Interview and Emirati Wedding

Alright, I know, odd things to combine in one blog entry but they both happened this week and I don't want to write 2 separate entries.
I had an interview for a 3rd grade position at the Amercian Academy for Girls in Mizhar on Wednesday.  The school is very western and I loved it!  I mean it is so different from what I'm used to in Al Ain. The classrooms are large, well resourced with books and technology, they have 3 media centers and 3 computer labs, and they even have math and science manipulatives.  Running a school with the approrpriate materials, what a concept!!

ADEC's reputation is well known, even in Dubai.  When the principal, who is from Florida, asked about my current job I told her I was working with ADEC and she groaned, and then laughed. She told me that they have several ADEC teachers and that she just told Teachaway that ADEC brings the teachers over, they complete their contract and then escape to Dubai.  How true!

I thought the interview went well and she said that I would hear from her this week.  I am continuing to pray about it as I still do not have a clear indication of God's will.  I am trusting that God will reveal His perfect will and plan to me in His perfect timing.  To my praying friends who are reading this, please continue to lift this up in your prayers.  Thanks!

Friday was the Emirati wedding.  Mohammed's (Cindy's neighbor) father's sister's daughter's (cousin, right? but those were his words:) was the one who got married.  Although I am calling this an Emirati "wedding" it wasn't really a wedding.  Emirati, and probably Arabic, weddings are simply signing papers so this was the party that occurs after, sometimes 3-4 months after, the official signing of the papers.

Unfortunately no cameras are allowed at Emirati weddings, so try to picture in your mind while I do my best to describe the scene.  These weddings are a place for show.  Who has the sparkliest dress, who has the most jewlery, who has the newest shoes, who has the whitest skin (they use skin whitening cream), who has the most makeup, who has the fanciest abayah...?  Consequently it is very important for all guests to dress to impress.  Now, there was no way I was going to be impressing any Emirati women, but I did dress very nicely.  I wore my long black skirt, black sparkly top, and some very nice jewelry.  The only thing I didn't like was my shoes, but I didn't have a choice.  I wore the only black shoes that I had and since I have a hard time finding shoes that fit in this country it wasn't possible to make a quick trip to the nearest shoe store and find a dressy pair of shoes.  Despite the shoes, I was told that I looked very elegant.  Elegant for American and Emirati are 2 very different concepts.  I felt totally underdressed.

Khulood, Aisha, Cindy, Sarah, and I arrived at the Radisson Blu (where the "wedding" was taking place) at about 9:00pm and there were a few guests already seated at the tables.  Oh, one more thing you need to know about these weddings is that the men and women do not attend together.  There is a separate party for the men and women, typically the men are outside and the women are inside if it's at a hotel.  So, Mohammed, Hamdan, and Myoud went separately.  We were led into the hall and seated at a table right by the band, which was behind a screen so they wouldn't be seen by the women.  The hall was set up with many round tables situated around a stage area.  The stage was glass with rose petals scattered on it.  Underneath the glass there were colored lights which made the floor light up and change color.  The stage was for dancing, the 7 tier cake, and a throne for the bride to sit when she entered. 

Prior to the bride arriving there was dancing by professional Arabic dancers.  They were amazing, they way they shake and move.  Quite spectacular.  We watched the dancers and snacked on the appetizers: hommous, taboulah, fatoush, bread, and pickled veggies while we waited for the bride to arrive.  The bride arrived sometime later, not quite sure when though, and she arrived very slowly.  She slowly and carefully made her way from the back of the room to her throne.  She needed help from her sisters as she was walking.  Her dress was huge!  Very poofy and she had a hard time walking in it.  Who knows about her shoes!  As the bride was entering the women were doing their high pitched yelling, which I cannot imitate or even describe, it is just something you have to experience.  Oh I forgot to mention the smoke!  Yes, smoke.  There was smoke as the bride was making her way to her throne on the stage.  Once seated, the dinner started.  Typical Arabic food was served: rice and mixed grill, along with some lasagne type thing.  It had to have been 11:00 or 11:30 by the time dinner was served.  That's way too late to be eating dinner in my opinion, so I didn't have anything. 

After dinner the sweets were served and then the groom came in.  Just before the groom came in the women were given notice so they could put their abayah back on.  No smoke for him, but he did come in with an awesome Syrian group that did a traditional Syrian wedding dance.  I thought it was the best part of the wedding.  They had swords, shields, drums, and sticks and they were chanting and dancing.  It was quite impressive.  There was picture taking and more dancing from the Arabic and Syrian dancers and then it was time to cut the cake.  We were told the party would go on till about 3 or 4 in the morning, but we left after the cake was cut at 12:30. 

It was an interesting night filled with a totally different cultural experience.  I enjoyed the night, and if I have the opportunity to go to another wedding I will invest in a more sparkly dress!

There was a sandstorm almost like that in Mission Impossible 4 this weekend.  It was the worst I have ever witnessed.  Sand everywhere, even on my teeth:(  Yuck!  I know that there will be a fine layer of sand everywhere at school tomorrow.  It's quite disgusting. 

82 at 6:30

Salvation and Baptism

So, based on the title I am assuming you can figure out that this post has nothing to do with school or travels.  But, as this blog is supposed to be a journal I am recording some extremely important events that have happened in my life in the past 2 1/2 months.  I have been putting off posting about my new found salvation due to fear of some responses, but I have realized that I am here to bring glory and honor to God and to please Him and share the message of salvation with others.  So it's about time that I obey my God and give Him glory! 

Some of you reading this may know a bit about this already, and for others of you it may be a surprise because you thought (just as I did) that I was already saved, and still for others it will be completely new news for you.

My testimony began 16 years ago when I thought I had accepted Jesus as my Savior.  My roommate in college was a Christian and she invited me to a Bible study.  After one of the Bible studies she asked me what I thought about Jesus.  Having grown up Catholic, I told her that I knew that Jesus died for my sins.  She asked if I had accepted that Jesus died for me and I again told her that I knew that He died for me.  Eventually the conversation got around to what would happen if I died.  I told her I thought I was going to heaven because I was a good person.  She told me that wasn’t good enough and I needed to accept Jesus’ forgiveness.  She led me in a prayer, and then gladly pronounced that I was saved and going to heaven.  Good news! 

I continued to attend church, Bible studies, and retreats, but nothing really changed.  I even got baptized, tried to lead a Bible study, and to disciple new Christians.  Over the years I had many struggles with sin and accepting that Jesus had died for my sins.  I was trying to be perfect, thinking that was what God wanted, but never reaching perfection.  I would share my struggles with one of my close friends who would always ask me if I knew that God loved me and died for my sins.  My answer was always the same: I know it in my head.  It had never made it to my heart.  This pattern continued for 15 years and then God brought me to the UAE.  I was miserable.  Nothing seemed to be going right and I was depressed, angry, and lonely, and ready to go home. 

In October, 2011 I began attending Redeemer where I was hearing messages totally focused on Jesus and for three weeks the messages were on letting Him be the Lord of your life.  In addition to that there were also discussions about people who think they are saved, but really aren’t.  Jesus definitely wasn’t Lord of my life and I thought I was saved, but was I really?  After praying, reading the Bible and other books, and talking to Christians I determined that I wasn’t saved.  I had simply agreed with the fact that Jesus died for me.  I needed to trust God to save me through His Son Jesus.  Jesus died on the cross for me so that I wouldn’t have to face the wrath of God for my sins.  He took my punishment and gave me His righteousness.  I needed to truly accept His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ, repent of my sins, and surrender my life to Him.  So, on Nov. 19, 2011 I asked.  I truly asked God to forgive my sins.  I repented of my sins and had faith that Jesus died for my sins.  And because of that sacrifice I was made acceptable in God's sight and He adopted me as His child and gave me the right to go to Heaven.  In that moment things changed.  I really believed in my heart!  I knew that there was nothing I could do to earn God’s love, forgiveness, and salvation.  God did it for me through Jesus.  I was forgiven and loved and I was changing.  I didn’t feel weighed down by my past sins and failures.  I had a desire to read the Word and apply it to my life.  I wanted to pray and spend time with God getting to know Him.  I experienced joy!  Praising God became something that I longed to do and I have every reason to praise Him.  He set me free and I could truly say thank You God!  All praise, glory, and thanks to God my Father and Jesus my Savior!

I continued to attend Redeemer and grow closer to Jesus and stronger in my faith when the subject of baptism came up.  Due to the fact that I had already been baptized I didn't know what this meant for me.  After talking to Cindy and Dave (the pastor at Redeemer) I realized that my baptism when I was in college meant nothing since I had not truly repented of my sins and had faith that Jesus was my Savior and Lord.  So on Feb. 10, 2012 I publicly declared my faith and got baptized.  For real! 

Now all of this doesn't mean I'm perfect and that I don't sin.  I still sin and make many mistakes, but I know that God forgives me and I am considered righteous in His sight because of Jesus.  He justified me through faith and now He is changing me; making me more like Jesus.

For those of you reading this that don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior I am praying for you; I pray that one day you will experience the salvation and freedom that I have experienced.  If you have any questions please talk to someone.  Don't hesitate to ask me any questions.