Well, it's not often that I find myself posting twice in less than 24 hours but sometimes you just have those moments that are worth reflecting on and writing about. Much as I have used this blog to post about some of the quirks of living as a foreigner in an Arab country, there is also a deeper reality. Wherever I am, I have been called to wait on God, to meet with Him, and let the overflow of those encounters reach into my everyday life.
Lately I have been struck with the importance of listening to God and then obeying. It's one of those simple truths that can be so easily distorted or distracted from. A friend of mine and I have since decided to wake up every Friday morning and, as of today, Monday morning at 4 a.m. to devote some time to prayer and listening. Odd and crazy as it may be, there is something special about getting up before the dawn and turning my heart, mind, and soul towards my Creator.
This morning I felt especially refreshed and filled with joy after a middle of the night conversation and fellowship with my church community group in the States. We signed off just after 4 a.m. with the calls to prayer echoing from the mosques over the howls and yelping of wild dogs. My heart poured out with psalms, thanksgiving, joy, and prayers of blessing over my community group. Then I quieted myself and began to listen.
First, I felt led to turn off my light, pull back the curtain, and gaze at the beauty of the full moon shedding its light in the predawn darkness of the western sky.
Then I went to a different window and looked to the east where the sky was just becoming rosy. The words that God gave me in my heart said: Do you see this beauty that I have created? Beautiful as they both are, the hearts of people, your heart, is more precious to me." (Matthew 5:26)
I then went up to the roof to sit still and just watch the sky change colors before me, each hue shifting and turning more brilliant than before. As I watched, I could feel myself becoming a little impatient (I was getting a little hungry and cold) but I still felt compelled to wait.
When the sun came it was sudden and gloriously radiant. I realized that I had just witnessed the perfect metaphor (Hosea 6:3). God's coming seems slow but with each transformation of the heart the sky becomes brighter and more colorful, until He comes with the fullness of His light. So beautiful...
I would like to think that today I discovered the Arab equivalent of "Moo Cow."
For those of you who have not experienced Moo Cow, let me explain: I was introduced to Moo Cow on a college band tour. We were traveling through Kansas at the time and suddenly I started hearing people behind me on the bus shouting "I claim those cows!" or perhaps later "I drown your cows!" Essentially when the landscape doesn't change for hours (as is the case in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, etc.), you start hunting for something that isn't the same. In this case, cow herds. The first person who sees them, claims them for one point. By the same token, the same person who sees a body of water can then drown the others' cows by one point.
Today as I was walking to my language lesson, I saw two boys on the other side of the street playing. As soon as they saw me one of them started shouting, "Ajnabiyye! Ajnabiyye!" ("Foreigner! Foreigner!"). Usually this is followed by the persistent, "Hello! Hello! How are you?" However, for some reason, he kept on repeating the "Ajnabiyye!" to his friend. I'd like to think that somehow by spotting me, I managed to give him a point in an Arabic version of Moo Cow or perhaps it should be called "Find the Foreigner". This is a much better thought than the metaphor of a bird giving a warning call when a stranger enters their territory.
However, I do hesitate to think of what the equivalent to "drowning cows" would be in this "Find the Foreigner" version of the game... maybe "I send your ajnabiyye away in a taxi"??
