It has definitely been a tough couple of days so far. We left Phoenix on Saturday, December 29 and we landed in Dubai around 9:00 at night on December 30. Ethan was able to stretch out and sleep in his seat with J’Lein getting his head and I was the lucky one with his feet. It helped me understand what my father meant when he said we would make an H between my parents when we would climb into bed with them and my dad got the feet! The things parents do and give up for the younger generation. I got to give up sleep because Ethan needed to stretch his foot into my face every hour or so.
December 31
We stayed up most of the night with jet lag and Ethan’s hyper state. We decided to try and keep him up all day too so he would get over the jet lag quicker. We went to the beach in the morning and we met a sweet family on the bus ride over. They were from Western Europe and had decided to spend Christmas in Dubai. Ethan wasn’t being very sociable mostly because he was jet lagged, but he is also in a stage where he wants to growl like an animal instead of act like a sweet little boy. Hehe… The other mom completely understood, mostly because she said when her son was about the same age he told the doctor that he want to be the boss, but his parents wouldn’t let him. The thought of grandeur is always a draw for humans, even at the ripe age of 3.
Ethan followed up that story with, “My life is over!” Definitely random, but not necessarily for Ethan because he is the king of randomness…..I am definitely proud to say for those who know how random I can be…. He has started quoting movies and such lately. But this statement hit me a bit because of the huge contrast from the previous story. The Lord says we should have a child-like faith and when we lose site of that goal is our life over? Maybe not in the eyes of the world, but the most important relationship will definitely suffer.
J’Lein and I had another one of our infamous conversations during our jet lag, in which we discussed the coming primaries and who we wanted. She stated that she feels the democrats are going in the direction that I believe our government should go and that the current president is evil-er than Putin (Russia’s almost czar). When I hear a no Christian say such things I definitely come to the verse Matthew 24:9b ….and you will be hated by all nations because of me. If the world hates President George W. Bush then He must be doing something right in the name of the Lord!
Going back to President Putin…. I am not sure how many of you have heard about the article that Time magazine did on Putin naming him the man of the year. Which they claim is not an honor, but means he is one of the most powerful people in the world right now. You can read excerpts of the article and a great analysis on him at joelrosenberg.com . In the article it is stated that Putin claims to be a Christian or at least reads the bible. J’Lein asked me my thoughts on that, but I didn’t answer her at the time. Mostly because the Lord talks of those coming falsely in His name. Do his actions go along with what the bible says? Hitler claimed to be doing things in the name of Christianity. Also, Satan knows the bible word for word…..some men know the importance of knowing one’s enemy.
Enough with that….hmmm…. We were able to explore outside of Dubai this time. We went to see the sand dunes and we saw wild camels along the way. Even though it was a brief sighting, it meant more to me than every animal I have ever seen on safari in Africa. Mostly because the middle east has always been romanticized in my soul. The history and the harshness of the land have so shaped our world and our future. J’Lein made an interesting comment while we struggled up dune after dune in our four-wheel drive vehicle, “We can never hope to defeat Al-Qaeda [type groups] because they know how to survive in climates and landscapes like this.” She is right. Man will not be the victor in the end…..God will be the Victor! Amen
I had my first frightening experience during one of J’Lein’s many travels in the dunes of the United Arab Emirates! Ethan and I rode a camel! It wasn’t for very long but when the camel gets up and down you see your life flash before your eyes. When the back legs stand you go forward and when the front legs go up you fall backwards, then it is repeated when they sit again! I feel so alive!
Then J’Lein haggled for us to ride Arabian horses. Ethan rode a black pony and I was set to ride a white horse with black specks. At first I felt pretty confident, but then I remembered in Hidalgo that they stated how skittish Arabians can be, so I opted to have some one lead the horse, which I thanked the Lord for later because the horse occasionally tried to disobey the man leading him. J’Lein who is a trained rider even opted to not ride at all.
Later we saw hobbled camels heading for the breeding farm for water. They are hobbled so they can graze, but are unable to run. These camels are bred for camel racing, which is a huge sport in the middle east. People from all over the middle east come to Dubai to see the annual races in the summer.
Later that night we were able to get a few hours of sleep, but we had to be at the airport at 3am, so sleep would have to wait.
