Desert Bloom: Uprooting

As summer inches closer each day, a bittersweet move presses in on me much like the blazing, engine-like desert air that hits every time one walks outside at this time of the year. It’s inescapable.

What bittersweet move? Here's my news...

The good news is that I will be moving to Dubai in August, so I will be much closer to church. The bad news is that I’m leaving Abu Dhabi and the precious friends, colleagues, and Emirati children and families whom I love so deeply.

My heart has been torn since I first began praying about this as far back as January 2012. (I will share the whole story when I have more time.) But, over time, God has made it very evident that Dubai is where I need to be, despite my desire to continue teaching at Sheikh Zayed PrivateAcademy, a school I have come to sincerely love, challenges and all.

The bottom line is that I need to be where my soul is best served and, ironically enough, that is in Dubai, closer to my “local” body, United Christian Church of Dubai, where I will have more frequent fellowship, opportunities to serve on a practical level and a greater degree of personal and spiritual accountability. (The drive between the two emirates takes me about an hour and 15 min. each way, which can be exhausting after a full work week and also very limiting in terms of what I’m able to do midweek or even on Saturdays at church or with my friends.)

During these last few days and weeks in Abu Dhabi, the imminent change has been and will continue to be emotionally taxing, but I know the Lord is sovereignly directing my every step and I need not worry about the future. While I will greatly miss the friendships He has knit together, I know that He will give me the grace, strength and perseverance to maintain those He wills for me to hold closely.

Please pray with me during this time of change, most especially that God would be glorified through it all. In and of myself, I will fail miserably in this, so I’m totally depending upon Him. I will leave Abu Dhabi on July 2 and will be home (in Florida) until August 14, when I will, Lord willing, board a plane destined for Dubai and a new life of sorts. I know it will be good because God is good.

Thank you in advance for your prayers, support, love and hugs.

Here are some photos of my new school, Dubai American Academy, which I visited on March 30. It was truly a blessed day, full of meeting new colleagues, future students and friends, so I’m hopeful about the great things God has in store for me there and the ways I can showcase His amazing love, beauty and grace.