Day 31 - Kuwait
I am amazed how every time I step into a church on this trip, it seems that the sermon is custom-written for me in my current life-situation. This morning, the chaplain spoke from Philippians 4:10-16 on the subject, "Learning to Be Content." He mentioned five (5) Enemies of Contentment:
1. Have an Attitude of Gratitude
Hmmm...I paused on that one. After all, I am aggressively looking for a way to recover from the financial consequences of the past eight years. Is that an uncontrolled ambition or is it a healthy desire to provide a better place for my family. After some discussion I felt persuaded that it is a responsible ambition to acknowledge that I have work to do in order to level the balance sheet at home.
Back in the hotel room I did some reading which, when coupled with the roast beef and vegetables from lunch, induced a delightful sleepiness. I indulged the desire to nap, and I woke up refreshed about an hour later. I Skyped home and chatted with the family before church. I then called Craig, who said he'd once again "bring me" to Sunday School via his laptop. An hour later, I was Skyped into the pastor's office for Sunday School and I was so grateful to be a part of the discussion. A couple of times the audio wobbled, and I chimed in with an answer to a question that wasn't asked. But I was there, and that's what mattered to me. After class, Craig offered to swing by the house to look at our computer to fix Skype, but I remembered his cat allergies and told him that he's already been such an encouragement to me by bringing me to Sunday School. It seems that today was a big "catch-up" day on Skype - home, church, my brother, my parents, Ash.
I decided to try to fix the Skype at home. Much to my delight, I succeeded. But while they were still at church, I slipped out of my room for another intense Inner Fight workout. Thanks to my brother's suggestion of substituting Jump Pull-Ups for regular Pull-Ups, I was able to see the topside of the bar a few times. I made it through all three sets in about 25 minutes. I'm really enjoying this workout method. It's a different workout each day, which keeps it from getting boring. Because the exercises are planned out I don't have to dilly-dally between machines, figuring out whether I need to use them and how. I simply go into the free weights room, pound out the reps and leave.
After the workout, I ordered the Hammour for dinner and took a shower. Dinner arrived just after my shower, and I enjoyed every tasty morsel of that delightful fish. And for dessert - Skype. Basma called and, much to her surprise, the videophone was working perfectly. This led to some silliness on Samuel's part, as he had a lot of catching up to do with noises and faces. Nonetheless, it was great to visit in realtime and see the boys tell me about their lives over the past few days.
A little more reading and then I decided to turn in for the night. We have a conference call for The Grapevine Project at 10:00pm EDT/5:00am Monday morning Kuwait time. I can't wait to talk to everyone then.
Blessings,
Khalaf.
- Unrealistic Expectations
- Unrealistic Comparisons
- Unnoticed Blessings
- Uncontrolled Ambitions
- Running from God
1. Have an Attitude of Gratitude
- v. 11 - "I have learned to be content..." means we're not born being naturally content. Paul had to learn to be content; we will need to learn that as well.
- Circumstances don't make us what we are; they reveal to us what we are.
- v. 10 - "I rejoice greatly in the Lord..."
- v. 13 - "I can do everything through him (God) who gives me strength."
- v. 10 - "...you have renewed your concern for me."
- v. 14 - "It was good of you to share in my troubles."
- Our highest contentment will be realized when we serve other people.
Hmmm...I paused on that one. After all, I am aggressively looking for a way to recover from the financial consequences of the past eight years. Is that an uncontrolled ambition or is it a healthy desire to provide a better place for my family. After some discussion I felt persuaded that it is a responsible ambition to acknowledge that I have work to do in order to level the balance sheet at home.
Back in the hotel room I did some reading which, when coupled with the roast beef and vegetables from lunch, induced a delightful sleepiness. I indulged the desire to nap, and I woke up refreshed about an hour later. I Skyped home and chatted with the family before church. I then called Craig, who said he'd once again "bring me" to Sunday School via his laptop. An hour later, I was Skyped into the pastor's office for Sunday School and I was so grateful to be a part of the discussion. A couple of times the audio wobbled, and I chimed in with an answer to a question that wasn't asked. But I was there, and that's what mattered to me. After class, Craig offered to swing by the house to look at our computer to fix Skype, but I remembered his cat allergies and told him that he's already been such an encouragement to me by bringing me to Sunday School. It seems that today was a big "catch-up" day on Skype - home, church, my brother, my parents, Ash.
I decided to try to fix the Skype at home. Much to my delight, I succeeded. But while they were still at church, I slipped out of my room for another intense Inner Fight workout. Thanks to my brother's suggestion of substituting Jump Pull-Ups for regular Pull-Ups, I was able to see the topside of the bar a few times. I made it through all three sets in about 25 minutes. I'm really enjoying this workout method. It's a different workout each day, which keeps it from getting boring. Because the exercises are planned out I don't have to dilly-dally between machines, figuring out whether I need to use them and how. I simply go into the free weights room, pound out the reps and leave.
After the workout, I ordered the Hammour for dinner and took a shower. Dinner arrived just after my shower, and I enjoyed every tasty morsel of that delightful fish. And for dessert - Skype. Basma called and, much to her surprise, the videophone was working perfectly. This led to some silliness on Samuel's part, as he had a lot of catching up to do with noises and faces. Nonetheless, it was great to visit in realtime and see the boys tell me about their lives over the past few days.
A little more reading and then I decided to turn in for the night. We have a conference call for The Grapevine Project at 10:00pm EDT/5:00am Monday morning Kuwait time. I can't wait to talk to everyone then.
Blessings,
Khalaf.
