What are the lines for, exactly?

There is a particular road, a fairly main one, that has been recently decorated with its very own street lines. These gave me hope that there would soon be more organization on said road and perhaps more predictability in the driving patterns there. However, instead I followed a car for some distance yesterday morning up that hill and instead of passing it, I merely followed and laughed. This particular driver seemed to think that instead of driving between the lines, one was supposed to drive so that the line went directly down the middle of one's car, effectively taking his half "out of the middle" of the road. Other drivers completely disregard the lines as if they don't exist. I guess I always thought that people naturally drive within boundaries, but it must be something I learned through experience, or part of the way my culture thinks. Order is good, we say. God is a God of order. We like order. But these people don't always think that way.

More on my rug..

I think from Mr. Jesch's description, my rug looks like it is machine made... all those knots look really similar to me. Plus there is that nagging thought (although incorrect) that no one on the planet could have the patience to make a rug that is roughly 15 ft by 10 ft.

My Sewing Project

I thought I would show my progress on my most recent hobby. I am still missing a few colors that are being brought over from the states soon. But it is a relaxing thing and everything is put in order. It is a pleasant task since so much of life here is in disorder or "out of order".

من فه رش (My rug)

Out of the Blue...

I was reprimanding one of my students today and at the end of it, he said to me... "You know Miss C. I still think about what you said, 'A harsh word stirs up anger, but a gentle answer turns away wrath.'"


I wracked my brain and finally remembered a conversation we had early last spring. It is amazing how my kids retain stuff! And it is amazing too, to see how God's word never returns void. I know that I should not be surprised when God's word is true, I have seen the results often enough. But I still get blown away.

Craftiness...

It was like the planets had aligned themselves. A week ago, while I was on break and had time, I realized a need to organize some things, and I felt like organizing. All three coincided together...now I just had to figure out how! I needed some smaller bins or boxes for things like pens and cords. I haven't ever seen anything like that here, at least not in my budget. But I discovered a large cardboard box. I received permission to tear it to pieces and and a box cutting knife. I spent nearly all one afternoon and some of the next day creating boxes and covering them in brightly colored paper. My room is now organized and bright and happy!

I made 12 boxes in all, I think. The red one pictured here is the biggest and is triangle shaped to fit economically on my shelf. I have a grand stockpile of various medications that were rather ugly sitting on the shelf by themselves.

The Puzzle Undone

Have you ever been both troubled by something and yet, completely untroubled? This is the way with me now. There is less turmoil, but instead a steady waiting, like leaving a puzzle undone on a table. At the moment I am content to let it sit there incomplete and scattered. It has not been put away in a box, nor do I spend hours poring over the pieces trying to make them fit. I know I cannot leave it there forever--I will have to put it together or put it away someday. But as it sits out I am reminded of it, and I pray about it. And there it remains.

O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go

Text: George Matheson, 1842-1906
Music: Albert L. Peace, 1844-1912
Tune: ST. MARGARET, Meter: 88.886

1. O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths
its flow may richer, fuller be.

2. O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine's blaze
its day may brighter, fairer be.

3. O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow thru the rain,
and feel the promise is not vain,
that morn shall tearless be.

4. O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
and from the ground there blossoms
red life that shall endless be.

Hymnsite.com

Uh oh...

I had something I was going to post about, but before the page opened I forgot. Um... so... lately I have been up to studying the language and reading and praying and it has been nice to have time for these things on top of my teaching. And everyone gets a kick out of me speaking in their language.

It would be fun to type some of the words and letters here, but I haven't yet discovered how to get an Arabic script onto my blog post. I am in the process of looking it up. I don't want translation, just the script. Any ideas?