Well, I had good intentions of posting something for the fasting month (Ramadan) the day it started…and then having stories each day of the lives of people here to go with it…to encourage me and you to pr.ay for this crazy part of the world.
But then we had a doozie of a week and I have been trying to catch up since then.
In no particular order:
Our power was on the fritz for two weeks (one week, we only had power two nights for a few hours).
This made our internet not work.
This also made us crazy (it was around 110-113 degrees at this time) and the husband extremely motivated to rewire the house so we could run fans at night.
This made us crabby and want to rip each other’s heads off at points.
This made Little t WAY stressed…and decide he would show it by not sleeping.
This made us even more stressed and crabby.
This made the guest we had staying with us slightly uncomfortable and want to do nothing more than watch movies and eat the food I made.
This had the potential to be relaxing, but wasn’t. We were constantly worried about having enough power and movies were the last things on our priority list. I had a lot of food to make, and we had a lot of work to do, so the relaxing was nice in theory…but didn’t happen.
We had two potentially serious security situations that made us talk to our bosses and begin packing our bags for an evacuation.
This made us laugh because we had been told a few days before that the airport was going to be shut down for a month and a half for resurfacing…they were so kind to tell us this 10 minutes before they started.
This made us want to cry because in theory we were stuck here for quite a while and all we wanted to do by this time was get out…far far away (to a beach preferably).
This all compounded to make us have some pretty strong feelings of hate toward this place.
This caused me to not really even want to pr.ay for this part of the world, or ask others to do the same...and my motivation to send anything went through the window.
All in all, we were ready to be done with this place and throw in the towel.
But there was no way out, remember? So we had to dig in and get through it.
And we did.
We limped along.
We cried and yelled.
We found ourselves on our knees.
We realized that we had to stick together instead of tearing each other down.
We begged and pleaded with God to help because clearly we weren’t being very successful at much of anything.
And we came out the other side.
Able to face each day with hope and resolve.
Wanting to be here (most of the time).
Thankful for each other and our little family.
Overwhelmed by God’s provision along the way.
So…all of that to say – Ramadan started 10 ish days ago. And in this time of hardship, we have been humbled to be in this place.
I don’t think it is a coincidence that we were so down and so weak at the start of this time. I think it was a major spiritual thing…Satan trying to keep us from being available to minister during this sensitive time and God doing all He could to get us back in the game…with right hearts and minds.
See, this time of fasting isn’t just about refraining from food and water all day. It is the essence of struggle.
Spitting out the saliva in your mouth instead of swallowing it even though your throat is parched.
Giving your child a drink and not taking one yourself, even if no one is looking.
Fasting even if you don’t believe in it because everyone is watching.
Making sure you do all of your prayers so that you don’t have to agonize whether that one missed one will be the tipping point for you going to Heaven or not.
Striving to do all you can to be good in hopes of not burning in Hell at the end of your days. Because even though you would tell anyone who asks that you know Allah forgives sins and therefore you are on your way to heaven…you never really rest easy in that assurance. The doubt always lurks.
We are longing for strides to be made spiritually in this place in these days. People are SO thirsty…not just physically, but spiritually as well. The effects of war and drought and poverty and corruption and competition and false hopes has left these people with so little.
Please pr.ay with us in these days. Ask for dreams and visions. Ask that God’s spirit would be manifest in this place – our houses, our yards, over this city.
I will post the blog that I wrote for the begging on Ramadan to give you a glimpse of what it looks like here. I will make a valiant effort to share stories every day. Either way….please storm the gates of Heaven on behalf of our friends and neighbors – and Muslims around the world. Thanks.
Disclaimer: Security calmed back down...the possible incidences turned out to be nothing. If we do have issues during the time the airport is closed, we can always go to the military base as a last resort option. So for all you worriers out there...we have options and are not completely high and dry.
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