Joyful Anniversary

I still wake up fascinated that we are in the Middle East.  We have been here 7months and have finally made ourselves at home.  I could feel at home anywhere I was with my family.  I have spent 15 years today (+2 dating) with my woman.  Wherever she wants to run off to, I'll gladly follow.  Wherever I run off to, she will help me pack my bags.  I'm the more adventures but hey, look where she brought us.  Actually, she has supported me every year of our time together.  I've dragged her through new and difficult times with my job and she has joyfully partnered with me through the past years in Cumming, GA and twelve amazing years in Sharpsburg, GA.  Now its my turn to follow.  We wanted to give this place a shot and I said let's go for it.  Wherever she is, I wanna be.  

She has a bit of wisdom that always makes me say, "she might be on to something."  I wish I had her intuition.  She sees and feels things way before I catch on.  She senses things about people and I eventually see it and think, she is amazing.  

We love trivia together.  Lately we have been doing date night at the Rugby Club surrounded by the British tongue.  We have met some great people and that has been fun for us. Trivia is one place we collaborate well.  Honestly, I wouldn't care if we were just staring at each other in a cafe.  Wherever she is, I wanna be.  

We joke about our kids and how much either is like us.  But I've had the privilege of homeschooling our 6yr old.  I see how much I want Brooklin to be just like her mother.  Brooklin would be an incredible teacher who invests in her kids education but also would take the extra step and know something personnel about every student (all 50 something).  Jamie uses that to her advantage while teaching but they know she genuinely cares.

Jamie has such an effect on her kids and coworkers because all people matter to God and therefore they matter to her.  Really get to know people and you can change hearts and do great things.  That's why every teaching year has been positive, even turning difficult parents into partners in education by years end.  She speaks her mind, she isn't afraid to be honest, and if you ask her what she thinks, be prepared for a point and honest answer.

So here we are 15yrs into marriage and I'm staring at her by the pool side, she is dressed inappropriate for this country but its a private pool so I'm overjoyed I get to see this eye candy.  Too much?

I am so in love with this woman of my life.  God has curiously blessed me beyond what I deserve.  I take that for granted way too much.  We have always joked about the future together.  15 years ago when we started the turmoil of our first year I would guarantee we would have never thought of moving out of the country.  It's amazing what 15 years does to people.  I can't wait to see where we are and how we have grown in 30yrs.  But it really doesn't matter....wherever she is, I wanna be.    
- Jeff

"What are we doing for anniversary?"  Nothing yet but the night is still young and you get paid on Tuesday!  

Graduation!!

AWESOME! This is one of my words to describe the fifth grade graduation today.  My babies (yes I consider them mine b/c I fell in love with them fast), celebrated their last days in elementary school.  Here it is called cycle 1. I had tears in my eyes several times today. The girls get their hair & make up done professionally and they wear what we consider to be prom type dresses. They were all soooo beautiful!! I felt like a proud mom. They sang their national anthem while several played instruments. They sang an Arabic song and an American song (did a great job). They showed a PowerPoint with pics throughout the school year, they performed a skit and received diplomas and a gift.  Mostly it was similar to what we do in the States.  None of the dads come, it is a mom, daughter type of event.  As the mothers and sisters, etc., are sitting and watching they are being served tea, coffee, water and cookies.  Very neat and normal in this culture.
I made it thru my first school year here in the UAE!! I had an awesome year with great girls and I would not have changed it.  One of my students gave me a dozen roses and they were beautiful.  This will be something I will always remember and I thank God for allowing me to be a part of another culture.  As the school year ends, I get sad, but then remember next year will be another great experience and I cannot wait!!  - Jamie

Sounds Like It

I stubbornly wake before each days sunrise.  Atop every mosque, conveniently located on every corner, is a loud speaker that bellows the long swinging moan of Tarzan with a tooth ache.  Its the first prayer of the day followed by four more prayers; noon, afternoon, sunset, and evening.  The waking prayer prompts believers to give thanks to Allah (God) for his guidance and provisions and reminds me how much I do not get along with God before sunrise. Jamie's up for school, I drift back to sleep.  

Through everyday conversation with customer service, I'm embarressed to constantly have to say, "What?" I'm sorry can you repeat that? Ok, one more time please, slower."  Accents can often be thick, quick, and hard to understand.  If I need assistance, Hussin, our security guard, has always been helpful.  He will call anyone for me but insist I talk to them.  I think he does this so he can laugh at me because inevitably I give the phone back and he giggles and translates.  I can't imagine what my Georgia draw sounds like to others.

Because of hot days, the culture here is to be outside at sundown.  Families picnic till 11pm, parks are filled with people, restaurants are booming, dinners start at 8pm.  Night time is busy and loud everyday of the school week.  We went to our first movie here (Fast Furious part X1) it's 11:30pm the mall is wall to wall people and kids.  We sat next to two, two yr olds - not our own. Everyone talked the entire movie and teens up front were trying to see who could talk the loudest.  In a Bizarre change, people clapped and cheered the entire movie.  Subtitles  - Spanish, Arabic, and Jamie saw a movie with French, and Arabic.

I walked through LuLu' grocery and heard "something" by the Beatles, played ten times in a row.  Usually its just instrumental music.  I did hear Amazing Grace instrumental.  I wanted to sing out loud!  Amir, our maintenance friend had Justin Beiber as a ring tone.  It went off and I smirked.  I got the feeling he didn't care.  Ok then.  I did get to see a belly dance on a desert safari.  I don't remember what the music sounded like.

My favorite UAE sound is the car horn.  The horn has a universal message. 

The Tap:  hello! Are you paying attention?

The Punch:  what are you gonna do?

The Press:  what the freak are you thinking!?

Ive learned that i must predict the traffic light and start moving a millisecond before the light change if I want to avoid three or more honking at me.

But the horn brings value to our lives.  Value: When you have a problem with someone, we are to address it directly to that person.  We are honest about how we feel followed by Grace.  

A transgression occurs, we express our disapproval, we forget and move on.  Occasionally, we do get those signals crossed.  "Dad, is he honking at you?" "You honking at me, who's he honking at?" But ultimately, we feel better removing the frustration off our shoulder.  We address it loud, then we forgive and forget.  What a great lesson of sound.  - Jeff 

Missing you...

When you move all the way around the world you find you miss so many things!!  We miss:

• Olive Garden-this is my daughter's favorite place to eat-she loves the breadsticks 
• Waffle House-what can I say, nothing like ingesting grease 
• Old Navy-love shopping here, so it's really a no brainier 
•  Chick-fil-a-as Jeff says, Jesus chicken is good 
• Castaways Consignment-this is my hometown store & it is awesome!! 
•  Evergreen Chinese-located in Carrollton, this place is wonderful & priced well
• CCC-Community Christian Church-best place to worship & serve God ever!! 
• Walmart-kinda sad to admit, but it's true, even miss the lines
• Mexican-chips/salsa/cheese dip-no Mexican here!! Terrible I must say
• flea markets, etc-do you really think they have cheap shopping places here? Uh, no! 

There are things we miss also, not just places:

•  Cheese grits-being from the south, these are a necessity 
•  Cold water-all the water from the faucet is lukewarm
•  Dogs!-I miss my doggies sooooo much-Shadow & Midnight 
•  Regular plug ins- hard to explain, but cords are so different here
•  Books-oh they have book stores & books, but not most of my fav authors
• Miss having meetings that start when they are supposed to, they say meeting starts at 7, it may start at 730 if you are lucky 

We will be temporarily coming home in July.  All the things we miss we will miss no more...for now - Jamie

It's not OK

I went to breakfast with a few guys, most of whom I did not know.  I met one guy from the UK who is a teacher.  He was explaining to me about gesters we all make with our hands.  While explaining this, a South African man across from us is talking and his hands are gestering all over the place.  Eventually the SAfrican man puts his hands down to listen.  UK Charles, teaches adults locally and begins explaining that the gester for OK is rude.  Basically, it's calling someone an asshole.  OK, I'm intrigued now so I'm actually paying attention.  The, talk to the hand, gester is "crap" in your face.
To gester someone to come to you or, come here...not OK.
My wife, Jamie, uses the thumbs up gester a lot at school.  I believe I gave some Emirate kid the thumbs up yesterday after throwing his ball back.  Thumbs up?  Not OK.  So, I threw the ball back and gestered for him to shove it up his...
I laughed knowing Jamie does this everyday with her students.  She constantly tells me to stop using gesters while I drive; all kinds, not just the universal sign of ill will (finger).  Charles tells me a friend of his was arrested recently for waving off a guy in public. So I am pretty much resolved to stick with using my horn now.  No more gesters.
It worthy of death to convert a Muslim to Christianity.  It is wothy of lashings and jail for a Christian to have religious conversation with a Muslim.  Which brings me to Abdulcarter.  He had his family of  four including his wife covered head-to-toe at the pool.  Muslim women will not permitted to swim in front of other men.  They watch, in 100 degree weather.  Jamie noticed them praying when the prayer sounded throughout the city from all the mosque.  Abudulcarter swims up to me and asked the dreaded question I did not feel comfortable answering in this country...what do you do?  "Homeschool dad."  What did you do back home?  "Oh, well, a minister." Like a minister of defense?  "No, pastor, in a church."  I've never sounded so bummed about what I did.  Oh, he says, you are religious?  Jail, lashings, deportation, all these things rushing through my mind but I jump right in...you know me.  "I don't call it religious, just trying hard to be a follower of Jesus."  Crap did I just say that?  Ultimately, we had an interesting conversation.  I learned a bit about Syria, his family there, and the war. But honestly, I have never been so nervous in a conversation!  He wanted to know where my place of worship was etc...so many predjuce thoughts running though my head!  Then I did something not OK, I introduced him to Jamie.  Haha, well culturally that is not proper.  Nor can i ask about his wife.  Jamie knew this better than me and did not make eye contact as she was taught.  That's when I realized; silly me still learning.  But overall, I'm looking forward to meeting him again.  I loved watching my daughter play peacefully with my Syrian friends daughter.  Who knows where this leads. - jeff

Spring Break

Yes it has been wonderful! I don't think I've looked so forward to a break ever before. Of course most of you are saying you got 2 weeks which is plenty long enough, but I'll gently remind you that we will not have any more days off between now & the end of school. School ends for teachers here on July 4th. Fitting right? Independence Day for the USA and for me teaching-ha! Ha! I guess I should have paragraphs in this blog right?!
I have done a lot this spring break and have enjoyed it. We went to the top of the mountain (are you as surprised as I that they have mountains in the desert?), Jabeel Hafeet. It is beautiful at the top of the mountain. We took great pictures also. This is one of those things where you see how amazing God really is. There is a hotel at the top also & let me just say wow! At the bottom of the mountain is a picnic area of sorts with lots of green grass. Along with the green grass is a warm springs where kids can play. It truly is an amazing find.
We went to Dubai to experience the beach. The kids loved the beach and we found awesome sea shells.  After we left the beach, we went to the palm island  where we had dinner at a very nice restaurant. The dinner came from our neighbor and friend who visited us this week. A big thanks to him! (I was more excited about the oatmeal pies he brought from home though).   When we were in Dubai we went to two different malls, the Dubai Mall and the Mall of Emirates.  When they do malls here, they really do malls here. They have a place to ski indoors with snow along with other great things. Of course I love malls and shopping!
We went to Abu Dhabi.  We toured the Grand Mosque.  This is the only mosque you are allowed in if you are not Muslim. It was very grand! I must have really wanted to see that if I was willing to be covered head (literally) to toe.  The building is so amazing, it looks fake in pictures. After leaving the Grand Mosque we went to the Emirates Palace which is a hotel you can tour and take pictures of. Wow!! Everything here is grand and wow.  I don't think they ever build with small in mind:0)
The last big thing we did was a desert safari. Let me just say, interesting. I'm not sure if I have another word for it. We went sand dune bashing (is this what it is called?). Jeff busted his tail bone, I hit my head on the roof of the SUV and Brooklin slammed into the side and hurt her arm.  After getting out and trying not to throw up, the girls got to ride a camel-priceless! They will always remember that I hope. We saw a belly dancer during dinner. It was good, but I don't feel so bad about how my tummy looks anymore if you get what I'm saying.
Spring is only a few days from ending and that is kinda sad, but what a great time. I am resting these last few days, but stressing a little as I learn to drive. Finally have a license and am driving for the first time in about 2 or 3 months. Yay me!  Have enjoyed myself and I can say, if you ever have the chance to visit the UAE you should!! It's a great place with lots to do and see.  So come on over. If you need a place to stay....
-Jamie

Good Thursday!

First, we are floored by the amount of people who follow the blog.  Thanks for checking out our adventure.  It's Easter weekend here so I'll express my thoughts on this moment for us.  To my unchurched friends...you know this is a significant part of our lives so grunt and bare it for a moment.  Being in a Muslim country has not effected/affected our lives or our faith.  Luckily, we are in a tolerant country compaired to the surrounding area, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, etc...
The issue is The Church.  There is a compound that houses 30 churches at different times of the week.  These are Christian however 98% are in another language.  We visited one church meeting on Friday (church day here). No thank you!  Ed I apologize for ever complaining about the length of the service and how the kids and volunteers suffer.  Friday church - 2hours!  And they cant figure out why no one volunteers to serve with the kids.  Then we found a home church on Thursdays.  1hour 1/2 we sit through starting at 7:15ish pm. We celebrated Easter on Thursday at this home church with about 50 others.  So Christ has already died and risen this week so we get to sleep in on Sunday.  Now it's spring break here for two weeks..  We attend a small group in our village.  Great people but the curriculum, ugh! We read through a Bible story THREE times before discussing it.  Marcia, I apologize for ever complaining about small group. We actually shared with them our struggle to adapt to the church - well you know my woman how she expresses herself - she went off on a 20min tirade about the curriculum.  Luckily, we were still invited back.  I never thought church would be the stress in my life.  All this to say - pray for us.  Im grateful there is a Church here and blessed we are not percecuted like neighboring countires.  But im not content to be where i dont feel comfortable inviting unchurched friends.  Its a social club for Christians if the church is satisfied with talking church lingo and persistent on everyone "knowing" their Bible and every story it holds before learning how to honor God with struggles of everyday life.  Do i pull a Martin Luther (16th Century), go rogue and start something new?  Or do we work side by side with the good people here who have passionate hearts to worship the only way they have learned how?  Why didnt MLuther work from the inside out?  Oh yes, they kicked him out.  We need a "church for the rest of us" in the UAE.  You know me ill buck the system but I'm asking for wisdom to do what's right and honor God with our actions.  There are SO many ways we could help the church here but...I keep coming back to; what about the unchurched? - Jeff