4-2

What a great day this was for me. For all the sucky days of the past couple of weeks, it was nice to have a rebound day…filled with happiness…not just joy but happiness too. It all started on the wrong foot. I was expecting to be woken up in the middle of the night with a call from Jennifer. That call never did come. I was perturbed. I kept thinking “she should do this…she should do that…” and “I feel this…and I feel that…” So I called her and was ready to complain and get into an argument which could have led to a fight. She had fallen asleep and my call had woken her up. Just as I was ready to lay into her…she smiled…and my heart melted. I was still mad…but then she smiled again and again. Eventually I wasn’t angry anymore. But the real interesting part came about 30 minutes later when I was doing my talk with God. I said…”God Jenni should do this, jenni should do that… It’s not fair…” I was totally justified in my thoughts. But in that still small voice God reminded me that I need to instead focus on myself. I need to change me first and the changes that I desire in my spouse will occur naturally. Now I knew this. Its like counseling 101, but still I needed to be reminded of it. Isn’t that interesting that as Christians we know the answers but often times we need to be reminded of the answers. So I’ve been stoked all day (waiting for her to wake up) thinking, I can’t wait to show Jennifer how great of a husband I am/can be.

Darren was in town for a meeting and he stayed an extra day to hang out. So he came by the house and I showed him around. He was very excited when I had my housemaid make us breakfast. She was nice enough to make it for us on her day off. I wanted to make sure she still made it to church on time so I gave her cab fare, and a little extra. So he was just glad to have pork bacon. It’s a big thing when you can’t have it often. So we went downstairs and grabbed a cab and went to church together. This is appropriate since Darren and I met at church in Bahrain. After we finally found a cab and headed back to the house. He brought his squash racquet and we headed out to the Sheraton for a game. I beat him! 4 games to 2. For as much as he was kickin my butt it was nice to get pay back finally. I used to beat him quite regularly until I suggested he get a new racquet, after that I rued the day I gave him that advice because he won consistently. Squash is a game like tennis as it uses the same muscles and motion. I have been swimming a lot lately. And the freestyle stroke is very similar to my serve. So I think those built up muscles must have given me my edge. After we hung out in the grass/shaded portion of the Sheraton pool/beach. This is a 5 star resort I think. It was really nice just catching up and talking. The weather was perfect and the setting seemed a bit like paradise. The aqua green water in the background and the grass under our feet. In Dubai…or anywhere in the Middle East…grass is a big deal. He really has become a great friend. Since I don’t have too many of those here in dubai just yet, it was refreshing just to hang out. We headed back out to the strip for dinner. Since it is the weekend, it was packed with people. This is the trendiest spot to go in all of Dubai in my opinion. We had dinner at El Chico (whose franchise started in Dallas, Darren’s hometown.) What made the meal taste even better is that I had a buy one get one free coupon (my father would appreciate that). After a great meal, we headed to Trader Vic’s for a nightcap. The only places you can buy alcohol in Dubai is at hotels. Trader Vic’s is attached to one. So I had one drink. I drink maybe once or twice a year. I can take it or leave it, so I mostly leave it. But Im a sucker for 1. Anything frozen, 2. Anything with grenadine, 3. Anything with an umbrella…This had all three…well not the umbrella, but it should have had one, it was tropical enough. I should have asked for one. Then we came back to the house and I dropped him off in a taxi and he’s headed to the airport. Its only 9:00 so Im thinking I might just head out for a movie if the timing is right. All in all…just a great day. I can’t wait to talk to my wife to tell her all about it…D’oh.

I had actually just finished my blog when I read this daily devotional from Joel Osteen. It totally captures my point of view so I thought I would share it.

He Laughs in the Heavens

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“He Who sits in the heavens laughs...”
(Psalm 2:4, AMP)

TODAY’S WORD from Joel and Victoria

Have you ever imagined God laughing in the heavens? Think about it for a moment. Right now, God is on the throne. He’s not mad. He’s not worried about the economy. He’s not upset with you and me. God is full of joy and laughing on the throne. It goes on to tell us in Psalm 37 that He’s laughing because “He can see the destruction of the enemy coming.” In other words, the reason God laughs is because He knows the end of the story. He knows the final outcome. The good news is that you and I win. God always causes us to triumph!

Imagine watching the Super Bowl when you already know the outcome. You already know who is going to win. No matter how far behind the winning team falls, no matter how bad it looks for them, you wouldn’t get upset. You wouldn’t be worried. Why? You’ve got inside information. You know the final outcome. That’s what God is saying to us today. When it gets tough and things don’t look like they’re going to work out, we know that with God we are on the winning team! Today, you can laugh with Him knowing that He has favor, strength and victory in store for your future!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father in heaven, I choose to rest and trust in You. Thank You for bringing victory in every area of my life. Give me opportunities today to share Your joy and love with the people around me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

— Joel & Victoria Osteen