This date is getting some attention in the media, but a lot of attention in wedding chapels and among the superstitious.
As for this date in Egypt, those Egyptians abroad will be able to vote today. Demonstrations, both for and against President Morsi and the pending referendum on the proposed Constitution, took place throughout the country yesterday. There are warnings against Muslim imams using the pulpits to direct voting. And, there remain several question marks for those who find themselves against Morsi, the Constitution, or both--those in opposition are divided on whether to vote "no" on Saturday, or to boycott the referendum. This type of indecision is obviously not good, and if there's a resounding victory for the Constitution on Saturday, this will likely only strengthen the Islamist group's "we're the majority" thinking and future actions. Here's a brief video clip from Al Jazeera showing scenes of yesterday's protests...
Anyone know a baby who is to be born today???
Happy Birthday Frank Sinatra -- Frank would be 97 years old (born 1915), but his voice and style are definitely the definition of iconic. Here's my favorite Frank song -- though I know that many may pick "My Way," this is a timeless piece...
Our first "Merry Christmas" greeting came from our Muslim friend and Sinatra-loving taxi driver, Adel.
We'vee decorated for Christmas and we're beginning to see a few Christmas season things around. Stores here carry some decorations--we had to look around before we found things that we like and could use in decorating an old, fake tree that was here in the villas storage. We only brought our stockings and one, tiny, self-contained Nativity from back home. It's nice not hearing all the cheesy-pop contemporary "holiday" music in every store, though we miss hearing our own holiday favorites. We are using Christmas carols as a teaching series during Advent with the CCF, and we have several special services/events coming up. Grace will be playing with the band or jazz band during pickup time today to add some holiday cheer through their school yard. We were blessed by one of our support churches back in the states who sent us a large envelope full of Christmas cards and colored-Christmas sheets from their kids ministry -- Thanks Liberty Street -- they'll all be going up on our wall to help it feel a bit more like Christmas around here.
Christmas shopping is harder than I thought it would be. There's always a bit of a challenge in finding quality stuff, at a decent price, and nothing's all in the same store (or the same part of town)--plus, our kids are getting to a bit of challenging age in that they're not really wanting toys anymore, as much as gadgets, nice clothes, and anything else really expensive. So, tempering expectations become the holiday teaching moments :) We know, we know--Christmas isn't about the gifts you give or get--it's about the greatest gift given in Jesus and the grace he continues to give; but, we like to give to our children and we like to show love through gifts. So, we have to work a bit harder and more creatively on this end.
Christmas is great--and, we get to celebrate it twice here in Egypt with New Year's thrown in between. We're looking forward to the break, but there's a lot that can happen, as well as a lot of work, between now and then...
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