Just as I did three weeks ago, I saw my brother and his wife off to work. I packed my suitcase, played with my niece and set off for the airport. A five-minute walk later found me inside the terminal building. I checked in early for the flight and made my way up to the business lounge to wait for the flight to begin boarding. In the meantime I helped myself to a newspaper and some lunch. Although it is Ramadan and eating in public is forbidden, inside the airport it is business as usual.
The flight itself was fairly routine. The plane was rather empty. So I was able to move up to the front row and have it all to myself. Upon landing in Kuwait I went straight to the visa counter with my pre-filled application and KD 3 in exact change. I know the routine, and thought to speed things up as quickly as I could. It worked, as a few minutes later I was through Passport Control and on my way to the car I left in the parking lot.
When I left Kuwait last week I noted some strong winds were blowing. Apparently there was quite the windstorm as my car was covered with a coating of sand. The parking lot itself had taken a bunch of drifting sand as well. Take a look at these pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/khalaf.writes/WelcomeBackToASandCoveredCar
At the hotel, they were already expecting me. My paperwork was on the counter and, as I walked through the door, Jenny popped up from her desk, came around to the counter and said, "Welcome back, Mr. Haddad! I already requested your room upgrade, and your amenities are waiting for you." Wow, OK, I appreciate all that. The check-in was swift, and I headed up to my "upgraded" room. I'm now on the second floor with an ocean view room. Woohoo! And waiting for me was a bowl of fresh pears, a plate of cookies and a bottle of sparkling mineral water. I suppose that membership does have its privileges.
As nice as it was to return to my "home away from home" to find that they were expecting me and had everything ready for me, I can't help but think how much more amazing it will be when we arrive in Heaven to find what "amenities" Jesus has waiting for us in a room that he has been preparing for the past 2000 years. Keith Green once remarked, "If this world took 6 days and that home took 2000 years...man, we're living in a garbage can compared to what's going up there!"
It's no surprise then that the disciples asked for directions to follow Jesus to that place. And as he told them, "I (Jesus) am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." You can read this in John 14:1-6 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2014:1-6;&version=31)
Take a moment today to see whether you have your place in Heaven waiting for you. If you are not sure, drop me an e-mail and we can chat. After all Heaven is one of those places where I'd love to see you!
Blessings,
Khalaf.
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1 comment:
Hi!
It sounds like you have been following your body's recommendations and sleeping. I imagine when you get back home you will certainly need recovery time physically and mentally. It will be a shocker to have the family surrounding you. It will be a big change for your family to have you around again, since they have been here, almost in a suspended 'waiting for Dad to return' state. Neither end has actually been willing to get used to the idea of you being away. Honestly it is not just your family, we have been awaiting your return as well.
A couple of nights ago Marty was doing his Choose the Life study for the first meeting and we had an excellent discussion. He was convinced that he was not the right person for the study since it specifically says it is for believers. I told him that each decision that he makes, that he is proud of is a Christian decision and he is already a disciple for our family. He has many struggles in the belief of the Bible being God's word, Jesus being God's son and that forgiveness can actually be given by the Lord. At each of these points I was able to point to some of the teachings and studies that we have done with DTS. I was glad to have those points of reference, but I am not his mentor.
He needs more.
Of course I pray that the Holy Spirit would move him, but another prayer that has been answered fully and with a resounding roar is that Marty would be surrounded with godly men. The more often Marty attends church including sunday school the more he feels connected to the people there. When he is away, he is pulled by the world - soccer, running, football, family. All of these are good things, but not when they take your focus from the Lord.
Just for you to put some prayer toward, I wanted you to know that Marty does feel a connection, a pull, a warmth that I believe is the Holy Spirit. But he pushes that way thinking that is crazy. He has huge struggles thinking that a God would allow pain, strife and violence. One example is a woman in Sunday school praised the Lord for protecting her son in a car accident. A large piece of metal had fallen from a truck and hit the passenger side rather than the driver side. Marty's question was 'Why did God allow the metal to fall off of the truck in the first place?'
I don't have answers to this.
I also cannot answer why God's chosen people have been enslaved, persecuted and unaccepting of the Messiah.
I also cannot answer why I believe, but I do.
Thanks for listening (reading).
We are counting the days until your return. 14!
Love,
Rachel
P.S. I hope Basma doesn't get too worried about Ben and homework - I had a miserable 6th grade year with Sawyer because I thought there was something I could DO about it. There is prayer, and understanding and patience. I did only one of these.
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