Freeze Frame

I turned the page in my devotional this morning (Believing God Day by Day, by Beth Moore) and MAY popped up.  Shocked  I realised  that the year is nearly half over.  I'm sitting in a beautiful location so the sting was not so bad.  Still,  I am a bit shell shocked by the way time is flying.  In May ,Robert, the baby, will turn 18, attend two Senior Proms, and graduate from high school. I will celebrate Mother's Day for the 28th time, and Mike and I will celebrate our 33rd anniversary.  All of these things are great things, however, they do accentuate how dang fast life is going! 

My friend Melissa decided to slow down the racing clock by planning a Girlfriends' Weeekend Away.  It's been wonderful.  7 of us flew to Sri Lanka and have spent three nights here. It's especially nice as 4 of us will be leaving this summer and this has given us time to just be together without life pressing in. Melissa has lived in this region for 18 years or so and for her the goodbyes are extra difficult. A person says a lot of goodbyes in this part of the world, so she has learned to make the most of every minute. I'm certainly on receiving end of this.  My girlfriends actually gifted this trip to me. After being shocked I was just humbled.  We have balanced beach time and relaxing with sightseeing and shopping. Not too much craziness with plenty of laughter and conversation.  Boogie boarding, mangrove adventures, and good food... A wonderful breather for all of us before the whirlwind of May activities and June goodbyes come in like the pounding surf outside our window.  

I'm so thankful I got to come. 

Keeping It Interesting

One of my favorite things to do this year has been driving Robert to school. We listen to his good music and we talk. Just the other day he told me that he is afraid he will find car rides, and even driving in the US, kind of boring when he returns there to live. What? You mean no camels bouncing around the back of a truck? or sheep zooming by as we fly thru a death trap roundabout? Yes. Stuff like that.  We laughed. Thankful to have made it alive to school one more day.

We run into a lot of things over here that keep it from getting boring.  Some things are random and some things are very nice.

 Friday, for example,  I joined dear friends at the Qatar Exhibition and Convention Center for a concert with the Qatar Philharmonic.  It was an all day music festival. Robert joined friends for the 5:30 concert of Star Wars. Ours was at 7:30 with music from Carmen, Boheme, and the 1812 Overture for the finale.  A wonderful evening. And randomly, there is a huge spider sculpture that greets you as you enter the very elegant convention center.  I could see this maybe gracing the entrance of a Natural History museum but I cannot fathom why it is part of the state of the art Convention center. (Just as I cannot imagine why we have a massive yellow teddy bear, impaled on a lamp post in the middle of the amazingly modern international airport...)

One never knows what interesting things you will see when you go places here in Doha.  Like these great chairs where we ate lunch a couple of weeks ago.  Or Sponge Bob showing up for dinner at the mall...  And Robert was thrilled I convinced him to go see Jungle Book with me last night( I needed a night out and he was available) as we ran into the cast from the new Xmen movie.

One Last Time

Robert and the Team. Nepal 2016

Russell and the Team. Costa Rica 2006

Ryan and the Team.  Costa Rica 2005.

So Robert returned from Nepal Thursday night. Another great trip is in the books. The team were blessed in countless ways last week as they served in Kathmandu and surrounding villages.  It was also encouraging to see people they had ministered to on past trips still involved in activities at the center.  Janet and I picked up Molly and Robert from the airport Thursday night and heard  their stories as we drove home.  In a nutshell they worked hard,  prayed hard, and saw God work in mighty ways.  

As I waited for the plane to arrive I had a thought.  It is in the end of an era for the Hildebrands.  The last youth mission trip for the Hildebrand kids.  I counted about 19 between all four of them..but I think that is actually low because I forgot Russell's trips to New Orleans and Ryan's summer in inner city Houston.  But whatever the number, my kids have served in some amazing ways with wonderful people, and have had the opportunity to see God do incredible things.  In that process they have been challenged,  encouraged, stretched, and been a blessing to others.  And we've been blessed too.  We loved every time they came home with their stories, and their smiles and a faith that was sharpened. 

It's hard to believe that this trip to Nepal is the last one.   I suppose this is just one of the many endings I'm facing as Robert's graduation rushes towards us.  I need to be ready. 

Sallie and the Team. Nepal 2013.