Today is the first day of Eid, which means that Ramadan is over and people can eat in public during daylight hours. We are going to meet up with some friends from church out in the desert for a barbecue in a little bit to celebrate. Some of them will be camping, but since we don't have any gear with us, we will just stay for the evening.

Yesterday was a big day for us. We found out that we are expecting to have a son! We had already decided on the name Noah Gabriel, so now all we have to do is wait 4 months to meet him. It is a little scary to think about having a boy, since all we know is how to raise a girl, but God is sufficient and will get us through. We liked the name Noah, because in the bible he was reputed for his righteousness. He lived over 600 years old! To be considered a righteous man for that long is amazing to me. I like that heritage for our son, and will do my best to train him in righteousness for the Lord's namesake. Gabriel was a messenger of God, so we liked that name as well and pray that our Noah will carry God's message far and wide.

Friday we had the privilege of hearing a well-known Christian speaker who was visiting Bahrain on his way from Saudi. Bob Sjogren used to live in Arizona and we met him years ago when he spoke at a seminar at Bethany Community Church, where we used to go. He has books and videos that are most excellent and change your view of what it is to be a Christian. Anyways, his topic that evening was Joy. How do we find true joy and what is it. Most of it I had heard from him before but it was an excellent reminder for how to live my life and reinforced what my thoughts of God really are.

Well, I am off to pack for the jaunt into the desert. I will write more later and send some pictures at that time.