Gone so long!

Dear Family and Friends,

I apologize for the 3 week delay in updating. Glenn and I ended up having to add an additional trip to our already packed schedule and this has meant I've not had any "down" time in as many days! Often when we had time in our schedule to work on emails, internet wasn't available. If internet was available, it was hard to find a break long enough to take our computers down to the lobby to work on emails and the blog.

Right now I am in the Sahara Mall in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates to download emails and work on this blog. The family we have been staying with for the past 3 days does not have internet. (The repairman is coming sometime today. Hopefully.)

Glenn and I fly back this evening, flying through the night, and getting home about 6:30 am, Budapest time. We will have 4 days before we leave for our next trip. But I get ahead of myself... So, where have we been for the past 3 weeks???

We went to Spain to do member care appointments at the Western Med meeting. While we were there, Spain played against the Netherlands to win the World's Soccer Cup! It was cool to walk the streets the night of the finals and see folks watching the game wherever they could find a TV! These folks were watching it outside a store that was closed but who had left the big TV playing all night. Glenn and I aren't really into sports but we watched the last 45 minutes of the game so we got to see Spain win 1-0.

We had the pleasure of seeing one of our MK's from our days in Ivory Coast who is now all grown up, married and serving with our organization. Her name is Julie and the last time we saw her she was in high school!

Glenn and I found a place to eat dinner around the corner from our hotel on the night that meals were not being provided for us. We found a Mel's Diner that was straight out of America. They had great hamburgers and fries!!!

We didn't do any sightseeing while in Madrid, but we did get to take some walks during the evenings. I loved these trash bags that were lined up and down the streets, waiting on the trash company to come take them away! Very different from anything we've seen so far!

After LESS than 24 hours in Budapest (just long enough to run a load of laundry and repack), we flew to Jordan to meet with one of the couples who helps us with member care in that part of the world.

This is a piece of mosaic work on the floor of one of the churches there in Aman, Jordan. It dates back to about 500 years after the life of Christ. It is basically a map of the area in tiny pieces of tile, although not to scale in relation of one city to another. But hey, they didn't have the advantages of satelite images to help them design their maps!

We saw some Roman ruins throughout the city. It was strange to see the old right next to the new!

I LOVED looking in all the pottery stores! Well, I loved looking in ALL the stores!

The city of Aman is hilly, and it was a beautiful sight to see houses on top of each other as your eyes ascend to the top!

Lots of copper-work too! Some looked old enough to be genuine antiques, and some of the prices supported the possibility!

This is a typical city street. Kinda run-down, but lots of interesting things to see!

This is an old amphitheater from the Roman time period that has been restored. They use it today for small concerts and plays. Mostly in the evenings when it cools down, though!

This is a LARGE amphitheater that is in the heart of the city. They are building up the area right around it with modern architecture, which I think is a shame!

We ate dinner with Dave and Yvonne one evening truly "on the town". The view of the city was incredible as the buildings reflected the glow of the setting sun!!!

One afternoon we drove out to the Jordan Valley to visit the baptism site of Jesus and Mt. Nebo where Moses stood shortly before he died. We passed many Bedouin tents on our way. They fascinate me. Sometimes we even saw camels tied up nearby.

This is one of the hillsides looking out over the Jordan Valley.

This road snakes its' way down to the bottom of the Jordan Valley.

I took this picture on the side of Mt. Nebo, overlooking the Jordan Valley. Just to the left, around the other side of the mountain and down in the valley is the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized by John.

But as I was on the top of Mt. Nebo, I thought about what it must have been like for Moses to stand here, look out over to the other side of the Jordan Valley and see the Promised Land that God was giving to the Israelites, but that he would never be able to enter. I thought about how God had brought the Israelites through so much during those 40 years wandering in the wilderness, and how God had used Moses to lead them. How Moses had interceded for them many times before God, and how disappointed Moses must have been to be denied an opportunity to go into the Promised Land. Even though we have a God who forgives us over and over, it hit me again that sometimes we don't get a second chance to do it right! Moses was supposed to speak to that rock to get water to come forth for the thirsty Israelites, but Moses and I are alot alike. How many times have I thought, "Oh, I've done this before God. I know how to do it myself", and wham, I do something on my own strength, out of my own initiative, and don't listen for God's detailed instructions as to what He wants me to do.

My experience on Mt. Nebo was a very intimate and timely reminder to me to wait on the Lord's instructions.

We boarded a shuttle in the heat of the day (I think the guide said it was about 110 degrees that day out in the desert) to ride down to the baptism site of Jesus.

It was neat to realize that just a year ago Glenn and I stood on the OTHER SIDE of the Jordan River when we went to Israel with Jay and Pam! In fact, we could see the spot we stood on the other side!

I just wanted to stick my toe in the Jordan River just to say that I did it, but the water was too green and too warm to want to put any more of my body in it!

This wooden bridge off in the distance is supposed to be where Elijah was taken up. Locations such as these are passed down through the ages as oral traditions, but I sure wish I could know for sure how many of these traditions are true. I've always wanted to see the twelve stones that were stacked on top of each other, one for each of the 12 tribes, as a memorial of God's faithfulness at bringing the Israelites out of bondage and across the Red Sea! The Bible says that the stones will be a lasting testimony to future generations. Where are those stones?

And since we are in a highly Arabic area, the dress and clothing styles are quite different from what I am used to in Europe. (In fact, I had to have several items of clothing made (shirts with 3/4 length sleeves and long summer pants) to wear outside of the tourist areas before coming to this part of the world. Here in UAE where I am now, women's arms are to be covered, at least to the elbow, out of respect for the culture. It is weird, even though I've only been here for two weeks, but each time I see a woman with short sleeves or a tank top, I feel myself go into shock at the brazenness of the woman and her exposed body! As I look around, I see many women wearing the full black burkas with nothing but her eyes showing. The modesty of this culture is quite refreshing as opposed to all the flesh we see in Europe and America!)

Well, I'll save my pictures of our time in the United Arab Emirates for the next update, which I hope will be in a couple of days. After I've unpacked, done laundry, responded to work emails and before I head to Paris to visit with another member care couple.

Thanks for your patience! Don't give up on me. If my absence has caused you to be concerned and to pray (in case something was wrong on our end), I'm sorry, but I appreciate the prayers!! Do pray! I heard from one lady who was concerned and it meant a lot to me to know someone enjoys the blog and cares. Thanks, Janey!

Happy Birthday, America!

Again, I'm a week late so I hope you feel it is better to be late than not at all. I have always tried to update this blog on Sundays, but because we can get cheaper rates by flying on the weekends, we often end up in an airport on the day I'm supposed to update! Last Sunday, however, we weren't traveling but we had company!

We started out the week going to Poland for the Central Catholic Cluster meeting. Two of our co-workers on the member care team, Kathy and Jerry, arrived in Budapest on Saturday, and on Sunday the four of us drove up to Poland. It was cheaper for them to fly into Budapest and the four of us drive up together, rather than for them to fly into Poland. That also gave us a little time to get to know them better, which I really enjoyed.

During the drive up, we drove through Slovakia, Czech Republic, and then into Poland. Saw this ancient castle along the way. (Sorry, I can't remember which country we were in!)

We stayed in a very nice hotel called Hotel Gotebiewski in the small town of Wisla. This is a Polish hotel chain, and we've stayed in the largest of their 3 hotels two other times elsewhere in Poland.

Ironically, the pronunciation of the name is "Go to buy whisky". We love it!

We did the member care visits with each of our personnel, but this time we had something special planned for us as member care! Bill, one of our volunteer counselors that has come out 4 years in a row, led us in two seminars. He is a professor at Ouachita Baptist University, has his own private counseling practice and is writing a book on pornography. He is the author of the well-known book, It's OK to Be An MK.

After the meeting ended on Friday, Jerry and Kathy came back to BP with us for 2 nights. Even though we spent the week "with them" in Poland, we didn't really have time to talk due to the full schedule so it was good to have a little more time with them to talk "shop".

We had one day in which we took them into town to do some sightseeing. (It is always easier to get to know people when doing something together rather than sitting across from them in the living room.)

I loved these painted footsteps on the curb, telling folks to wait for the pedestrian light.

In America, bookstores like Barnes and Nobles offer a relaxed atmosphere with books and coffee. Well, here in Europe they offer books and wine! Can you see it on the building???

We had PERFECT weather!

Jerry, Kathy and Glenn

This teal blue Le Baron convertible kind of sticks out like a beautiful thumb. This is my favorite car in my favorite color!

Starbucks has finally arrived in Budapest!!!! Not that I care for coffee, but I've been collecting Starbucks mugs for our pastor in America who prepares his sermons at the Starbucks on Dallas Hwy out near our old house. My Hungarian friend (Yes, it's official, I finally have a Hungarian friend!!!!) Judit and I went into town this past week to shop for fabric and I talked her into going into Starbucks so that I could buy a mug. She was a little confused as to why I would want the mug and not coffee!

Glenn and I have an upcoming trip in which I will have to dress more modestly than is the norm in Central and Eastern Europe so I am having Judit (a professional seamstress) make me a couple of appropriate outfits. This is her workroom. You would not believe the number of bolts of fabric she has in her workroom! I'm not really sure why we went fabric shopping downtown. I could have shopped in her basement and saved a lot of time!

My sister Karin and her family arrive in Budapest on Thursday for three days and two nights before they board a ship that will take them on a cruise up the Danube River. For those 3 days that they are here in town before the ship departs, we will show them the sights of our city. They came 3 years ago and saw most of it then, but this time they are bringing friends of theirs from S.C. who have never been here before so we get to be tour guides for their friends. I am looking forward to having them again!!

I hope you had a wonderful fourth of July! We spent the day with 80-90 other Americans, enjoying grilled burgers, a wide assortment of salads, homemade ice cream and watermelon. There were games (such as water balloon toss) for the children and patriotic songs for all. It was fun, and it was the first time we've really socialized outside our IMB circle since arriving here.

Dear friends of ours' son left for Iraq last week for a year. I spent a good portion of today thinking about him, his family, and praying for all our soldiers who risk their lives so that people around the world can live in peace. A very, very sobering thought. I hope you spent some time being thankful for the freedom we have as Americans. We are, indeed, blessed!

Happy Father's Day!

I'm sorry I am a week behind. In addition to all the weekly things we do, we had to add on several days of doctors appointments for our physicals that are required before we go on our stateside assignment in September. We had to have our full medical check-up, including a trip to a G.I. for me (because I'm at that certain age!), dental work started because all our fillings are 35-40 years old, and eye exams.

Cile gets her eyes checked out

Fortunately, my vision has not changed in the past 3 1/2 years so I did not need a new prescription. Unfortunately, I do not have a good excuse for getting new frames!

Then on Wednesday we flew to Ukraine for a few days of visiting with our families that live in Kiev before going to the 5 day meeting of the BSO cluster. Another name for this is AGM (Annual General Meeting).

Eating at a Georgia restaurant (as in the Republic of Georgia!)

We went out for dinner one night with two of our co-workers to a popular Georgian restaurant in the neighborhood, and when we got there, it was full of a bunch of our personnel who were on a "last night out on the town" with volunteers from America who were headed home the next day. It was neat running into them. Do you know how big Kiev is, and how many restaurants there are there, and what the chances are of running into someone we know???

Kiev is full of high rise apartments

And at the base of the stairwells are rows of strollers!

One of the many Orthodox churches

We didn't really do any sightseeing to speak of (we've been to Kiev before and saw most of the main touristy places) but as we were driving through town to get from one family to the next, I could take some pictures of the sights.

Way more cars than parking spaces!

I was amazed at how bad the traffic was! When these European cities were built with their high rise apartments everywhere, phenomenal public transportation systems were built because cars were a luxury item and the average family couldn't afford one. Today, the income level is rising and more and more people are purchasing cars, but the problem now is where to park!?!

Beautiful grill-work on the major bridge across the Dniper River

TGI Fridays in Ukrainian!

I'd recognize that red and white striped awning in any language!

Papa John's Pizza???

Somehow, I don't think this is the Papa John's pizza chain that we know and love in Georgia (as in, the state of...)

Tree on fire!

We stopped for coffee and pastry one afternoon and when we came outside, we saw a couple of police cars and fire trucks parked next to Joe's vehicle (which was, by the way, parked very illegally! Imagine the fear in our hearts when we saw all this commotion next to his car!) As it turned out, a tree about 25 feet from his car was on fire! Another gawking pedestrian said it had been struck by lightening. It wasn't raining at the time, but we'd had a doozy of a storm the night before, so I wonder if it was hit the night before and was just smoldering all day until it finally spewed forth enough smoke to attract attention? The firemen had hacked away up and down the tree trunk and by time we got there, the whole trunk was smoking.

Member Care appointments

I led an afternoon session on the new TCK guidelines (TCK=Third Culture Kids; the new term for children born into one culture but living in another, and not really a part of either) and Glenn and I did Member Care visits with the adults during meals and breaks. We met in the dining room at our own table over to the side.

Ten? Ten? Who'll give me ten?

We had daily worship times, training times, fellowship and our annual opportunity to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering through a fun and competitive auction. The volunteers that come from America provide a wonderful children's VBS and always bring suitcases of coveted American foods, books and DVD's for us to bid on. Our personnel bring souvenir items from their respective countries to add to the auction, and our volunteers love to bid on these items too! I came away with pepperoni, French's mustard, Strawberry Twizzlers and brown sugar.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

The first 3 days we were there at the AGM, it was HOT! 90-95 degrees! (And to top it off, the place we were staying at night did NOT have any water, and of course, no air conditioning.) One evening a few of us decided to go get some ice cream so we headed to the neighborhood "convenience store" for something to help cool us down!

It is a small world!

Because we could not handle all the member care appointments in the short time we were there, we had to enlist help. We had a volunteer come out from Marietta!! Brian currently is on staff at Burnt Hickory Baptist Church, but he grew up in Glenn's home church at Marietta First Baptist Church! Small world, isn't it? It was fun getting caught up on folks we both knew. Brian did a great job and expressed a desire to come back again to help us! We look forward to seeing how God will use Brian to minister to our families in the future.

I told you it's a small world!

We returned to Budapest on Thursday, late afternoon. On Saturday, one of our member care couples who live in Paris came to stay with us for two nights. Jerry (and his wife Kathy) used to be the Youth Pastor at Michelle's church when she was in high school! (MIchelle and her husband Brian manage the Eden House.) We invited Brian and Michelle down for grilled burgers to be able to reconnect with Jerry and Kathy after all these years! Truly, the world is getting smaller!

Glenn, Jerry, Kathy and I drive to Poland tomorrow for another cluster meeting and a week of member care visits with our families serving in the Central Catholic cluster. Jerry and Kathy are going to help us with the member care appointments. Kathy and I are hoping we will find some stores along the way that sell the Polish pottery! She even brought an extra suitcase in hopes of finding some. I'm hoping we find some too, and I'm glad we're driving so we aren't limited by weight!!!

Happy Father's Day, Pop! Hope you are having a great time on the cruise!

It's my Birthday Week!

This was the WEEK of CILE, otherwise called Cile's Birthday Week. It all started years ago when we "happened" to go to the beach the week of my birthday, two years in a row! Our kids usually each brought a friend with them, and we would assign each person one night in which they were responsible for cooking dinner for everyone. (Since it was my vacation too, it was only fair that I didn't spend the whole vacation in the kitchen, right?) Well, if you add in there one night to go out for a seafood dinner, someone didn't end up getting to fix dinner-and since it was my birthday during that week, I was the lucky one to opt out of dinner preparations.

Thus began the tradition of The Week of Cile! Through the years, Glenn has continued to call it that even though we haven't been to the beach in years. This year I thought I would share with you how I spent MY BIRTHDAY WEEK.

Monday, Glenn bought me some beautiful yellow roses. Off to a great start!

Tuesday, I spent at the computer working on emails so the best thing that day was harvesting about 4 cups of strawberries!!! They have produced in abundance this year. Don't know if it was the fertilizer we used or the fact that the plants are two years old. Whatever, it's been wonderful having so many strawberries from our 18 plants!

Wednesday, we started our physicals for our upcoming stateside assignment. Ugh, I hate getting older! Blood work, poking, questions, and...I hit that magical year to have a colonoscopy. Actually, the colonoscopy wasn't so bad because I opted to be knocked totally out; it was the concoction I had to drink twice during the day to clean me out that was so bad! The anesthesiologist told me, in addition to the drug that would put me to sleep, he was adding a "feel good" drug that would lift my mood when I came out of it. (He was right!) My kids laughed at me several years ago when I said, "I don't like to take drugs. I just like the way they make me feel." Well, I liked NOT feeling a thing during the "procedure" and I liked the "lift" I got afterward. Glenn probably did too!

Thursday, we went to visit Zsofia, a young lady I met on a plane several months ago. She is a university student who speaks English pretty well. She had told me she liked to read books in English to improve her skills. I asked her if she would read a Bible if I got her one in English and she said she would. So naturally, I had to have her email address, phone number and address so I could contact her and then bring it to her when I was able to get one for her! (I had friends Joe and Debbie bring me one out from America when they came to Budapest at the end of February. It just took me a while to get it to her!) We hope to have her and her roommate out to our house for grilled hamburgers sometime this summer!

Friday, we had to go back to the doctor's office to have them read our PPD's. The doctor read my shot history a little more closely and realized I needed a Tetanus shot. How long can I milk the "oh, my aching arm!"?

I start my dental work on Monday morning and we have our eye appointments on Tuesday.

The Week of Cile starting improving on Saturday when the Doyles arrived with my birthday cake! Red Velvet! One of my favorites!

Saturday evening we went to dinner downtown at an African restaurant that had recently opened. We went with the Doyles. They used to live in Nigeria and love spicy foods like Glenn and me so they could appreciate the adventure! It was little more than a hole in the wall, but the food was very African, for sure! Had the perfect blend of spiciness and the typical gristle with a little meat thrown in. Most of the meals were from East Africa but they were similar to what we used to eat in Ivory Coast, such as goat soup and foutou.

Of course, we ate African-style...with our hands!

I have to say that I was overwhelmed (in a good way) with the number of birthday wishes I received via Facebook and Skype. Thanks, everyone! It really meant a lot to me and I mean it when I say, "They made my day!" My pastor and his wife in America even called me!!

And now, the Week of Cile is over. It was nice while it lasted!

We head to Ukraine mid-week for a meeting. We will do member care appointments at the meeting and visit with families living in and around Kiev, the capital city. Don't know if we will have internet access while there, so if there is no update on Sunday, that's why. Be back soon!