Yanbu Flower Festival - March 2014

Hello family and friends,

     Well, where to begin. It has been a while since my last update, so I will do my best to catch you all up quickly. Since I last wrote, I went home to Florida in late October to get my work visa. Brenda and I took a week and spent it in Asheville, NC. We stayed overnight in Savannah, GA and walked around downtown a bit before hitting the road towards NC. When booking our trip we found this great lttle hidden gem called Willow Winds of Asheville. We had a wonderful cabin right near the Blue Ridge Parkway and the hiking trail called Sea to Mountain trail. We visited and did many interesting things, like gem mining, horseback riding at the Biltmore Estate, a behind the scenes Architectural tour of the Biltmore Estate, and cappped the trip off by visiting the Omni Grove Park Inn for snacks...and so Brenda could try and catch a glimpse of Sarah Palin, who by the way was there celebrating Billy Grahams 95th birthday bash. We were sad to leave Asheville and very much look forward to a return trip in the near future.
     After leaving North Carolina, we made our way to Jacksonville, Florida to pick up our little man for a week with us at Universal Parks in Orlando, Florida. We had booked a room at the Hard Rock Resort on the property and spent several days in all of the parks and enjoying a few of the rides. I'm pretty sure Brandon enjoyed it all more than we did, but hey, it was all about him. We spent our last day at the hotel and rented a cabana by the pool for the day. It was a nice relaxing day!
     Once back home from all the relaxing trips, it was time to start packing for Saudi. Our trips and packing for Saudi was overshadowed by the death of a family member. Our sweetest and loving cat Zinnie had been having seizures and we made the tough decision that any parent hates to make. She had a bad seizure Saturday morning and we took her to the vet, said our goodbyes and held her while she went to sleep one last time. Hardest thing in the world but she isnt in pain anymore and she lived a full life, 20 years to be exact. Loved her to peices...whew! Enough of that.
     So not a whole lot has been going on here since I returned to Saudi. Winters to say the least are non existent. I put a light jacket on twice. I've enjoyed fishing and snorkling on the Red Sea. There are some of the most beautiful coral systems here and I look forward to taking some underwater photos and posting here soon.
    So now for the title of this blog. The Yanbu Flower Fesitval for 2014 started a few days ago. I had a chance to go by today after work and take a few photos. Here's a link for a story from The Pennisula Times. www.peninsulatimes.org 
     My photos are below for your enjoyment, until next time.

 

 

The Sacrifice

Where to begin...this journey, unlike many others, has a great reward and many sacrifices that I wanted to share.

"The Great Reward"

In two years time I will have earned six plus years worth of my previous salary. I will have gained valuable overseas work experience and best of all, Brenda and I will be completely out of debt. 

Now we have all heard that there's no such thing as a "get rich quick" scheme. We have to work hard and if we follow some basic rules of managing the money that God so graciously allows us to manage, then we have a future that will be rich indeed. The legacy I want to leave my children is one of learning from their mistakes. Because my mistakes are exactly that, mine. They will make their own and by Gods good grace learn from them. I want to leave an example of how I humbled myself before Him, allowed the biblically based financial teachings of one Mr. Dave Ramsey to penetrate my stubbornness and heart. I wanted and desired to have a life without chains. Sure I was free of the chains of death and sin by Christ's death and blood on the cross. But I was a slave to debt and it was my time to break free. It was my time to stand up and shout no more, it was my time to say I will lead my family out of this bondage and teach my children to do the same. To cherish the freedom from sin and death and not become slaves to the things of this world. I will, I will, I will!

This journey is not a get rich quick one at all. Sure it's only two years, but this note today is about the sacrifice required during those two years that define the journey. 

"The Sacrifice"

The most obvious thing is that I had to move over seven thousand miles away. Why, because that is where the job was. The distance is one thing, but thank God for modern technology. We have Skype, email, Facebook, and many other ways to stay in touch and see each other to ease the weight on the heart from the distance. The sacrifice is that the Internet here is sketchy and unreliable. I spent my first two months unable to Skype with Brenda until I found a service provider that so far has been a cut above the rest. The other sacrifice is that friends and family will pass away. Birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays will come and go. The holidays will be hard because they don't celebrate as we do in the US. The weather here is tolerable so not a big sacrifice there. The road driving conditions are horrible and the drivers are rude, inconsiderate, and downright unsafe to say the least. The biggest sacrifice is the time away from my wife. She is my best friend and we, for the most part, did everything together and wanted to be at each other's side. She brightened my days and I know that her being in my life was and is truly a miracle. True love does exist and I am a better man because of her faith in God. It is her that I miss the most. It is my love for her that brought me here. It is the hope of a better future for her and my children that continues to give me strength. 

No great reward ever comes without sacrifice. Our Lord and Savior is the perfect example of this. He paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we, through faith, could receive that reward. My sacrifice is small in comparison and I am thankful for the opportunity and privilege to be living it. 

Remember, in order to live like nobody else, we must first choose to live like nobody else. The road to freedom isn't easy, but once we are through the dark, we will bask in the light.