Today I had the privilege of going to the baptism of one of my AWANA kids. The church his family attends holds baptisms every so often at various spots around Abu Dhabi. Today’s site was a beach right next to a public park and three people were baptized this morning.
I love that we could gather as a group (of about 30 people), sing worship songs on the beach, share testimonies, and praise God publicly in a Muslim country.
The rest of the day was spent as a family at Motiongate Dubai (the amusement park that we have season passes for). It was hot, hot, hot . . . but a good chunk of the park is air conditioned and all of the ride lines are inside air-conditioned buildings.
It was practically empty today and we walked onto all of our favorite rides multiple times. The Madagascar roller coaster is always my favorite because it’s the fastest and it makes me laugh, but the boys like the Hunger Games train (the upside down roller coaster) even better. We’ll see which one Camille likes best when she’s finally tall enough to ride it in the fall (she’s a hair below the “you must be this tall to ride” sign.)
Am I confident we’ll be here in the fall? I am. Josh keeps telling me bits and pieces as he remembers them from his interview and it sounds more like a meeting than an interview. When they suggest that he might want to switch his state of residency to Texas to avoid income taxes? In my world, that’s a pretty big green light.
Of course I’ve been sure since the beginning that he would do well in this job interview/transition process. That confident kid with big plans from 1994 has only improved and refined his game over the past several decades. He convinced me to hitch my wagon to that star and I figure the rest of the world would want to as well. In my mind it’s settled, but he has grown in maturity and humility over the past 24 years and is waiting for an actual offer before he celebrates.
But tonight we both celebrate our sleeping child. The melatonin miracle continues. No cajoling, no music, no “I’m thirsty,” no tears. Just sweet snoring after falling asleep with the light on.