Dear family and friends,
I just sent this email to my man and thought y'all would enjoy what's going on. After Mother and Daddy left we flew to Ireland for five nights and then to Morocco. The Ray family has included us in their family adventure for which we are grateful. Ed left two days later to head out for his school trip to Russia, Norway, and Turkey! The whirlwind continues and I struggle that I can't blog more to share what all God is doing in our lives. I'm hopeful this month I'll be able to back track a little with pictures.
Love to all!
In Christ Alone,
Dinah for The Troops
I love you so much darling! I've had a great time praying for you and your trip. I need a list of the gentleman(and lady) on your trip as I want to pray specifically and am only praying at this point for the ones I remember.
We are doing fantastic! Definitely in that whole experience of a lifetime category. Today we are going slower. We slept late, the children are swimming, rearranging our things, and not going out until the heat of the day cools down a little.
We've all laughed at the 80's forecast, and this is coming from a Greg who is a trained Navy Weather Man. It's been well into the 90's here in the city and hit 112 when we were in the desert. I'm so grateful that they are going to let us do some laundry today!
The ryad is beautiful. Truly an oasis in this city. The people, motorcycles, donkey's, ect can be overwhelming when you are trying to get through the streets. We are staying in the Medina which is the older part of the city.
God was SO GOOD...as always. We'd been here for a few hours when we quietly realized that our trek out to the desert was going to entail MUCH driving. Oh Ed, I wouldn't have come if I'd known, and God did not let me know ahead of time as he wanted us here. It was such a great moment as a family to rally and pray for God's provision. They were talking about 5 hours the first two days (each) and ten hours the last day home. I'd also taken a lot of anti nauseous medicine out of my bag from the Ireland trip and only had about 20 tablets. Again I say, God is so good.
The first two days went beautifully as far as the car. I sat up in the first row in the middle behind the drivers. Caroline was a row behind but directly by a window which was helpful to her. Oh, did I mention that we did this little trek with no airconditioning. We tried their "air" twice and agreed it was definitely cooler with the windows down.
The last day (we left at 8:30 and got home about 6:30 stopping an hour and half for lunch plus a few little breaks including once for Jefferson to throw up) the driving was not so great. The guides were so careful on the way there and more like horses wanting to go back to the barn on the way home. It made for a little bit of a long and miserable day, but God was good and it was a good opportunity to trust Him.
The desert was beautiful. It surprised me how much I thought it was beautiful. Ed, it was like driving through a National Geographic. The first day we saw a movie studio, stopped to do a little here and there, and stayed at a hotel.
The hotel had a wonderful pool and we'd not brought our bathing suits. Greg and WYATT went out to see what they could find for the girls. They came back with an assortment so all the girls could get in. Please imagine these American girls swimming in a Muslim country where WYATT picked out their clothing. We have a great video and I was so grateful for them to be able to cool down! A memory none of us will ever forget...lots of laughter that afternoon.
The second day we did more driving and then had a later lunch on the edge of where we were heading out on the camels. The lunch was at an expensive little get away and looked every bit like you could imagine. A little haven right in the desert complete with greenery, carpets, and another beautiful pool. Our two girls opted out of their new swimwear which meant that Kari and I could have a go! I'll tell you all about the bus drivers chasing us around the pool while Greg gave a swim lesson later. Caroline has some hysterical pictures! Apparently we broke every rule they had given us...I'd not heard the rules thank you!
This was the evening where we headed out to the desert on eight camels. The youngest rode with their mama's. My backside is amazingly sore by the way. We rode for about an hour and half before arriving to camp. Another 20 people came shortly after us from France, Spain, and Germany. There are all kinds of stories and experiences I could explain but due to time I will just tell you one.
We were hot....we were hot in the car, hot at lunch, hot at dinner which was served in a hot tent. I will say though, with great delight, that all seven children did not complain! We cooled off in the pool and the camel ride became pleasant as we watched the sunset towards the end. When it came to bedtime the Rays pulled out their mattress so they were directly in front of their tent and we quickly followed suit. We laid there under the stars...I can't begin to make my words do this justice. It was indescribable. We just have no concept of who our God is and what He is capable of. Seeing His sky this night made this more clear in my mind and heart than ever. Sweetheart, you've shown me beautiful skies. The skies of the Italian countryside, that sunset in Belgium, the moon at the canyon in Texas, the stars out at Bellows in Hawaii, yet I've never seen anything like I saw that night. The sky was so blue, so vast, and so majestic. The stars were so bright, so brilliant, and so many in number. It called my heart to worship. The best part though, although I would have loved for you to have been beside me to share this moment and to have had this experience....He was enough. Jesus was there and there was not a thing missing.
I love you so much darling and am so excited about your time away. I can't wait to hear of all you learn and see. I particularly look forward to hearing about the people. The people you are with and the people you meet. People is God's heartbeat...I pray we always let it be ours, right after Him of course.
I need to go and check on the boys but I just so wanted you to hear from me. The Rays have been a delight to travel with. You would be very pleased. Now that we are back in Marrakesh we will have more contact. Thank you for letting us come. We loved the pictures you sent!
Love in Christ,
Dinah
