Enjoyed a great Sabbath day

Enjoyed a wonderful morning of worship this morning at Redeemer Church of Dubai.  The music was worshipful and touched my heart in several ways.  A guitar and small mid eastern drums were the only instruments.  The congregation at Redeemer loves to sing out with meaning and power.  We sang 2 traditional hymns and then 'Speak O Lord' by Getty and Townsend, which I love.  Two songs new to me had great lyrics ~ 'Hallelujah for the Cross' and  'Never Cease to Praise'.  It was also special to us because a dear friend from West Point days joined us ~ Bret Dalton.  What fun to be together in worship again!

A guest pastor, Garrett Kell, from Alexandria VA preached on How the Church Helps Us Persevere in Our Faith.  3 kinds of relationships you need to keep the faith - Protecting Relationships (Hebrews 3:-2-14), Provoking Relationships (Hebrews 10:24-25), and Pastoral Relationships (Hebrew 13:11).  Check it out ~ insightful, practical, and needful...

After church Bret took us out for lunch.  We sat outside at one of our favorite Restaurants in the Uptown Mall.

For all you foodies out there I took some pictures...

 

 

 

 

 

Bret came back to the house with us and we talked some more...a great day together.  Hoping to see him again before we leave! 

 

 

We ordered Forsan chicken with salad, flatbread and hummus.  I made Arab rice to round out the meal...a Friday night favorite at the house.  I made a simple bundt cake and added a little chocolate ice cream for dessert.  

Actually, I just ate an apple - I was still full from lunch!  A good day.  I wish I could say I feel rested.  It was relaxing and enjoyable but I didn't sleep well last night so about 8:00 I got ready for bed and  am headed that way soon!  Praying for a good night of sleep!

Tomorrow I need to make arrangements for our visa run on December 14th and 15th..  After 30 days our tourist visa runs out and we have to leave the country. We hope to take a bus up to the most northern part of Oman on Wednesday afternoon and spend the night.  It's about 2 1/2 hours away.  We will spend the day Thursday enjoying a boat ride and do some snorkeling. Should be fun.

Hope you are having  a good day!  Those of you in Wisconsin are about 9 hours earlier than us...