some time and now the lid has blown. We usually avoid large crowds and realize the potential danger of frequenting such places, but last night we decided to take a walk down (it's 3 blocks from our house) and see what all the noise was about. Hundreds of cars and people walking, filled the streets in every direction, flags flying, popcorn vendors, loudspeakers...it was a huge party and the atmosphere was electrifying. My friend told me earlier in the day that no one should be in his house but everyone should take to the streets. We decided to join the rest of the city! Who knows where this all will lead but to be sure, we are in for a bumpy ride over the next weeks and months. Here's what's going on every night, right down the street from our home.

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:)