Holidays, Training, and Skittles

I just checked weather.com for the temperature in Paron, Arkansas. I shouldn’t have. Thirrrrteeeeee-fiiiiive degrees. My neck is starting to swell. (If you are not a hunter, you probably don’t get that so just keep moving!)

We're still topping 100 degrees just about every day. To make matters worse, my good friend Warren sent me a photo of a nice 9 point buck he bagged this weekend. (It’s OK Warren, I know I asked for it.) To the rest of the hunting community out there, keep the hunting and scouting reports coming! It helps in a weird sort of way.

We’re doing a little better with the culture shock but still struggling from time to time with missing home. The girls are fine. Lori and I seem to be struggling the most. I keep telling myself that in light of eternity, this little and momentary sacrifice pales in comparison. I know that is true. But it hasn’t taken away the special place we have in our hearts for Little Rock.

Today the country is celebrating a special holiday that follows Ramadan every year known as Eid al Fitr. What is Eid al Fitr? Click here for a good summary of Ramadan and Eid al Fitr: www.factmonster.com/spot/ramadan1.html. (As I type, I hear fireworks outside!)

So what does that mean for us? School is out for the week! Yippeee!!!

Today…. Lori and the girls are in the “shop til you drop” mode hitting all the big sales. Yes, materialism is alive and well. It is like America on steroids. Daniel and I GLADLY dropped the girls off at the mall earlier and will pick them up I’m sure MUCH later.

Tomorrow…we have our weekly strategy group meeting in the morning. Then we have friends coming over to have lunch to hang out and watch the Cowboys vs. Giants on Monday Night Football game (re-aired). After that, we may hit the beach, which is only 10 minutes from our apartment. Our family will be minus two since Hannah and Katelyn will be going on a five hour road trip to Muscat, Oman. They will be attending a regional youth praise event with some other high school girls in their small group. After the event, they will spend the night in Oman, swim an shop the next morning, and return late Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday… we will attend our weekly small group meeting. It just got started but it promises to be one of our weekly highlights. Talk about a diverse group! Eight adults and six children from 4 different countries! Yet the unity we have because of Christ is amazing.

Thursday… my Arabic class resumes. We only have about 6 more classes until this first semester is over. Then Beginners 2 starts mid-November. Neither Lori or I feel ready to advance to Beginners 2 but I guess you have to take off the training wheels at some point.

Speaking of training, a notable highlight of this week to pass along, is that Daniel is starting to wear big-boy spiderman underoos. He is highly motivated for the reward of choice – SKITTLES! So about every 15 minutes, whether he has to go or not (usually he does) he lets us know that it is time to go potty. NEVER a dull moment.

And, in keeping with the training theme, next week I go to Bahrain for a training conference. It should be a good time of equipping and vision casting for workers in the Arabian Peninsula.
Thanks for remembering to pray for us! The battle is starting to heat up and we NEED your prayers.