Khamsin! (and other assorted updates)

The Khamsin is here! It's basically a Lubbock dust storm all over Egypt. My nose and mouth feel like I've stuck my face inside a vacuum cleaner bag and taken a deep breath. Icky. I didn't really notice it (except that I've been sneezing all day--but I've got a cold so that wasn't too surprising) until Luke asked me if it was getting dark outside. "Silly boy, it's only 1:00!" I replied, before looking outside to see everything looking a murky orange color. I haven't snapped a picture yet but I will later.

Because of all these dust storms, our electrical appliances have started acting up. Our portable DVD player quit altogether this week, so now we have to watch our DVDs on the computer. Thankfully, we have the computer! I am on a quest for some canned air to see if that will help the DVD player; otherwise it may just be kaput.

Other updates:

I talked to my friend Cheryl, whose baby, Billy Jr., passed away last week. My prayer, and that of many others praying for this precious family, has been that God would use this tragic situation to His glory. Cheryl shared with me that she has never felt God's presence more strongly than this past week. Yes, there have been dark, difficult moments, but God has made Himself known to Cheryl, Billy, and their family. They have felt your love, and your prayers have buoyed them during this impossible time. Cheryl was even able to speak at Billy's Celebration of Life Service--to present the gospel clearly to those present, to allow God to speak through her. Please continue to pray for Cheryl, Billy, and Avery in the days and weeks ahead.

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more,
Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;
Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,
Keep me safe till the storm passes by.*

My outlook is somewhat better this week. God has been faithful to show me, once again, His beauty in my circumstances and surroundings. Maadi is in full bloom--flowering trees are EVERYWHERE, and I've never seen anything like it in Texas. There is one particular, huge tree that has bright red flowers the size of magnolia blossoms, but it only blooms once all its leaves have fallen off. It's really pretty! Other trees have honeysuckle-type blooms all over them, but they're white, purple, and pink. There are other blooming vines and trees whose blooms resemble crepe myrtle blooms. My favorite are the deep red ones. It's easy to focus on the dust storms, but when the storm has passed, God's beauty remains.

We have our travel plans made for this summer! I am going to come home with Luke near the first of June, and Jason will stay in Cairo until mid-July to teach summer school. Though we will not enjoy being separated from each other for that long, it will give Luke and me a good head start on visiting family and friends before Jason arrives. The summer school opportunity was too good to pass up. We're looking forward to coming home, visiting with everyone, shopping at our favorite stores, eating at our favorite restaurants, and stocking up on all the things we can't get here or that are too expensive to buy here.

The days until I come home are now an easily countable fathomable number: 55 days from today. My birthday. What a gift! (Not the 24 hour plane trip alone with Luke, but the present of my family on the other end! Anybody want to volunteer to come out here and make the flight back home with me? Ha!)

I started back to Arabic lessons last week. This session I am in Conversation Level 2 class. I have taken Levels 1 and 2, and the purpose of the conversation class is just to practice everything we've learned in levels 1 and 2. I have continued on with many of the same ladies from Level 2 and the same instructor. I am very happy with that--I like my teacher and his style a lot, and the other ladies are bright. They are French, German, Australian, and Dutch, so most of them are learning Arabic as a 3rd or 4th language. Since I only remember very little of my Spanish, French, and Cantonese (and usually all at the wrong times--like I remember Spanish when I'm speaking to a French person, or Cantonese when trying to tell an Egyptian taxi driver where to go), I feel really dumb sometimes! Still, I feel like I have a pretty good ear for the pronunciation, and it is exciting to be able to converse with people on the street and in shops. During the second half of the lesson, Sami (the teacher) asks if we have questions. We can ask him about something we've already learned or how to say something we need to say in real life. This week I'd made a big list. Everyone in my class got a laugh when I asked my first question: "I need you to tell me how to say: Go away. Leave me alone. Don't talk to me!" (I was thinking mostly of the pesky boys who even now are playing outside our house.) I insisted Sami tell me how to say it in the meanest, most emphatic way possible. I was clear that I did NOT want to be nice. He told me, and then made me practice telling him and everyone else in the class to go away!

We've hired our helper for next year and made our decision about what we'll do with Luke. We've decided to keep Luke in the same school he's in now. Not only am I really happy with it, I think it'll be best for him to have a regular routine of school, nap in his own bed, and then when he wakes up it will be time for us to come home. This will cut out about 1 1/2 - 2 hours of bus time for him. We've hired a full-time helper to be here at 6:30 in the morning (poor thing). She'll give Luke breakfast and take him to school. Then she can come home and clean, do laundry, go grocery shopping for me, whatever needs to be done. At 1:00 she will pick Luke up and bring him home for a little playtime and a nap. Then she can begin getting dinner ready for us. I am so excited--it'll be like I have my own wife, but one who is definitely more conscientious and thorough with the housework than I am! We've chosen a very sweet girl who has two children of her own back in the Philippines. She works for another school family right now, and will begin working for us at the end of the summer. I guess if I have to go back to work, at least when I get home I can be fully Mommy, and not have to worry about catching up on housework. That's the way to do it, huh?

Oh, one more thing before I go. At church on Friday we had Graham Kendrick and his band come and lead us in worship. It was INCREDIBLE. God was present, moving in the hearts of those gathered under the tent at Maadi Community Church. Through worship, He reassured me of His love, His plan, His divine sovereignty. What an amazing thing to be able to approach the throne of God and praise Him for who He is.

Okay, it's 2:30 and I've been putting off lunch, so I'd better stop writing for now. Thanks for reading!

*"Til the Storm Passes By" by Mosie Lister