Living in sin...

After a question posted on my blog I just thought I’d clarify something. Habi and I are NOT in a de facto relationship/living together/having sex.
I have been seeing him a lot especially the last few weeks because of everything we are going through. Normally I would see him every two/three days.
Also when I write about him I sometimes write stuff that has happened to him but that I was not there for. When I tell a story I narrate it as he has told me.
Often he stays at my house on Saturday night so our family can go to church together in the morning as he lives quite a while away from our neighbourhood. He sleeps in a separate bed and my family has no problem with it, nor our pastor. I also sleep at his house sometimes.
When I say ‘our car’ that is because we co-own it. About 4/5 months ago I wanted to get a car and S/Habi’s car was a write-off. He lives a few minutes from uni and it was just as easy to take the bus and whenever he travelled further away (to a friends house, to a gathering) etc it was with me more often than not. Also the main transport issue was with us as we lived far away. So he suggested to me that since he also needed a car on occiason but not enough to warrant buying one, that we buy a car together so that we would be able to afford a better car with our pooled resources. Including our car my household has 3 cars and both of his flatmates have cars.
Lastly I know it may seem weird, especially as many of my fellow bloggers are older and from other countries but here we have a large tight-knit group. We are always crashing on each others sofa’s visiting each other til late at night, having all-night study sessions etc. Many of us are international students and not all of us have cars. Religious gatherings (like iftar and suhur in Ramadan), birthdays, studying are all very communal. It is common to have a whole bunch of people in the house, some watching tv, others on their laptops, some cooking, someone sleeping in the bedroom and with people coming and going, either to go to uni to study (we have 24 hour labs), to pick up some fresh clothes or whatever. Some of these people are religious (christian, muslim, hindu etc) and some of the girls are hijabi – it really doesn’t matter. We accommodate accordingly.
It may seem odd to some people but really we are like one big family. I have slept at the same place as S many times – at one point 8 members of the group were renting one huge house so it was always full! And this didn’t change when we fell in love.

Quick post - he's back

S, my habi is back. He arrived recently from his country.

Things were hard - his family took him to a psychiatrist and then decided he had been possessed by "jinn" (demons) and took him to the mosque for the Islamic equivalent of an excercism. The imam shouted the adhan in his ear (gave him a headache for several days), spat in some water and made him drink it and hit him in the back of the neck and on the back. And hit the ground around him with a stick.I'm not going to go into a lot of detail. Suffice to say I think this is actually evil and pagan superstition.If we cast out demons with God - then He doesn't need all these ritualistic practices. If we cast the demons out through our own power - well since when does doing these things give us power over spirits?

Habi's mum flew in from overseas when they told her he had converted and when she heard about what had been going on she put a stop to it.

Both his parents cried for days and kept telling him "just promise you will be a Muslim." I feel for them and I know their grief is genuine - but whether it is conscious or sub-conscious they are actually manipulating him emotionally. Even though God comes above even parents, even though if he is Muslim for their sake then it is meaningless. His Dad begged him to just be Muslim and kept insisting he say shahada. Habi finally got fed up and said, "Fine, dad. whatever. you want me to be a muslim? I'm a muslim." Within 15 minutes everything was 'back to normal.'

Habi is devastated over his parent's attitude and the fact that they don't care about the truth or what he really thinks. They don't want to know whether he is really Muslim - they just want him to 'be a muslim' even if he is only doing it for their sake. Habi is really upset over his parent's attitude and how much they care for appearances and the community. He is disappointed over their blindness, particularly his father, whom he always looked up to. In many ways, although he still loves and respects his father, this has really shattered the image he had of him.

His parents are still calling constantly, his mother wants to come to Australia. He is putting it off as he just can't deal with that right now. He also has studies.

On a positive note, he is relying on the support of the Lord - even while he was home and going through such difficult times, he still had a sense of joy from God. He asks me, "How can I be sad and happy at the same time?" and says that if it weren't for God he wouldn't be coping right now.

He has also come back with a strong sense of independence and a desire to provide for me and himself. He is looking for a casual job to save money for our wedding and our future. Until now his father just sent him money but now he wants to make an effort to take responsibility. I am very proud of him and his resolve to do right by me, by himself and by God.

Please pray for us - for Habi to find a job, for us to cope financially - our car developed an oil leak and we are facing costly repairs, plus the costs of a wedding and the possibility that his parents could cut him off/refuse to pay his school fees.

Also that we will continue to walk with the Lord and to recognise His Will.

Thank you and God bless you all!