Sunday Sneak Peak

CALLIE- WALIE- BING- BANG!!!!

My little Callie turned 7 yesterday!!! Here are a few pictures from her big day.


She helped make her birthday cake. We made it on Friday morning before school (she goes to afternoon school) so that we could share it with our team at fellowship that night.



She tried to act embarrassed when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her, but I know she loved it! her smile was a mile wide!



Callie posing with her birthday presents.



She requested doughnuts for her birthday. So I found a YUM-O recipe to make. It was a bit of work but fun. Of course she helped me. She loves to help in the kitchen!



Posing right before we lit the candles and sparklers. 7 total! Can't believe it!

No Shoes to Call Her Own

There once was a little girl who was beautiful and fair.
She had no shoes,
not even one pair.

Could she find a place, her feet to put?
Two yogurt containers
would go nicely on her foot.

Bad People do Bad Things

I have a friend who is constantly putting up "news articles" and other random things on Facebook (the culmination of all that is wrong with the world today) that have a distinct anti-Muslim sentiment. The headlines are things like Muslims Kill 4 in Quatar or whatever. Then she gets a host of comments from people about how evil Muslims are and that they must be stopped!!! May I please set the record straight?

Bad people do bad things, not Muslims! For every story you read in the media, thing you find on the internet, etc. about how Muslims kill people, you can find the same thing on this side of the world about Christians! Did you know that just like most people think that all people over here are real Muslims, the people over here think that all Americans are real Christians?

Would you like to be judged based on what is going on in America? Do you really want the people over here to think what they hear and see from America represents Christianity? Think about it...

This is what we are to them... Playboy, Desperate Housewives, raunchy videos, greedy, stupid, violent, obsessed with sex and money, murderers... the list goes on, and its not pretty.

Are the people who go in and shoot up schools or supermarkets a good representation of you? Are the people who bomb abortion clinics a good representation of you? Are the people who watch, produce, and/or export pornography a good representation of you? Are the people who abort their babies a good representation of you? Are the people who lure others into cults and eventually convince them to commit suicide a good representation of you?

Do you think this is an accurate representation of the truth of Christianity?

My point is that bad people do bad things. Life is full of choices for everyone of us. In following the Lord we must constantly choose to take the narrow path. To put others before us. To submit ourselves to God. (Islam literally means submitted to God.)

Unfortunately, there are many who do not make these types of choices. It's too bad, but it is their choice. Do you want them representing you, your country, and your faith?

My guess is no.

Guess what... my Muslim friends do not want to be defined by the bad choices that people on this side of the planet make, either. Since I have many Muslim friends that honestly fear God and submit themselves to Him, then i feel like I can speak for them.

Please stop judging Muslims based on the garbage that you hear from the media!! Normal Muslims are not like that. Just like normal Christians are not like the thousands of terror/murder stories that are coming this way.

Thank you and good night. I will step off of my soapbox now!

Justin

17 years ago today I went on my first real date. It turned out to be a good one, because I married that guy a few years later. And we've been going strong ever since.

We went to an Atlanta Knights hockey game and ate Chic-fil-A at the Omni. I wore my black cowboy boots, my favorite jeans, and a multi-colored striped shirt. We were so nervous that we listened to Fox 97 Oldies in the car because he liked Christian music and I liked country. I didn't want the night to end.

Mercy, I don't know where I would be without that man. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me!! Even at 16 I knew it! At 32 I can't imagine life without him!

School

After two weeks of winter break school has finally started back for the kids and me. Over the break we had at least 17" if not more of snow. The weather was crazy. It would snow and get pretty good accumulation. Then it would warm up a bit and melt, or even rain. Then it would snow again. In fact, it is snowing again right now. Dear Lord, please save me from winter!!!

This was my prayer before I started school today, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be the dumbest one in class!" And I meant it!!! Functioning in a new language and culture has been humbling, to say the least.

Sunday Sneak Peak

SNOW DAYS!!!!

New Baby

So my baby, who is 3, does not need diapers anymore. Actually, she hasn't needed diapers, highchairs, sippy cups, crib, or any "baby stuff" for quite a long time! But I still put her in diapers at night. They are always dry in the morning (and to be honest I usually reuse them a couple of times, don't judge me, we are poor!!). Justin questioned me on why on earth I still put her in diapers. This is was my answer:

Dear, I NEED a baby! If no one in this house wears diapers anymore, we will HAVE to have another baby!!!

He promptly went out and bought more diapers and encouraged me to continue diapering my baby!

I Completely Agree!

I was reading blogs during my snowbound confinement in my home and ran across this totally funny blog post. However, I figured why limit my payback to the luxury of my grown children's homes, as they do not limit their lovliness to our home. So to this list, I will add:

1. Go out somewhere with Callie. While we are en route I will yank, pull, stretch, and examine my panties and stockings while complaining profusely that they don't fit right. When we have arrived at the most public place I can find I will begin screaming, I mean SCREAMING, crying, and in general, producing lots of snot and other face liquid until every person within ear-shot is looking at us. I will scream about how I hate my shoes. The very shoes that I made her buy for me after several days of searching, many similar fits, and promises that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those shoes!!! I will decide that they do not fit and will refuse to walk another step because it is too painful. Hopefully I will be able to pull this stunt when she is on her way somewhere and doesn't want to be late! I will wake her up each morning declaring that I am STARVING and could she please give me some food before I die!

2. Lucy, oh, precious, Lucy! The moment we get far enough away from the house, or a convenient public restroom I will decide I have to go to the bathroom. EVERY TIME! Sometimes I will have to go so bad that I double over and can't walk or grab myself. Sometimes I will have to go so bad that I will drop my drawers and pee where ever I am at. I will save this for the most public, places, of course. In addition, I will run into her room each morning and proclaim that I have to go the the potty, weally bad! Weally weally bad! If we are walking somewhere, I will stop to examine every bit of wayward poop that I notice. Looking closely and trying to determine if it is horse poop (rarely) or dog poop (usually). I will announce this and continue to talk about the poop and its characteristics for a long time. If I see someone who has something different about them (moles, beards, one leg, you name it...) I will point at them and ask repeated questions loudly. I will stick my tongue out at people who try to talk to me.

3. Noah is harder, because he is not prone to drama, just the occasional bits of surliness and pure boy stupidity. So, when I am with him I will do lots of baseball slides- regardless of the weather, what I am wearing, or the surface condition- concrete, grass, mud, poop, etc. I will waller on the ground as much as humanly possible. When he turns his back I will run up the wrong way on the escalator. If no escalator is available, I will climb something. If I am really feeling wild, I will then drop down on him. When we go to the grocery store, I will beg to push the cart, and promise not to run into people. I will promptly begin running into people and will not stop throughout the entire trip.

I am so excited for this stage of life! My kids better hurry up and have grandkids. Maybe that will distract me from my plans. My mom always says that if she knew how wonderful having grandkids would be she would have skipped the having kids part and gone straight to the grandkids! Well, except me of course. I was and continue to be the highlight of her life!!! (she is out of town without a computer!)

Sunday Sneak Peak

My clothes dryer:













In the summer it is hot so I can put the drying racks out on our balcony and things dry really quickly. But in the winter our flat is really humid (moldy) and it takes forever for things to dry. The only time I really hate it is when I am trying to get sheets clean or rainy/ snowy days when there are lots of wet things. It keeps me on my toes, because if I get behind on the laundry there is no place to hang it all to dry. So it takes a really long time to catch up!!

Snow Day!

It has been snowing off and on for two days! It is really cold and yucky, so we haven't been out much but here are a few quick pics. Hopefully I'll have the video of the kids "sledding" on po-boy sleds (pieces of cardboard) this week.

Ramdomness

Well, winter has finally hit our city. It is super cold with snow and ice and yuck!! This is just in time for the two week winter school break!!! Lord, help me!!!

The kids got their report cards. Noah got the equivalent of all A's. Callie got 2 C's a B and the rest A's. I was surprised because she is a really good student and tries very hard. One of her C's was in music, and the other in Social Studies. So oh well, I guess those would be the ones I would prefer her not to do well in. Her teacher is a bit hard core. But she didn't seem to care, and to be honest, I don't either!

Our team leader's mother had a stroke on Thursday morning. She is doing very poorly, so they are flying out to America as I write this. Please pray for them.

What am I going to do for two weeks, in the city, in the dead of winter, with my kids. The break hasn't even started and I am already feeling zapped!! HA!

Has anyone ever been to Disney on Ice. It is coming to our city in a few weeks and I am thinking about using the kids' Christmas money to take them. But I don't want to waste the money (it is kind of expensive) if they won't enjoy it. What do you think?

Callie is totally into doing magic tricks right now. It is hilarious! The kind where you have to close your eyes or she turns around for the magic to happen! So cute!

That's all for now. Have a great day!

Three years ago today, Clara passed away. My heart has been really heavy all day.

Al-Jazeera Weatherboy

One of our primary news sources here is Al-Jazeera. Despite what you may have heard, it's not so bad. For the first time, the other day I saw this. (Please excuse the terrible picture from my piece of junk phone.)

Invitation

Some days I walk to and from dropping the kids off at school with one of my new neighbors. She has also just moved to the area. A few weeks ago she invited me to join a group of ladies who read the Koran together at her house on Friday afternoons. Because of my class schedule, I could not join.

Just the other day she told me she had a dream about me. In it, I was teaching the group about the Koran. I was shocked and excited to hear this. One of the primary ways that the Lord reaches people in this part of the world is through dreams and visions. I am praying that this dream would come to fruition. That I could teach them the truth of God.

Please join me in praying for this woman and her network. Pray that Jesus would continue to speak to them in their dreams and draw them to Him! Also, pray for me to be open and willing to speak for Him.

Sunday Sneak Peak

What we look like these days...