August 1, 2011

This summer has gone by in a whirlwind of activity.  From Arabic summer school for the little ones, to visiting the YMCA and swimming.  Day trips and weekend trips and adventures to the local orchard for veggie picking have just swept the summer laziness out of my house.

Somehow, in the last two weeks, I’ve found the time to  start mentally preparing for Ramadan. I wanted this month to be better than it has in the past years.  I wanted to plan better, to do better, and to be a better helpmate to my family in this time of fasting.  I have been searching for Eid gifts most of the summer, but my real focus these last two weeks has been in understanding.

I met a wonderfully well spoken Muslimah  through my Twitter feed, and she shared with me a link for a Living Ramadan class being offered through the Islamic Educational Center at Qibla.com.  The class is free so I thought I’d give it a shot and see if I could learn more, so I could understand more, and in turn, do better.  So far it seems I’m the only person there who isn’t Muslim.  Most of the people, it seems, are either birth Muslims or converts who do not have a support system to help them learn and grow in their faith.  I’ve only listened to the introduction lecture so far and the explanations on the different Schools of Islamic Law, so I have learned something, just nothing that would apply to my everyday life yet.

Also during this time, the Etsy team, MuslimTeam, has undergone some changes and has been a flurry of activity. People are making treasuries and sharing new ideas and adding Ramadan items to their shops.  I have been working on putting more items in my Etsy Storefront, and filling custom orders for friends.

I found this workbook, or Battle Plan, on Etsy that I thought was very interesting. I wonder if it would help me ‘Do Better.’ I do like having lists and plans. I like to be informed, to know all of my options, and have a plan of attack.   I’m still deciding.

How do you plan for the month of fasting?