babies and turks and baptism

We had a full weekend! But it was great to be with friends and family.
Friday night we ate dinner with Izehi and a Turkish family with whom we have become friends. Izehi and I wanted to learn to cook Turkish food, so we asked for lessons. Şafak and her husband, Ibrahim, and their son, Derin invited us into their home. We had a great time learning to make mercimek çorbasi (lentil soup). I found a similar recipe online for anyone interested in trying to make it yourself! It's always fun to be in mixed language company. Izehi and I know very few Turkish words..so we had a lot of fun with the ones we know and we even learned more. However, Daniel speaks rather fluently, so he and Ibrahim got to chat a lot - who knows what they were saying! :-)

Saturday my old roommate, Ashley, and I drove to Shreveport for a shower for my sister. She's 7 months pregnant and looks FABULOUS. This Thanksgiving our family will have a LOT to be thankful for - Jenny and Brian are expected to bring little girl Cohn into the world the Thursday before Thanksgiving! We're anxiously and prayerfully awaiting her arrival!

Sunday was super baptism Sunday at our church. A couple of weeks ago our pastor spoke on baptism - what the Bible teaches about it, who should be baptize, why one should be baptized. There were 75 people baptized over 2 services on Sunday morning. WOW! Praise God! Some of them were first-time baptisms, either recently saved or saved a while ago but never followed the Lord in baptism; some were people who had previously been baptized, but felt like at that time, they didn't really understand the significance of baptism or maybe they had walked for a period of time in disobedience to the Lord and wanted to announce to the church that now Jesus is LORD of their lives. It was great! After the service, our Turkey team went to Jim and DeeAnn's for lunch. We hang out with them 2x each week to plan for the move to Turkey!!

from "Growing Pains" to evangelism

Guess who I saw today at Southwestern Seminary's chapel service...KIRK CAMERON was the guest speaker!!! I have to admit, yes, I saw him. But, I didn't actually hear him speak. My friend Cathleen came over. We ride to work together on Wednesdays. She told me he was gonna be the speaker, and like a junior high kid, I got excited and wanted to see him. So, we parked in the 10 minute parking zone, ran in to the auditorium, saw him sitting on the platform, went around to the other side to get a better view (though we were in the balcony as it was, so we were still pretty far away!), then had to leave so we could get to work on time. But...it was a thrill!

How fun? The 80s. Weren't they the good ol' days?!?! I remember coming home from school, turning on the TV to watch Growing Pains and loving it! I had posters of Kirk Cameron hanging on the walls in my room. Silly, huh? I think I actually had this one - I just found it on the internet. I'm sure if you're a girl reading this, you had SOMEONE's poster on your wall - Jordan from the New Kids on the Block? Andre Agassi was my sister's big heart throb. What about Tom Cruise? Well, mine was Kirk Cameron. There's just something about the 80s. Good days, weren't they? Fun, carefree... Hope this blog takes you back to some good memories of your childhood (if you're close to my age) and growing up in the 80s!!

It's really cool how the Lord has made this once well-known-for-his-acting film star and put a passion in him for evangelism. Kirk Cameron and his friend now do trainings on how to share your faith. They have a website that gives great resources. It's just like God to get the attention of His creatures by introducing them to a man on TV, then changing his heart to be passionate for Eternal things and using that popular TV face to share His truth and draw men and women, boys and girls to Himself! If you'd like to hear the message Kirk Cameron challenged the students with, you can click on this link to SWBTS web page and scroll down to the September 20, 2006 list and hear it.

one little, two little, three little indians...

All day Sunday it rained off and on in the DFW area. Daniel and I pulled up into a parking space, dodged the puddles of mud in the gravel lot, and trampeled through tall grass, dug our wet shoes into the concrete underneath the sides of a bridge trying to avoid the sloppy mud below, and walked across the parking lot, handed our tickets to the lady, and WE WERE IN!!!!! We were in the Cowboys' stadium. Not to see the Cowboys of course, but to watch the Redskins' play!

Having grown up in the D.C. area, Daniel has always been a Redskins fan. I on the other hand converted to being a fan when my high school buddy, Patrick Ramsey, signed on with them as their QB. Patrick was traded this year to the NY Jets, but I figured I should remain a Redskins fan so Daniel and I could be rootin' for the same team!

The Redskins didn't show up with much to talk about, although they had a couple of good drives. But, to win a game, they need more than a couple. Final score: Washington, 10 and Dallas, 27. We'll get 'em in Washington November 5!

nEw liFe

Meet Yussuf 'Daniel' Omar!!! One of my ESL students, Hawa Mangeya, delivered a precious little boy into this world on September 13. His legal name is just Yussuf Omar. I spent a lot of time in Hawa's home this summer, tutoring her 2 high school children, and when we talked about the baby, I would always encourage them to name him Daniel. They played along with the idea, until naming time came!!! So, when I went to the hospital, I teased her about it a little, and they decided Yussuf's nickname could be Daniel!

The night after the baby was born, I was at their apartment complex, tutoring some other children. I went to their house to see if I could take anyone up to the hopsital to see the mom and baby. (They are a family of 8 children already; Yussuf makes 9!!) I got the privilege of taking the 4, 7, and 8 year old little boys, who had yet to see mama and baby, to the hospital - along with their father (who was of course there at the delivery.) The little boys were thrilled to meet their new little brother. It was a really sweet time to watch their facial expressions and interactions with this new litlte one!!

Oh, GOD, please raise up Yussuf to be a man who follows after You! Put little kids and adults in his life who will tell him the Good News of Your Son! That little Yussuf would walk in the Light and not be deceived by the enemy. Save his entire familiy, the entire community of Somali Bantu at Webber Garden - in Jesus' name!