Five Things I'm Thankful For Friday

"I pray because I can't help myself.  I pray because I'm helpless.  I pray because the need flows out of me all the time-- waking and sleeping.  It doesn't change God... it changes me."

~C.S. Lewis

This week I'm thankful for:

1. Reminders of What's Important.  A friend from back home chided me about my own inward-focused self, or less flatteringly, my selfishness.  At a class in church this morning, we discussed a book called When People are Big and God is Small which focuses on this very thing.  Specifically, we talked about how we can grow to "Need other people less and love other people more.  Out of obedience to Christ, and as a response to his love toward you, pursue others in love."  Sometimes I think I'm the most selfish person I know.  I'm thankful that there are people in my life who love me enough to tell me the truth about myself, and I'm thankful that I have God who is ceaselessly refining me in order to make me more like Himself.  I'm also thankful that he continues to open my eyes to my sin so that I can confess it and repent.

2. Prayer.  Of late, God has increasingly been showing me the power of prayer in changing my own heart and attitudes.  I am often malcontent and my heart is envious and angry and lustful.  I struggle with all these sins.  And yet, I am learning that when I go before God with my hard heart and confess to Him, he changes me.  I can't explain the transformation, but a gentleness and softness appears in that place where its very opposite stood before.  I'm thankful for the power of prayer to change the attitudes of my heart.

3. My Brothers in Christ.  Tonight I got to spend the evening in the company of three fellows who all love God.  We had a picnic by the sea as the sun set, and our conversation was entirely edifying.  I'm thankful for the example they set in their servitude to the Lord and their desire to honor Him.  I'm thankful for their love towards others and their humility.  I pray that He will sustain them, go before them, and lead them in the paths of righteousness.

4. Birds.  I don't why but I've been noticing the birds lately-- they keep crossing my path.  This afternoon I noticed beautiful green tropical-looking birds adorning my neighbor's home and then tonight at the beach I watched a trio scamper across the wet sand.  All week long they've popped up in my field of view as little gifts of nature.

5. God's Provision in My Life. I sometimes sight of this fact, but at this very moment, God has me exactly where He wants me.  I am blessed beyond measure to have a roof over my head, food in my belly, the promise of future paychecks, a church that preaches the Gospel, a Christian family to live with who model the Gospel, and people who love me and pray for me.  Selfish sinner that I am, I often lose sight of these facts, but God continues to lead home on the path the leads to Him; he clothes me and feeds me.  I am blessed beyond measure. 

Five Things I'm Thankful For Friday

This week I'm thankful for the simple things:

1. I'm thankful that my parents thought learning to swim was an important skill.  I say this because 1. Swimming is one of the chief joys of my life and 2. I think the ability to swim is something that most people who can do it take for granted.  True story: There are lots of nationalities that don't place much importance on learning to swim.  One Indian friend went to the US and ended up at a summer camp where kids were confidently jumping off a pier and swimming in the mountain lake.  Said friend, seeing how easy swimming appeared to be, dived into the frigid waters, and immediately plunged like a rock to the bottom.  Luckily, a lifeguard was on duty to drag him to safety.  Swimming is not something one just knows how to do.  Thank you M & D for taking me to weekly lessons at the YWCA.  I never made it above guppy level, but that's good enough for me.

2.  I'm thankful for my sense of smell.  Dubai is a panoply of smells.  Some are not so pleasant (the dumpsters that seemingly grace every street) while others are quite heavenly (the occasional scent of jasmine that wafts through the air.). Life is meant to be smelled (and touched and seen and tasted).

3.  I'm thankful for being busy.  Work has really been good lately which is great because I generally really enjoy working, presumably it means I'm making money (can't say for sure until I actually get paid), and because it keeps me occupied so that I stay in the moment and don't dwell on things that make me sad (as I am wont to do).

4.  I'm thankful for technology.  My iPad is just about my favorite-ist thing ever.  I use it to message people back home, navigate my way around Dubai, read my Bible, listen to NPR, learn German, memorize poetry... the list goes on and on.  I also love watching movies on my laptop, and using gmail chat to talk to loved ones back home.  I'm thankful for my camera which helps me capture my memories... I'm thankful for it all.  It's made traveling (and keeping in touch) much easier since the days when I first set off by myself for foreign climes in 2003.

5.  I'm thankful for my parents and their commitment to another.  This week my parents celebrated 42 years of marriage together!  I'm proud of them and thankful to have been able to grow up in a stable home with parents who stuck it out for the long haul.  Happy Anniversary, M & D!  Here's to many more!

Now and Then: My Parents

Five Things I'm Thankful For Friday

A few of the things I'm thankful for this week are:

1.  The Weather.  It's been overcast and even a little rainy (which is rare for this region) which has made getting around town and being outside an utter delight.  Shockingly, I've heard English friends complaining about it (it's too much like back home for them), but the alternative is a blazing hot sun accompanied by humidity.  I'll take the the clouds any day.

2.  The Psalms.  We've been studying a new Psalm each week in our small group in preparation for the week's sermon at church.  This week we studied Psalm 73 which deals with being envious of those around us who seem to prosper in spite of wickedness, or perhaps even because of it.  Asaph, the writer of the Psalm, is frustrated by these

3.  The Journey.  It sounds a bit cliche to say, but I'm increasingly thinking of life in terms of walking down a path in a particular direction.  Sometimes I get off the path, or make the wrong turn, or even just stop dead in my tracks, but always I return, or rather, God graciously brings me back.  The Bible often refers to our journey through life as a matter of choosing a path.  (Proverbs 4:14-15 says "Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil.  Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on."). What's neat is that I'm at a stage in my life where I can look and reflect upon where I've come from.  I can see how God has been working in my life and how he continues to work.

4.  New Revelations.  My favorite verse in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 12:9.  'My grace is sufficient is for you...' was a verse that spoke to me when I was trying really hard to please God so that I could earn His love.  I thought I needed to be perfect- always praying, living an exemplary life, devotedly reading my Bible, and so and on, but that striving left me feeling exhausted (not to mention filled with an abominable self-righteousness) and, in spite of it all, I felt hopelessly distant from God.  God spoke those words to me, and what I understood with that simple statement of His grace being sufficient was something along the lines of, "Elise, I lived the life you should have lived and died the death you should have died."  Or, as succinctly put in the verse of the old hymn, "Cast your deadly 'doing' down/ Down at Jesus' feet;/ Stand in Him, in Him alone,/ Gloriously complete."  My strivings were all for naught, but Christ's death is God's grace.  So, 'grace' meant salvation.  Now, 2 Corinthians 12:9 has taken on a new meaning or me.  Lately my struggle has been in not being satisfied in just God and again His answer is 'My grace is sufficient for you.'  It's a powerful revelation-- He is all I need.  This time, grace means that God fulfills all of my needs. He is enough.

5.  Dolphins.  One of the highlights of the week was getting to play with dolphins for a shoot.  They were amazing-- I decided they were the dogs of the sea.  They're so playful and silly and eager to please.  I'm a very lucky girl.

Memento Mori

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May, John William Waterhouse

Get up, get up for shame, the Blooming Morne

Upon her wings presents the god unshorne.

                     See how Aurora throwes her faire

                     Fresh-quilted colours through the aire:

                     Get up, sweet-Slug-a-bed, and see

                     The Dew-bespangling Herbe and Tree.

Each Flower has wept, and bow'd toward the East,

Above an houre since; yet you not drest,

                     Nay! not so much as out of bed?

                     When all the Birds have Mattens seyd,

                     And sung their thankful Hymnes: 'tis sin,

                     Nay, profanation to keep in,

When as a thousand Virgins on this day,

Spring, sooner than the Lark, to fetch in May.

Rise; and put on your Foliage, and be seene

To come forth, like the Spring-time, fresh and greene;

                     And sweet as Flora. Take no care

                     For Jewels for your Gowne, or Haire:

                     Feare not; the leaves will strew

                     Gemms in abundance upon you:

Besides, the childhood of the Day has kept,

Against you come, some Orient Pearls unwept:

                     Come, and receive them while the light

                     Hangs on the Dew-locks of the night:

                     And Titan on the Eastern hill

                     Retires himselfe, or else stands still

Till you come forth. Wash, dresse, be briefe in praying:

Few Beads are best, when once we goe a Maying.

Come, my Corinna, come; and comming, marke

How each field turns a street; each street a Parke

                     Made green, and trimm'd with trees: see how

                     Devotion gives each House a Bough,

                     Or Branch: Each Porch, each doore, ere this,

                     An Arke a Tabernacle is

Made up of white-thorn neatly enterwove;

As if here were those cooler shades of love.

                     Can such delights be in the street,

                     And open fields, and we not see't?

                     Come, we'll abroad; and let's obay

                     The Proclamation made for May:

And sin no more, as we have done, by staying;

But my Corinna, come, let's goe a Maying.

There's not a budding Boy, or Girle, this day,

But is got up, and gone to bring in May.

                     A deale of Youth, ere this, is come

                     Back, and with White-thorn laden home.

                     Some have dispatcht their Cakes and Creame,

                     Before that we have left to dreame:

And some have wept, and woo'd, and plighted Troth,

And chose their Priest, ere we can cast off sloth:

                     Many a green-gown has been given;

                     Many a kisse, both odde and even:

                     Many a glance too has been sent

                     From out the eye, Loves Firmament:

Many a jest told of the Keyes betraying

This night, and Locks pickt, yet w'are not a Maying.

Come, let us goe, while we are in our prime;

And take the harmlesse follie of the time.

                     We shall grow old apace, and die

                     Before we know our liberty.

                     Our life is short; and our dayes run

                     As fast away as do's the Sunne:

And as a vapour, or a drop of raine

Once lost, can ne'r be found againe:

                     So when or you or I are made

                     A fable, song, or fleeting shade;

                     All love, all liking, all delight

                     Lies drown'd with us in endlesse night.

Then while time serves, and we are but decaying;

Come, my Corinna, come, let's goe a Maying.

~Robert Herrick (1591-1674), Corinna's Going a Maying

   I know, it's a little bit of a longer poem, but it's really quite lovely, and certainly worth the read.  The speaker has gone to fetch Corinna out of bed-- it's spring!  It's May!  Our life is short and our days run as fast away as does the sun.

   I am, of course, posting this because I celebrate May 1st each year as my crowning as May Queen (blogged here and here).  It's a tradition I've honored since I was about sixteen, and all these years later, it's still a day that holds great significance for me.

   I hope you have a lovely May Day.  Take Herrick's advice-- get out of bed, dress quickly, let nature be your adornment, love, live, be merry.  It's a lovely day and we are blessed to be alive.  Carpe Diem.

Five Things I'm Thankful For Friday

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

~Psalm 19:1

This week I'm thankful for:

Beautiful Oman

1. Creation.  It's an incredible world that we live in-- creation just astounds me.  Last weekend my friends and I camped out on a beach Musandam, Oman.  We laid on a mat and gazed at the stars while the strains of cheesy pop songs from the next camp over invaded our silence.  Above me was a crescent moon accompanied by the big dipper-- the only constellation I can pick out, and the soft lapping of the waves on the shore.  The next day, we donned masks and snorkels and explored the blue waters of the Persian Gulf.  Incredibly, below the water's surface was a living world-- beautiful technicolor fish, the likes of which I've only seen behind glass.  Wow, how great is our God!

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hand hath made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

2. Faith.  At church this morning, while singing praises to God, I stopped and thought about how thankful I am that He is real to me.  It is inconceivable to me to imagine a world without God.  (This is not to say that I'm a super Christian-- I doubt, I don't always trust Him, I stray-- one line from a favorite hymn which I've always identified with goes "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.")  I know what it's like to want to believe, but to not be quite able to.  It's a terrible place to be, and when I felt that way, my prayer always echoed the exclamation of the poor father in Mark whose son was demon possessed: "I believe; help my unbelief!"  Belief in God is a supernatural event-- I recognize that my belief in Him stems completely and only from Him-- I can truly say that he opened my eyes.  I am thankful for this gift of faith, because it is what sustains me and leads me to life.  Dum Spiro Spero.

3. Goldengrams.  Four years ago today, my grandma departed this world and flew to her Father's arms.  I had an incredibly close bond with her-- she is perhaps the only human I've ever known whose love I could trust in-- I had no doubt that she loved and cherished me and that love inspired me, gave me confidence.  That unwavering love of hers and the bond it created was a wondrous gift.  I loved her with my whole heart and I'm thankful for the woman that she was: her faith, her devotion to her family, the daughter she raised that became my mom, her selflessness... She was an amazing woman.  Her absence her and her presence there is just one more treasure I expect to find in heaven.

When the Lord takes a child, there is one less cord to fasten you to this world and another band to draw you toward heaven... Happy is the trouble that loosens our grip of heaven.  From Beside Still Waters by Charles Spurgeon

4. Work.  After a slow first month working in Dubai, work seems to be steadily picking up.  Last week was great, and I ended up turning down four jobs this week due to being already booked for another week-long job (one of the declined jobs was for the Atlantis Hotel and involved swimming with dolphins, another was in Jordan, another in Qatar, and the last in Bahrain.  I would have had a blast doing these jobs-- or at least would have enjoyed seeing these new places-- but I'm thankful that I'm working and I hope this bodes well for future bookings).

This picture of me as a child gives you an idea of why I'm so thankful those spindly things support me! 

5. Legs.  In the last few months I've tried to make it a practice to stop and be thankful for the little things-- the gifts that God gives me throughout the day.  This seems silly, I guess, but this week as I power walked from my house to the bus stop, I thanked God for my legs, and by extension, my health. Temperatures here in the Middle East have already hit 100F/37C and I'm sometimes out under the direct sun for quite a bit of time.  I'm thankful that I'm well, and that these toothpicks I call legs are able to support me and transport me wherever I need to go.

New Do

I emerged from the hair salon today with a new hairstyle.  The most notable difference is that I'm now sporting a fringe!

Te gusta?

Insta-fun

I know not everyone is on the photo social networking app Instagram (Hello parents!) so I thought it would be fun to share with you my pictures that I've taken since I've arrived in Dubai.  Captions are below the pictures.

Clockwise from top left: Poster; Easter Sunrise Service; Statues; me with salesman in souk; ATM for gold; hummus;  the Burj al Arab hotel; the street where I live; the Address Hotel; the Palace Hotel

Clockwise from top left: Souk al Behar; me in Ahlan!; Cheesecake; cakes at Tiffany and Co.; getting my hair done for  a job; my friend, Romana, at the Archive; view from above in Mall of the Emirates; bowling!; with friends in Kuwait; night view of the Burj al Arab

Clockwise from top left: 6.23 carat ring at Tiffany & Co.; friends (and crazy hair) in Oman; models at a casting; Golden Tulip Hotel in Oman; waterfall at Dubai Mall; oranges at Waitrose; dancers rehearse for fashion show; view from mall in Ras Al Khaimah; Thursday night grocery shopping at Carrefour; model at casting

Newark Symphony May Concert

I designed the flier for the May 10th and May 12th Newark Symphony concert which will be a performance of Verdi's Requiem.  I'm really bummed that I'm not playing in the orchestra for this concert as I'm sure it'll be powerful and amazing, but it's kinda hard to be in two places at the same time.  If you're in the Newark, Delaware area, by all means, buy tickets and support the Symphony.  The angel on the flier, by the way, is from a cemetery near Longwood Gardens that I always passed on my way to work at QVC.  I was captivated by the angel-- was she crying or in supplication to the Almighty?  When they asked me to design the flier, I knew immediately that I wanted to include her.

I also designed the flier for the March concert, which was a concert I did get to play in.

Best wishes to all of my Symphony friends.  I know you guys are going to kill it.  I really really wish I could be there to watch and enjoy the beautiful music.