Behind every great man..

I was asked to give a short presentation for a meeting at work. The session was really interesting and it ran till 8 pm. Sitting down listening to various speakers, I scanned the room and there were about 25 men and 4 women attending this meeting. It made me think that behind every great man there is a women. But what about great women? I think behind every great women is an army of people, friends, family and good kids. So, big cheer for those who are working behind the scenes for so many people.

"The staying at home" challenge

In the last few weeks I have been at home full time and against popular belief, it has been hard work. The common idea about staying at home is the endless coffee mornings, shopping trips and meeting friends or sitting in front of daytime TV all day. What I found in the last few weeks is that it is a challenge to stay at home and to stay focus and positive. There are endless jobs to be done, and things are not quite finished at all. At work it is hard and stressful, lots of deadlines to meet and projects to finish etc, but at home the measured achievements are not present all the time and so the need to stay focus is more important in my opinion. To keep praising God all day through the ironing, the washing, changing the water in the fish tank, doing the garden, removing tough stains from school uniforms, writing checks for various activities and organizing bags to take to charity shops...the list is endless and the work is endless. Finding the time to pray and to meet and support people is also hard even thought in theory you have all the time in the world. As Chekhov said: “Any idiot can face a crisis, it is the day to day living that wears you out”. It is a challenge, but so far so good.

No “good byes”, just “see you soon”

Two of my best friends are immigrating to Australia, a decision that left me so emotional and very upset. After I stopped crying, I decided to write about it here. I know it is just purely selfish on my side. I know that for my friends and their family it is the right move and I am sure that God will use them and bless them in Australia as much as He did over here and more. However, it does not make it any easier saying good bye. I thought there must be a law whereby you can stop your friends from taking such a decision! Our lives is shaped by the people around us and those who are close to us and so I feel part of me will be down under (I would not mind the sun shine over there). It is very sad to say good bye but it should not be, it should be “see you soon” instead. Nothing like having a cup of tea with a friend, a good chat, a shopping trip or a holiday together, however, we thank God for all the new technology that allow us to keep in touch so “No excuse”!
I thank God for all my friends and family, near and far, may the Lord bless you all.

25-hour day, anyone?

British summer time started yesterday, so we are back to short days and long nights. As we put the clocks back one hour yesterday, we all had a 25 hour day and the question is: what did you do with your extra hour? Stayed in bed longer, played more with the kids, more time on the PC or you did not even notice that you were given an extra hour?
There are now some research on creating a 25 hour day using combination of light brightness and pulses that allow the manipulate of the body clock and over time adding approximately one hour to each day.
I found this fascinating and I know that this research had to be in controlled environment and its application into our day to day lives is not straight forward, however, what would I do with an extra hour everyday? And what if this extra hour is my last hour? Who will benefit most from my extra time? Lately, we are developing lots of ways to save time, you can check your emails on the go, carry your computer with you, cook frozen food, ready meals, automatic washing machines, etc all to save time, but what are we saving time for?
I believe that whether it is 24 hour day or even 40 hour day, we will always be busy, will always be running around sorting things out and sending texts apologizing that we are running late. It is about priorities and whatever is on the top of your list now will be on the top of your list if you have more time, so does anyone fancy a 25 hour day?

The People's Proverbs in Egypt

My grand father book has been published some time ago after he died more than 20 years ago. I feel so proud. My grand father, Mr Hezikial Bestourous, was really passionate about God, people, life, and culture. He loved writing and wrote and collected so many of the famous Egyptian proverbs. I remember him talking also about sorties behind the proverbs and how they came to be famous. What is nice about the book is that it is in both Arabic and English. It also has the explanation about what each proverb actually mean and how it is used. The family worked hard to get this book published and I was so pleased to hold a copy in my hand and wished that he was alive to see it but sure that he would have been so pleased with it.

Here is what Kenneth E. Nolin, PhD, wrote about him:
Professor Hezkial was the chairman of English studies for the American Mission Schools. He helped us with Arabic. I soon learned of his life long fascination with local proverbs. He was a special person and a friend."