News from Over the Waters

2009-07-04T06:05:00.002+03:00

We want to take a minute to thank all of our friends on both sides of the water that have been so faithful in encouraging and supporting us throughout our overseas journey. We plan to continue using the blog but may not be able to update as often as we would like. When we get settled, I will upload photos from our last few weeks in Central Asia. We hope to be able to began our new stateside journey around the first of August. Stay tuned for scenes from our last few months and our return to the great state of Georgia.

2009-06-16T12:06:00.001+03:00

There are still a few items remaining that we have not sold. If you are interested, please let us know by Sat. the 20th of June. Thanks!

2009-06-05T12:23:00.003+03:00

the water heating pitcher is the only item that hasn't sold from this set

stand up floor lamp

small misc.basket(I used for holding salt and pepper)

spice rack and canisters

floor lamp/red shade -sold

photo frame and side table

round table

2009-04-06T13:07:00.002+03:00

As you can see, (indicated by no current updates to our blog) it has been a little crazy since our Austria trip. We still live in the same region and we still have a lot going on but we are mostly posting photos on our FaceBook pages because it takes so long to post things on the blog and on FaceBook. So, if you never had a reason to "join up" in the FaceBook craze, now you do!
We only have a few months left before we make the trek back to the states and a lot in between now and then so we may get a chance to update....or we may not. Just know that we are continuing to ..."go about the Father's business" as we make pivotal decisions concerning the future path the Father has planned for our lives. We covet your prayers concerning our direction as our hearts are now in two opposite sides of the planet. Thanks for all of your encouragement and support through your earnest prayers to the Father.

2009-01-09T20:22:00.004+02:00

Our first day of travels took place in Innsbruck. It was a bit of a haul, but nice to see the countryside. These are just a few of the photos we took during our "too short" visit. You will have to continue scrolling to the bottom of the page to see where we started. Unfortunately with blogger, it loads photos and posts information in reverse order from how it is entered. Just so you know- the evening I loaded these, I was too tired to make my brain try to think backward! (As I already have to do when speaking this language we are learning!)

The Christmas Markets at night

front alter of the St. James Basilica

the organ

the pulpit

The inside of St. James Basilica was amazing! These photos do not truly capture the incredible detail and beauty of this place. The current building has been restored because of prior damage from past wars. It dates back to 1720 but some information we read said that there was mention of a church in this location in manuscripts dating as far back as the 700's.

2009-01-09T20:06:00.003+02:00

St. James Basilica-I think it is the oldest in Innsbruck

The city of Innsbruck has many places to explore! Sadly, we only had time to see a few basilicas and visit a couple of the famed Christmas Markets. Everything was so festive! We didn't leave until after dark so we got to see the city as the millions of lights came on that night.

There were a couple of these giant figures near the Christmas Market that were kind of funny (I think they are from folk tales) Of course, I declined getting my picture taken with them.

clocktower

at the top of the clock tower we could walk around. The views overlooking the city were awesome!

2009-01-09T19:24:00.006+02:00

This gate is really old (date??) It served as both a wedding gift and a memorial for the royal family. One side is a wedding gift to the future King for he and his bride from the Queen Mother, the other side is her memorial to her deceased husband.

detail of the King's profile

detail of the King's crown

the future Princess' crown

This was in the first Basilica we visited. (I didn't get the name) The figures are in a niche to the right of the main alter. It is really beautiful but I think it is also in honor of a deceased archbishop who is" buried" in the alter beneath the figures.

2009-01-08T13:37:00.002+02:00

Christmas night they lit the REAL candles on the REAL fir tree! Something I had always wondered how they did" back in the day". Many families here still prefer to do it this way.

Beautiful!

Loved our place....

And the view from our room!

These are some shots from where we spent Christmas 08. Our little hotel was great and the service (and breakfast) was unbeatable! The last day of our trip we went up the mountain we saw every morning from our balcony. It was amazing!

2008-12-31T12:29:00.003+02:00

Post Holiday greetings from the Waters! As you can see, we have been blog entry deficient since our trip in October. I hope to be able to load photos from our activities since that time to the present (we have taken about 500-maybe more), however, it takes a considerable amount of time to do this. Please be patient and remember that loading the blog is an "extra curricular" activity. During the last few months, our free time has been rather limited to connecting with each other and with friends. Keep checking back-it will happen, eventually! We hope you have a very blessed and joyous holiday season as we anticipate new opportunities and a New Year!

2008-10-30T22:29:00.002+02:00

WELCOME BACK! I am happy to say that we are once again able to display items on our blog. You may or may not know that last week it was blocked by those who have all our best interest in mind. I suppose that what you don't see on blogger can't effect your mind or decisions you make in the future. So, for now we are back (although, I admit that the thought of having one less thing to keep up with was a little freeing). If "they" determine that the open fields of blogger are too risky-then we will be unable to access it again. Sigh....so enjoy it while you can, this free flowing access may not last long!
The following posts are from our most recent trip with friends to Cappadocia. If I ever have the opportunity to go back there I will go in a heart beat! If you ever get the opportunity to go-don't hesitate! It is one of those places on the planet that escapes description. Our photos are sadly lacking in the incredible beauty of this region. We gladly share them with you and we hope you enjoy them as much as we did experiencing this trip.

2008-10-30T22:14:00.002+02:00

First rest stop on the road! What a long night that was.

We arrived in Cappadocia at the exact moment the sun broke over the valleys. Words and photos can not describe how amazing it was! The "driving all night thing" was tough but SOOO worth it to arrive at that particular moment. Just think, if we hadn't made the right amount of stops along the way, we would have missed it altogether!!!!!

Balloons at sunrise. You have to get up pretty early to catch shots of these filling the sky. Fourtunately, we already were....sort of.

Another view of our hotel

The hotel had some original cave rooms that were once lived in by ancient inhabitants. Ours was not in one of the "cone" formations. But they were really neat.

2008-10-30T22:05:00.002+02:00

Yeah for lunch! This was after having been awake for about 27 hours! Yikes!

Our cozy cave room-it really was a great place

The bathroom

in front of the "nunnery"

This is one of the larger cave churches. You had to pay an extra 8ytl to enter after we had already paid the 15. entry fee. Oh well, maybe next trip...

2008-10-30T21:22:00.002+02:00

This painting was one of MANY inside one of the cave churches.
As you can see, thousands of years (and desecration)have taken a toll on the images.

This is a cave "nunnery". 7 floors where the nuns lived, and studied theology and worshiped. Unfortunately, it was closed because of interior structural safety hazards.

more cave homes

An Empty tomb! The stone "door" was much like the one I imagined covered Christ's tomb in the garden.

The only current inhabitants of these caves.

2008-10-30T21:09:00.002+02:00

The wonders of this His hands are unending!

Awww...Posed, but a touching moment, none the less...

More cave dwellings..we got to climb up in some of them. It was REALLY cool!

Crazy guys commandeering the local's only mode of transportation!

2008-10-30T20:44:00.002+02:00

We toured an underground cave that they believe to have been used by the early Christians fleeing invading armies. These tunnels and living spaces were a huge network of passages and deep containment spaces. There were several levels that you could go from one to the other but there were also holes cut out for communication and for transporting objects from one level to the next. It was really amazing how each tunnel was connected from living to cooking to storage and worship spaces. They even developed a plan to battle against oncoming invasions from behind the massive boulders that they used to close off passageways.
Steve got stuck in this hole-not really, but it was really funny.

This was the
best place for this motley crew!

I can't remember how many meters this "well" was but it served as venilation to the surface air also. One of the guides dropped a coin down in it and we never heard it hit the bottom.

Ancient Cave dwellers???

2008-10-30T20:30:00.002+02:00

The 3 beautifuls..and they are really unique!!! The "tops" remained there after the water, wind etc... finished carving out these images.

Yes, there are people trying to get inside the "hole". Those people are some of our friends. One of them did get up in there. He said there was a "Bad smell". I can't imagine why....these were tombs at one time.

A larger than life "Gary" (Spongebob's pet snail)!

The guys -they tried to get on top but the police blew his whistle at them!

2008-10-30T19:59:00.002+02:00

People actually used to live, work and worship in these caves!

I never knew camel's lips were floppy-funny what you learn at 40!

Our friend was the only person brave enough to try this. Kind of wish I had now....keske (if only)

All of us thought this was the funniest road sign! They need these in America, maybe then there wouldn't be so many turtles ending up as road kill.

Ahhhh...the beauty of a Masterful design!

2008-10-30T19:47:00.002+02:00

My meal was cooked inside a clay pot and then broken upon being served. It was sooooo good and entertaining as well!

The last night there we shared a special supper together. This place was almost all open-air dining but it was really beautiful! We sat next to the fir pit so it wasn't all that cold.

2008-10-30T19:00:00.005+02:00

Scenes from the long, LONG ride home. This country truly is beautiful! The ride gave us plenty of time to do crazy things among friends (mildly crazy things, that is!)

2008-10-18T20:21:00.002+03:00

Since we are now one Facebook-we haven't kept up with the blog as well as we should have. We have also both added new students that we are teaching English to so our"free" time just got cut in half. Hopefully, we will have a weekend that we will be able to load some new photos from the Cappadocia trip. There are so many, I can't do them right away. Keep us in mind-things are really busy right now and it doesn't look like it will lighten up any time before Christmas. Thanks for visiting-check back for our photos and tales from the trip, or-join FaceBook and see what we have posted on our profile pages! :)

2008-09-15T21:08:00.001+03:00

AHH! The joys of camping! Last weekend we got to take a camping trip with three of our local friends and a team member. We took a bus to a fishing village about an hour and 1/2 outside of our city. When we arrived, we trekked to the campground with all our stuff only to find it was locked and closed for the season. We then had to locate another place where we could set up camp over night.

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Quaint, quiet, and uncrowded-great for a weekend venture!

Behind this "outdoor cafe" was our camping site.

This is what it looked like. (This was after we took the tents down the next day because I forgot to take pictures before we set up camp)

Here's Mandi taking a break! (This was also after we broke camp-she's catching up on the night of sleep she lost)

2008-09-15T21:03:00.002+03:00

The cliffs of insanity! It was pretty insane that I tried to climb over to the cave in this photo!

On the rocks! All of our crew -except for the one taking the photo. The next day this whole area was covered by crashing waves. The wind picked up during the evening, so the waves were significantly higher the next day. (The top 2 photos are of this same place in January). The ocean was Much more calm during this trip.

2008-09-15T21:01:00.001+03:00

Under the "cave". Getting to this point was pretty challenging. Parts of the ledge were only a foot wide-sometimes less than that. We were only about 3 feet from the water (to the left of Brian) so I didn't think climbing up the ledge to get inside was really necessary.

Sleepy Sumer!

This is how they pulled the fishing boats from the water-with a farm tractor!

A beautiful sunset to end a beautiful day!

2008-09-15T20:44:00.002+03:00

After a long day of traveling, setting up camp and swimming we were ready to eat and play a few games then hit the sack-literally. However, camping on the dirt in the back of a cafe with vacation rentals all around, has it's drawbacks. Mainly, people in this part of the world all sit on the porch to eat meals, and visit with family and friends. Normally, they do it until late at night. When they are at their vacation home, they do it until the weeeeeee hours of the morning! I think everybody decided to call it a night about 3 or 3:30 in the morning. Shortly after it got "quiet" the local mosque"s call to prayer went off. So, this is what we looked like the next morning. You know-I'd do it all over again tomorrow! (Only with ear plugs and an air mattress!)

2008-09-04T23:53:00.003+03:00

Yet another month has past and still no current photos. We did do all the things we said we would but there is little time to tote around a camera when you're having so much FUN! I did manage to get a couple of shots from the beach trip with my tutor but that's about all! So, if you are a frequent blog checking fan (you might just be the only one), keep on checking. There will be more in the future as we anticipate the return of our university friends!

2008-08-09T20:37:00.002+03:00

I suppose that since the Acts students left almost 6 weeks ago, I should update the blog with more current photos. Except that there aren't any to post! Which would lead one to believe:
1. We were so overwhelmingly exhausted from the ACTS program we stayed in bed for a whole month
2. We have lived such a boring life for the last 6 weeks
3. We are more busy than ever being a part of our culture that we don't have time to post anything!

Actually, it's a mix between 1 and 3. We have enjoyed a relaxing and busy month at the same time. We were able to slow down a bit but are also preparing for a really busy August. We have already spent some quality time with our friends this week. Monday, we went bowling with our friends from the English club. (Since I have already posted bowling photos-I didn't want to be redundant). We also had a young couple over for dinner that we have been wanting to get to know better. Hopefully, after the end of Ramadan, we will be able to get together again.
We will also be taking my tutor and her family to a beach on the northern shore for a day trip. They don't get to go out of town or on vacation because he is still out of a job, so this will be a real treat for them.
At the end of this month we will be joining other individuals in our region at a mountain retreat outside of our city for a conference and R & R. Maybe by the time Sept. rolls around I'll have more than enough to post on this blog for all our bloggin' fans (all 3 of you! )
Until then- if it's photos you want-you will just have to be satisfied with revisiting all the older posts. Enjoy!

2008-07-06T23:12:00.002+03:00

On the weekend prior to the students departure we took a boat trip to the sea. The American students had asked several of the local university students to join them as their last time to hang out together. It was great fun but the water was SOOOO cold!
Yes, I did jump in but there are NO photos on this blog of that event
(and hopefully no one else's).

Brian and the guys

Playing the "gossip" game posed a little challenge in 2 languages but they got it right at the end every time!

By the end of the trip we were all exhausted but some were still shining like the sun!

2008-07-06T22:53:00.002+03:00

Last outing at the beach-saying goodbyes never gets any easier!

On the student's last Sunday with us, we went to the beach for our worship time. It was certainly one of the most beautiful place of worship I have ever attended on a Sunday! We did have a time with praise in music and a message from the Word. Afterwards, we ate like any normal fellowship does.

A few of the students (even the girls) wanted to climb the cliffs to dive into the sea. They did it! I decided that flip flops are not the proper gear for rock climbing!

Best Sunday school activity ever-burying kids in the sand! Everybody had a great time!

2008-06-24T20:08:00.002+03:00

The past five weeks we have been involved with the student summer exchange program for our city. Our first weekend event was a trip to Ephesus. These guys were great and it's hard to believe this photo was taken the first week they arrived. Now that they have returned home to the states, I have some time to update the blog with some of the activities we did while they were here. It was such a blessing to work with young people that have a heart for the nations. They were a great encouragement to us and we will really miss them!

2008-06-24T19:47:00.002+03:00

Scenes from Ephesus. Pictures can not convey these images well nor can they express the significance of this Biblical city. Neither can I. We would recommend that you find out for yourself by planning a visit soon. It's worth every penny!

2008-06-24T19:27:00.003+03:00

I think this is a memorial to one of the city's leaders but I can't remember. There was so much to take note of (without the aid of pen and paper) and so many interesting facts.

The famous goddess Nike-can you find the "swoop"? I wonder if the sculptors from Ephesus ever thought this fresco would inspire a million dollar empire....

Some random tourist on the marble "main street" of Ephesus. The entire street was lined with columns and statues. It even had street lights! This is one of the few cities that lit up the streets for evening pedestrians.

Marble is everywhere here. The streets are even paved with it!

2008-06-24T19:09:00.003+03:00

Marvelous Mosaics! They had an eye for detail! These floors must have taken a lot of time because the tiles are all laid individually. This"corridor" was about 80 feet long (maybe longer) and 8-10 feet wide. Make sure you click each photo to get a closer look!

2008-06-24T18:57:00.002+03:00

Can you tell what this is? Hint: you have to use it everyday!

Where the local residents gathered to gossip and .....well.......
Can you imagine your neighbor sitting next to you doing this activity? !!!

In case you haven't figured it out-these are 2,000(+) year old toilets! No wall dividers in this public restroom! There was also a bath connected to this facility. I guess you got to know your neighbors pretty well back in those days.

2008-06-24T18:37:00.002+03:00

Clearly, this is the most recognizable image from Ephesus. This is the famous library. The outside is far more impressive than what lies behind these magnificent columns and statues. The facade has carefully been repositioned into the structure that is seen today. The actual "interior" of the library is so unimpressive, I didn't take any photos.

2008-06-23T18:32:00.001+03:00

This is the area of the market where the merchants of the city sold their goods. It is said that Paul most likely made and sold tents in this market.

2008-06-23T18:27:00.002+03:00

The road to the Theater in Ephesus. Thousands of years after the message of Christ was spoken here, there is little to remind visitors of Paul's words.

2008-06-18T22:58:00.002+03:00

We found this little stone on the shores of this country. Thought it was really cool considering we had recently watched Louie Giglio's talk on Laminin. If you haven't seen it you can watch it on GodTube. The image of the cross is here!

2008-06-02T11:50:00.002+03:00

This is Kayakoy. Once a busy village, now deserted and decaying. After viewing the images, you will be able to read our impression and some of the details concerning this town.

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Kayakoy church- interior and courtyard with pebble mosaics.

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2008-06-02T10:14:00.002+03:00

Near where we were staying, there was a hillside village of stone houses that had been abandoned in the early 1920's. The actual village (Kayakoy) is said to have been established much earlier by Greek inhabitants. In 1923(ish) there was a movement to relocate all Greek descendants of Turkey back to Greece in exchange for Turks that lived in Greece. This village is a result of that exchange. The families who lived here were told to leave all that they knew of life behind and carry only what was necessary with them. There are not many details concerning this rest of the story because it is a dark stain on the fabric of Turkey's history. What was left behind is a ghostly reminder of how lives can be interrupted by governing authorities based on prejudices. The village was never re inhabited by the Turks because it was rumored that the villagers had poisoned the water supply. The houses had mud and thatched roofs so without regular maintenance they were deteriorated by the elements. There was also an earthquake in the region that damaged many of the homes and the locals who lived in the valley used what they could from these abandoned homes to repair their own. Currently, they are making efforts to try and preserve what is left for historical and touristic value.
Although this was not the impressive ancient structures that we had visited earlier in the week, this village left a larger impression on our minds because the circumstances concerning this place were not so far removed from recent history. The sense here is too familiar to those who walk in and out of the overgrown paths that used to lead to the market or the chapel. Only the wind whistles through the ruins where children's laughter and church bells used to resound. A silent reminder that echos loudly the prejudices of the heart are dangerous destroyers of mankind.

2008-05-23T22:59:00.002+03:00

Our 2nd day of touring resulted in more rock tombs, me in the hot mud "pool" (and NO-you won't ever see that one-really, it was just my foot with mud on it)a VERY cold and wet boat ride in the rain(on the river where they filmed the 1951 movie "The African Queen") and a stork park where the storks that migrate from Africa nest for a few months. Which is why this is the best photo from the whole day. Instead of going to the "turtle beach"-the main part of the trip, the tour guide took us to a riverside village to receive reprieve from the weather. We spotted this fire pit at a restaurant near the dock and practically ran to it. It really was the best part of the trip!

2008-05-23T21:47:00.004+03:00

What a difference a day makes!!! The following tour day we journeyed over mountains and valleys to reach our next destination. The weather was perfect and there was even snow on top of the mountains from the storm the day before. We finally reached the ancient city of Hierapolis. Paul mentions this city in his letter to the Colossians in chapter 4:13.
Imagine that these stone paths and ruins once formed homes and businesses. A thriving city filled with families, philosophers and doctors, now just fragments of the lives they once lived. This city was know for the production of purple dye which was highly regarded in many cultures of that era. Travelers with incurable ailments would come here in search of relief from the hot springs. Walking among these huge toppled stones made it difficult to imagine a bustling city at it's origin in 4th century B.C.

2008-05-23T18:32:00.003+03:00

These are the ruins of the theater where nearly all the public events took place. I think they said that it had seating for 12,000-15,000. It was really pretty amazing to sit where some of the earliest believers may have sat during the spread of Christianity. This is the city where Phillip the evangelist was martyred. Unfortunately, we did not have nearly enough time to visit all the ruins here or to spend a large amount of time contemplating it's history.

2008-05-23T18:03:00.003+03:00

No, it's not snow and this is not another skiing "adventure". This is a large area of travertine deposits that have formed over thousands of years. The waters that flowed over the side of the hill come from a hot spring underground. The content of the water is mostly calcium carbonate. Much of the beauty of this area has been lost because of past commercialism and tourism. It is still a major resource for tourism but now they are taking actions to protect this natural wonder for future generations to enjoy as it has been for centuries. We had limited time to capture all of it on our camera. If you are interested in seeing more (and better) photos, you can google Pamukkale photos and there will be several to chose from.

2008-05-23T17:57:00.003+03:00

These are photos of "Cleopatra's pool"-(even though she never swam in it). We did swim here and we had some taken of us in the pool BUT because our pastor, Billy Abrams likes to put blog photos on the powerpiont screen at CGBC we declined to post them on the blog. As I mentioned before, the waters are believed to heal ailments and rejuvenate the body. We didn't feel any younger but we were lighter-it costs about $15 per person to take a dip in this famous pool. The "miracle power" is that they can get you to pay this price for a swim!!!

2008-05-17T19:19:00.003+03:00

Our second day of vacation we took a boat trip of the "12 islands". We actually only went to 5 of them. The first part of the day was a little cool an overcast. It warmed up nicely later. The first stop was a neat little island. There were chickens all over one hillside. They came up to me when I went to take a picture. I thought chickens normally run from people. Anyway, they came close enough for me to get a great photo!

2008-05-17T19:10:00.001+03:00

A beautiful day for boating!!! It started out a little hazy but turned out to be terrific!

2008-05-17T19:05:00.002+03:00

No,we didn't have a pirate encounter on the tour. These ships can be rented for touring or a personal cruise of the Mediterranean.

2008-05-17T17:25:00.002+03:00

More of the "12 islands" tour. One of the islands a had ruins of a Byzantine church partially submerged in the harbor. This island was really interesting and the water was beautiful! Unfortunately, we only had 30 minutes to explore.

2008-05-17T17:20:00.002+03:00

This photo doesn't begin to show how huge this tomb is! It was a ways up to it from the street and you had to pay 5 YTL (per person) to hike up to see it. It was pretty impressive from where we were so we didn't feel like forking out more cash just to be up close.

2008-05-17T16:59:00.002+03:00

These are ancient rock tombs carved into the mountainside. I spotted them from the boat as we were returning from the islands tour. There wasn't a lot of signs, but we found our way there. They date back to about 4th century B.C. Historians think the larger tomb was for a public official or leader. The largest one was pretty impressive. It was separate from the others and majestically overlooked the city. Some of them were at street level and you could look inside. It was a little creepy but neat to see something this old!

2008-05-17T16:53:00.001+03:00

This little girl was so precious! I just wanted to take her back with us!
(To see other photos from Vacation Day #1 and 2 you have to view earlier posts)

2008-05-17T16:51:00.000+03:00

More cute kids!

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The kids just kept on coming for photos!

2008-05-17T16:43:00.002+03:00

After I took a picture of the first group of kids, they kept collecting others for more pictures. I think if we had stayed longer we would have had the whole neighborhood. They were all so cute!

2008-05-17T16:40:00.001+03:00

This is an ancient sarcophagus right in the middle of the street. It's so random because it isn't even close to any of the other rock tombs.

2008-05-17T16:33:00.002+03:00

I guess it's a good thing there isn't much traffic on this street!

2008-05-15T22:58:00.002+03:00

Welcome to the most peaceful spot on the planet!! (at least during early spring) We didn't para-glide off of the mountain but they were fun to watch!!!

2008-05-15T22:49:00.002+03:00

The long awaited vacation has finally arrived!!! We were so glad to be able to travel to the beaches in the southern edge of our country. It was such a great time of touring and relaxing in the sun! This was the view from our hotel balcony. Our hotel was a great little place to stay! The next few posts will contain photos of the trip (there are a LOT) and some commentaries about the places we visited.

2008-05-15T22:43:00.001+03:00

The water here was so Beautiful and clear. Also VERY cold!!!!

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One of the most beautiful beaches in the world!!

2008-05-15T22:30:00.002+03:00

Great little sea side getaway!!!! Taxis always at your service-for a price, of course.

2008-05-03T00:53:00.002+03:00

More photos from our outing with friends. Here we are visiting a local cami. The following photos are the incredible details from this cami. We also went to visit a friend of ours at the local spice market. I took pictures of the beautiful lamps and ceramic he sells. I love all the colors but have No where to hang them!!!

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2008-05-03T00:42:00.000+03:00

2008-04-28T23:14:00.002+03:00

Since most of you have either already figured out where we are or have googled every image we have photographed or mentioned to try and figure it out, we decided to show you our host country's most famous landmarks in miniature. Enjoy!!!!!

2008-04-28T23:11:00.000+03:00

2008-04-28T23:08:00.001+03:00

No, its not the Parthenon! Pretty cool though!

2008-04-28T23:03:00.002+03:00

Leapin lizards!!! There were so many of these little guys at this park crawling in and out of the "buildings". I can just imagine that they have the best time inside the miniature landmarks.

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Man-these are the tallest tulips in the world!

2008-04-28T22:49:00.001+03:00

You can hardly tell where the fake city ends and the real city starts. (Hint-the real one are a little more modern)

2008-04-28T22:45:00.000+03:00

In this park-the flowers are as tall as the buildings!

2008-04-28T22:37:00.000+03:00

Yes, I finally felt REALLY tall!!!

2008-04-03T22:14:00.003+03:00

My friend Ahu posing at the bowling alley. There were a couple of university groups that visited our city in March and we were able to all go bowling together at the end of each trip.

2008-04-03T22:09:00.002+03:00

International bowling at it's best. An American, A Russian, and one of our own!

2008-04-03T22:05:00.002+03:00

Great form-I think it was a strike!

2008-04-03T22:03:00.002+03:00

Isn't bowling Fun!!!!

2008-04-03T22:00:00.001+03:00

End of game -end of a great week together!

2008-03-25T21:15:00.002+02:00

Would you still check the blog even if there were no new photos? I have to admit that I only read articles that contain photos unless they really reach out to me. So, I can't blame anyone for skipping this segment and waiting till we take pics of something really interesting, like vacation! (Coming in MAY...) I might have had some pictures to take of our first Easter in Central Asia except that I was in bed with some random bug. (And you really don't want to see pictures of that!!!) Anyway, Brian went on to our house group which was celebrating on a nearby beach -not a problem for me knowing that it was cold and really cloudy. I spent the time in needed rest and reflection in the Word.
I was drawn to a passage in John 21. This event took place after the resurrection. Everything about the situation in this event is amazing to me. On the beach, out at sea, looks a little like the first calling of the fishermen when they were asked to lower their nets on the other side. Here they were returning to work after a possible 3 year hiatus. They had labored into the early hours just like before in Luke's gospel. Someone on shore hollered for them to cast on the opposite side of the boat. Someone they should have recognized but didn't. They obeyed, and (just as before), the harvest was huge. Only this time, John records two new things that occur. First, he mentions the number of fish gathered in the net. Second, he notes that the net didn't rip or tear even though the catch was very large. I have read a number of commentaries on this passage and it's significance. Details really fascinate me. I'm glad God thought it was important enough to have it written down as well. The commentaries I read were a little vague on the significance of the number of fish mentioned in verse(if anyone knows or would like to shed light on this , please respond in the "comment" section) . However, the fact that the net did NOT break symbolizes complete restoration in the lives of all these men and that can only come through obedience to a resurrected Savior. This whole event was centered around restoration and new direction. Every part of it was designed to cause them to revisit their first calling in Luke 5. Only now there is a marked difference in the conversations that follow this miracle. They are all changed. Perhaps in those first hours of dawn on the shore with the Lord, they were able to reflect on the last 3 years as Jesus served them breakfast and broke bread. What a beautiful picture! I imagine there were a few moments of awkward silence as they remembered past failures and as they realized that He could see their thoughts. Everything has come to light in those moments of reflection. Now it is all brand new. But Jesus isn't finished yet. He knows what Peter is dealing with as they gaze into the fire. He then begins to restore Peter so that he is free from guilt of past failures. Free to honor and completely serve Him as Lord. Being completely emptied in order to bring Him the most glory. Peter and the other disciples experienced this in an amazing way. Once again He invites them to "Follow Me." This time within the power of His resurrection. Completely emptied, completely empowered. That's how we should answer His call to follow Him.

2008-02-28T21:24:00.000+02:00

Welcome to our winter wonderland! It was great fun to watch our neighbors really enjoy their families in the snow. It seems like a dream because the temperature actually hit 62 today!

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I'm in there somewhere under all those clothes!

2008-02-28T18:36:00.000+02:00

Our little snowman . Funny, I don't remember making snowmen being considered work. This little guy was all we could do before we were worn out!

2008-02-28T18:10:00.000+02:00

Brian thinks he is going to hit me with a snowball!

2008-02-28T16:49:00.000+02:00

One of the kitties enjoying the sun and snow in the park. We are not able to have pets but there are PLENTY of cats and dogs that are strays in our city.