Proverbs 22:6

 What a great day! Today was a free day. Half of the McLains have a different “social battery” than the other half. It is important to give them free will to do nothing on these days. It is lovely that they are all old enough to be left alone to take care of themselves. 

To that end, Adelaide, Magnolia, and I got in some pool time and cards this morning. We mostly play 4 handed Rook, but today we played some two handed as well. This is a great variation and today was the first day I was able to beat Magnolia. Yeah me.

We had a late lunch at a Chinese restaurant near our hotel. It was a gamble as we knew nothing about it, but it was great. A sabbatical rule is, eat where the people eat. If you enter a restaurant and no one is there, retreat. Lunch spot was well populated and we all had a yummy lunch. 

Today’s only planned activity was church. One of our favorite things to do on sabbatical is to visit new places of worship. Dave found a great option for us with worship at 6pm tonight at the Marrakech International Protestant Church. I loved it. We Presbyterians jokingly refer to ourselves as the “frozen chosen”. And we are. This congregation was anything but. I loved the singing and energy but I especially loved the baby dedication. Tonight the congregation dedicated baby Sharon and the scripture read for the baby, Proverbs 22:6, is exactly what Dave and I are trying to accomplish through these extended sabbaticals together. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Not only do we want to stretch their faith on these summers away but we are attempting to increase their world view, compassion and understanding of others not like them, ability to try new things, be uncomfortable and still growing, and joy filled along the way. Sometimes these lessons don’t circle back around for years, but some of them show up immediately. We all liked lots of the worship service and some was very different. Dagny quickly proclaimed that she prefers being a “frozen chosen”. Fair enough.

Post church gelato at a fun place called Dino’s.  We all enjoyed our treats and the wonderful family time. On the walk home we made a stop at McDonald’s for several reasons. The McLains on the Road wanted to see if it actually tasted the same as it does at home, but also to witness the spectacular crowd inside. A hundred humans eating on 3 different levels and a giant patio. All eagerly munching their sandwiches. I didn’t try, but the report was that it tasted just like home. Pretty funny.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Marrakech, 17 in all. Yep, that is a long time to spend in one country about 1.7 times the size of Colorado. We feel like we have really explored every corner and we have loved it all. We have visited big cities, tiny villages, the mountains, the desert, the beach, and everything in between. The thing we like the most, almost no other Americans or familiar American influences except for here in Marrakech. The rest of the places we visited felt like they were just getting started on welcoming American tourists. Most tourists seem to be European. My favorite travel feels far away, and we are far away. The kids have learned a lot and seen so much and so have Dave and I. I highly recommend Morocco. The people are so friendly and the dollar goes a long way. Add it to your list of countries to explore. We all liked different spots for different reasons but I think Essaouira is as our favorite followed by Chefchaouen and then the High Atlas Mountains.