No Longer a Tourist in Libya

I have survived one year of living here and to commence life as a stranger - almost ignorant, tourist wannabe, foreigner wife half-localized- in Libya, i attended the Janzour Tourism Festival and caught a glimpse (it is still not Libya in her entirety) of the beauty of this country...

It is my prayer as part of this nation and as a mother raising children who will be partakers of life here, ishallah, that the future generation will make their country even more beautiful and not taint its glory. I hope that the young children now will value education and hard work for it is a sad sight to see the young people, teen agers so well-dressed but with bad manners. I hope and pray that these young men will soon realize that image is not everything and that they don\t have to be like someody else nor everyone else in order to feel good. Feeling good about oneself is not everything either. It is in knowing that one is loved and accepted and that one knows the wisdom of self-discipline. I also hope that we, the mothers will live the kind of life that goes beyond the "natural order"--realizing and living out our purpose of raising truly godly and not just "religious" children, helping them realize their individual purposes as well, and teaching them to dream and pursue the good their heart desires. I pray we plant this seed in the hearts of other mothers as well, give them hope of something that will grow out of their sacrifices..that, if they dare to sacrifice.

Allah bless Libya, her children, her future, and most of all, her mothers.