A Big Decision

When I tell people my family is moving to Saudi Arabia, I get one of two reactions: They think it is such a great opportunity, or they think we are absolutely crazy. I can't blame people for thinking we are crazy for moving to the Middle East, especially with everything that is going on there right now, but it was the right decision for us. My dad's friend/old coworker has been there for over a year, and kept asking my dad to consider moving there to take this job. My dad would just thank him and brush it off, until about a half a year ago, when he actually started to maybe consider the move. He thought about it a long time before he even mentioned it to our family. When he asked us what we thought about it, we were all in shock. I kept saying, "Have you seen what is going on in Egypt!?" We knew that this was a definite possibility though because when my dad mentions big things to us like that, it usually happens. We prayed about it. ALOT. We prayed individually, as a family, and some more individually. We fasted. We studied the culture, the geography, the traditions, and anything else we could think of that would be useful in making this huge decision. After an emotional few weeks of trying to figure out what to do, we all felt right about the move. My dad applied for the job, had a background check, did all the paper work required, and before we knew it, he accepted the job and had a departure date. So here we are packing, planning and plotting, doing everything we need to do to move across the world. I hope that this blog not only gives comfort and peace to those who are skeptical, as well as gives a taste of what it is like for an American family with different traditions and religon, in the Middle East.
-Alex