so it is eid here- that means that Ramadan is over!!!!! Praise God - and that there are 3-5 days of holiday where the people here celebrate making it through the 30 days of fasting and eat and have parties!
Mom is coming tonight and we are planning a trip around a bit to see things, friends and some of the sites :) It should be fun!
I am very excited- have been planning and thinking about this week since last year- so I can't wait to get it going....but now I have to wait until Mom gets here, wait to get at borders and all of that- but waiting builds excitement :)
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
servanthood
I am reading this book on servanthood and I have run across several great ideas and fantastic quotes- the one from today is "Serving people means helping people look more like Christ not like us" (Duane Elmer)
I just sat back for a few minutes to think about all that means. I think that I tend to think of things that I do in my Christianity as "good" and that other people should eventually think like me :) but realizing that serving people does not mean making them clones of me has drastic consequences. It might mean that the people I pour my life into don't think like me, don't like the things I do and don't even believe exactly like I do. (i would hope that they would eventually come to believe in the core doctrine of my faith, but the way they live that out might be very different from me)
I am beginning to realize that serving means truly thinking of others as more important than yourself - even if their ideas are weird and hard and wrong to me. It means valuing them and not trying to change them- but serve them and learn from them and honor them....just like they are.
boy do I have a long way to go!
I just sat back for a few minutes to think about all that means. I think that I tend to think of things that I do in my Christianity as "good" and that other people should eventually think like me :) but realizing that serving people does not mean making them clones of me has drastic consequences. It might mean that the people I pour my life into don't think like me, don't like the things I do and don't even believe exactly like I do. (i would hope that they would eventually come to believe in the core doctrine of my faith, but the way they live that out might be very different from me)
I am beginning to realize that serving means truly thinking of others as more important than yourself - even if their ideas are weird and hard and wrong to me. It means valuing them and not trying to change them- but serve them and learn from them and honor them....just like they are.
boy do I have a long way to go!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
sick
it seems that fall in Amman means that I will get sick- it happened last fall and then the last few days I have been sick. I had some sort of stomach bug- probably because I ate unwashed strawberries (I rinsed them off but was in a hurry and didn't use any soap or anything) but I am feeling better now and hope to have dinner out with friends tonight to celebrate my recovery!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
bored with too much to do
yes, that sounds like an oxymoron but that is Ramadan! It seems that the days seem to drag by with no where to go and nothing to do. And then the evenings are the only time you can go out and get food, coffee, shop, etc. So, we spend our evenings out- and then we return to a day of boredom :)
But, I have been playing a lot with ideas about what's "next" and seem to have fallen on to a few good ideas. They are still in the early early early stages- but I have spent most of the week trying it out. It has been fun to see how there might just be a way that my love for creativity, people, peace and reconciliation, Beirut, Arabic and theology might actually be used in the same place at the same time. I never would have dreamed it! And now that I have "found" it (I feel like I have discovered something that was made for me in the first place)I would have never guessed that I would have "picked" this- but now I can't imagine doing anything else!!!
So, stay tuned as I fine tune this and get it to a place that I can tell people about- right now it needs to be refined and worked out a bit more (so that the questions are less :) and so that you guys can better understand where I am coming from, where I am going and how this fits in my life and the story of the Gospel)
so- it has been a fun ride over the last few days - and stay tuned :)
But, I have been playing a lot with ideas about what's "next" and seem to have fallen on to a few good ideas. They are still in the early early early stages- but I have spent most of the week trying it out. It has been fun to see how there might just be a way that my love for creativity, people, peace and reconciliation, Beirut, Arabic and theology might actually be used in the same place at the same time. I never would have dreamed it! And now that I have "found" it (I feel like I have discovered something that was made for me in the first place)I would have never guessed that I would have "picked" this- but now I can't imagine doing anything else!!!
So, stay tuned as I fine tune this and get it to a place that I can tell people about- right now it needs to be refined and worked out a bit more (so that the questions are less :) and so that you guys can better understand where I am coming from, where I am going and how this fits in my life and the story of the Gospel)
so- it has been a fun ride over the last few days - and stay tuned :)
Friday, September 05, 2008
almost funny story
so I have this friend, we will call him Jee, cause he is a refugee. He is here with his mom and sister (who has down syndrome) and they are waiting for the UN to give them the go ahead to leave (hopefully they will be resettling in the UK so they can be closer to other family members and friends that have been resettled in Europe- but if not, then they are headed to the US.
Anyway.....
He has decided that if he is going to move to England he needs to have an English accent (his english is REALLY good, but he speaks with an "american dialect" as he calls it!) So, the other day he asked me to talk like a Brit and I told him that all you have to do is keep your upper lip still when you are talking. Well, last night he brought this up again. He was telling me that as a Arab it is impossible to keep your lips still while talking. "Even if I hold it completely still...." he said while grabbing his face and pulling it tight back towards his ears- "I can't do it!"
it was HYSTERICAL :)
Oh, the drama!
Anyway.....
He has decided that if he is going to move to England he needs to have an English accent (his english is REALLY good, but he speaks with an "american dialect" as he calls it!) So, the other day he asked me to talk like a Brit and I told him that all you have to do is keep your upper lip still when you are talking. Well, last night he brought this up again. He was telling me that as a Arab it is impossible to keep your lips still while talking. "Even if I hold it completely still...." he said while grabbing his face and pulling it tight back towards his ears- "I can't do it!"
it was HYSTERICAL :)
Oh, the drama!
thinking and dreaming
I have had a few days of eating and my brain seem sto have returned :) I have had a great few days with extra time to think and dream and I am excited about what might happen after Arabic. I think I needed to sit and think about "what's next" to get me over this next ridge in the Arabic language learning!
I am having fun tutoring with my friends- they are helping me stay on task and push forward. We are having some great lessons on storytelling and culture. We are learning lots- not just Arabic but about the culture and how to better interact with it.
I have some great ideas that might be horrible plans :0 but it is fun to think about how I can get this idea of mine into action -
I am having fun tutoring with my friends- they are helping me stay on task and push forward. We are having some great lessons on storytelling and culture. We are learning lots- not just Arabic but about the culture and how to better interact with it.
I have some great ideas that might be horrible plans :0 but it is fun to think about how I can get this idea of mine into action -
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
ramadan Kareem
Allah Akram- that is, Ramadan is generous- God is more Generous.
That is the greeting that we say these days- a constant reminder of how generous God really is.
I have been fasting- made it 3 days- and I don't think I can make it any more. This is really hard- no water when it is almost 100 degrees all day (and we got excited when it dropped below 85 in our house last night at like 2 am!) is really hard. I have arabic lessons from 12:30-2:30 in the afternoon and it has become apparent that lessons without water are a waste of money!:) So, I am postponing the "no drinking" part for now- I might return to it....
It has been really hard for the last two days. I haven't been hungry, the food I eat at night takes care of most of the hunger. But a burning thirst begins at 3 o'clock and gets worse as the minutes tick by. I have spent all afternoon looking at the clock wishing the call to prayer :) so I can DRINK!!! Finally at 7 pm, the ban on food and drink in public is lifted - and the fast is broken. Last night, I waited to eat for almost 2 hours- but I drank a liter of iced tea, 1/2 a liter of water and half a can of pepsi in the first 30 min. I was "allowed" !!!!!
I can't really explain "thirst" because as an American, I had never really experienced it until this week. I mean, I have been thirsty- but I have always been able to quench that thirst within a few minutes to an hour of me thinking "I am thirsty." To sit all afternoon in the state of "thirsty" - that I have never done before until now!!!
I am grateful for the new understanding I have of Ramadan- but I am so grateful that God is truly generous and has lavished me with grace. Because tomorrow when it is 100 degrees out- I will be happily drinking water and thanking God for His abundantly generous grace!!!!
That is the greeting that we say these days- a constant reminder of how generous God really is.
I have been fasting- made it 3 days- and I don't think I can make it any more. This is really hard- no water when it is almost 100 degrees all day (and we got excited when it dropped below 85 in our house last night at like 2 am!) is really hard. I have arabic lessons from 12:30-2:30 in the afternoon and it has become apparent that lessons without water are a waste of money!:) So, I am postponing the "no drinking" part for now- I might return to it....
It has been really hard for the last two days. I haven't been hungry, the food I eat at night takes care of most of the hunger. But a burning thirst begins at 3 o'clock and gets worse as the minutes tick by. I have spent all afternoon looking at the clock wishing the call to prayer :) so I can DRINK!!! Finally at 7 pm, the ban on food and drink in public is lifted - and the fast is broken. Last night, I waited to eat for almost 2 hours- but I drank a liter of iced tea, 1/2 a liter of water and half a can of pepsi in the first 30 min. I was "allowed" !!!!!
I can't really explain "thirst" because as an American, I had never really experienced it until this week. I mean, I have been thirsty- but I have always been able to quench that thirst within a few minutes to an hour of me thinking "I am thirsty." To sit all afternoon in the state of "thirsty" - that I have never done before until now!!!
I am grateful for the new understanding I have of Ramadan- but I am so grateful that God is truly generous and has lavished me with grace. Because tomorrow when it is 100 degrees out- I will be happily drinking water and thanking God for His abundantly generous grace!!!!
Monday, September 01, 2008
ramadan
this is the first day of Ramadan....so we are all in our houses, very little traffic on the street- all waiting for tonight when we can eat, drink and celebrate.
This is a month when muslims all around the world fast during the daylight hours from food, water, smoking, thinking bad things, doing bad things, etc. etc. It is in an effort to show their dedication to God. Wikipedia explains it as "Fasting is meant to teach the person patience and humility. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of God, and to offer even more prayer than usual. Also, asking forgiveness for the sins of the past, asking for guidance in the future, and asking for help with refraining from every day evils and try to purify oneself through self-restraint and good deeds is involved in Ramadan."
This is a time of deep spirituality in some and deep hypocrisy in others. Some take this fast very seriously and struggle with remaining pure for the whole month. Others put on a great facade of not eating and drinking and in their homes they eat and they do not try to purify themselves at all (I have had more people try to cheat me in Ramadan than in any other month :)!)
I have decided that I am going to experience Ramadan and try to fast (like them, with no water in this really hot country right now) for a little while. I have talked to my neighbors and told them that I am a follower of Jesus and that I am going to fast so that I can pray for them. They were all really excited that I, as a foreign Christian, would join in with them on this cultural/religious holiday.
It has been REALLY hard not to eat or drink today - I have looked at the clock like 15 times and keep telling myself "6 more hours" and stuff like that :)
But I am hoping that this will help me identify more with my surrogate people, and help me focus this month on not complaining about Ramadan but rather joining them in prayer that they will find forgiveness of sins and hope for the future.
This is a month when muslims all around the world fast during the daylight hours from food, water, smoking, thinking bad things, doing bad things, etc. etc. It is in an effort to show their dedication to God. Wikipedia explains it as "Fasting is meant to teach the person patience and humility. Ramadan is a time to fast for the sake of God, and to offer even more prayer than usual. Also, asking forgiveness for the sins of the past, asking for guidance in the future, and asking for help with refraining from every day evils and try to purify oneself through self-restraint and good deeds is involved in Ramadan."
This is a time of deep spirituality in some and deep hypocrisy in others. Some take this fast very seriously and struggle with remaining pure for the whole month. Others put on a great facade of not eating and drinking and in their homes they eat and they do not try to purify themselves at all (I have had more people try to cheat me in Ramadan than in any other month :)!)
I have decided that I am going to experience Ramadan and try to fast (like them, with no water in this really hot country right now) for a little while. I have talked to my neighbors and told them that I am a follower of Jesus and that I am going to fast so that I can pray for them. They were all really excited that I, as a foreign Christian, would join in with them on this cultural/religious holiday.
It has been REALLY hard not to eat or drink today - I have looked at the clock like 15 times and keep telling myself "6 more hours" and stuff like that :)
But I am hoping that this will help me identify more with my surrogate people, and help me focus this month on not complaining about Ramadan but rather joining them in prayer that they will find forgiveness of sins and hope for the future.
the breadth of God's love
I think that when Paul prayed that the Ephesians would know the breadth, height, depth and length of God's love- I always thought he was talking about God's love for them. But this week I have been learning that the "breadth" of God's love might just mean that I look beyond myself and see that God loves all who trust in His Son- not just me. I am not sure why this has been such a huge lesson to learn- maybe because I like to compare myself to others and see how and why I am more "deserving" of God's love than they. I compare our theology, my lifestyle, how I interpret the culture here, how well I fit in the culture here, how dumb they are for acting like that is THE way things have to be done- etc. etc. etc.
But as I look at the breadth of God's love and how He loves us all not on the basis of our own righteousness or our own merit- I see, how I too can embrace others that might have very different ideas or who are also struggling on this path and hoping in the Gospel.
I read this prayer today "We thank you that in your presence all our brothers (and sisters) are the more surely present with us; for we know them to be included in the breadth of Your love. We give thanks that you have tied us together in this bundle of life and have ordained that none of us should live to himself alone."
But as I look at the breadth of God's love and how He loves us all not on the basis of our own righteousness or our own merit- I see, how I too can embrace others that might have very different ideas or who are also struggling on this path and hoping in the Gospel.
I read this prayer today "We thank you that in your presence all our brothers (and sisters) are the more surely present with us; for we know them to be included in the breadth of Your love. We give thanks that you have tied us together in this bundle of life and have ordained that none of us should live to himself alone."
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