Same Blog Different Title

I thought I was done writing in this blog. First it was An American in Bahrain, then an American in Dubai. I started out writing about cultural differences between the West and Middle East and somehow it meandered into a blog about the pain of divorce and then ultimately the rebirth of a life lived according to the precepts of the Bible. Once I moved back to the US, I went through a bit of an identity crisis. For five years (Give or take a few months stateside) I was an American living either in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, or Dubai. I had many many incredible and noteworthy experiences and friendships. The blog has blessed a lot of people but also created a bit of havoc. The drama would usually elicit interest and empathy from readers. But now that I am back in the US, I reasoned who would want to read me now? That is what I thought anyways until I got an email tonight from a dear friend from Bahrain, Isa. I met Isa entirely through this blog. He stumbled across it somehow when I lived in Bahrain. He had disagreed with my viewpoints on God. So we agreed to meet for lunch at Fuddrucker’s. I think Isa, a very devout Muslim, was expecting an argument something along the lines of
“My God can beat up your God”. But instead of telling him everything that was wrong about Islam (like he was expecting) I told him everything that was right about My God, and Christianity. This type of positivity and vulnerability about my own personal failures opened up the door for a lifelong friendship. Isa is in China now, studying to become a doctor. I am very proud of him. Anyways, I digress per usual. Isa asked me to write in the blog again. As much as I liked to call myself a lay missionary while I was overseas, the reality is that I had just as many ministry opportunities through this blog as I did in face to face situations. That is probably the biggest thing I miss about living in the Middle East, is opportunities to minister to others. But it just dawned on me with Isa’s email, that I still can have these ministry opportunities through this blog.

I do think I have a lot to write about. My life has been a roller coaster of emotions with dramatic pitfalls and tremendous accomplishments. My lovely and spirited bride has told a few of her girlfriends our story and the response usually is “I want to read that book!!!” Someday I’ll probably write my life into a book and then ultimately make it into a movie. It really has been a soap opera. If I didn’t have my faith to sustain me, I don’t know how I would have survived. I like to tell people the details of the story, because I think it’s a tremendous testimony to God’s grace and faithfulness. Jennifer has a blog which many of my faithful readers read. jenni-sloan.blogspot.com She really is a much better writer than myself, which is kind of embarrassing since I bill myself as a professional writer. Jennifer really is a freak of nature, not only is she beautiful, but she is so immensely talented at so many different things. I am really blessed to have her in my life.

So I will try to write in this blog a little more faithfully. It’s a tremendous creative and spiritual outlet for me. My life right now does have plenty of drama. So I will try to avoid the negative when possible but still be completely open and transparent. Even though there is drama, I am not dwelling on it. Why worry about something you can’t control. So instead I am focusing on the positives. I really feel that my life is peaking right now. I have a lovely wife and a beautiful baby girl due to be born in about 6 weeks. I have a great career and frankly the future has never looked brighter. Not everything is perfect, but I’ve never been filled with more hope. I have learned not be stressed about anything. But as I often say, it has nothing to do with my personality, looks, or abilities. All of my success is attributed just because I made a choice to make myself available and allowed God to use me in ways that he best saw fit. I think my life is living proof that God indeed does exist. I will try to write much more faithfully in the future as I have a plethora of things which I would still love to share. Thank you for reading.

Rick