Yawn - I'm Here - Yawn

I’m back in Doha with the worst case of Jet Lag that I have ever experienced. It was the normal trip that I usually take except for the extra leg through Orlando. I didn’t sleep much on the way to London or between London and Doha. I thought cool, I’m really tired but this is a good way to whip me back into my sleep schedule. Well unfortunately I didn’t set an alarm on Saturday because I figured I would wake up when I need to. Well that ended up being 4:00 PM my time and 8:00 AM Texas time. This was depressing because I just lost all the anti-jet lag sleep I had on the plane and I was back to Texas time. Kara and I got up and got about 4 hours of sleep last night. I’m now doing my best to stay awake for a little longer so that I can wake up at a normal hour tomorrow.



We have two individuals in from College Station for the next two weeks. I have been videoconferencing with them ever since I’ve been working here and today was the first time to actually meet them face to face. One of them told me I was taller then they had thought I was. I guess a 13” monitor doesn’t really give you anything to reference a person’s height by. Especially when they are sitting down. I was some what worried about how I would be with them here since I was so jet lagged but they are hurting as bad as I am so no big deal. They coded this HR Database system that I have been in charge of from the Qatar end. It was a lot bigger of a responsibility than I expected when I started. Luckily the people in College Station were experienced enough to fill any holes I might have had in my experience.



Not to have some corny segue but the whole responsibility thing reminded me of something one of the elders in my church told me at dinner. I was talking about wanting to work with the church more but not knowing where I should be. I’ve always secretly been annoyed by those seemingly melodramatic types who would wine about God not telling them anything and they were not sure what they wanted to do. To me it always seemed like a convenient excuse to not have a job and still act like you are in college without any real responsibilities. I actually heard this same comment while hanging out with Kara and her sister’s friends. One girl was there talking to this guy and said those exact same words “I don’t know where God wants me” And I thought to myself, I wonder how many times she has even left The Woodlands. Well I later found out when she asked me how much Arabic that she had spent time as a nurse in the Sudan and I believe Afghanistan and has seen most of the Middle East countries. Lets just say I felt about 6”s tall then. Nothing like a good piece of humble pie to put you in your place. Luckily I had kept all of my cynical comments to myself or I would have been walking to the airport to catch my flight to Orlando. Lesson learned here, get off your I have world experience high horse and realize that people don’t have to live in the sand just to live life. It reminded me of the time I used to think the only way that I could serve God was by going to the most oppressed and poverty stricken countries in the world. If I didn’t go who would and what was my excuse. Anybody who stuck around in the states was just taking the easy way out. Learning their theology in their seminaries but not know what ministry was really about. Although I know there are still some of those over scholastic Christians this point of view, I’m happy to say, has been changed.



Well back to the talk with my elder. I wanted to know how I could work into having a role with more responsibility. He flat out told me start coming to the prayer meetings on Tuesday night and you will know where the needs are. I have learned over the years not to make a knee jerk reaction to taking on responsibility. In the past I would say yes to 10 different things and in the end I would be stressed out with a 2.0 GPR and nothing done right. So I have done my best not to promise anything I can’t deliver, unfortunately I have not always held true to that, but I that is how life goes. He also told me to keep on doing the small things. I’ve been working with Power Point to keep the words on the screen during worship and now he says I need to look for a few more people to do my job so I will be free to take on different responsibilities. It sounds a lot like Amway with building a down line but it makes sense. He also asked if I would work on the soundboard and I told him I would give it my best shot. I’m tone deaf so I’m going to ask Kara to be there with me at first to help with the mic checks. Right now when I hear them do it, I really can’t tell the difference between what sounds good and what doesn’t. Once that is good to go, my job will be mainly a technical one.



The elder told me something that totally made sense. He said that if I ever plan on planting a church I’m going to need to be able to do all of these small things and teach others how to do them as well. I don’t know if Kara and I will ever be planting a church but it does make sense to me. Learn the guys’ job above of you and teach yours to the one below you. I’m not sure why God put me here, but I’m pretty sure it was for more then writing code and going to church on Friday morning. There are so many needs here that are so evident. It is my responsibility to do my best to meet these needs. I just can’t be a bull in china shop when I’m doing it.

Thoughts in the Orlando Airport

I’m currently sitting in the Orlando Delta Crown Lounge. It’s one of the nicer lounges that I have seen but unfortunately all the snacks I was depending on when I skipped breakfast this morning are not here.



Not a whole lot to say I’ve just been doing some reflections on my trip and what it means to my life in Doha. After three weeks in the states I began to like it again. I don’t know exactly what it is but when Kara and I drove from San Antonio to Houston I felt some nostalgia when we drove through some small towns and by some open fields with actual tree lines. Kara and I talked a lot about how long we wanted to stay in Doha and the benefits of our life there. Kara is definitely a little more pro Doha then I am. It might be that I’m just a little more pro Texas. I don’t plan on coming back to Texas for a while but there something that just resonates with me there. There’s family and friends, memories and the Texas I don’t give a crap what you think arrogant redneck mentality. Who knows. I do know that this is triggered when I’m out in the more rural areas and not when I’m in Dallas, San Antonio or Houston. Am I really just a redneck in a Microsoft T-Shirt? Who knows.



I’m excited to get back to my routine and there will be no time for rest once I do. Two weeks of working with the folks in College Station, one week of normal work and then off to Germany. I’m not complaining my head just thinks a lot about these things. I’m really excited about our Germany trip. One of the cool things about backpacking around Europe is its OK to wear the same pair of clothes for a couple of days. At least that’s what I’m telling Kara. On our trip back we had a grand total of 320 pounds of stuff. We shipped 80 of it through my 4 box a month allowance A&M gives me. The rest was meticulously divided up between 4 checked pieces of luggage and 4 pieces of carry on luggage. I took a picture minus the boxes we mailed this morning. I’ll show it later.



Well that’s just a quick note, I’m on my way to London next.

Finding Home

After going to Florida for a week of training and then to Dallas for two days I spent a week in San Antonio, the town that I was born and raised. The place that I’m supposed to feel like is my home. Honestly it felt like a place that I was very familiar with, but I can’t say that it was home. Maybe because ever since I left for college 8 years ago I have not really lived there. At least that is what my mom tells me. In a good way, she is just reminding me of my need for independence. It felt as much like home as Florida did. I’ve never been to Florida before this trip so that should put it in perspective.



If San Antonio no longer feels like home then what does. I would assume College Station is next on the list. I have a lot of good memories there, but most of the people I share those memories with are no longer there. That’s not 100% true, there was the post graduation crowd but that was another phase of my life all together. So if College Station was to feel like home it wouldn’t be because of my college roommates but because of the people I used to work with. I liked living in Conroe, but I don’t think I’ll have too much nostalgia coming from the 6 months Kara and I lived there.



So what does that leave? Doha? This Texas boy now calls Doha home. Not just a place he is living for a while but this is actually my home. Where I’ll have memories and where someday I’ll write about in some obscure blog. Then will I feel nostalgia about the local shwarma stands and learning Arabic at QCPI. I think, based off these past two weeks, it will probably be a place that I enjoy in my memories but walking by the physical bricks and sand won’t bring back a rush of good feelings.



This confirms something that I have been tossing around in my head for a while. I don’t really miss any specific place (except for Colorado in the summer) I do however miss people. Anytime people ask me what I miss about the states, family and friends are first on my list and I still struggle to find anything that would be a very distant second. Pork maybe, but it’s not really worth the plane ride. So my conclusion is people make memories and places worth going back to. Not the pretty view or the first house we bought as a married couple. Memories usually require somebody to share it with. Maybe that is why we are not in any hurry to leave Doha. We made a home here with a solid set of friends. It’s not the sand storms or cool 115 degree days that made us sign another year long contract.



I once mocked a friend of mine who said he was going to move to New Mexico to live next to his Old Lady from college. I was thinking how pathetic could you be. Now I’m realizing that is his family and what makes his home a home. Why do we all have to be so damn independent? We kill our selves so that we can make it on our own in our own autonomous lifestyle but if we don’t like it what did we prove. Who knew that guy was so enlightened this whole time.



So to all my friends and family who read this, thanks for making wherever we meet home. I love you guys.