So, I see; I am a little behind...I will try to close the gap! The days slip by at an accelerated speed as the holidays draw near. In addition to the joy of each day, I've spent time planning for our Egypt trip, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and we have 2 girls with special birthdays coming up as well.
As promised, my neighbor was good on her word: Friday morning when I went over, the maids were ready for church! I was so happy and I could see that they were too. On the way to church we learned that Anna has a 4 year old little girl and a husband back in the Philippines; Venge has a 12 and 19 year old and her husband died in an accident 15 days after she arrived in this country 2 years ago.
As we sat together in the worship service, Venge leaned over and said to me "I cannot believe we are in Kuwait, I feel so FREE here!" Our pastor spoke about leaving a legacy and reminded us that we are all placed here by God for a reason, even if we think it was a job that brought us here. I hope he gave them a sense of purpose for what they do. Afterwards, when I asked, both wanted to pray with the pastor & he embraced them lovingly and carried them and their families to the throne in prayer. The service ran long (as most do here) and we had to chat a bit after church & round up the kids. By the time we were on our way home it had been about 2 1/2 hours the maids had been gone. I got a text from their "Madame" saying "it is too long...where are you? I am having company and need my housemaids." They knew she would not be happy when they returned but I had a feeling they thought what they had enjoyed was worth her wrath. They were so pleased to be out and at church. I felt terrible, and really struggled with the selfishness of my friend who found 2.5 hours in a week with 0 days off to be too much to allow these precious lady's to rest and worship. This sense of sadness diffused into my day. I pray they will be refreshed with a new sense of hope, and pray this won't be the first and last time they get to go.
The Marine Ball was a lot of fun for Robert & I. For security reasons, it needed to be held at the Embassy and there is not a room large enough to hold the event. Thus, the tennis court is used. I was amazed at how they made a tennis court look like an elegant ballroom with swooping lights and draped curtains hiding the green mesh walls. Tickets to this event are considered quite the prize in this country. This is an annual affair at US Embassies all over the world because the Marines provide the security for all our Embassies and this event celebrates the Birthday of the formation of the Marine Corp. The video presentation gave some insight into the valuable service these brave men & women provide to our country and the sense of pride was evident. It was a tear jerker. After all the ceremony, there was a fabulous catered buffet and a live jazz band played songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's which is just the kind of music we like to dance to! For a reminder of the providence of God; I was blessed to sit by a lady who is professional artist who was very interested in the work I'm doing with the Philippine maids. She would love to help in any way and was willing assist me in the "Trash to Treasure" project!!! I just see God orchestrating things I could never even think to ask for and I'm so touched by how thoughtful he is.
The kids enjoyed a 4 day weekend as Parent Teacher Conferences were scheduled for Sunday & Monday. All enjoyed sleepovers with friends and it was so good to see them enjoying themselves. We are trying to get ready for Thanksgiving but this is a challenge. We thankfully got a turkey at the base before their limited supply was exhausted. As for the trimmings...we may have to make some substitutions as things such as pumpkin & cranberries are either not available, or extremely high priced and imported from the US. So far we have 2 teachers, and I think our current count of soldiers we expect is up to 5! These are guys stationed without their families who are at Camp Arifjan. I must start cooking soon:)
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