Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Back in the groove


The last few weeks have been busy. I continue to fight with counting the cost a lot. Things seem harder now. The streets seem meaner and the people less welcoming. I try not to say bad things about the country we live in, I don’t TRY to hide the bad things and give you a rose-colored picture of what it’s like to live here. I usually write from my perspective and I am pretty real about it. I have been blessed in the past to truly see things in a very positive light. But for many reasons, adjusting back has just not been so easy and I have begun to see more flaws in the culture and just life in general here.
With that said, the last couple of days have been good. I have begun to gain more perspective and get comfort from my maker. He has confirmed many times that I am exactly where he wants me, which at times has frustrated me quite a bit and left me asking “Why?” But, you know what? It really doesn’t matter. He gave EVERYTHING for me, and even though it SEEMS like a lot, I am giving up SO LITTLE for Him. Although, I have been struggling, I have still been able to enjoy the good things that He has been bringing my way these last couple of weeks. So, here is a recap of some of those good things :)
I must apologize for not giving you more information about the opening of the café. It is so wonderful to finally have it up and running, but it also seems like things have been going non-stop since then. I intended to write a special blog post about the opening, but I did not succeed in doing that before this post. I do intend to update the café page and write more about what we actually do there on this page when I have some more free time. In the mean time, here are some pictures of opening day.
We also attended a traditional wedding this month complete with the National dish, Besh Bar Mak, served in a wooden tray, which also happens to be tradition :)
The week following the café opening our classes began. It helped me to remember that one of my favorite things about life here is teaching! The way that our students love to learn is priceless and the way that their faces light up during lessons makes my heart smile  :)
The next good thing that happened was today! Today was a really nice day thanks to Curtis. He is a very loving husband and he knows how to make me feel special. The day started with some lovely fresh flowers.



I then made a special pancake breakfast with some warm peaches covered in sugar, vanilla and cinnamon to top them off. After breakfast we shared what we have been learning from Dad this week and lifted up our requests to Him together.
Once we finished that we got dressed and headed out to a nature park to walk around and just enjoy being out of the city for a little while. While we were there we sat down and played cards in a little café while we sipped some coffee.


Later in the afternoon Curtis took me to my favorite restaurant in the city, a nice Italian place called Mozzarella, where we enjoyed an early dinner. While we were there it started raining, so we had to take a taxi home, our taxi driver was so excited that he met Americans that he gave us the ride for free! That was the first time this has ever happened, I guess he was just excited because he had been to America and spoke a little bit of English. Either way, Dad took care of us and blessed us with a free ride.
This evening when we came home we watched part of one of my favorite movies “13 going on 30” and I made the most amazing hot chocolate I have ever made, maybe even the best I have ever tasted!
Here is basically what I did, I melted about 1/2tbs of butter on the bottom of a 2.5 quart pot with about 6 squares of dark chocolate and added ½ cup of Creamer, after everything was melted together I added about 1tbs of Penzey’s Cocoa, then 3 tbs of sugar, 1 tsp of Vanilla and ½ tsp of Cinnamon, then 1 cup of milk. I topped it off with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa. It was a perfect treat for a rainy day
All in all, I know my life is blessed. I have hard times and I struggle with the calling that I have at times too. But I know that despite the difficulties of that calling, I have a Dad who gives me wonderful gifts. Today was one of those gifts :)

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Chronicles of our Overseas living spaces


Do you want to know something amazing about Dad’s fa!thfulness? This is our third place since we moved to this city and each time we move, our places got better and better, but guess what? We are still paying the same rent we were paying when we arrived here and moved into our tiny little one bedroom place! Don’t get me wrong, we LOVED that place. We were so thankful for it because we didn’t know what to expect when we arrived here and we definitely didn’t expect something this nice.

It was a simple place, and it was simpler still when we moved in, there was no desk or pillows on the couches, but we loved it for the year that we lived there and we made it into a home. The funny thing is, if it were up to us, and I am glad that it’s not, we would still be in this place. We wanted to just say, “who cares if they are raising the rent? Let’s just pay the extra and stay there.” But we really felt Dad saying that we should move on and find a place that charged the same rent. So we trusted him to provide, and did he EVER provide!

Our second place was much nicer, with two bedrooms, room for a coffee table, which we had wanted for a long time, a dining area, a laundry area and a way nicer kitchen, which was my favorite part ;)

We were super settled and comfy in this place. We had lots of room and storage space, we lived on a main street so it was easy to meet with people and for people to find our place. But what we didn’t know was that there was a place out there that we would love even more!
Welcome to our new home! Our Australian friends bought and remodeled this place about five years ago and moved to a bigger place about a year ago when they had a baby. At that time, other friends of ours moved into this place, but moved out only a few days before our return overseas this year to live in a house. I could not imagine a better place for us in this city!

The living room area is smaller, but the extra bedroom is bigger, so we have stored our bookshelf in that room along with Curtis’ desk and a couch that turns into a bed :)
I also have my own office space now! It is so much nicer than having my desk in the living area, which is where it has been for the past two years.

Our bedroom is also very spacious. We even have a built in closet and a dresser with lots of drawers! These things are rare here.


The bathroom is bright & cheery and our shower curtain fits perfectly in there along with the rug that we purchased here. (Thanks Mom & Dad for the money to buy some novel things :)

There is a little laundry space next to the bathroom, which is convenient and cute.

And, I saved the best for last. The kitchen! I love this kitchen! It is cute and stylish and fits all of our stuff perfectly! I love all the little shelves that display things and make everything so accessible.


I really could not imagine a better place for us. This place is a lot quieter and cooler in the summer time. It is still located in the center of the city, but on a side street where there is not as much traffic. We didn’t mind the noise in our other place while we lived there, but we feel the difference in this place when we have our quiet times in the mornings.

We just feel so blessed with what Dad has given us. Each time we moved, we didn’t want to go, we thought that our previous place was the best thing possible, but each time he has blessed us with more. And we are still paying the SAME rent as the first year! Yea, he is good to us, he gives us soooo much more than we EVER deserve. Pra!se Him for all the good that he has done!

Please be thinking about our new home. That it would be a welcoming place for our students and friends. That we would be able to bless people in this home and that Dad’s presence would be felt in this place. Thanks again for your thoughts!