greater things are still to be done.

Morocco from Douglass Casa on Vimeo.

here are some pictures of our last four months here in morocco. there are some from around town, some from marrakech, from the eid kbir, here on campus, and some family pics. the Lord has given us a love for this country and the people. we are humbled that He is choosing to use us here. it has been a great adventure.

here is what ella said the other day...
ella: (pointing at the moroccan flag) mom! there is our flag!
me: yep, there it is.
ella: i just love our star!

i realized she really thinks that the moroccan flag is her flag. i should probably show her the american flag, too.

cirque montecarlo

we finally made it to the circus. we were lucky, too, because they were going to cancel the show if not enough people showed up(yes, welcome to morocco). we decided to splurge a little by getting "box seats" and when i say box seats i mean the seats about three feet in front of the bleachers. we were so close that the kids could reach their hands out and almost touch the animals. a pretty scary thought when the tigers came out. i mentally had a plan ready just in case something went wrong. it seemed incredibly unsafe. there were kids ella's age riding on the elephants, and one that was barely able to run. seriously, he would take off running and then he would fall. they were so cute, though. they would climb all over the elephant and she would pick them up by her trunk and swing them around. looked like fun, but a little scary. there wasn't even any sort of net for the acrobats. if one of them was to fall, ella would have seen bones break. glad that didn't happen. the whole time i kept telling scott, "aina would die if she was here." oh, and there was a random break dancer in between acts. welcome to the french circus in morocco.

sofia with her cotton candy


where's ella?


b loved the circus


b and daddy


ella and mommy

eid kbir...not for the weak.

seriously, if you have a weak stomach i would stop reading right now.

this past tuesday the moroccans celebrated eid kbir. it is also known as the slaying of the sheep holiday. this holiday comes from the story in the old testament when God tested abraham and told him to offer his only son, isaac, as a burnt offering. as abraham is about to sacrifice his son, an angel tells him not to kill isaac, and instead, abraham sacrifices a ram. (i really encourage you to read genesis 22.) so, in rememberance of God providing a ram for abraham, they sacrifice a ram or a sheep. for the past month there have been sheep running around everywhere. it has made for good conversation for ella and i in the car. we talk about how we are the sheep and the Good Shepherd takes care of us. in one conversation ella said, "i am NOT a sheep", so i had to do some more explaining. ella made a cute sheep during craft time at school (she goes to a moroccan french school.) as we drove through town on Tuesday, we were reminded of the perfect lamb who was slain, who washes away our sins.


little lamb among the sheep


sheep being carried away


sheep not wanting to go


waiting to be killed


notice the skin on the far right of the clothesline with the laundry (click pic to enlarge)


burning the head


notice the headless sheep hanging upside down

slight detour

the circus is in town! ella is a huge fan ever since lulu, aina, and gus gus took her before we moved here. we told her this morning that we would take her tonight, despite her not feeling well. she talked about it all day. so, we head to the big top and what is there...nothing. a big tent, but it is closed! our hearts were crushed for ella who was so, so sad. after many tears and promising her that we would go on wednesday when it was opened she felt a little better. we headed to mcdonald's for some ice cream to put a smile on her face. guess it worked. here is the picture. i will update with actual pics of the circus when we finally get there.


elijah, sofia, ella, and ezra

hymns.

i love hymns. i used to hate singing them in church when i was growing up. i wanted to be singing the cool, contemporary songs. now it is the other way around. i love the story behind the song and the beauty and truth of the lyrics. i have a hymn for each of my children. they have been sung the same hymn since they were babies. now ella can sing with me and it is the sweetest sound. here are their songs:

for ella: as the deer
as the deer panteth for the water
so my soul longeth after thee
you alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship thee

you’re my friend and you are my brother
even though you are a king
i love you more than any other
so much more than anything

you alone are my strength, my shield
to you alone may my spirit yield
you alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship thee

i want you more than gold or silver
only you can satisfy
you alone are the real joy giver
and the apple of my eye

you alone are my strength, my shield
to you alone may my spirit yield
you alone are my heart’s desire
and I long to worship thee

for beckett: come thou fount
come, thou fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! i'm fixed upon it,
mount of thy redeeming love.

here i raise mine ebenezer;
hither by thy help i'm come;
and i hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood.

o to grace how great a debtor
daily i'm constrained to be!
let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
prone to wander, Lord, i feel it,
prone to leave the God i love;
here's my heart, o take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

oh, and here is our family verse
zephaniah 3:17
the LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. he will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

there is a really great song to that verse provided by steven. i sing that to the kids, too. it is one of ella's favorite and she likes to sing it with me. it has helped her to not be scared of the badgers or dragons in her closet. thanks, steven!

happy 9 months

beckett is nine months today. i can't believe it. i have mixed emotions. i love his independence now that he is crawling around and eating everything (except green veggies, but who like those anyways) but i am sad that he is not my tiny baby anymore. well, lets be honest, he was never exactly tiny. he is still as sweet as ever and still a mama's boy. here are some stats:

size: big
teeth: almost 6
motor skills: crawling and pulling himself up
favorite food: anything we are eating
favorite toy: anything ella is playing with
best friend: eliana (our neighbor, also 8 months old)

b's sweet smile


serious beckett...not his usual demeanor but i thought it was funny


check out the huge teeth


happy, happy baby

homemade christmas

when we moved here we quickly became accustomed to the word homemade...especially when applied to cooking. i wanted to make an advent calendar so that we could share the meaning of christmas with ella. it is a very homemade calendar with lots and lots of love and help from ella. it is too cute so i had to share it. here are some of my favorite creations...



our advent calendar


baby jesus


baby charlotte...this is her nickname and the only letters we had



aina's day...the day after christmas when we get to see aina (ella's idea all by herself!)