Fun Packed Weekend!

We started out our weekend enjoying some Assyrian food at our co-workers house after school with our teammates. Most nut-o's here don't eat lunch until 2:30! Which means I get to eat two lunches! Then like most end of the school weeks we enjoyed a movie with our teammates. This week's choice: "True Grit"-- I recommend!

First thing Saturday morning, I got to have a Kurdish cooking lesson with our landlord. Enjoying her beautiful well equipped kitchen. She told me she always cooks with the TV on. She showed me a cooking channel and guess what show was on. RACHEL RAY! Ahhhh it was so fun :)
Most Kurds take great pride in their beautiful homes. This family is more well-off (thanks to our rent money) so no sitting on the floor for them. Fine by us long-legged folk!

It was a great time to learn some Kurdish and also some cooking tips. Within about 30 mins of arriving home to breathe, our friend "Zach" called us wanting to go for a drive!

We got to enjoy some roadside "Nook" which is basically chick pea soup, but so yummy on cool evenings.

A family was having a fire nearby so we stopped and said hello. They all wanted a picture with the tall Americans and kept laughing at how short they were (or how tall we were).

Zander met lots of friends too and they were teaching him how to eat seeds.

We love "Zach"!!

When we got home, I had to prepare some food for the next morning because we were hosting our "Fellowship" It was a small gathering, but had had a great time praying and saying good-bye to our dear brother Rod who is going back to the states to have back surgery. He may or may not be coming back depending on healing process etc. He doesn't have health insurance so please PRAY for him, that the VA Hospital would give him the surgery! We will truly miss him!

Shortly after everyone left and we got our place cleaned up and I went to the seek (town bazaar) with 3 other woman to go shopping for a Kurdish dress. 4 1/2 hours later, I came back with some 2nd hand clothes for Zander but no dress. It's so overwhelming... shop after shop of fabric. Maybe like 20 of them! Maybe it's because my brain was tired after a busy weekend but we'll have to go another time!

What a great weekend...

and a big thanks to hubby hub for allowing me to cook and shop "Zander free" :)

Life in IraqiKurdistan.Refreshment

So most of you know January was kind of a down. blah. cold. lonely month.

Well I am happy to announce I feel refreshed! Not only has God shown me what is truly important, but we have had an opportunity to find some refreshment during the last couple of weeks. So what do we do for refreshment in Iraq you ask?

First of all.... On the sunny days, get out of the house!

We play in our yard, or our roof,

or go for walks. Wearing these... just to wear them, even though my little piggies are pink when I get home.

Oh how I love my chaccos

Then... plan a Girl's weekend!
4 of us gals from Duhok took the 2 hour taxi ride to the neighboring city of Erbil. Another mom and I left the kiddos with the Dad's and enjoyed some good times with the CSM teachers in Erbil. Talking about school, electricity, food, the good times, and the bad.
Erbil is the polical hub of Kurdistan so although not nearly as beautiful they have lots more options when it comes to shopping and "American" things.

Like Nachos

and Lattees

and the City Center (Wal-Mart Style)- which we were able to find Lime juice, Cheerios, good cheese, deli meat, and lots of other things like that! We packed that Taxi!

Then.... go as a team to be encouraged by another team :) This past weekend we just got back from Suly to see the CSM team in that city. The 5 hour taxi ride was a little less uncomfortable but it was a beautiful view of the mountains and fun to see the little village towns.

It was a great mix of encouragement, hanging out, and professional development (the school is K-12 with many experienced teachers. What a fun team! We had a blast!

I even got to help coach their high school girls team that they started up last year! We are going to try to get one going here. In Sha Allah (God Willing)

The weekend ended with a surprise stay at a guest house "The Love Nest" :) Some other workers opened up a guest house that is a ministry for other workers to get-away for a bit. It was loaded with all kinds of goodies. (Instant oatmeal, twizzlers, skittles, fresh ground coffee with coffee pot) It was beautifully decorated with everything in the house that made staying there truly a haven. Including a jacuzzi! We were there for less than 12 hours, but in Bishop style, taking FULL advantage of all the goodies.

Early morning beauty :)

It was truly a refreshing last couple of weeks!

God always seem to know exactly what we need!

In the Storm

Who is with you in the midst of a storm?

I've had to ask myself this quite frequently lately.
My whole life, I think I've been pretty self-sufficient. I'm a "pull myself up by my own bootstraps" kind-of-gal.
I've taken "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" out of context in those gut-wrentching conditioning sessions (or any unpleasant moment) by motivating myself to suck it up.
I am also a person who can depend on people and things to satisfy me. Only to be left thirsty for another latte, or more words of affirmation, or sometimes even left with a broken heart because of unfulfilled expectations.

I am learning.
I have a long way to go, but I think for the first time I have began to experience what God means when He tells us over, and OVER, and OVER again that HE IS OUR ROCK our REFUGE our HELP. He will NEVER leave me or forsake me.

I have experienced these no-where-else-to-turn moments the past couple of weeks.... No family here and literally a couple of friends that I can communicate with that understand. But where did that leave me? Saw this quote from Mr. Spurgeon that nailed it.

There is no getting at God sometimes because of the multitude of our friends, but when a man is so poor, so friendless, so helpless that he has no where else to turn, he flies into his Father's arms and is blessedly clasped therein! -Charles Spurgeon.

This is exactly what had happened and I'm speechless over the kind of God we have that loves us like this.

So the past couple of weeks: Yes, I have been lonely, I think for the first time ever. This has humbled me a great deal. (always a good thing) I was desperate for prayer and truth. I couldn't even really think straight amidst Zander being sick, and the nasty weather that kept me inside looking at my breath. (not saying this for you to say.. "oh poor lisa", but to illustrate how my circumstances where effecting me so I was struggling with the "We are serving here, why doesn't God just fix our circumstances" garbage. So because those were the lies I was believing....Where did I turn??? My friends! :) Seems funny huh. I asked them for Prayer and for Truth from the Word. A faithful group of ladies that want nothing more than for God to be glorified! What a beautiful picture of "the church".

So yes, it's best to have both in the storm. I'm sure God would have used another way to bring me closer to himself. But he choose to use God-fearing women to point me to Himself this time.

Next time, that might not be the case. But I'm learning that it is GOD who will never leave me or forsake me. It is God who is constantly with me. Who holds my hand and guides me. Who allows me to dwell in His presence. Who is never too busy, too selfish, or uncompassionate.

I am still learning.

This verse pretty much sums it up.

Psalm 73:23-28

I am continually with you! You hold my right hand, you guide me with your counsel and receive me to Glory...

Who have I in heaven but you? There is NOTHING on earth I desire besides you.

My flesh and heart may fail but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever....

For me it is good to be near God, I have made the Lord God my REFUGE, that I may TELL of ALL your works!

*** I share this, not only for me to remember myself what the He has shown me, but to also encourage you if you are going through hard times on where you can turn during this storm that will not disappoint.

TELL of His Works!

Life in IraqiKurdistan.Birthdays

Many of you always ask about how things are different here and many asked this last week "What did you do to celebrate Andy's Birthday?" In the states we would take the week to celebrate, one date night, spend weekend with family, one or two nights celebrating with friends etc. We make it a pretty big deal. So although it wasn't a week long celebration it was one, fun-packed day.

Here's a day in the life of the Birthday Boy!

*Slept-in while I made 2 cakes, and some cupcakes for a surprise at school. (1/2 of which I did in almost-dark.)

*Woke-up to eggs-in-the-hole. Have you heard of these delicious goodnesses? Andy's fave breakfast here. Had coffee, chilled, and read about the bears victory the night before.

*Opened gifts- I tried to find him a "Track Suit" He wore sweatpants to play basketball a couple weeks ago, and to Kurds, that's like wearing your pj's. Not cool! But since Andy is the tallest man in the whole city, they haven't been easy to find. Thought I may have found a pair, but.... still too short. Zander got him "Meastro" which is the Turkish version of a Snicker bar. Look Zander is actually sharing them!

Went for a walk to try to find him a new Bday present since the Track suit didn't work. He ended up with a new belt. :)

Like he brought up, this was the NICEST day he has ever had on his birthday. (as far as weather goes.) Normally it's 20 below or something crazy! It was a gorgeous day. Somewhere in the upper 50's! Which is about the temp. of our house when city power isn't on!

We got to have lunch at MFC (Marina Fried Chicken) Something we find ourselves wanting around special holidays is ANYTHING that resembles "Home" and a change-up from the normal stuff. Not a lot of variety here. So MFC chicken and fries was his choice!

He went to school. Little did he know that I was going to surprise him, because Zander took his afternoon nap at a friends house, while I took cake to school and shared it with the students.

You have no idea how hard it was to get these students in for this picture. They acted like they have never done it before. Maybe they haven't- I don't know. This is the best we could do and... it's still blurry!

Duhok has a place called "Dream City" You pay less than $2 to get in and it has a beautiful play area, roller coaster, ferris well, and arcade area. Andy has been asking to go bowling for awhile so thought we would go to the only place you can bowl here (although to us it's amazing they even have something like this!) It was super fun, although he pretty much took control of the game!

After the game, we went and picked up Zander and I fed him supper, and asked Andy to check the email. He didn't know that I asked everyone to send him an Happy Birthday message. He was reading emails for a couple of days. He loved it! So thank you all of you who wished him happy birthday!

Then our teammates came over after Zander went to bed. So Andy and I walked to one of the nicest restaurants in Duhok. It was great. Onion rings, lamb chops, Moutabal, and a Heiniken. Yummo! Hard to believe you can eat the nicest meal in town for $30! We ended the night eating cake with our team.

It was an amazing day! We got to spend a ton of quality time together, enjoy the luxuries in the city, and I know my hubby enjoyed his fun packed day so it was worth it and he deserved some pampering! We were both exhausted, but moved right back into the swing of things the next day! Phew!

2010 with No Regrets

Reflecting on 2010...

Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is only the Lord's purpose that prevails (Proverbs 19:21).

It wasn't just any kind of year. It wasn't what we were expecting. It was exactly what God had planned for us though as we seen Him answer prayers left and right, (or for all you Garth Brooks fans, "Sometimes I thank God (boom boom) for unanswered prayers..."

Either way His hand and purpose was so clearly guiding us.

I just read this post and wow how I can relate to much of what this family has experienced this past year. I'm sure many of you can to, it doesn't mean you need to move overseas to feel like God took you down a path you weren't expecting. If you got a second: read this,

http://allthingshendrick.blogspot.com/2010/12/2010-year-of-what.html

If not, here's a quote that sums up how we feel about last year and the coming year.

"God already has a plan for this new year. He had a plan for last year too. His plan for 2010 was way better than mine...and not because it was easier or more comfortable than what I was busy planning. It was better for reasons that words can't describe. Just cries and groans and smiles can speak to the struggles and strength God handed our family this year."

So whatever 2011 brings for our family or yours, we can trust that God works ALL things for the good, who have been called according to HIS PURPOSE!

Resolutions? ummm, not sure what I think about those, but I know you need to be motivated. (Don't know if I'm motivated enough to lose those extra 5 lbs.)

But what we will we try to *accomplish* this year?

glorify God, enjoy Him, and love others.

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be GLORY forever. Amen. Romans 11:36

The angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for ALL the people. Luke 2:10

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39