MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

I'm on the Island (Orcas) with my parents and will be heading up to Vancouver, Canada tomorrow after church to spend the holiday with my cousins. Have a blessed Christmas remembering the Miracle that is our Jesus who came to save us and loves us no matter what. Now, that is an amazing miracle!

I love you all!
Heather

The heart of the matter:

These last few weeks have been very discouraging and I've been in a slump. I had a nice time over Thanksgiving, but felt awkward as the single tag-a-long in the mix. Day to day I'm just fine being single...don't have to worry about anyone else, go to work, come home, run errands, whatever. But certain holidays when everyone has their families around them...It is very clear that I don't have my own family. That said, life goes on...

Then, work is not going well. My students are a particularly low group and I have been discouraged not being able to make significant progress with them. In all honesty, I have seen progress this quarter, but I have a meeting tomorrow morning to answer for my particularly low test scores from 1st quarter. My frustration is that every minute of the day is scheduled and dictated and I have no real idea for when I can work with small groups of students. Besides that...the rest of the class isn't very good at monitoring themselves if I am with a small group. Guess I need to strategize about that.... hmmm..... It's just all so very discouraging.

So this morning while I was praying about it and studying my Bible Study on the book of Daniel...The realization that I can only do my best, and as long as I am, then God will do the rest. He is a mighty, powerful God, who cares deeply for me and is concerned with what I'm concerned with. My desire is to be faithful to Him and trust Him....the rest of life is just life, it's not the big picture. It's only the smallest piece of eternity. We were created to worship God, end of story, the rest is extra and we are called to be faithful with what we've been given and bring glory to His name. I pray I keep that at the front of my mind always. Beating myself up for my inability to work a miracle with my class and moping around won't accomplish that and it certainly isn't enjoyable.

So that's the heart of the matter...that's where I'm at.

Here are some picture for you picture hungry people.

Mike and Sully on Ice

Behind a waterfall- Thanksgiving weekend

My awesome family at Monsters Inc. on ice

I think I have big eyes.....

Don't have time Don't have time DON'T HAVE TIME......will post when I have time. ;-)

Side note....books on CD are fantastic for road trips. 6 hrs of fun then 2 gruelling- must stay awake, ignore head-ache, keep eyes focused...when will I ever get home... hours.

Isn't my nephew an adorable Tigger? And is Pooh Bear mother too!

Sun through the clouds as I drive home from the following awewsome weekend. Vivian, you rock!

Shalimars- Indian cuisine. Mmm good! Got to love the chandelier in the back...it is so middle eastern!

The food comas of GOOD Cuban food!

Cuban restaurant
Ransom last minute picture with statues after buying make-up. You can't pass up taking pictures with random statues, it's impossible!

ok, these picts were on my first attempt that I thought I lost, but guess not, so here they are. :-)

Flake- yes, I introduced Viv to World Market where they sell all kinds of cool things you could buy in Saudi; for example- the Flake!

Don't push the red button!!!!!!!!! The escalator (vocabulary word this week- oh, sorry, school mode) is descending through a wall....very, very interesting.

Cuban food- thank you thank you thank you!!!!

I still haven't figured out how to put captions with the pictures...the format always changes when I publish. Oh well. The food picture is Aebelskivers- an awesome family favorite from Denmark. The rest is of the circus I went to today. It was interesting and afterwards I went to Dave and Susie's to watch the movie I fell asleep watching last night and then watched my nephew while they went to see some of their youth's band concert...now it's time for bed.

Happy Birthday!!!

1. Wednesday Night small group.

2. Party at school
3. Flowers from my Beth Moore "Daniel" small group- delivered to school.
4. Celebrating at TGI Fridays with friends and family.

Thanks everyone for your emails, phone calls, and comments too. Thanks for making my day special.

I went hiking Tuesday and had a great day. Here are some pictures.

We went to a corn Maze on Saturday....it was kind of fun! Probably more fun at night, but still fun. I had a great weekend all in all!

Although the middle east on relates to me since I spent a significant amount of time there....This one about TCK's relates more. This is who I am people and why I don't perfectly fit into a ISF whatever category.

You know you're a TCK when:
- "Where are you from?" has more than one reasonable answer.
- You flew before you could walk.
- You speak two languages, but can’t spell in either.
- You feel odd being in the ethnic majority.
- You have three passports.
- You have a passport but no driver's license.
- You go into culture shock upon returning to your "home" country.
- Your life story uses the phrase "Then we moved to..." three (or four, or five...) times.
- You wince when people mispronounce foreign words.
- You don't know whether to write the date as day/month/year, month/day/year, or some variation thereof.
- The best word for something is the word you learned first, regardless of the language.
- You get confused because US money isn't colour-coded.
- You think VISA is a document that's stamped in your passport, not a plastic card you carry in your wallet.
- You own personal appliances with 3 types of plugs, know the difference between 110 and 220 volts, 50 and 60 cycle current, and realize that a trasnsformer isn't always enough to make your appliances work.
- You fried a number of appliances during the learning process.
- You think the Pledge of Allegiance might possibly begin with "Four-score and seven years ago...."
- Half of your phone calls are unintelligible to those around you.
- You believe vehemently that football is played with a round, spotted ball.
- You consider a city 500 miles away "very close."
- You've read National Geographic and recognized someone.
- You cruise the Internet looking for fonts that can support foreign alphabets.
- You think in the metric system and Celsius.
- You may have learned to think in feet and miles as well, after a few years of living (and driving) in the US. (But not Fahrenheit. You will *never* learn to think in Fahrenheit).
- You haggle with the checkout clerk for a lower price.
- Your minor is a foreign language you already speak.
- You miss the subtitles when you see the latest movie.
- You've gotten out of school because of monsoons, bomb threats, and/or popular demonstrations.
- You speak with authority on the subject of airline travel.
- You know how to pack.
- You have the urge to move to a new place every couple of years.
- The thought of sending your (hypothetical) kids to public school scares you, while the thought of letting them fly alone doesn't at all.
- You have friends from 29 different countries.
- You sort your friends by continent.
- You have a time zone map next to your telephone
- You realize what a small world it is, after all.

The beauties and strangeties of Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia







The following is taken from a Saudi Tourism website...

Stay safe

Homosexuality is punishable by death.

Drug smuggling is punishable by death.

Adultery is punishable by death if you are married, and lashes if not.

Theft is punishable by amputation.

Apostasy is punishable by death.

These things being said, Saudi Arabia is generally a safe country. However, there is currently a low-level insurgency which targets foreigners in general and Westerners in particular. It is prudent not to draw attention to oneself. Foreigners should register their presence with their embassy or consulate. Emergency alert systems using e-mail and cell phone messages are maintained by many governments for their guest workers.

While crime is low by Western standards, a certain background level of nonviolent opportunistic theft does exist. Locking doors and keeping valuables on one's person is called for. Violations of Saudi law can bring a visitor into contact with the local police and justice systems. Corporal and capital punishment are both used against both Saudi and other nationals. Embassies can provide only limited help in these situations.

In addition to more mundane violations, other crimes include not observing the Ramadan fast, insulting Islam, adultery, apostasy and (non-Islamic) preaching.

You may have lived in the Middle East if:

1) You watched Captain Majid. And you wanted to be just like him.
2) You drank Bebsi, Fanta, Sun Top, Tang, and Canada Dry.
3) You're STILL shaking the sand out of your shoes.
4) When you wanted fast food you got a shawarma.
5) You think American restaurants should serve lamb. With rice.
6) Bebsi was cheaper than water. So was gasoline.
7) You remember when 80*F was cold, 90*F was cool, 105*F was warm, and 115*F was hot.
8) You wanted Saudi Arabia to go all the way in World Cup 1994. And cried when they didn't.
9) You know a friend who won a free car from the local mall. Twice.
10) Gulf Countries: Arabic is the 1st language. Urdu is the 2nd. Filipino is the 3rd. English is the 4th. Balad Ash-Sham: Arabic is the 1st language. English and French are tied for 2nd. Egypt: Egyptian is the 1st language. Arabic is the 2nd... musris, seriously: learn how to pronounce the jeem. It's jamah, NOT GAMAH.
11) Some dumb ass American asked you if you rode a camel to school. And you told him that you've seen more Rolls Royce, Mercedes, BMW, and Lexus automobiles on the streets of Riyadh or Dubai than you've ever seen in the USA.
12) Your school had classes canceled because of a truck bomb or a SCUD missile attack.
13) You know what the Burj Al Arab is.
14) You had satellite TV and never heard of cable until you came to the USA.
15) There are no lines at amusement parks. Push, shove, and run your tail off to get the bumper car before the other guy.
16) Airport workers offer to carry your bags for you and you say no.
17) Thursday and Friday was the official weekend.
18) People who DIDN’T bribe got into trouble.
19) There was no such thing as a non-smoking section. Anywhere. Even airline flight crews smoked on airplanes. In the aisles. Beside the no-smoking sign.
20) Your parents told you it was too hot to go outside.
21) You know that 3 people can fit on a motorcycle, 8 people can fit in a 5-seat car, and 20 people can fit in a 12-person minibus.
22) You actually tried to surf a sand dune.
23) Your car or your parents' car was equipped with dual AC's.
24) The best Arab restaurant in every city south of Syria was Yamal Ash-Sham.
25) You've seen scorpions and sand vipers in the wild.
26) You lived in a compound.
27) Casio G-Shock: the only watches you've ever owned.
28) You bought a dagger. And a sword.
29) Almost every McDonalds was two stories tall. The rest were three stories tall.and had stained glass windows and chandeliers.
30) You never saw a building made of wood until you came to the USA. Everything was made of cement, brick, and marble.
31) Your front lawn had a rock garden instead of grass.
32) Your parents paid to get you out of military service.
33) You watched BBC, CNN International, and Al-Jazeera... and consider American news to be for entertainment purposes only.
34) Lion Bar and Kit Kat are the greatest chocolate bars of all time. Don't forget Smarties (chocolate)
35) Your school had armed guards and concrete barricades.
36) Stores closed during prayer time.
37) Restaurants had ladies sections. Swimming pools had women-only times.
38) Your mom and sister wore an abaya, even if they weren't Muslim.
39) You and your friends all thought you were gangstas.
40) You or your neighbor had a driver.
41) Most people on the road don't realize there is a speed limit. Neither does the police.
42) There is NO such thing as Israel. It is Palestine.
43) You've been to a gold souk.
44) The movie Aladdin was banned by the government. So were Pokemon. So was Michael Jackson.
45) You got back at your friend by pointing at him and yelling, “Yahood!” when you were in a downtown Damascus Mosque. Your friend was hospitalized for the worst slipper-beating in recorded history.
46) You owned Titanic, Jurrasic Park, and Star Wars Episode 1 weeks before they were playing in U.S. cinemas.
47) You currently own a cellphone that will be sold as the "latest technology" in the USA... in a year.
48) Bizza Hut had beef bebberoni.
49) You thought KFC stood for Kuwaiti Fried Chicken.
50) You still think Wimpy's was better than McDonalds.
51) Everyone at school played football aka "soccer". If there were desis, then some people played cricket.
52) Sports stores were always 90% football aka "soccer" gear, and every kid ended up buying a number 9 Ronaldo Brazil shirt.
53) You know that camels can spit. Far.
54) The image of one camel mounting another is still burned into your childhood memory.
55) There was actually a point to owning a SUV and now you're extremely pissed at how the USA has transformed a true off-road utility vehicle into a fashion statement for "soccer moms."
56) You know for a fact that bedowins can drive Toyota Land Cruisers, Nissan Patrols, and other 4x4 SUVs better than anyone else on the planet and herd their goats with them.
57) You ate dates all the time and couldn't believe that they are considered exotic to Americans in "Raiders of the Lost Arc."
58) You've seen a sword dance. At a wedding.
59) You've smoked sheesha aka argheela aka hookah aka hubbly bubbly but are shocked to find that the pipe would be considered drug paraphernalia in the USA.
60) You know that the Greeks took shawarmas from the Arabs and just renamed them gyros. And you're outraged.
61) You've actually been in a sand storm and you know sand stings.
62) You laughed at how tiny the ants are in the USA.
63) You might not be able to play the drums but you CAN play the daff.
64) You know that bedouins can make random, completely unsynched clapping into something that actually sounds like music. Especially if they are waving a sword around.
65) You drank mud aka Turkish Coffee.
66) You cried when you realized you couldn't buy goat milk at U.S. super markets.
67) You know that monsters do exist. They are called camel spiders.
68) You rode ATVs, dirt bikes, and jet ski's... when you were 8 years old.
69) You started driving cars on your dad's knee... when you were 4 years old.
70) You still prefer a siwak to a toothbrush.
71) Top 3 uses for your shahata (slippers): Killing cockroaches, smacking or throwing at your friend, and actually wearing them when the asphalt is too hot to go bare-foot.
72) You or one of your friends thought hamburgers have ham in them.
73) You root for Saudi Arabia every World Cup... and when they are eliminated, you root for Brazil.
74) When driving in Saudi, nobody stays in their lanes.
75) Saudi drivers don't honk when pedestrians cross the road at night. Nor do they slow down. They flash their lights and speed up.
76) Syrian drivers are completely shocked and confused if someone flashes his blinker light before changing lanes or turning.
77) A Syrian cop told you that the stripped white lines on roads are just for decoration.
78) America is called Emreeka.
79) You could hear the call to prayer anywhere in the city.
80) You covered your lunchbox with SunTop stickers.
81) You've been harassed in the souq for not covering your hair
82) Bargaining is a recreational sport
83) You snorkeled in the Red Sea wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans with sneakers

yeah, yeah, yeah....I know! So, I went to my high School homecoming and enjoyed knowing only one person and having teachers come up and read my name tag and look at the date I graduated and say, "1995, wow...that was a long time ago!" Well, all I have to say to that is they are still there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So then I drove home and got home at around 1:15am...slept in on Saturday and then went to a church social with Dave and Susie. Sunday I got up early for a meeting of the middle school ministry team, enjoyed the service. Came home, ate, and spent 6 hours working on school stuff to get ready for conferences this week. I got up early this morning...went to school when it was still dark, so that I could get a little prep done before my first conference...and neither conference showed up. Oh the joy of having to reschedule. So....now it is the end of the day, I have worked out, now I need to get ready to go to Bible study and figure out what I want for dinner. Isn't my life interesting? ha ha ha ;-)

Amazing sky! I didn't get a picture, but if you are in my neck of the woods, maybe you saw it to. The moon was as bright as a neon bulb tonight and it made the sky light enough that you could see all the clouds even though it was 10pm. Very cool.

I saw a movie tonight...it was very good in my opinion, which is just that, MY opinion. Facing the Giants. God has a theme this fall...His greatness and goodness. You know, if you stop to think about it, He is so much bigger than we can comprehend and He can do amazing things- that we may never dream we can do- through us. I'm looking in anticipation for what He's going to do through me this year. I love Him, what can I say? He's amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've seen Him work and know what He can do, now I just need to believe He wants to do incredible things in my life too. He has before, and I know He will again.

Homecoming weekend....to go or not to go, that is the question......?

Hi everyone. I know I haven't written in awhile. But my mouse was on the blink and I've been working WAY TO MUCH!!! So here is an update of myrtle beach , my classroom, and part of my room.

I'm doing good. I like my school and class, I just can't seem to get caught up before there is more to do. My church is good! Elevation church- I help out wih the kids and am in a small group midweek. My townhouse is nice for the most part. I have two roomates- though they are rarely home. That's about it!

Hey everyone. Here are some picts of when we went rafting a couple weekends ago. My first day of school went well today. Good kids, I think it will be a good year. Thanks for all of your prayers, I really appreciate them! Everyone here has been so supportive and helpful- I've really been blessed! This morning Susie came to my school before it started and brought me the coolest helium baloon and a vase of roses.

The water is lower in the one picture than it was when we went over it a few hours earlier because the water is Dam released and they had closed it by the time the picture was taken.

More to come later.

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher.

What's Your Personality Type?

Yet more amazing insights from my Bible Study group. Psalm 125

But all the time, as we read of Israel's up and down faith history, we realize something solid and steady: they are always God's people. God is steadfastly with them, in mercy and judgement, insistently gracious. And as we learn that, we learn to live NOT BY OUR FEELINGS about God but by the FACTS of God. ...Neither when my faith fractures or my feelings bruise does God cast me off and reject me. My feelings....are essential and valuable. THey keep me aware of much that is true and real. But they tell me next to nothing about God or my relation to God. My security comes from WHO God is, not from how I feel. Discipleship is a decision to live by what I know about God, not by what I feel about Him or myself or my neighbors. -----Eugene Peterson

God is NOT like MEN, He is not fickle, does not lie, does not cast us away from himselg on a whim or if We hurt His feelings. He steadfastly pursues us and loves us and draws us to himself. If only we could grasp the smallest measure of that love and committment.

Isaiah 43:25 "I am He that wipes out your sins for MY OWN SAKE, and WILL NOT REMEMBER THEM." (emphasis mine) He doesn't forgive us for us, but for himself.

I'll admit I'm struggling with not having a job, but I know I can trust in Him and rest in Him.

Isn't Carson just cute??! That's his Cubs outfit with overalls. He's starting to coo and talk to himself...it's really sweet.









David and Jonathan (one of his youth) planned this father son wheelbarrow kickball thing. It was so much fun and they ended up playing in the rain. This was the T-shirt made for it.


No job prospects yet.....but I saw the townhouse I can move into if I get a job and it is nice!