Monthly Archives: November 2012

Construction in the Desert

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Me at breakfast in front of the towering Burj Khalifa

I spent 3 days this past weekend in the bustling cosmopolitan city of Dubai. It is a city that has built its identity using superlatives…biggest, fastest, longest, tallest (Fun Fact: It holds 102 world records and Guinness has even opened its own Dubai office to handle all the applications.) From man made islands to the towering 828m Burj Khalifa to the indoor ski hill and the never ending malls the propensity towards extravagant construction was immediately apparent. It had been a long time since I was in a city with a skyline as impressive as Dubai’s and I spent most of my time wandering around with wide eyes soaking it all in.

Much like Las Vegas, Dubai transforms itself from a dusty steel desert city during the day to a dazzling light show at night. It is beautiful. And as an engineer I can appreciate the complexities of the design and

The Dubai Mall and Fountain

construction. It is a city that is built from many people asking the question “We can build this, Why not?” rather than “We can build this, should we?” It might feel like a small difference but it is the difference between taking a selfish self promoting perspective and recognizing the global impact of those decisions.

The environmental effects of Dubai’s rapid growth and luxury lifestyle are significant. Structures are built without adequately considering the availability of water and electricity…and with limited resources the UAE has one of the highest water consumption rates in the world. To support the demand for fresh water the UAE (and other gulf countries) rely heavily on desalinized water from the Persian Gulf. They pump the water in, remove the salt and then pump the excess sludge back into the ocean. In 2010 the Gulf’s salinity level had already increased by over 50% from the levels 30 years prior which is enough to threaten ocean life and plants. The desalination process is energy intensive and coupled with the power required to run the lavish city pushes the demand beyond what even this energy rich region can support. The UAE has turned to nuclear power plants to close the gap between energy supply and demand which will create its own environmental problems. This construction/consumption model is not sustainable on many levels…but it sure is pretty to look at.

It made me think of the ways we choose to construct our lives. Are they lives we build out of choosing our self and getting our own way. Or are they lives we build by choosing Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the construction…or selfish vs. supporting life. Paul cautions us about the difference between these 2 construction techniques in Galatians:

“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex, a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness, trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants, a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.” Galatians 5:19-21 (The Message)

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“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard — things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)

It all boils down to choices and focus…I for one will choose life and sustainability.

Blessings,

Lynnea

Burj Khalifa at night

View from the observation deck. Notice the edge of the city and the start of the desert.

Indoor ski hill at the Emirates Mall

Beauty in the Desert

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Happy Thanksgiving and greetings from Bahrain!! Today I am thankful for safety, family and my time in the desert.

Tuesday I ended my 2 week trip through Jordan and I must admit I was a bit sad to see my time there end. The people were lovely and hospitable with everyone we encountered saying “Welcome to Jordan” and serving us sugary tea until we were about to float away. We started our trip with 2 days in Aqaba on the Red Sea…camped and hiked with some local Bedouins in the Wadi Rum desert for 3 days…wandered through the ancient Nabataean ruins of Petra…floated and relaxed on the Dead Sea…imagined life in the Roman trading city of Jerash…smoked some shisha in the coffee shops of Amman…and picked up a few biblical highlights (The mountain where Moses viewed the promised land and the location on the Jordan river where Jesus was baptized)

)While all these sites were incredible in their own way…the highlight of my trip was the 3 days with Bedouin Directions in Wadi Rum. Over this past year I have been thinking a lot about the desert. How it is dry, desolate and very inhospitable to life…it makes survival very difficult. It is a place of extreme temperatures and most people don’t actually like to be in it without air conditioning or other methods of altering the climate. Christians often talk about “Desert Seasons” in their faith which typically describe a period of time when their patience is tested and God seems far away. My desert season is a bit different. It is a season where circumstances surrounding my life are difficult and seem to be more life taking than life giving. Waking up and “surviving” is a choice and there are some days without God’s grace it feels like an impossible one to make. But through all this God has felt closer to my heart than ever before and has provided in profound ways. That being said if I had my choice I would run out of this desert season as fast as possible.

I decided for my post-cancer trip I was going to get to know the desert better. I don’t naturally love it but I have had very little experience with it so…why not? It was interesting spending a few days with the Bedouins. They are a nomadic people who have spent 1000s of years living and surviving in the desert. And when you listen to them talk they PREFER the desert. They take every opportunity they get to bring their family out to the secluded camp. I asked Mehedi (the owner of the camp we were staying at) why they preferred the desert and he said:

  1. We feel safe and protected in the desert – I had never thought about the desert as a place of protection but he was right. We were free from the craziness of the city and felt completely safe.
  2. We are free from distractions…life is simple – Their lives revolved around food, tea, playing music, and sleeping. Not too bad.
  3. It is beautiful – Even though I am a Pacific Northwest girl and prefer the green mountains there was indeed a certain stark beauty to the sand and rock formations. And the stars were UNBELIEVABLE. Without any light noise or moon it was overwhelming how many stars there actually were in the sky. It made me feel profoundly small and completely loved at the same time. What a blessing.

Hmmm…there appears to be more to this desert than I originally thought. Maybe I will try to embrace this season as a time when God is protecting and providing for me rather than a place I just want to run away from.

Here are a few iphone photos…I have more on another camera that I haven’t been able to upload yet. :-)

Audi our intrepid Bedouin guide – right before he left Lucy and I in the desert and told us to find the camp by going around the “big” rock, taking a right after the “small” flat rock and taking a left before the next big rock.

Lucy starting towards the “big” rock…needless to say after the directions we received we were beginning to contemplate our desert survival skills. Miraculously we made it. :-)

Bedouin camp tucked away in the rocks for protection

Water pipe in the desert while we were star gazing.

Peaceful meditation as the sun goes down

Blessings,

Lynnea

 

 

Sorry Mom…

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This year is one that I would not care to repeat…EVER. But I will admit that I have learned more about myself and the overwhelming love and faithfulness of my father in heaven. These are lessons that I wouldn’t give back. They have transformed me and my perspective on the world and relationships. I am and will be a better person because of them. That’s what hardships do…they refine and purify your character…if you choose to face them rather than escape.

“We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling short changed. Quite the contrary – we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit.” Romans (5:3-5) – The Message

I am leaving cancer behind me. I finished the treatments. I ran a 4 mile race here in Groningen as my victory lap. I took down all the lovely support cards that poured in from around the world and “de-pinked” my house. :-) I appreciate all the love people sent my direction, seriously humbling, but I am moving forward. I will never know if the cancer will come back…all I can do now is live and live fully.

This year has been tremendously difficult for me but also for my mom who wanted so desperately to be close and to be able to take care of me. She was able to make 2 trips over at the beginning and the end of the treatment but I know that she worried, prayed and sewed her way through the last 8 months. (When she gets anxious she makes napkins and aprons as a distraction. :-) ) It is harder for people who love me to not be physically close to so they can see that I am actually doing quite OK despite my current situation. It is difficult but I have faith. I have hope. And I have real joy.That being said I am going to add 1 more month of worry to my poor family. (I hope someday to have my own children…and I’m sure there will be payback) I booked a post cancer holiday to the Middle East for a little desert walk about. My life has felt a bit deserty recently and I decided it was a fitting way to cap off this season. So…I will spend the next 3.5 weeks in Jordan, Bahrain and Dubai. I leave tomorrow and I promise, mom, to check in as often as I can. :-) These countries are perfectly safe but the blogging will be a bit sporadic because I wont always have access to a computer. I will try to post some updates when possible.

Blessings,

Lynnea