Matchmaker, Matchmaker...

There have been times when an individual has tried to convince us that our culture and our friends' culture are basically the same. We laugh and remind them that while in many ways we are the same, we do have major differences in world views. One such way that is very different is our approach to marriage.

On a number of occasions, we have been asked to assist our friends in finding spouses. Just this week we received this email:

"hello Mr jozef
...in your Church if have girls for marry,i will marry i am 34 years old,graduated En agriculture .i had green house in Tehran(3000m2) i believe Jesus 10 years. if you know say me or give my email to her. God bless you."

Why are we asked to be assist? Family involvement in the matter of marriage is essential. We know of one case where a single man wanted to marry a young lady, and her sister refused the proposal on her behalf.

The trouble here is that many of our friends do not have family members present to carry out their vital role in this process. Thus we are aware of many who have chosen to propose directly to a lady who is part of our fellowship. When they do so, they end up bringing great shame on the woman. Various young men, who were proposing to practically any single woman they encountered, were creating such a stir in our fellowship that we even considered creating a written policy against proposing without using proper cultural methods!

Since young men should not approach young women on their own, they often approach us to fulfill the role that their families cannot. Sometimes a man asks us to approach a certain single woman on his behalf to see if she will consider marrying him. And, as in the email above, others will simply ask us to find an available female for them.

When I thought about the kinds of things that would be part of our "job description" here, matchmaker was not one of them. And while there is normally great interest on the part of some to get married, I can't think of anyone who has actually found a spouse with our help. Among other things, most of the men here are not in a place in their lives where they are able to provide for a wife. In any case, we find "matrimony assistance" pleas to be among many unique requests we receive that do color our days. Gotta love it!

Sweet sounds of voices

The other day I caught Andrew singing a song, and much to my surprise, he was doing a great job with singing the right tune along with it! This discovery led to pulling out the camera to record his accomplishment. One thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was treated to a concert by three children. I caught a certain fourth munchkin a few days before doing something that brought me equal delight: giggling!

If pictures are worth a thousand words, these videos (posted a few days ago on facebook -- I am still learning how to get this kind of stuff to work!) could probably speak for themselves. However, a little explanation might help. Jenna is singing a song I made up (to the tune of Lullaby). The song as changed through the years as new family members have come along! She is "playing the piano" while she sings. Andrew is playing a guitar while he sings "There is a name I love to hear" (or should that be "two ears...") . And finally, Joshua, while playing the piano, sings his version of the ABC song. You should be able to hear him say "CD." And if any of you can tell me what "moomoonooo" means, I'm all ears! Though he's not verbal yet, he certainly is cute! Finally, our friend Akram is the one who is delighting Nathan and causing his terrific baby laughter. They are all such sweet sounds, indeed. I'm blessed!

Under the weather

Okay, this might not be a photo you would want to remember, but I have wiped Andrew's nose so many times, it is a memory I will have of him for a long time (if such things don't gross you out, you can see a close up of what I'm talking about if you click on the photo). I am very grateful he chooses to come to me to use a tissue rather than taking matters into his own hands and wiping his nose with something else (or as Joshua does, tries to rub his drippy nose on my shoulder!!)

The story of the week has been just this: the kids and I have been sick. Joshua came down with it first, and he was generous to share it with me. One by one, all the kids have succumbed to runny noses and coughs, but it hit me the worst. We missed the Sizdah bedar picnic due to illness.

This, too, shall pass, and in one sense, a slower week to rest and recover has not been a bad thing!