How Many of Me?

According to this counter, not many!

And one of these is my sister in law....

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 6 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Of course, there are none of me with my maiden name!!

Pictures! I Got Pictures!!

Tim looks as though he's all legs and no arms!!





Feasting to celebrate the end of Ramadan....

More from "Over There"

Tim called yesterday. His "shack-mate" has Skyper, so he was able to call for cheap. They are going into the interior today, and will celebrate the end of Ramadan with a feast on Monday before heading back to the city on Tuesday. So most likely no communication between now and then...

He's getting along famously with the goats.

He's hoping to go on a trek with camels, and is trusting the allergy he has to horses doesn't translate to an allergy to the one or two humped beasties.

He LOVES where he is and what he is doing.

Thank you, Lord!

So Why Sudoku?

So why have I added a Sudoku Of The Day to my blog?

Because Sudoku is good for your brain cells?

Because it is less expensive than going out and buying a book?

Because maybe you'll get hooked and visit my blog every day -- and maybe even say hi?

Because it might stave off Alzheimer's -- along with putting cold cream on my face with my left hand?

Because -- um, what was I talking about again?

Have fun!

Similes

Since I've been listening to audio books, I've been much more aware of similes -- maybe because you have to actually listen to them. But this doozy came in a book I was reading:

"He had a wide nose and unnaturally dark thin lips that reminded me of a matched pair of tinned anchovy filets." (Stephen White, Kill Me)



Can't you just SEE them?

I want PICTURES!

I'm dying for some pictures. Tim in his native garb, eating from the common pot, slurping the food from his (right) hand. Taking a "bucket bath" (well, maybe just a picture of the bucket....) Sleeping in the courtyard with three families and 12 goats.

I'm having a hard time seeing it all in my mind's eye.

Really, really different than living in suburbia, US of A.

Somehow I think it is reminiscent of Jesus leaving his heavenly home and coming to dwell -- not among the kings -- but among the common folk of the day. Becoming one of them. Ministering to their needs -- not through faith based initiatives -- but by providing food for the hungry, solace for the weary, healing for the sick, and an answer to their spiritual longings.

I think it is helping me understand the gospels just a bit better.

News from Over There....

Tim has been gone for over a week. I miss him. I miss all my children.

I just had coffee with my friend Becky who has moved to the Minneapolis area and now lives within spitting distance of her three daughters. I'm envious of her ability to spend time with her girls any time -- see her grandbabies -- and be a hands-on Mom & Grammie. But I digress....

Our first real e-mail from Tim arrived last Sunday. Apparently the host's idea of showing Tim what it would be like to serve in this particular country was to drop him off at 7:30 am at the local ATM and tell him to not return to the house until 4:00 pm when the host got back from work as it is improper for a single man to be alone in a house with a married woman. So there Tim was -- strange city, strange country, strange language -- and nothing open, no malls, cafes, stores, or schools. It is Ramadan. Tim said he stuck out like a sore thumb -- rather -- he's 6-4 with blue eyes and blonde hair. Very definitely an American with his back pack. He finally found a hotel that was serving coffee to the non-Muslims, so ensconsed himself there, bought an XXL swim suit that was the last one the hotel gift shop had to offer, and availed himself of the pool.

The next e-mail, coming the next day, was more of the same. And that is the way the week was to go except for one day when he was not to return until 6:00.

Apparently his host didn't know anyone -- or care enough about Tim to try and introduce him to other ex-pats who spoke English. He claimed he didn't know any nationals that spoke enough English to communicate.

Finally on the evening before last, he relented and introduced Tim to a person from another agency, and Tim ended up having a wonderful time with this very nice man -- going to work with him, and being shown around in fine style.

God can and will use this experience in Tim's life. We aren't sure how and we aren't sure in what ways -- but we are sure.

He left there at 2:30 am Thursday morning, headed for his next destination. He called me from the airport where he had an 11 hour layover, and we had a very short, but wonderfully satisfying conversation. Just hearing my boy's voice.....

He arrived 24 hours later; was greeted by the young man with whom he will stay, and in less than 12 hours after arrival had a meeting with the "boss man." His two weeks have been all planned out -- even to working with a boys group that very day. He will learn some basic Arabic so he can communicate a little bit, and is thoroughly excited. Today is their "day off" so they are all going to the beach....

We are excited too. While we know that he is constantly in the Lord's care, the mother-heart in me wants someone there for him with skin on.

Over Here...Over There

Our Tim left on Wednesday. He's now "over there" for five weeks, visiting various teams to help him decide where he is going to spend the next two years serving God on the mission field.

He's there safely -- I got an e-mail yesterday saying he had arrived; negotiated the three flights and three airports and evidently got his visa when he arrived at his destination. I wasn't home when he left -- had speaking engagements in Indiana, so had to say goodbye to him last Sunday -- but kept fussing over wondering if he had remembered everything...

Toothpaste?
Deodorant?
Enough boxers?
His new journal?
His asthma meds?
His camera?
Shampoo?

Did he put his money into at least three different spots and NOT in his duffel?

Did he copy the front and back of his credit card and driver's license and leave it with us?

Bob said he took two Bibles -- one in his backpack and one in his duffel in case one was confiscated. I wonder where he put his copy of the Koran. He wondered what he should say if someone asked him what religion he was. I suggested that he simply tell them he didn't have a religion -- he had a relationship.

Will he remember to offer to help the host/hostess where he is staying. Like making his bed? Offering to clear the table and do dishes?

Will he bring optimism and enthusiasm to the teams? Will he be able to minister to them while he is learning what he is to do? Will he give them more than the Hershey bars and jars of crunchy peanut butter he took as gifts?

So many questions...

I can't mother him from this distance.

But I can pray.....and remember that the Lord can protect him just as easily over there as over here.

He is, after all, the God of the universe.