Treated like a celebrity

Last night at the Improv contest I was approached by the manager of the Hotel. He really wanted me to have dinner as his personal guest the next night. He was very insistent. So I agreed. It was really cool. He treated me like a five star guest. The food was good and the company was nice to. The manager is from India, Im fond of Indians and he was fond of Americans. Its always polite here to ask about how your family is doing. Its considered proper etiquette. But that is always an awkward question with me. When people ask me questions, Im usually pretty straight forward. They ask me how Im doing, and if Im doing lousy…I tell them. The look on their face is always pretty comical as they don’t know how to react. Should they just ignore the response, probe deeper and ask why, or just ignore. So whenever Im asked about my family or if my family is living with me, it’s a loaded question. I usually tell them about the break up of my marriage and the estrangement of my daughter. Im quite open, honest and vulnerable. I don’t share out of weakness, I just share it as a matter of fact. It is what it is. Like it or not, it is my testimony. How I respond to the adversities that I’ve overcome is also a part of my testimony. As a matter of fact it usually always opens up a door for me to share my faith. So as I was scarfing down food (they kept bringing me plate after plate of their best stuff) we did talk about my faith via the positive living group. The manager said he would come to the next one on Monday and I believe he will. After the nice dinner he proudly showed me around the hotel. This is the same hotel where Aqua Fuego is, so I’ve seen a lot of it already. He was very proud. I did ask him about his family and he has a wife and two young children. He was very nice and because he was so honored to have me as a guest (he kept telling me over and over) I was honored to be with him. It was a very nice night.

I had played squash with Darren earlier in the night. He beat me again. I used to be able to be Darren pretty consistently but ever since I suggested that he buy a new racquet, he has smoked me. But even though he does beat me a lot, its still incredible exercise and great fun. I think my fitness level is off. You have to be incredibly fit to play squash. When I was beating him consistently, I’d be kayaking in the off days so my energy level was pretty high. But now that the water is getting colder Im going kayaking less and less. That is taking a toll on me. I do miss that exercise. But what I’ve really been focusing on since I’ve been back to Bahrain is my spiritual fitness. I got a little complacent the last few months and it has showed. Now I’m aggressively pursuing peace…that’s a weird concept isn’t it. It works… There is some tumultuous things going on at work and Im not worried about it. I am aggressively pursuing peace…by Seeking first the Kingdom of God. That really does work. I know this already though…and I’ve blogged about it. You think Im old enough and wise enough to remember. But no…I think that is human nature. We start slowly drifting and before long we realize that we are in a completely different lane. I think its like being a frog in slowly boiling water. But that is the beauty of trials, because that reminds us that we are veering off course and motivates us to course correct. That is what happened to me today. Nothing really spectacular, just a change in attitude. So…it was a great day for me. What happened externally to make it that way? Not much…but just a shift an attitude and a renewed faith that God is in control.