Tim and Jeni

Thankfulness for our home

>> Thursday, November 1, 2012

We have passed a full year of living in our home and it feels SO good! We don't have plans of moving. God has even confirmed to us in several ways that He wants us to become more deeply rooted in this community. Having our kids go to the local preschool has already allowed us to deepen some friendships. Our kids are making friends and that makes us so happy for them.

Filled with Thankfulness

“My heart is filled with thankfulness” that's going to be the theme of my thankful blogs this November. I did this last year. Only this time I am not setting the goal of writing a blog each day during November. I'll just do as many as I can. It's so good for me to reflect on God's goodness to me. And, maybe, it can bless you too!

seeing Tim's work

>> Friday, October 5, 2012

I have had the privilege of taking pictures at the institute where Tim teaches English. I love to meet the students and see the teachers in action! I love to talk with the office staff and the director!

I am so impressed with Tim as a teacher! He is good at building a rapport with his students. They obviously like being in his class! He learned some great skills at the CELTA training, which I know he's thankful for!

Studying Arabic...again!

I have started taking Arabic classes at an institute in our city. Now that the kids are in preschool I feel a little more free to put some of my time and energy into improving my Arabic. This bit of extra time is limited because I'll be homeschooling Joseph next year.

This time is a gift and I need to make the most of it. Even though I know this in my head, it doesn't make learning Arabic any easier. This is such a hard language!

I've been thankful for God's grace as I've started studying again. I continue to pray that He will help me to love this language. When I'm really enjoying it, I'm more motivated to work at it!

we're under construction

Our village is under construction right now. Over the last few weeks it seems like the construction company has decided to dig in the most inconvenient places possible. The scene in this picture (that I posted on instagram) is right outside the kids' preschool.

Every time I see the construction signs I feel like God reminds me that I'm also under construction. I am always so grateful that God isn't finished working on me. He promises to complete His work in me. The construction process isn't pretty, but I'm thankful to know that he's working everything out for His glory and my good!

Bowling for Tim's Birthday!

>> Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Yesterday was Tim's Birthday! It's so much different celebrating adult birthdays compared to kids' birthdays. Especially having celebrated Joseph's 5th birthday last week. But, we still wanted to make Tim's birthday special! So, we invited all of our American friends to go bowling with us! It was a fun time!

Jordan

>> Thursday, September 6, 2012

Last weekend I (Jeni) took a quick trip to Jordan! I was gone for three days and it was a nice get-away!

Jordan is still the Middle East, but it has a different feel than the Gulf. Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine are all considered a part of the Levant Region of the Middle East.

The plane ride was a little less than 3 hours long. It is amazing how relaxing it is to travel without kids! I enjoyed reading and journaling on the trip!

2 Parties in 1 Week

>> Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Last week we had two parties, it was a fun & crazy time! Carie was the one who hosted both of them....she's so awesome!!

Hummus

>> Monday, September 3, 2012

I'm embarrassed to say that I've lived in the Middle East for 6 years and have only recently decided to start making hummus! I got a recipe when I got to know Victoria in language school.

I don't know why I didn't make it earlier because it's one of Joseph's favorite foods. (He has many favorite foods, though.) My one excuse is that until last year I didn't have a blender.

A Quilt for Megan

I haven't been sure how to start this post about Megan. I love that girl so much and she's such a part of our family here that I don't want to admit that she's moving away from us.

She is going to boarding school and I know she'll love it there! She's going to have so much fun living with a bunch of girls her age!

Eid Visiting

>> Saturday, August 25, 2012

There is a holiday after Ramadan called "Eid Al Fitr." Eid means holiday...the word is not a religious word unless you're celebrating something religious.

Eid is a very big deal for our Muslim friends because there are only two each year. It's as big as Christmas is for us. So, they spend a lot of time preparing for this holiday. They have a lot of shopping to do for special food and for new clothes. It's very important to wear new clothes for the holidays and for the little girls to be matching! Very fun!

The women visit with the women; and the men visit with the men. There isn't any mixed gender visiting. So, the kids and I got dressed up and went visiting without Tim.

The kids enjoyed saying, "Eid Mubarak" because when they did people would hand them money!

Garga'oon

>> Sunday, August 5, 2012

Friday night was Garga'oon (قرقاعون) also called Nasifa (ناصفة), which is the half-way mark of Ramadan. Not all Muslim countries celebrate this.

Fixing our eyes on Christ

>> Monday, July 16, 2012

In the last couple of weeks God has been refining our family. God is so good to walk through both the good times and the difficult times with us. Having our faith tested and purified is so hard. But, in the end, it's so worth it.

Trip to Dubai

>> Sunday, July 8, 2012

Last weekend we took a trip to Dubai! It was a nice time get-away! We flew there with our friend Melissa. She spent her time on the beach, relaxing and soaking in the sun. We, on the other hand, went to the malls and found lots of fun things to do! We went on separate vacations together. That's something, I thought I'd never say.

Our Teenagers

>> Sunday, June 24, 2012

Megan and Jared stayed with us for a few weeks while their parents were in the States. These weeks flew by and I am sad to see them go home now! They leave us tomorrow morning.

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about having teenagers in the house again. (The last time we had teenagers was when the Groves were here.) I don't feel like I'm cool enough for teenagers because I don't understand their language. But Jared and Megan were kind enough to help me out! They used words that I don't typically say. Here are some of the words that I heard from them every day: oh snap, epic, awkward, fail, skyrim, mine craft, trolling, totes, bubbs, broski, chill, hipster and cool story bro. They had fun helping me come up with this list. They also laughed at me trying to use them correctly! haha!!

Father's Day 2012

>> Tuesday, June 19, 2012

This year we had a fun Father's Day! Joseph and Faith were so excited to celebrate their Daddy! The kids kept asking, "Is it Daddy's Day yet?"

Tim is a wonderful father! He loves these two so much! I love watching him love them. He's good at playing with them, taking care of them, training them and teaching them.

Mowlid

>> Monday, June 4, 2012

In the last couple of weeks there have been a lot of Mowlids at the Hussainias in the village. I have enjoyed being with my friends in the village during these days of celebrating! This is a picture of the place where the men gather. The women have separate places.

Remembrance is something that is very important in Shia Islam. They hold commemeration ceremonies by gathering together and reciting stories. A Mowlid is when they celebrate the birth of prophets or imams, even ladies from the family of their prophet Mohammed.

Schooling Decisions

>> Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Tim and I have been praying all along that God would direct us as we make decisions for our kids' education. I have been planning to homeschool my kids and I can't wait to do it! I got a lot of great ideas from the homeschool conference that I recently went to. God is faithful to continue to direct us in this decision and we're so thankful!

black gloves

>> Friday, May 18, 2012

This week I bought black gloves. I have seen some very conservative ladies wear them with their abaayas, but I never thought I'd have any.

The thing is that I got henna on Wednesday. I went to a friend's house in the village so she could do my henna. During this time my friend told me that another friend's grandmother had died the night before. So there would be three days of mourning in the village.

But, right away I knew that I couldn't show up to sit with the family with henna on my hands. You only get henna when you're happy or celebrating.

So, I bought gloves out of respect for a mourning family.

Tea Club

I have been meeting with a new group of students from the English Institute for the past few weeks. Each week we meet at a different place where we can sit together and practice speaking in English. Sometimes we go to a coffee shop, but this week we met at the Tea Club!

Faith came with me this time and the ladies enjoyed watching her. She loved drinking tea with us! She also got to color and play on the iPod. She felt pretty special to be a part of this group!

Mother's Day

>> Sunday, May 13, 2012

I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a mom! Mother's Day is such a treat for me! This year my husband and kids made it very special. They took me out to the mall for lunch and a pedicure.

I am so thankful for my kids! As we walked into the mall, I thought it was totally appropriate that there was a big heart on the greeting sign. I love these two and I love being their mom! Seriously, my heart is bubbling over with gratefulness for them.

I thought it was cute...after we took the picture Joseph leaned over and said, "I love you, Mommy! Happy Valentines Day!" haha!

tomatoes

>> Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Last week Faith and I went to one of my Arab friends' farm. It was really huge and there are lots of vegetables as well as animals. They were really proud to be able to show us their family farm!

Wedding Time!

>> Friday, May 4, 2012

It's officially wedding season around here! I love weddings on this side of the world! Over the last few weeks Tim and I have been to several weddings.

It's such an important part of the culture here, but it's so totally different than the way we do weddings in the States. One of the biggest differences is that the men and women have separate wedding parties. The men's party and the women's party can even be held weeks apart from each other!

This picture was taken when we got home from the wedding around 11:30pm. Joseph said, "Daddy, take our picture! We're married now!"

Our New Pets!

This week we got two birds for pets! I have been wanting to have birds because I had one when I was a kid and it was a lot of fun! Tim has been hesitant about it, but he's warmed up to them already!

Birds are a very common pet among our Arab friends. Just a couple days ago we saw a boy walking around the village with a bird on his shoulder!

I met a new Arab friend at a local souq (market) where she helped me pick out and buy the birds! This friend has a lot of small birds as well as a big parrot. Most families have a bird and I've heard of a lot of parrots that speak Arabic! I have yet to hear a bird greet me in Arabic, but I hope to soon!

Pretty Henna Hands

>> Saturday, April 21, 2012

The day after shelling the shrimp, I went to the same friends' house and got henna on my hands! After handling the slimy seafood, it felt so good to have pretty hands!

I have blogged about henna before. You can see that blog post if you click here.

I was so excited to find a friend who does henna in the village that I live close to. It takes me 5 minutes to get to her house. I hope that I will be able to go back to get henna many times! Let me know if you want to come visit and get henna with me!

Here's a couple of pictures of the fresh henna on my hands:

Shrimp

This week when I was at the park by the sea I met some new friends who live in our village. As we were talking we saw a boat pull up with big coolers. They unloaded the coolers and went out again. The ladies told me that they are catching shrimp. So I asked if they sell the shrimp.

The next morning at 6:45am

, I got a call from my new friend who said, "How many kilos of shrimp do you want?" I told her I'd take 1 kilo and she said I could come pick it up at 9:00am.

This was the start of my shrimp adventure!

Easter Morning

>> Monday, April 9, 2012

I got home just in time for Easter! It was so great to be back with my family again and to celebrate the most important holiday together!!

Basically the reason that we celebrate Easter is what makes us who we are! We believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, was buried for three days and then raised again on the third day! It's only through his death that we can be set free from our sin problem.

It's awesome that Jesus has power over death! The fact that He rose from the dead means that we have the opportunity to continue living this life with a living God!

Layover

I started to feel more at home as soon as I looked out of the plane window and saw sand! Before getting home, though, I had a long layover in another country.

I was so blessed to be able to catch up with some friends that we hadn't been able to see in about 6 months!

Trip to Kyrgyzstan

Last week week I took a trip all by myself to a homeschool conference. There aren't a lot of opportunities like this over here, so I was excited!

This conference was scheduled to be in Kyrgyzstan. I had heard the name of this country, but I didn't know where it was. I started looking up airlines that fly to Bishkek and decided to go with FlyDubai.

End of another Session

>> Thursday, April 5, 2012

Each five week session seems to go faster and faster! Last week marked the end of another session of English classes for Tim.

He had a couple of different classes. One was all women and the other was mixed.

On the last day of class two of his students who are cousins brought him a gift to say thank you!

Easter Party

Last week we had an Easter Party at my house for a bunch of ladies! It was so much fun to share our traditions with them and, most importantly, the reason we celebrate Easter!

I was so surprised at how many ladies came over to celebrate with us! They had never heard about Easter before and were surprised when we told them that this holiday is more important to us than Christmas!

A week with the Groves Family!

>> Tuesday, March 20, 2012

We were very blessed to have our good friends come visit us last week! Dennis & Shannon brought their four kids with them!

It was so encouraging to introduce them to our Arab friends and show them around our island! Their faith and trust in God is also an encouragement to us!

Jeni's Birthday

>> Saturday, March 10, 2012

March 10th is my birthday and I was really blessed to go out with my sweet family and enjoy some chocolate fondu!

Teacher Tim

>> Wednesday, February 22, 2012

This weeks marks the end of another session of English classes for Tim. He has been involved in teaching Business English. It's been a new challenge for him.

Ice Skating

During this last session of English classes I had the privilege of being involved with a "Community Group." This is a weekly block of time for a group of students to meet with an American to practice their English. I had 6 girls in my group and grew to love each of them. Our last meeting time was on Monday morning.

For our final meeting my group wanted to go ice skating. I had never been ice skating with Arabs before. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time!

Picnic at the Park

>> Sunday, February 19, 2012

On Friday after church we went with our friends for a picnic in the park! We had such a great time! It was a little windy, but wasn't too hot or too cold!

We are so thankful for some time to be able to spend time outside before it gets too hot. Once it's hot, we are stuck inside so much.

So we all brought food to share, which was great!

Jordan

Once we finally got through Saudi, we arrived in Jordan. We had a nice time as a family in the city of Amman!

We had great food there. Jordan is in the part of the Middle East called the Levant where they have some of the best food! We loved the Shish Tawook, Hummus, bread and Lentil Soup!

Driving through Saudi Arabia

>> Friday, February 17, 2012

We drove for 17 hours through Saudi Arabia to get to Amman, Jordan! We stayed in a hotel one night, so we didn't do it all in one day. As soon as we crossed the border into Saudi, we felt like we were in a different world. They drive differently, they dress differently, they think differently.

dinner and a movie

>> Monday, January 23, 2012

A couple weeks ago we went on a family date!! It was so much fun to go to dinner and a movie together! It still cracks me up that they changed the title of the movie here....haha!!!

blessings in January

January has been a very full month for our family in so many ways! But it's always a blessing to walk through life together as a couple! We are thankful to be able to share this life together!!

We've both made some new goals for this year and we're looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2012! We have started a new Bible reading plan and have enjoyed doing this together...what a privilege it is to have a husband that longs to know God and His word more and more!

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