Day 34 - Kuwait
After an unspectacular day yesterday marked by a fierce bout of homesickness, I bounded out of bed looking for a jump start. I didn't find it. So I pressed on, going through the motions of finding an ironed shirt to complement my dress pants, black dress socks and my Reebok hi-top basketball shoes decorated with drips of paint from the last assault on the walls back home. No, I'm not that clumsy and it wasn't dark. You see, between the desert heat, walking over some uneven terrain and all that sand and dust, my Dr. Scholl's super-comfortable, save-my-back-and-legs-while-standing-for-8-hours-a-day shoes finally gave out. The sole on the left shoe was detached from the boot under the heel and the right heel has strangely shifted by about 1/2 inch. Not having thought to pack a hot glue gun to make the necessary repairs, I opted for Plan B. Perhaps this weekend or next I will supplement the wardrobe through a trip to the mall. I've already split one pair of pants by just sitting down to put my shoes on. Hopefully that's all for my "wardrobe malfunctions" on this trip.
Class today went rather well. One of the students had already arranged to leave for home this evening to be at his brother's wedding next weekend, so I offered to drive him to the airport. His flight wasn't until 11:30pm tonight, and this being Ramadan I thought it best to not let him hang out at the airport for 6+ hours waiting for his flight. So we came back to my hotel room and ordered some room service - the only way I can get food in the hotel before sunset. Naturally I encouraged him to try the hammour, and he was impressed. After sunset I dropped him off at the airport and wished him well.
Back at the hotel I went up to the tennis courts to work on my serve. I'm starting to get the hang of it, and I'm looking forward to showing off my improvement tomorrow. While the temperature was a bit cooler than previous days, the humidity was very high. It took about three serves for me to break a good sweat, and it wasn't too long before my shirt was soaked through again. I thought it was a bit cheap to sweat that profusely without my heart rate rising, so I went back to the room and traded the tennis gear for today's InnerFight workout. Once again, it was brutal but manageable. At one point towards the end of the second set I felt my left arm give while I had the bar over my head. I quickly racked it and chided myself for stopping in the middle of a set. After quickly catching my breath I pushed through and finished the second set. The third time through I ran into the exact same problem. I racked the bar, caught my breath and, quicker than the previous set, restarted and finished the third and final set. My heart was pounding, my limbs were gelatinous, my breath was almost gone and sweat was dripping onto the floor from my head like a leaky faucet in a sink. On the good side I've noticed that the ligament pain I previously had in my elbows has diminished significantly. Part of that is rest; part of that is my body adjusting to it.
On my way to work this morning a hymn came to mind, and specifically the third verse. I remember some years ago Chuck Swindoll making a comment that the third verse of many of these four-verse hymns contained some of the most potent thoughts. Well, here's what I was singing all the way to work today:
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Here's a link to the entire hymn and an article on its origin (it's well worth the read): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_With_My_Soul
When I accept the message of the Cross, I can rest in the fact that my sin and all its guilt has been removed by God and placed there so that I can be restored to a right relationship with God. God is not interested in holding guilt over us. In fact throughout the Bible, God's message is quite the opposite. What a precious gift and an incredible blessing God is holding out to each of us! If all we do is by faith accept that Jesus' death, burial and resurrection transfers all of our sin and guilt, we can be numbered among those who will receive the promise of everlasting life in Heaven, in the presence of God.
Love,
Khalaf.
Class today went rather well. One of the students had already arranged to leave for home this evening to be at his brother's wedding next weekend, so I offered to drive him to the airport. His flight wasn't until 11:30pm tonight, and this being Ramadan I thought it best to not let him hang out at the airport for 6+ hours waiting for his flight. So we came back to my hotel room and ordered some room service - the only way I can get food in the hotel before sunset. Naturally I encouraged him to try the hammour, and he was impressed. After sunset I dropped him off at the airport and wished him well.
Back at the hotel I went up to the tennis courts to work on my serve. I'm starting to get the hang of it, and I'm looking forward to showing off my improvement tomorrow. While the temperature was a bit cooler than previous days, the humidity was very high. It took about three serves for me to break a good sweat, and it wasn't too long before my shirt was soaked through again. I thought it was a bit cheap to sweat that profusely without my heart rate rising, so I went back to the room and traded the tennis gear for today's InnerFight workout. Once again, it was brutal but manageable. At one point towards the end of the second set I felt my left arm give while I had the bar over my head. I quickly racked it and chided myself for stopping in the middle of a set. After quickly catching my breath I pushed through and finished the second set. The third time through I ran into the exact same problem. I racked the bar, caught my breath and, quicker than the previous set, restarted and finished the third and final set. My heart was pounding, my limbs were gelatinous, my breath was almost gone and sweat was dripping onto the floor from my head like a leaky faucet in a sink. On the good side I've noticed that the ligament pain I previously had in my elbows has diminished significantly. Part of that is rest; part of that is my body adjusting to it.
On my way to work this morning a hymn came to mind, and specifically the third verse. I remember some years ago Chuck Swindoll making a comment that the third verse of many of these four-verse hymns contained some of the most potent thoughts. Well, here's what I was singing all the way to work today:
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Here's a link to the entire hymn and an article on its origin (it's well worth the read): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_With_My_Soul
When I accept the message of the Cross, I can rest in the fact that my sin and all its guilt has been removed by God and placed there so that I can be restored to a right relationship with God. God is not interested in holding guilt over us. In fact throughout the Bible, God's message is quite the opposite. What a precious gift and an incredible blessing God is holding out to each of us! If all we do is by faith accept that Jesus' death, burial and resurrection transfers all of our sin and guilt, we can be numbered among those who will receive the promise of everlasting life in Heaven, in the presence of God.
Love,
Khalaf.
