God is great! He has proven His hand in my life many times! Yesterday was one of them. I had been researching online for a church here in Dubai. When I had looked before we came, I had found one that looked promising. But a couple days ago I had the urge to look again. This time, I found a church called Fellowship of the Emirates. I liked what I saw on their website and I agreed with the church's beliefs. I was looking through the staff pictures and read a little bit about the members of the staff. The pastor is from the States and has been here for many years. Then I noticed the student and children's director is a girl from Texas! She went to Dallas Theological Seminary and has been here for a year. I emailed her looking for more information and hoping to connect with her at the church. I didn't hear back from her but went to the church anyways. As soon as I walked in the door, a woman welcomed me and asked if it was my first time visiting. I told her I was from Texas and then she lead me to Amy, the student and children's director from Texas! I was nervous going to a new church and I was hoping to make friends. I know many of you have prayed that I would connect with people the moment I walked in the door. And that prayer was answered!  Amy is so sweet and very friendly! She introduced me to a couple other people from the States, one couple who is from Arlington! I chatted with them for a little bit before going into the service. They hold three services and I can see why. The space is not very large and we were packed in like sardines for the 11:00 service! The pastor spoke about fresh starts and told the story of Hosea. After the service, I met up with Amy again and she gave me some insight into living in Dubai. I found out that she lives right near me! The couple from Arlington lives close to me as well and they were nice enough to offer me a ride home. (I took a taxi there). Before dropping me off, they took me to lunch. They have been here for about 6 months and have made it their goal to find a good Tex-Mex place here. They have tried a few places and failed. But yesterday we tried a place called Cactus Cantina. It was pretty good! Not quite as good as some places back home, but it will do!

I know I said in my last post that I was going to go on a tour and give you some more pictures and information about other places in Dubai. I'm afraid that didn't happen. I had scheduled a tour and they were to pick me up at my hotel between 3-3:30 but I never received a call. I got an email around 3:15 saying that they tried calling my hotel and my cell but there was no answer. Apparently they had the wrong number, so by this time, it was too late to pick me up in time for the tour. So sadly I wasn't able to go yesterday. But I rescheduled for next week. So hopefully next week it will work out!

 Instead of the tour I decided to try out the Mall of the Emirates. The Mall of the Emirates is the mall with the indoor ski slope. There were so many people at the mall. For starters is was Friday which is like Saturday in the States. Secondly, it's also the beginning of the Dubai Shopping Festival. The shopping festival is held for a month, usually in January. DSF has become an annual shopping, entertainment and cultural extravaganza. Over 600 retailers participate and millions of people come to Dubai for the festival. They have street fairs, fashion shows, firework shows, kids activities, carnivals, and lots and lots of items and activities on sale. So obviously going to the mall during this month could get crazy! The mall website says that there is a DQ in the food court! I looked, but couldn't find it. And all the mall maps there didn't have it listed. I was pretty disappointed about that. But I got Pinkberry instead which was a more healthy choice! As I was leaving the mall, I caught the end of a ribbon show. Then they had some ballet dancers come out.



After the ballet dancers, these dancers came out!

It was all in all an interesting adventure to the Mall of the Emirates!

Later in the evening, Amy came and picked me up and we went to another one of the malls that is further out of the city. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then went to see Sherlock Holmes! I was also introduced to caramel and butter popcorn. It was delicious! Amy said that the popcorn is a big draw for moviegoers! And after tasting it, I can see why! It was really great to get out and see a little more of Dubai. And also to have some fellowship with someone here outside of the family. It helped that she is from Texas, because we talked a lot about home! She is definitely an answer to prayer! Isn't God amazing?! He not only brought me some new friends, but ones from Texas! It turned out to be a great day! Very refreshing, encouraging, and energizing!

I also wanted to share some pictures from Thursday with you. Cash got up a little early from his nap and we were the only ones there so we got to play some just the two of us! Here are a few of the pictures!

He was trying to grab my hair!