Laughing Baby

This little guy is so cute! I just had to share him.

The Little Prince

I'm wondering if I should change the Little Prince's nickname to the Little Devil. There are times it's sure tempting. Since September the Boss has been doing taekwondo. The twins would often go with him if Baba was taking them and they would watch and sometimes they would participate. The captains play with them and would let them train. After they turned 4 the Little Prince has been going pretty regularly and the Diva wants to. The captain said that since she's only 4 and there's nowhere nearby for her to do it at this age she can do it there too. Well, it didn't take long for the Little Prince to realize that if he's going to train that he has to mind the captain. Have I ever explained that he's the carbon copy of his father? Except for his coloring, which he gets from me, he's the spitting image of his father. Right down to the stubborn streak that runs miles wide down his little body. So for the last few weeks he's been saying he doesn't like taekwondo and he doesn't want to go. We know from before that he loves it...he just doesn't want to take orders from anyone. Since there are absolutely no downsides in making him go and only the benefit of learning some very important life lessons, he's going whether he wants to or not.

So yesterday he's pulling his "I don't want to go taekwondo" routine but I just got him dressed and in the car with the Boss and M (his friend who goes with him). We get there and the Prince refuses to get out of the car. I reach in to undo the seatbelt and the captain is parked next to us and getting out of the car. He says to leave him there and then he orders him out of the car. He shows him his stop watch and tells him he has 2 minutes to get out. The Prince is in tears. He's not sad or in pain...just totally ticked off that he's being told to do something that he HAS to do. As I get back in my seat I tell him to give me a kiss, which he does with tears running down his face. The captain tells him to give me a big hug again and then they head inside, with the tears already drying. See, he really does like it. It's that will of his that can't stand the restraints placed upon it. {Insert evil mommy laugh here.}

So I go back later to pick up the boys and we head off. The Prince said that he likes the captain. I said, "But you told me the captain doesn't like you (yeah, right!)." The Boss tells me that the Prince finally got brave enough to tell the captain, "You don't like me." I asked the Prince, "What did the captain say?" "He said, 'Don't go taekwondo anymore.' " I noticed the big grin on the Boss's face and asked him what the captain really said. "He said, 'I don't like you? Of course, I like you.' " LOL What a little sneak!

Last night we spoke to Jiddo on the phone. When the kids and I first moved to Lebanon we spent the first few months with him and SIL. Everytime Baba would call and ask how things were Jiddo would laugh his head off. He loved how his son now had a little blond version of himself to make him as crazy as Baba had made him. You see, Baba started working over here soon after I found out I was pregnant. The twins turned 2 in March and we moved here in July of '06. Up until then they'd only seen their Baba for about a month at a time every few months. Even so, the Prince and Baba are just like each other.

At the Giurgian Festival held at my school last fall we saw one of my Arabic-speaking colleagues. She was the Islamic teacher for my girls at the time, before they switched some staff around. She looked at the twins, pointed first at the Prince and then at the Diva. She said, as she pointed, "One Lebanese, one American." She hit the nail right on the head. There are days I think he'll be a perfect member of their parliament. He likes nothing better than to argue for the sake of arguing even when he knows it'll get him nowhere. Except, that unlike them, he's highly intelligent and would more than likely "get 'er done".

But I have to say, that for all his onriness (sp?) and bullheadedness (is that even a word?), he will drop whatever he's doing when I say "give Mama a kiss?" That's my boy!

Oops!

Remember how I told you we started to run out of food and had to get Domino's? Well... yesterday A made lunch for the twins. She needed to use the oven. She opened the door to light it and... found food! Boxes of food! DH had bought plenty of food for everyone after all and had put the extras in the oven to be out of the way. Unfortunately we forgot all about them until A found them yesterday. She said it made her head hurt to think about all of that kebab and roast half chickens (think mouth watering good here) going to waste. She said she had to take a Panadol.

But on a happier note...I got rid of my roots! Due to a major miscommunication problem I ended up with the completely wrong color hair on my last trip to Lebanon. That's what I get for not waiting for my usual guy to have time for me. The guy I went to did a good job on the color, it was just the wrong color. But I was very unhappy with the perm. I had all the usual damage from the chemicals and you couldn't tell I'd had it done.

I went to a western lady who works out of her home. She has rods for perms but isn't familiar enough with the products available here to feel comfortable giving perms. I told her as soon as she found something to call me! But the color is great. She had excellent advice and cut off the ends. She cut it shorter than what I had in mind but it was necessary. I'd rather have it shorter than have those nasty ends. It looks and feels great! I'm in heaven. And my girls keep staring at me. LOL I keep expecting Y to say something anytime. She's my student with Asperger's and I could tell she noticed but surprisingly she hasn't said anything yet. I fully expect that to change shortly. LOL

Nice, lazy Sunday

Last night we had about 22 people in our home. Luckily it included us! The Diva enjoyed the guy who held her up by her ankles and swung her back and forth, and the Little Prince behaved in a truly "royal" way and grabbed hold of a female guest with both hands. (Do I really need to provide more detail? Please tell me no.) Let's just say that Baba was proud of his boy. {Insert rolling eyes here.} We had take-out from a local restaurant, which included kabobs and fatayer (a mix of little pies...some with feta cheese, some with spinach, some with zatar, and little pizzas). Unfortunately that started to run out (most of out guests were rather "healthy" grown men) so we ordered Dominos. We had a blast! The best part? Lunch was easy to figure out and so's supper. LOL No cooking for me tonight! So while Baba is at taekwondo with the kids I'm online and A is taking a well-deserved nap. And Elektra...if she were anymore laid back, she'd be horizontal. Oh, wait! She is! LOL

The Power of Forgiveness

Today our sermon was on forgiveness. Our vicar began with the story of two journalists in 1972 who witnessed the bombing of a village in Vietnam. They took photos of children fleeing their burning village. One picture will never be forgotten.





After years of being used for propaganda by her government (and being denied the chance to go to medical school because of it) she became a Christian and was later able to move to defect and move to Canada. Once she was speaking to a group in the US. I forget who exactly the group was, but I believe it was a group of Vietnamese living in the States. She talked about how we can't change history. But we can forgive and we can work to keep it from happening again. She talked about if she met the pilot who dropped the bomb on the village that burned her so horribly that she would forgive him. What happened can't be changed. After the talk a man in the audience wrote a note and asked one of the security men to give it to her. The note said, "I'm the man you're looking for." The security guy asked if she wanted to see him and she said she did. Here's what happened.



When the journalists found her they took her to the nearest hospital. They asked the nurse how she was. The nurse said she'd probably die the next day. One of them took out his bayonet, gave it to the nurse, and said to kill her now so she wouldn't have to suffer. He couldn't bear to see her go through that. The nurse called the doctor and after some arguing she was transferred to another hospital where she underwent months of treatment for her burns. Her family was told she'd never be able to carry children. Well, as we know, doctors don't always know everything.



There was a vicar in England who's daughter was killed in the bombings in London one July. She wrestled with trying to forgive the men who'd done it and found she just couldn't. She resigned. (I was messing with Kleenex after the first story so I missed whether or not she went back into the ministry after working through her grief. I hope she did. I'd to think they'd one any prize, KWIM?)


The first lesson was Acts 7: 55-60. Stephen forgave those who were stoning him. The man who held the coats of those throwing the stones not only was forgiven by Christ Himself on the road to Damascus, he spent the rest of his life spreading the Gospel throughout a large part of the Roman Empire and even bringing members of Caesar's household to Christ.


Our vicar said he attended a meeting of Methodist ministers a few years ago. One man got up and said he hated the verse from John 14 that says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." He thought it was horrible to exclude those of other faiths who also believe in God. Apparently it created quite an uproar.

One older gentleman said that yes, the Father is God. No one can know God as Father unless he knows the Son. Many of other faiths know God, but not as their Father. Our vicar compared it to arranging to meet the Emir. He could go through all the proper channels and arrange to meet him. He would meet the Emir but he'd never get to know the man himself. He'd just meet him, shake hands, and never really be able to say that he knows him.

If, however, he met the Emir's son, got to be friends with him, maybe played snooker with him, there was always the chance that one time he'd be invited back to the house to play. They'd walk in, see his friend's dad, and his friend would say, "Hey, dad, this is my mate, Andy." He'd probably shake hands, and say, "Hi. Call me Baba." (The Arabic word for dad. At least I think that's what he said. Maybe he said "Bob" but that makes even less sense to me. LOL)

Do you see the difference? He could meet him through the usual, official channels, and not be able to say he knew him, but by coming to know the son he could come into the presence of the father and get to truly say he knows him. We can recognize God as God, but unless we have a relationship with the Son, we can't truly know Him as Father. Our Father. There's no chance for a real relationship with Him of any kind.

Yes, Jews and Muslims know God. They know Him as the one and only creator of the universe. They recognize Him as God. They know their very beings depend upon Him. But they don't know His Son so they can't know Him as Father. Muslims have 99 names for God. Not one of them is Father. Makes the rest of those names rather useless, doesn't it?


This last part I'll probably mess up but I'll give it a shot anyway. LOL "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father." Does this mean that we can perform greater miracles than Christ did? No. We can't even raise one man to life let alone more. But we can pray for healing and the casting out of demons. Christ did that but by being in the form of a man he was limited in time and space. He was limited to never being more than 60 km from Jerusalem. He could only heal as many people as He could encounter in 3 years of earthly ministry. His task has been multiplied so that instead of only the people of Palestine during the time of the Roman Empire being healed, people all over will be healed and demons can be cast out by prayer offered by the millions (should I say, billions?) of believers around the world.


A little girl from Vietname grew up to forgive those responsible for her burns. Stephen was able to forgive those stoning him. God does forgive. Accept it and your life will never be the same.


(And the best part about today's sermon? The twins stayed upstairs the WHOLE time!)

Kibbi Batata

This is what we're having for supper tonight.

8-9 medium potatoes (boiled)
2 cups crushed wheat (burghul)
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper (1-2 pinches each-to taste)
1/2 Kibbi Filling (see below)

Place potatoes and dry crushed wheat in mixing bowl. Mash potatoes with the crushed wheat. Add flour, salt, and pepper. Knead well. If needed, add a few drops of water (should be consistency of pie dough).

Divide in half. Spread half in bottom of a buttered kibbi pan (or between 2 layer cake pans or 9x13 pan). Spread the Kibbi Filling over it. Take the other half of the potato mixture by small handfuls and pat thin. Lay over top of filling. Patch up and smooth over with wet hands. Cut into 2 inch squares or any desired shape.

Pour melted butter (about 1/4 cup) over top. Bake for about 45 minutes (I haven't finished mine yet so I'm not sure how long to tell you. I have a bizarre oven. Where I place my pan determines at what temperature it's baking.) Basically cook through. It should be a nice golden brown.

If you want to, instead of pouring melted butter over it, crush hard breadsticks (preferably the kind of sesame sticks on them) and sprinkle over the top.

Kibbi Filling

1/2 cup pine nuts (or walnuts)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 lb. beef or lamb (ground)
1 med. onion (finely chopped)
1/2 c. parsley (finely chopped)
salt, pepper, and allspice, to taste

Saute nuts with butter in a frying pan until golden brown (don't let them burn). Add meat, onion, parsley, and seasonings. Saute until meat is brown and onions are limp. Cool slightly before using.

Sahtayn!

The Gospel at Gunpoint

While grading papers today I listened to Breakpoint with Chuck Colson and Mark Earley. Here's a link to Monday's broadcast. http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/BreakPoint/archives.asp?bcd=4/14/2008 Listen and enjoy. Oh, to have her faith. My grandmother has that kind of faith. She always said if someone ever did something like that to her she'd probably just drop down dead. Personally, I think she'd do something like more like this. I wonder what I'd do?

Achmed the Dead Terrorist by Jeff Dunham

You have to watch this video. It's the funniest thing I've seen lately. If you don't laugh your head off...I kill you!

Every Knee Will Bow!

Back last fall/early winter, I attended a Bible study. It was a "sequel" to the Alpha Course, called the Beta Course, by Nicky Gumbel. http://uk.alpha.org/how-alpha-began It dealt with the Letter of Paul to the Philippians. One thing that I'd heard before but never really heard was "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above everyname, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 9-11-emphasis mine) It came to light that while, of course, all believer would be doing that, so would those who were non-believers. Everyone will bow their knee to Christ, even...





and...







and...








(This last one's for you, Rita.)

It's reassuring to know that no matter what trials fellow believers have to suffer, or even not suffer themselves but watch others go through, in the end Christ will have the last word and everyone will bow their knee to Him.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" (Philippians 4: 4)

We should agree where we can but disagree where we must!

Yesterday at church we had someone preach on how he likes to share Christ with people here. As Christians we believe that salvation comes only through Christ. We may be here because our company sent us here. We may be here because our government sent us here. We may be here because the pay is better and we can have a better life. But, no matter why we're here, we are called by God to share Christ wherever we are. But, how we do that is something that we must be careful about. We live in a country where churches are allowed and welcome to be here, but you are not allowed to go out and evangelize. So how do we do what we are called to do where we're not allowed to openly do it?

1) He said one way to share Christ is to ask what they believe. When there's a holiday coming up, ask about it. What is the significance? Why do they do what they do? They're eager to tell you and more open to listen to what we share (Besides, such as many have misconceptions about Christianity, we also have many misconceptions about Islam. Both sides should strive to make sure they understand where the other is coming from.) After they've had the chance to share their faith then you can explain what Christians believe on that particular topic. They're more willing to listen because you've listened to them and it's obviously a chance for dialogue, not argument.

(He mentioned that he's heard of many converts to Christianity who've come to Christ through a dream. He heard about an Iranian woman who at the age of 6 had a dream about a man knocking at a door. When she opened it, it was Jesus. She knew in the dream who it was. She asked her mom and she told her that it couldn't have been because God doesn't have a face. Hears later, when she was in her 20's, she heard someone talk to her about Christianity and she heard the verse from Revelation where Jesus says he's knocking at the door. She remembered her dream and how she knew it was Jesus. She later became a Christian.)

2) Another bit of advice is to not get into an argument. Many think that if you won't get into an argument about your faith you must not believe it too strongly. He just responds with: "My faith is too important to get into an argument about it." (This is good advice for anyone who finds themselves talking to someone who wants to draw them into an agrument about their faith.)

3) What do we have in common? We both believe in one God. We both believe in the virgin birth. we bother believe that Jesus was the Messiah. In fact, the Koran says that Jesus is the Messiah. Some Muslims are familiar with the Gospel of Barnabas, a heretical gospel, that says that Mohammed is the messiah. If they are true Muslims that believe the Koran, then they can't believe that Mohammed is the messiah, they must believe that Jesus is. We also both believe in heaven and hell. They're view of heaven is primarily for men. Muslim women will say of course they go to heaven, but the virgins that God creates everyday is for men, obviously. They also believe that heaven is where everything forbidden on earth is acceptable for them now. We believe that heaven is where we'll experience the love of God, worship Him, and have communion with him for eternity. We both believe that Jesus will return to Earth. We believe He's returning to judge. They believe that he's returning to bring Islam to the whole world (basically everyone who isn't Muslim will be) and that he'll marry, live out his life, die, and be buried with Mohammed in Medina. Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet while we believe that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Christ. As Peter says in Acts 4:12, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."

The Trinity puts them off as well. Some who have had limited or no exposure to Christianity believe the Trinity is the God the Father, Mary the mother, and Jesus their son. They believe that God came down and had relations with Mary which resulted in her becoming pregnant with Jesus. The Trinity needs to be explained carefully. Hard to do when the Trinity is so difficult for lifelong Christians to wrap their minds around, but we must still do it.

They also think we've changed the Bible to reject Islam. They believe that Jesus' words in John about sending another refer to Mohammed while we know it refers the Holy Spirit. They think we've changed it to reject Islam. As "proof" there is a very old copy of the Bible that predates Mohammed in a British museum (he couldn't remember the name of it) and the Bible we have today is the same Bible. It hasn't been changed.

There is a miracle mentioned in the Koran about Jesus. When he was a child he made a small clay dove. He breathed on it and it came to life and flew away. It's a sweet story. However it's only found in a heretical gospel that Mohammed would have had access to. It's not found in the canon. Too bad, since it's so sweet, but sweet is not Truth. Mohammed lived in an area where he had exposure to Jews and Christians. Unfortunately most of the Christians in Arabia at that time were heretical Christians who'd been expelled for believing the false gospels and they were "safe" in Arabia. So much of Mohammed's "Christian" influence was wrong.

He mentioned the Catholic ambassador (this is the only Gulf country that has a representative from the Vatican) was speaking to a large audience here. He was of course being the diplomat and talking about dialogues and understanding between Christians and Muslims. Someone asked him if he believed the Koran was true (or words to that effect). He said, no. He's a Christian. If he believes the Bible to be true, then he can't believe the Koran. He's a diplomat and he knows how to compromise, but he refused to compromise the Truth.

We should agree where we can, but disagree where we must. We don't want to shove our beliefs down their throats, but be ready to share.

5) Pray!!! He said he probably should have put this one first. Pray that God opens up opportunities to share the faith with others. He'd been praying about a friend of his and for an opportunity to talk to him about his faith. The movie "The Passion of the Christ" was released but, of course, not here. So there were a ton of black market copies about but he doesn't buy black market copies. So his friend asked if he'd seen the movie and he hadn't. His friend told him he had to see it because he had a bunch of questions and wanted to talk to him about it so he loaned it to him. He figured that was OK since he hadn't bought it and he was returning it to him. LOL So he had the chance to talk to his friend and it was at the friend's request.

It was a wonderful talk and I wished it had been longer. Later the Diva started singing (unfortunately no one else was...I think we were praying, actually) and she was singing Jesus over and over again. I told my friend that I was hoping she'd switch to "Behold, behold, I stand at the door and knock, knock, knock" after that story during the sermon. It's one of her favorites and it would have been appropriate, but she just wanted to sing Jesus over and over. She takes after the Boss. His first Easter he was wide awake during the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services and helping the pastor preach, singing with the choir, etc. What did he do on Easter when the trumpets were blaring? Snore! LOL

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Here it is, Sharon! (And anyone else who's interested.)

1 c. butter, room temperature
1/2 c. shortening (I used a really tasty margarine since I don't use shortening-no trans fat though)
3 c. granulated sugar
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
3 c. flour, sifted before measuring
6 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and shortening on medium speed, until light. Gradually beat in the sugar. Beat in cream cheese. Add flour, alternating with the eggs, beginning and ending with flour.

Stir in vanilla extract. Pour batter into a generously greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 325 for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a wooden pick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

She's on her way!

The new maid will be here Monday! Yeah! I'm glad she's coming during my break so I can be here to show her where everything is and help her get used to where things are. I'm looking forward to meeting her. She's a widow with 2 children who'll be staying with family. Worlds away already from the last one we had. This one won't be trying to find a rich American to latch onto. Yes!

Today we had friends over. I made a cream cheese pound cake and then found out they're still fasting. They're Orthodox and their Easter isn't until Sunday. So we had cake for desert. I'll have to have them over again after Easter to try this cake. Hopefully this time I can figure out how to bake it so that it's not too done on the outside while trying to get it to pass the toothpick test. LOL But it was yummy anyway.

I'm looking forward to a week at home with extra time to study the Bible...maybe even dive into the Augburg Confession again. I'm almost done reading the book about it and now I want to go back and read the scripture and do the study part of it. Then I plan to tackle the Large Catechism.

God bless!

The Duck Church

Today we made it to church 2 Fridays in a row! Wow! And, to top that, I actually got the twins to go up to Sunday school without begging me to stay with them. They really wanted to go to BK for lunch. LOL Their behavior could have been better after SS but they did pretty well for the time of day and their attention span. We'll work on that once Sunday school is old hat.

I was thrilled to get to hear the whole sermon with no one driving me crazy through it. One of the readings for today was Peter's sermon in Acts 2. He talked about how the people listening to Peter were "church goers". He was telling them things they already knew, things that you'd expect him to share with people outside the "church". Then he explains that Jesus was the Messiah they were looking for. The people felt convicted when they found out they'd killed the Messiah. Usually when we hear a passage that we realize applies to us, convicts us, makes us weep, it's God wanting us to do something. He wants a response from us.

At some point we re-evaluate our lives and who's in charge. Some of us are like a car without anyone at the wheel, falling off a cliff. Others have to always be in control. God says, "Let me be in control." It's not easy for those who are used to being in control themselves.

When we're baptized, we are dying. When we come out of the water we are gasping for air, we are coming back to life.

Forgiveness is something people are worried about, but these days it's mostly about forgiving themselves. But Christ is there to forgive us; He forgives us ALL our sins. PERIOD. A spirit of condemnation has no place in a Christian. The Spirit of God is with us ALL THE TIME.

The Christian life is full of gifts-have you opened yours? He told about the duck church. The ducks all waddled into church and sat down in the pews. The duck pastor waddled up to the pulpit and gave his sermon. He told them that God gave them wings. He'd given them the gift of flight. They should go out and fly! So after church they waddled out the door, told the pastor it was a great sermon, and then waddled on home.

It was so nice to get to hear a whole sermon. How long had it been since I'd gotten to do that? The kids were all upstairs and I was alone with the adults. Heaven!

Now the Boss is spending the night at a friend's house, the twins are asleep, and so's DH. I can either stay up and watch a movie or head to bed myself. I'm thinking about picking the movie and working on my cross stitch but I think I'll get some sleep instead. I have the whole week ahead of me to watch movies and work on it, so I think I'll sleep. And not have to get up in the morning until I feel like it, or DH gets annoyed with the twins not letting him sleep and I get twin-watching duty. LOL

'Night!

Chicken Rice Pilaf (Djaj mah ruz m'falfal)

Tonight is chicken. This is a delicious meal, although not my favorite way to have chicken and rice. That one can come later.

1/2 chicken
5 cups water
1/2 c. almonds (blanched)
1/4 c. pine nuts
3 T. butter
2 c. rice (soaked for 30 min)
3 c. chicken broth
1 1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
cinnamon

Cook chicken in the water until tender. Remove from liquid, debone and set aside. Save liquid.

Place almonds, pine nuts, and butter in a saucepan. Turn heat to low. Stir, browning the nuts to a golden color. Drain rice and add to the nuts. Stir on low heat for 1 minute. Add chicken pieces, broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to boil on high heat, lower heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes.

Serve on a platter with a sprinkle of cinnamon over top.

Sahtayn!

Sorry, Barrak!

I have to apologize to someone who left a comment on my last post. I don't read Arabic. Actually I do but I sound like Dorie speaking whale and I don't understand what I'm reading. So, since I had no idea what you'd written I deleted the comment. If you want to comment again in English I'd be happy to read it. I hope you enjoyed the recipe!