I'm feeling terrible—I couldn't feel worse! 
      
Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember? 
   
When I told my story, you responded; 
      
train me well in your deep wisdom. 
   
Help me understand these things inside and out 
      
so I can ponder your miracle-wonders. 
   
My sad life's dilapidated, a falling-down barn; 
      
build me up again by your Word. 
   
Barricade the road that goes Nowhere; 
      
grace me with your clear revelation. 
   
I choose the true road to Somewhere, 
      
I post your road signs at every curve and corner. 
   
I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me; 
      
God, don't let me down! 
   
I'll run the course you lay out for me 
      
if you'll just show me how.

Psalm 119:25-32 (The Message)

Oh, thank God—he's so good! His love never runs out.
   All of you set free by God, tell the world!
      Tell how he freed you from oppression,
   Then rounded you up from all over the place,
      from the four winds, from the seven seas.

  Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
      looking but not finding a good place to live,
   Half-starved and parched with thirst,
      staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
   Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
      He got you out in the nick of time;
   He put your feet on a wonderful road
      that took you straight to a good place to live.
   So thank God for his marvelous love,
      for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.

Psalm 107:1-8 (The Message)

Lucy's Actual Birthday

After Lucy woke up we told her that it was her birthday and she had presents in the family room. She shouted yee-haw and came running. I guess she understands!



Examining her presents.



Opening her doll from Grandma and Grandpa.



Lucy loves dolls and all things baby. She will only look at books that have babies in them, and if we see a baby out somewhere she runs over to it to stare and say "baby, baby."



Opening her present from Mom and Dad.



We gave her a baby in a carrier. Actually she picked it out at the toy store earlier and wouldn't put it down. So I bought it for her and when she went down for her nap I hid it. Out of sight, out of mind!!



Showing Daddy how to feed the baby.



Rocking the baby in her carrier.



Innocent face



Tongue face



As always, the box turns out to be the funnest thing.



Lucy's cake. It was sort of pitiful because I had to ice it using plastic bags with the corner snipped off.



At our friend's house, singing Happy Birthday. Her candles were a little crazy. The flame on them was huge!



Look at me! I'm two!



Licking the spatula.



Going back for more.

You Make Me Want to be Brave

Can I just tell you that my five year old daughter, Callie, stood in front of the entire school, parents, neighbors, etc. and spoke her part in her class's Independence Day presentation. Today is this country's independence day, and to celebrate they have an assembly at school bright and early in the morning. Most of the classes present something, and of course, the chorus sings. Since Callie is in kindergarten her class started the class presentations. To top it off, she was the first one in her class to speak. Only of a few of them were brave enough to do it. She spoke loud and proud into that microphone!! The crowd loved it!!

Justin turned to me and asked if I would have been brave enough to speak the language spoken here in front of all of those people. NO WAY!! Callie is amazing! Hopefully we'll be able to continue to connect to blogger long enough for me to get the video up.

Cleansed

The other day I was in a market grocery shopping. Lucy was sitting in a grocery cart similar to the ones in America. We were waiting in line when a girl approached us. Well, not us, she approached Lucy. This girl was probably 12 or 13, although she could have been much younger. (People here tend to look much older than they actually are because of the difficult lives they lead.) She was very dirty, smelly, and possibly even mentally handicapped. She made a beeline for Lucy and just began caressing her head, rubbing her cheeks, and kissing her. You can imagine the scene... Lucy so lily white with cotton hair, bright blue eyes, and snowy skin and this girl. Quite the contrast! I had to fight the urge to recoil- to take my baby and run! Lucy gets a lot of attention, but NEVER like this. So, I stood there, maybe a little in shock, and watched as this girl adored, worshipped even, my daughter. As you may imagine , we were creating a little bit of a scene, but Lucy was unfazed, so I let it continue. After awhile I spoke to the girl. I tried to speak kind words and blessing to her, and bid her good day.

As I have recounted this event in my brain, the Lord has made it perfectly clear to me that I will relive this scene again some day. You see, when I die, I will go to heaven because I believe in God and that Jesus died to save me from my sins. But, that doesn't mean that I am not chock full of nastiness and sin. So, it will be me, dirty and unfit, worshipping the lily white Prince of Peace. It will probably be similar to the story in the Bible of the woman who washed Jesus's feet with her hair. The girl who was loving on Lucy was too busy adoring my daughter to notice how unfit she was to be touching her.

When I meet Jesus, I think one thing will be different. As I worship and adore Him, I am quite sure he will begin washing me, clothing me, and making me suitable to be in his presence. He promises to wash us white as snow. I have always thought that was a figurative phrase to talk how He cleanses us of our sin. But my experience with Lucy and that girl in the grocery store makes me think that there will be some real scrubbing that will need to take place as well.




“Come now, let’s settle this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson,
I will make them as white as wool.
Isaiah 1:18

BLOCKED

The lovely government here has added Blogger the the growing list of things it had blocked. So, sorry if my posts are few and far between. Who knows when or if we'll be able to get back to our blogger site.

Bus Haikus

On the bus I sit
where should I look, straight? sideways?
Next time I'll stand
(Cultural note: the bus seats face the isle, so when it is packed, it in not unusual to have some one's... ahem... midsection at eye level.)

The bus is coming
How many people can smash in?
Too many to count


Summer is so hot
the people on the bus smell
I wonder if I do


What do I feel... sweat?
Uh Oh! Close all the windows
someone will get sick
(Cultural note: the people here firmly believe that moving air makes people sick, especially if they are sweating. So it is not unusual on a hot day to be on a slam full bus with the windows closed- YUCK. It's like a greenhouse.)


Bus stop is in sight
Here comes the bus, there it goes
Whoops, missed it again


Sweating on the bus
drip, drop, drip, drop, will they see
Arm pit stains will come


Can I stand up front
looking out the windshield
is my favorite


Dear bus, I love you
where else could I stand so close
to sweaty people?


Hey Mr. Driver
Why do you think its so fun
to speed up then brake


Riding on the bus
feels like surfing. Hang ten dude
stand up- ride the waves


I see the new bus
it has air conditioning
Its not on my line


Old buses a plenty
Moses rode on this one
wonder where he went


Stop, go, stop, go, stop
Go, swerve, slam on the brakes, wait
Yep, you're on the bus!


Bing! One twenty five
gasoline is expensive
the bus is so cheap

Random Pic Wednesday

Party Pictures

Ever since we were invited to a birthday party here, I knew our day was coming. So, after a year, I felt ready to host my first "event." As it grew closer, I actually began to get excited about hosting Lucy's 2nd birthday party. Invitations here are done by word of mouth. So a week before Lucy's party, I began inviting our friends and neighbors. Because things are done by word of mouth, you never know who is going to show up, and who may bring a friend or family member. We only had one woman and her daughter show up that I didn't know and another friend's sister whom I had met before. So, that was good. I had 17 women and 15 kids come.

Whenever we would talk to Lucy about her party she would say, "Yeaaaaa!" and start clapping! SO CUTE!

My friend helped me figure out the menu, and Justin ordered the cake, cookies, and börek (a yummy layered pastry). My friend made a carrot salad (carrots, plain yogurt, and garlic), another friend made kısır (bulgar with olive oil, tomatoes, parsley, and green onions), and another friend made a pound cake. I made an orange marmalade yogurt cake and my momma's banana bread muffins.

The women basically sit around talk, eat, and drink tea while the kids run wild. There is not much emphasis on the birthday child. Since I was the hostess, I was quite busy serving everyone. But, the women love to help out the foreigner, so everyone pitched in. One lady gave the boys the sparklers instead of putting them in the cake. So they waved them around the room while everyone sang the T-ish version of "Happy Birthday." Then someone- not Lucy- blew out the candles and that was that!! No pictures of it because I was holding Lucy and praying the rug wouldn't catch on fire!!




Callie getting ready to party!



My first guest arrived at 1:30 (the party was to start at 2). Shortly after this sweet little girl arrived another friend sent her son up early. So fun to have these "helpers" while I was running around trying to get the last minute things done! HA HA!



This little girl is named Merve. She and Callie play together a lot. Her mom was my first friend here.



This is my dear sweet friend, Çiğdem, and her son Serhat. Her husband is a deadbeat. He refuses to work, so she works 4 jobs to support her 2 boys. She works in our office assembling cards and has come so far in her understanding and acceptance of the Gospel.



Betul couldn't wait to give Lucy the gift she picked out for her. A bright yellow stuffed bunny rabbit. Lucy loved it- called it "Baby" and carried it around all day.



Lucy's cake



The food table. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the other decorations. We hung up streamers, balloons, and a princess banner that said "Happy Birthday!".



Starting clockwise from the plates: kısır, carrot salad, and orange marmalade cake.



the cake



Clockwise from the drinks (juice, Fanta Orange, and Coke), peynir börek (layered cheese pastry), cookies, meat börek (layered pastry with spiced ground beef), pound cake, banana nut muffins, and more kısır.



I laid out picnic blankets and let the kids eat on the floor in our family room.



Some of the women just pulled chairs right up to the food table and ate!



My sweet friend Gülsevin. Her second child is due on December 25th! Don't tell her, but I might take him!!



Unfortunately, my friends aren't very good with technology, so I had to have Callie take pictures when Lucy opened her presents. This is Çiğdem, my teenage neighbor from downstairs, another neighbor- Fatma with her baby Osman, and my forehead.



Thanks, Callie, for the closeup!



Merve, Menekşe (she lives below us), and in the chair in front of the window is Arzu's sister (I don't know her name).



Callie's view of Lucy opening a present.



Lucy examining a gift.


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Still examining.



Then the dress-up clothes came out. Kids love to play with our dress-up clothes.



Here are most of the kids in costumes. They had a blast dressing up!


So, the party was a great success! Everyone ate their fill and had a great time. Lucy was adorable. It was so fun to celebrate her.

Everyone left by about 6:00. The kids were all outside playing, and Lucy was dying to play with them. So I took her out for a bit. We came in and Lucy watched a video while I tried to get the flat back in order.

I had the flat all cleaned up, except the kitchen, when Noah and Callie and a friend came in and started to wreck havoc again. After the kids' friend left, I almost had the flat cleaned up again when a neighbor dropped by. Yes, you read that right... MY NEIGHBOR AND HER KIDS CAME OVER!! They didn't want to come to the party because they thought it would be too crowded. So, I put the teapot on and began to entertain... again! Needless to say, Justin was surprised that I still had guests when he arrived home from a seminar at 8:30. The woman and her kids stayed until 10:30!! Then I got to scoot the kids off to bed and clean the flat up AGAIN!!