Painting Pictures of Egypt

lyrics by Sara Groves

I don't want to leave here,I don't want to stay
It feels like pinching either way
And the places I long for the most are the places where I've been
They are calling out to me like a long lost friend

It's not about losing faith, it's not about trust
It's all about comfortable when you move so much
And the place I was wasn't perfect but I'd found a way to live
And it wasn't milk or honey, but then neither is this

I've been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacks
Because the future feels so hard and I wanna go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I've learned
And those roads were closed off to me while my back was turned

The past is so tangible, I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy to discard
And I was dying for some freedom, now I hesitate to go
I am caught between the promise and the things I know

I've been painting picures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacks
Because the future feels so hard and I wanna go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I've learned
And those roads were closed off to me while my back was turned

 

Push

Lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

Everytime I look at You the world just melts away
All my troubles all my fears dissolve in Your affection
You see me at my weakest, but you take me as I am
When I fall You offer me a softer place to land

You stay the course, You hold the line, You keep it all together
You're the one true thing I know I can believe in
You're all the things that I desire, You save me You complete me
You're the one true thing I know I can believe

I get mad so easy, but You give me room to breathe
No matter what I say or do, You're too good to fight about it
Even when I have to push just to see how far you'll go
You won't stoop down to battle mode, You never turn to go

You stay the course, You hold the line, You keep it all together
You're the one true thing I know I can believe in
You're all the things that I desire, You save me You complete me
You're the one true thing I know I can believe

There are times I can't decide, when I can't tell up from down
You make me feel less crazy, when otherwise I drown
But You pick me up and brush me off and tell me I'm okay
Sometimes that just what we need to make it through the day

You stay the course, You hold the line, You keep it all together
You're the one true thing I know I can believe in
You're all the things that I desire, You save me You complete me
You'e the one true thing I know I can believe...

The Amazing Race

If you've ever seen the reality show "The Amazing Race" then you will be able to understand exactly what my co-worker and I have dealt with in the past 24 hours. Being in another smelly airport--sleep deprived, and growing greasier by the millisecond, I don't know if I really have the energy to describe it in complete detail...

But hey, since i currently find myself sitting and waiting during another 8 hour layover...ooooo, I'm gonna.

So Che' and I were supposed to fly to Egypt yesterday. Somewhere between overestimating the efficiency of this country, and underestimating our own misfortune, we met disaster head on. We arrive at the airport only to be informed that our flight has been canceled, with NO notification. Not delayed, mind you, canceled. There's such finality and doom punched into that little word!

Long story short, we missed our connecting flight causing us to miss our train the next day to Luxor...causing us to earn another day in this country...yipppeeee!!!!

So we spent the next 3 hours in a cramped airline office with some very nice (yet not-so-nice-smelling) men helping us go through about 100 possible situations, all of which were full....yadayadayada...

Thinking we had finally found the solution...we arrived once again at the airport the next morning to learn that our new flight had been delayed due to bad weather...causing us to once again miss our connecting flight and later train...

The truth is, I've never laughed SO much in my life! It's just testimony to the craziness and uncertainty of this place. If one thing is for sure, it's that God is most definitely teaching me to roll with the punches!!!

But (enshahallah) you'll hear from me in a week with a full report on Mama Egypt and all her glory. In the meantime, word to wise...never travel without wetwipes!!!

Faithful...still.

I’ve run into a time of questioning God today, quite like a brick wall really.

A family lives next door who has seen more than their share of hard times in their lives. They originally lost their home two years ago, but have since been moving from job to job, surviving by whatever means they can muster up. We met them after their father found a job as a driver for a widow who lives on our street. For the last six months, all seven children, both parents, and their grandmother have all been living out of two small cement rooms---no heat, no life.

The children each have a unique twinkle in their eyes. And they make life colorful in whatever ways they can---you walk into their “home” and can’t help but smile at the pictures drawn on the walls by creative minds and hand-me-down crayons. And it never fails to blow me away, because one thing is for sure…if I were in their shoes, I would have one heck of a chip on my shoulder.

This week, they’ve found themselves between a rock and a hard spot. The father lost his job due to the fact that the family they work for is moving. The job that he had been guaranteed fell through and he was not informed until the day before his entire family was supposed to have all of their belongings, along with themselves, out of their place. In short, they were being kicked out, and had no place to go.

We went over there two nights ago, and the whole family (which they say we’re part of) gathered around as we prayed for them, and told them a story of God’s provision. We assured them with confidence that God would also provide for their family in this time of desperation.

We told them this, yet tonight we watched helplessly as they packed up their few belongings, and moved out of their home. They have no place to go except for their home in their village, which has no roof or floor. And it looks like rain tonight.

So how do I even say this? I know that God has the power to provide a job and a house for this family in the next five minutes if He chose to do so. I admit that I question why He doesn’t, especially when this could be such a powerful testimony to this family of His faithfulness, and result in them really coming to know Him.

I know better. I know better than to question Him like this, than to stray from my trust in His faithful character like this. It's just so hard when you want to see His power evident in life sometimes. I have no fancy words to express it, it's just the cold hard truth.

There are so many times here that I want to harden myself against the pain I see in this place. It would be so much easier….not to literally feel the pain of these people and own it—as if its me who has lost my children, or husband or home….or all. But I can’t do that, and the day I do is the day I should just go home.

So instead I feel it, I really feel it.

“wrap us up, warm us through, tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs. Let us slumber, safe from dangers with you this time. Or maybe not, not today. Maybe you’ve provided other ways. And if that’s the case…We’ll give thanks to you, with gratitude, a lesson learned to hunger after you. That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead…” -Nichole Nordeman