Day 46

Happy Independence Day from Lebanon! Outside our window we have heard fireworks and people celebrating independence day. Inside we have been watching the Gospel of John. If you haven't ever seen it, we really enjoyed it. It is the only movie about Jesus that strictly follows Scripture. Isaiah is in bed and Sean and I are studying Arabic. Today was a productive day. We got the house clean for Walid's return tomorrow. I purchased ingredients for our Thanksgiving meal... which was not easy, by the way. I changed my mind a zillion times about what i was going to make. Every time i thought i had decided, i couldn't find all the ingredients for the recipe. Someone is already making the stuffing, mashed potatoes, pies, etc. My ideas that failed were banana pudding, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and sausage cornbread (a dish my mom used to make every Thanksgiving). I should have known I couldn't make the sausage cornbread... you can't buy pork here. Although "Christians" are allowed to eat pork, it is culturally it is seen as taboo. So i settled on baked mac & cheese and Elzleen's yummy chocolate cake. Sean had some funny adventures today... but he is going to write the blog tomorrow... so he will fill you in on those details later...
I have to say, I am so gonna miss my family for Thanksgiving... but I have so much to be thankful for. I cannot put into words how full my heart is when I say that I am thankful for my son. He is such a gift. Through Isaiah, the Lord has shown me Himself. He has used Isaiah to help me understand the Love with which He loves me. He has grown me as a woman and as a follower of Jesus. He has grown my love for my husband as I watch the Lord use Isaiah to soften and sanctify Sean. He has shown me my sin... how selfish and prideful I was... and He is sanctifying me. I am so thankful that He has given me the gift of being a mother... what a high calling... what a huge responsibility. It overwhelms me... it scares me... it gives me more joy that I can contain.
I am so thankful for my husband. As I watch him grow as a godly man, a godly father, a godly husband and a godly leader I fall more and more in love with him. The Lord uses him to challenge me and encourage me in my faith. He honestly makes me want to be a better wife and a better Christ-follower. I am so thankful to have him as the head of our family.
I am thankful that the Lord would choose to send us to Lebanon... to teach us, to sanctify us. If asked why we are here or why He would send me, my answer would come from 1 Timothy 1:15-16 "It is a trustworthy statement , deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life." His mercy is so rich that He can save the worst of all sinners. There is no man out of His reach. Eight years ago I was such a slave to my sin that I could not be free. It wasn't just the drugs and the immorality... my heart was black and cold. Yet in order to show His great mercy and perfect patience, the Lord poured out His blood and took the penalty for my sin. Without Him I would not have Sean, I would not have Isaiah, I would not have Hope, I would not have Life. My heart is so full when I say that I am thankful... yet I know that as long as I am on this earth... I can never be thankful enough...