It's Friday morning. We are waking up to get ready for church. It is still kind of strange to be going on Fridays and not Sundays. Our week has had lots of ups and downs. Or maybe not ups..but normals and downs. :) Work is in constant change for Mike. He is moving to a different project but what it is exactly is unclear. This has been very stressful for all of us. Several times we felt like packing our bags and heading home. There are days.....
On the other hand, the weather is starting to cool down a bit. Evenings are nicer...not a big change but still, cooling down. Ryan got to go to Dubai with the volleyball team. I didn't have to do any shopping except for food. The Beth Moore study is going well. Robert is starting to click with his AWANA group. Mike and I are getting to know some folks. All in all, some things are feeling normal now.
The other evening Sallie, Robert and I took a walk along the beach promenade...called the Corniche. We were looking for some of the playgrounds that are dotted thru the parks by the beach. On the way to the beach we passed one of our 4 neighborhood mosques. A few pairs of sandals were lined up outside the door. It was nearly an hour later when we returned to our building, passing the same mosque. There were hundreds and hundreds of shoes covering the sidewalk and stacked on the front wall...hundreds.... I felt this overwhelming sadness wash over me. It was like the air had been knocked out of me. I think I was already becoming comfortable with my surroundings but God used this to knock me back. While we finished our walk I prayed for the men who went there to pray that nite. That they would find the God whom they earnestly seek. I hope I never forget the picture of those shoes. There are many here who celebrate Ramadan like we do Easter or Christmas...it's the thing to do. But some truly yearn to know God. Please pray with us that many will have their eyes opened to see Him. By the way, apparently the shoes didn't affect Robert the same way...His observation was "Wow, Mom, how do they find their own shoes?! ":)
We're home from church. It was nice because we actually had people to talk to as we left the building. Just like the old days with Sallie and Robert rolling their eyes at us....But...it wasn't all me. Just so you know!!!!! We couldn't drag Mike away. :)
Have a great weekend.
