I Will Endure by Robin

I WILL ENDURE

I will endure
September 11, 2001,
God focused the world's attention
on those not yet won.

I will endure
Our young family walked the streets of B-----.
The family must share by bearing His fruit.

I will endure
Upon our arrival in this new land
It was obvious on our own we could not stand.

I will endure
Large tanks, shooting and weekly car bombs.
Holy Spirit, my comforter keep me from the stinch of fear as a mom.

I will endure
Two little ones by our side.
Much like young David did look with Saul's equipment oversized.

I will endure
In a Islamic nursery our little ones stayed
while mother and father studied Arabic all of the day.

I will endure
Sick and dying our newborn laid.
In the Father hands our only son stayed.
Thank you!

I will endure
Our Redeemer and Savior,
we daily prayed
grow our faith, don't let it fade

I will endure
Apart from God our effort was in vain
Residence in country was impossible to obtain

I will endure
Twenty one moves in the last 9 years.
It wasn't easy and there were a lot of tears.

I will endure
House from house we continued to move.
This discomfort I struggled with and wanted to remove.

I will endure
Ahh, Let me pull in all my stuff
You see it was comfort I desired and not for it to be so incredibly tough.

I will endure
Bitterness arose in my tired heart
My child, my child don't carry My part.

I will endure
God, teach us to number our days
What happens next was the biggest surprise of our Middle East stay.

I will endure
In the darkness we laid in our bed
and listened to the sounds of jets and bombs that streamed overhead.

I will endure.
Our Father how would you have us to pray?
"Pray for the Muslim rebel and the Jewish pilot both
alike in their need for My grace."

I will endure
Just when I think I got it all figured out
You take evil and allow joy and grace to flow out.

I will endure
S----, L------, America, Cypress and J----- is this our home?
No my Father, It's in heaven with you before your thrown.

I will endure
Why God? I would sigh...
and His reply,
Child you have need of endurance, my grace I have supplied

I will endure
To God be the glory and to Him I gaze.
I have determined that my life will be an offering of praise.

THANK YOU FATHER!

I turned 42 years old yesterday and have been thinking about my life. If the Father gives me a full 80 years and i divide my life up into 4 quarters, then i am at the beginning of the 3 quarter! All sports fans know how important it is to come out of the locker room ready to compete at the start of the 2nd half! It many times determines who will win the game!! Because as the 4th quarter roles around strength is waining and what you were earlier determines your success and your ability of affect others. I am a believer in Jesus in fact He changed my life completely on Father's Day 1993, neat considering I did not grow up knowing a dad. And i am a husband to a beautiful wife and a dad to 5 wonderful children and young adults. It really matters who I am and who I am becoming! God has invested in men alot of power and that power means we have a great responsibility to use if wisely. I recently asked a dad how I could raise girls like his girl who is a kind person and a hard worker, he said to me in Arabic, "you be good and she will be good". Alot of truth in that statement. And it reminds me of Deut 6 where God give us the way to raise a Godly family and affect a society for good and God, "you love God with all your being and then impress My word on your children in the life of the home." Don't look for others to do it dad and mom you have to do it! Men are to be leading, protecting and providing. We are to be authorities who are kind. Kids won't rebel against that kind of authority, they will run to it! I saw a dad baptize his son this summer but before he did he wanted to be sure that his son understood that he was deciding to follow Jesus as his own choice. So he asked him, "son do you trust in Jesus to save you from your sins?" The answer was yes Dad. "Son are you doing this because I want you to do it?" The answer came, "Yes Dad!" This is not what the dad expected! Now I know that the dad just wanted to be sure that his son understood his decision, but I have thought about this alot and i think that we may be so individualistic in our western minds that we miss the lesson here. It is in the heart of that boy to follow his dad's example! He can't help it! God put it there and God wants fathers to be leaders, leading their families in His ways and being used to change other homes one at a time and leading us to revival in the land. Father let is be so! Thank you!
Here are some things I have to be doing!
Love God as my Father and love His son Jesus
Love my Bride and give her a good life and take care of her
Be a one woman man be clean, porn will kill you inside and make you man who lives in an unreal world and cant engage a real woman
Be involved w my kids at home
Make home a fun place to be
Work hard
Have a vision for our life and how to raise our kids
Seek God's dream not the American dream
Do EV with your family around
Stand up for something in a broken culture
Serve others together
Lead with love
Open your home to others dont let it be only a private place
Eat with lost people

Moving Day Number 21

About 10 years ago the Father worked in our lives and brought both Robin and I to the place of surrendering the control of our lives over to Him. He led us to make a step of faith and move our then very young family overseas. Since that day we have seen His faithfulness through a medical evacuation in which Yusef's life was preserved. And a military evacuation that relocated our then family of 6 to another country in the region. And all this time He has been faithfully watching over us and strengthening us. We just recently made move number 21 with our now family of 5 children and Robin and myself. For sure the moves are tougher and although we are not old, we also realize that we arent 20 either! I think that we realize that "home" is a very special word in the english language and in the Bible. Jesus promised that He was preparing a "home" for us and we know that this world is not our home, although we enjoy the good gifts that He has given us here. Home is a place that can only be created by the love of God. It is really easy for us from the west to spend alot of time creating a beautiful home on the outside but the real life in the home comes from a genuine relationship of love btw mom and dad and unconditional love for our children.

Noor Likes Candy!

Corrie was enjoying playing with Noor. She wanted the piece of candy but she was scared to touch it because of the "hairy" toy that Corrie had put it on top of!

Yusef Celebrated his 8th Birthday on July 8th!

Yusef was born in a ME city on July 8th, 2002, he was 6 weeks premature and contracted septicemia and a throat infection on his first day of life. On his first night he turned blue due to not getting enough oxygen from his underdeveloped lungs. I had to leave Robin at the unfamiliar hospital alone that first night because i had to go home to take care of our 3 and 4 year old girls. We had very little knowledge of arabic language and no friends in the city on those first 2 days of his life. We struggled greatly with fears of his death and when we could do nothing. God came through in power! A couple that we barely knew at that time in a neighboring country heard about the sick baby and the husband said to his wife we have got to do something or that baby is going to die! They immediately called their friend a believing Maronite who started making calls and by that night had a Red Cross ambulance with 2 doctors on board heading to us. At 1:00 am the doctor walked through the doors of the hospital and i was never so glad to hear english in my life. He checked Yusef out, did some work on him and put him in the incubator in the ambulance and off we went to a modern hospital in another country. We got through the border with little paperwork and arrived at 6:00 am. Yusef stayed in the hospital 3 weeks and then we got to bring him to our new home.
The wonderful man that God used to save Yusef's life said a few weeks later, "it was like fire in my bones i had to do something to help that baby and i know God has a plan for his life!"

we are grateful to God for Yusef's life and for an unselfish and courageous group of friends who did what others may have been too busy to do and to many friends whp prayed for us!!!

Our Summer Stateside Song Became Baby Because Noor Loved It!

Isn't she a great dancer! If you listen well you will hear Corrie say that she taught her all her moves!

Zack was excited to catch his first fish of the day, but gpa only caught a stick!

SUMMER HIGHLIGHTS

We spent July 4th at the grandparents house on the lake and had a wonderful time swimming, fishing, eating and enjoying oneanother. All the kids caught a fish!
Yusef caught a bass!

Debriefing at RVA


Yusef got a bow for his 8th bday and already knew how to shoot thanks to the G family!

Hot day in the nations capital! We went to the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Vet Wall and the WWII Memorial.

Summer 2010 in the States: Friends and Family and Fun

11 Grandkids boy Sid and Lynda are blessed!
3 Beautiful Ladies
The Boys!
Zack and Mom!

Young Adulthood Ceremony

We have begun a new thing in our family. Actually it is an old idea, but one that has been lost on western civilization. We had with our HC a coming into young adulthood ceremony for Hannah our eldest child, she will turn 13 this summer. We as parents gave her a charge to walk with her Heavenly Father, take responsibility for her life and choices and be a good example to others! All the other adults in our group of friends and the other young adults from about 12 and up also spoke into her life, then we capped it all off with the gift of a silver bracelet and prayer of blessing over her life and a meal together! It was really special. She is a sweet, smart and creative young lady. She is changing, learning new things and having those same growing pains that we all have in major times of change. So pray for us as parents for God's wisdom and strength!

We plan to do this for each of our children as a way to grow them and recognize them as responsible young adults that we expect to fully participate in life! Our culture for the last 100 yrs has pushed "adolescents" to the fringe of society and they feel it! Maybe this is why we are loosing so many of them to dangerous and bizarre rites of passage to prove themselves worthy of trust, respect and a place in our world. Our model Jesus was considered a maturing adult at 12, with expectations and seen by his entire community as a fully participating member and expected to be that! We sometimes see the time btw 13-18 as a time of no expectations and no responsibilities this is not what will grow a healthy young adult to full manhood or womanhood!

By the way, the term adolescence is a fairly new term only about 100 yr old and the way we define it is very important to what we expect from our teens, if we expect and model responsible living we will probably get it! Most kids turn out very similar to their parents! Grace to you!

Easter Beach Trip with Friends

we went to the beach with friends the Gs and enjoyed some fun in the sun and water!!

Spring Has Sprung

We recently went on a family outing and took this photo of the kids together, each personality shows through! thanks for your prayers for our kids to grow in knowing His love.

Fun Day at the Car Museum

14th Wedding Anniversary

On March 16th we celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary together. Life certainly has changed since that Saturday evening when Dr Mac pronounced us man and wife, we now have 5 sweet children and a new life half-way around the world from NC, loads of experiences and new friends, but one thing is the same He is faithful to us!

Daughter's Date Night

I had the chance to take our great girls Hannah and Corrie out on a date. We went to see a school play and out to Chilis!! They are growing up fast and the times are changing.

Visit from Sid and Lynda

Sid and Lynda came to visit in January just before returning to the US after completing their service in Africa.

Noor Walking!! (15mos.)

Noor has finally learned to walk. She has a lot of folks willing to carry her anywhere she wants so it took her a while longer to walk.

Christmas 2009

We had a great time together on Christmas this year!
Robin and I enjoyed blessing our kids with gifts and Santa even showed up.