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| It seems like it was just yesterday that I was chasing after Miss GG as she ran through the pasture to visit the horses next door ... but it's been almost a month!!!
Speaking of Miss GG - she's really starting to show her pregnancy. In just a few short months, she'll be prancing around the paddock with her little one tagging along. Notice I paddock and not pasture ... one has a fence; one doesn't.
I'm looking out over the frozen lake as I type this. Only it's beginning to show some weakness along the shoreline in spots. There's always open water around the island docking area because they keep a pump going that circulates the water. But normally the area just beyond the docks remains frozen. Today, though, there definitely is water sitting on top of the ice. Several times yesterday an ATV or 4-wheeler went back and forth from the parking lot to the island and it traveled right over where the water is sitting today. I'm thinking that by Monday, they'll have to find another way to get onto the ice 'cuz this path won't be reliable.
The birds are chirping up a storm, my horses are shedding, and now the ice is beginning to melt somewhat - yippee!!! That means spring is just around the corner. It may be just me but ever since I returned from Florida this past week, it seems to be bitterly cold around here. At least the sun is shining today - that always makes me happy.
We're thinking of renting a movie tonight and grabbing a quick bit to eat. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Qdoba's.
Don't we live an exciting life? ha! | | |
| Yesterday was filled with strange happenings around here ...
Mike and I headed out to the barn to feed on our way to Grand Rapids ... that is until we got out there and decided that we should probably enjoy the beautiful blue sky and somewhat nice temps (in the sun) so we headed back home to change clothes and return to the barn only to get a phone call from Joe and Deb asking if we wanted to go cross country skiing. So, we quickly revamped our plans for the day.
While cross country skiing, I fell several times (3 actually) within the first 5 minutes but that didn't totally discourage me. Nope. I wasn't even discouraged when I fell two more times - while standing on flat ground mind you - about 15 minutes into the adventure. Nor was I discouraged when I heard my ski pole snap while using it to help myself back up! Kinda wished that I had brought along some duct tape though. So, I spent the rest of our skiing time trying to remember not to put any weight on the broken pole 'cuz it would bend right in half! Joe took the broken one for a few minutes but quickly gave it back to me. Mike offered to trade poles with me too but I like a challenge - ha!
Then it was a quick switch-a-roo of our clothing (on with the barn clothes) and we were off to the barn. Of course, we felt the need to do some work prior to playing with the horses so Mike got the Kubota tractor and proceeded to put out 2 new round bales of hay. One into the pasture for the geldings and one into the pasture for the mares. In the process, I was transferring the geldings into the appropriate pasture and Mike was coaxing GG (my wonderfully uncooperative mare) into the barn without any type of restraint (ie no halter or lead rope). Well, GG is ever adventurous and she wanted to see what the boys were doing so she came up to me and stood right there behind me while I worked to latch the gate to the boy's pasture. Of course, before I could complete that task, she decided to venture off on her own. I know! I should've grabbed her while she was standing there rather than letting her get away ... Mike and I have already had THAT discussion, thank you very much.
It must've been the clear sky and the really cold temps 'cuz GG was very rambunctious and disobedient yesterday. Normally she'll meander around the pastures where the other horses are but yesterday she decided to gallop through the open field and go visit the neighbor's horses. There I am traipsing behind her carrying a halter and lead rope and a bucket with grain in it. Shaking the bucket and calling out her name and then yelling really loudly for Mike to get the car 'cuz GG was heading right towards the road. Oh! I wasn't please with her at all. There I am standing on one side of the neighbor's pasture and there she is running up the opposite fence line, turning the corner, barreling down the fence line along the road, making the turn up the driveway rather than out on the road (thank you Lord!). Completely making fun of me as she veers off to the front of the house; then changes her mind and actually comes within 10 feet of me. All the while, snorting and prancing around and holding her tail up real purty like and looking at me with wide eyes, ears straight up in the air as if to say "just try to stop me now!".
Well, I'm somewhat trained in the Pat Parelli natural horsemanship so I thought that I could stop her by using some of the Parelli techniques. So there I am just standing there saying "whoa" and bending over at my waist while purposefully looking at her hind quarters - which in a perfect world would cause her to stop in her tracks and turn to face me and patiently wait for me to put a halter on her. I must've been dreaming to that THAT would work! 'Cuz GG just about laughed out loud at me - yes! I'm sure I heard her laughing or maybe it was the neighbor looking our her window at the fiasco taking place in her yard. Either way, I must've been crazy to think she was going to listen to me when she was having the experience of a lifetime! Did I mention that she really looked pretty running through the open field with her head and tail held high?
Our barn neighbor has a couple regular horses and then she has two miniture horses. GG has never seem them before so they did intrigue her briefly but in a blink of an eye, she was barreling back to the barn... just as Mike had finished saddling up Sport so he could go after her, there she was at the barn entrance and calmly walked into her stall.
There I was trudging back to the barn through the knee-deep snow, lugging the bucket of grain, and trying to regain my dignity. Mike, my hero, came to my rescue with the ATV ... I hopped on and got a speedy right back to the barn.
Of course, we still had one round bale of hay to put out; a fence board to repair and we had to fix the round bale holder 'cuz last week those monsters ... I mean .... horses had actually broken it in their urgency to get to the hay.
By the time I got around to saddling up GG for a nice, leisurely walk around the field, she was pretty much exhausted and wondering why she had to go to work after all the exercise she had just had!
So, I had the broken ski pole, the run away horse and I must admit I was wondering what else could go wrong ... the rest of the day went really well though so I guess trouble doesn't come in three's.
Jordan came out to the house and we all drove up to Grand Rapids to the Apple Store last night. We each had something in mind that we wanted to get. Mike got what he wanted; Jordan got what he wanted; and I got something but not what I originally wanted. I really wanted that new Mac Air computer but after looking at it, I determined that it wasn't for me. It's really more of a 2nd computer for the person who travels a lot and needs a light weight (3#) laptop. While it has a smidgeon more memory than my current laptop, it doesn't have a cd/dvd drive (For and additional $99 I could've purchased a portable cd/dvd super drive - no thanks); it doesn't have a fire wire port (which I need to transfer digital video); and it only has one USB port. While it is cute, light weight and very tempting, it wasn't for me - especially at the price. OUCH! So I ended up coming home with a new computer carrying case and the new Leopard operating system, which I'll share with CJ 'cuz I bought the family pack.
I guess my ol' powerbook G4 with the dented corner and inability to shut tight without some duct tape will have to do for awhile longer. A couple of weeks ago Duke (the dog) got caught up in the power cord of my laptop and sent it flying (about 3 feet) from the dining room table to the tiled floor. It still works good though. And another good thing is that prior to flying through the air, the screen had this obnoxious line down the middle of it - not any more! Duke is really a computer technician in disguise. Now there's just a bent corner and a slight grayish area to the bottom of the screen. Definitely not as annoying as the line on the screen.
So, there you have it ... just a simple recap of what's happening in my life these days. Don't you wish you were me???!!!!
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| We've been in Park City since last Thursday evening. It's the Sundance
Film Festival here right now. If you want to read about my experiences
at the Film Festival, then please read the blogs on my facebook page
(see the link on this page).
We are doing a lot of traveling this winter. We've already been out
here to Park City over Christmas; then to Florida for a week; and now
back to Park City for a week. We'll surface at the old homestead for
about 10 days and then return to Park City for another week.
Some may wonder why in the world we'd go from cold weather to even
colder weather ... well, the sun shines almost daily out here and the
snow is more dependable for sure. We've got a ski lift within a 5
minute walk from our condo; the town is also just a hop & skip
away; there are an abundance of cross country trails and snow shoeing
trails as well as running trails for Mike. I personally find myself
totally relaxed here in Park City. If I want to stay inside all day
and read, I am able to allow myself to do that without feeling guilty.
If I want to stay in my jammies until noon, no problem!
Mike has done a little snow boarding this week - we woke up to fresh
powder on Monday morning; we took a cross country ski lesson the other
day and then this afternoon we rented some equipment and went out for a
couple of hours on a groomed cross country trail. AND, the blister
that began during our lesson the other day has grown to a humungous
size so I'm back to taping my heel again. I guess I better tape every
time I attempt this sport.
In just a little bit we are going to go stand in the Wait List line for
the Sundance Film Festival, where we'll stand until 2 hours prior to
show start when they will hand out wait list numbers. Then
approximately 40 minutes before the show start time, we'll return to
the line and get in numerical order. Then we'll wait for all the hard
ticket holders to enter the venue at which point, IF there are any
seats remaining they will sell tickets to those of us in the Wait List
line. Obviously the lower the Wait List number, the better chance we
have of getting into see the film. Tonight we're trying to get into a
documentary called "Fields of Fuel", which has to do with oil and gas
consumption and alternative fuels. As someone in 'the' industry, we
thought it would be interesting to see.
Oh! Gotta go ... we're off to the Wait List line. Check out my
facebook page for the results of our attempt tonight. We head back to
Michigan tomorrow. | | |
| The last time I posted here was Dec. 2nd and I never mentioned that we were celebrating our 29th wedding anniversary on that day! I picked up a nearly perfect shell from the beach in front of our hotel in Phuket and brought it back to the states with us so we'll always remember where we celebrated our 29th anniversary.
Boy! Both Mike and I are really struggling with getting re-adjusted since our trip to Thailand. And, we're both surprised that it's taking us so long to do so. I took a nap the first day back and haven't had to do that since then, but I've been dead tired every night around 7pm - dozing off & on in the chair and finally going to bed at 8pm. Can you believe that? But, only to sleep for a couple of hours and then tossing & turning the rest of the night. So, neither one of us are very rested yet. Tonight Mike is totally exhausted and I'm still awake at 9:30pm.
I finally got our tree up and decorated tonight. I set the tree up Friday morning and it sat for a couple days without any lights or anything. Then when I went to put the lights on, one strand didn't work. So, I bought another strand today only it wouldn't connect to the existing strand. I was a tad bit frustrated tonight as I drove into Meijers to purchase another strand of lights.
I got the house decorated Sunday afternoon and that totally exhausted me. I'm definitely not in the Christmas mood. I was listening to Christmas music mid November but now , I'm not interested in it any more. I think that the Grinch stole my Christmas Spirit when I wasn't looking! Actually I think being gone for 12 days immediately after Thanksgiving has something to do with it.
That's about it folks. See ... I can't even come up with an interesting blog these days. Ouch! | | |
| I’ve been lax in my journaling … mainly because we’ve had limited internet access lately. If you want to see some photos, then check out Mike’s facebook page because he’s uploading photos all the time. He and I are taking pretty much the same photos. So, let’s back track a little bit ….
Monday (11/26/07), Tuesday (11/27/07) & Weds. morning (11-28-07)- Kahtmandu, Nepal – most definitely a life-changing experience. Our accommodations were 5 star so we were definitely spoiled, which we’ve been this entire trip. When we left our hotel, we were immediately smack dab in the little of a third world country: chaos; poverty; filth. What a culture shock. It was most definitely a relief to return to the resort at the end of the day.
While in Nepal we met Nathan, Jen, Shem and various other national missionaries who daily put their lives on the line for God. I think I’ve previously journaled about this fact. The Americans are naturally singled out because of their coloring – lighter skin, blond hair, blue eyes. I sincerely hope you grasp the danger these people are in – not just the American’s but even more so, the national missionaries.
I have never experienced or been so face-to-face with idol worship before in my entire life. I wish that you could experience the ‘weird’ feeling that I have in my gut. We are surrounded by evil and it’s almost tangible enough to touch – certainly to the spiritual touch. There’s an oppressiveness here that weighs me down. Not just in Nepal but in all of Thailand. All along the roads are temples to Buddha and the people proudly proclaim their worship of idols by boldly placing red or yellow marks on their foreheads.
It’s humbling really … it’s putting me to shame. Back home in the States, I can hardly bring myself to talk about my belief in Jesus Christ for fear of rejection or without thinking ‘who am I to push my beliefs onto others?” Rest assured that the Holy Spirit is spending many overtime hours trying to pry open my eyes. I see a glimmer of His Truth streaming through. Why do I hold my eyes so tightly shut? I want to open them – it’s kind of like I’m in a coma. Unconscious yet aware of what’s happening around me – struggling to wake up to reality and yet comfortably relaxing back into the darkness of the blinders that cover my eyes.
Thursday (11/29/07) we traveled to Chiang Rai (sounds like Chang Rye). I believe this is the capital of Thailand but I’m not sure. This is the real reason for making this trip … the church we will be dedicated here was constructed mainly with the funds received by Aunt Miriam’s family in her memory. Since setting foot on the ground here, it has been an emotional experience for her two children (Brent and Ann) who are here to participate in the ceremony. I think even Reva (her sister) has shed a tear or two. You’ve got to look really close to see them ‘cuz she does a magnificent job of concealing them. But, if you know her, you can see them.
We were greeted at the airport by Kenny (The Pastor) and his wife & child along with Faith and Sucurra (spelling?). Sucurra and Faith have been instrumental in growing God’s Kingdom here in Chiang Rai for the past 12 years. They are ABWE missionaries from the Philippines. Kenny is a national who they have trained up to take leadership of the church. They use their ability to teach the English language to reach the surrounding communities. In exchange for free English lessons, the people are taught about God through Bible Study. Sucurra was telling us last night that they taught English and God here at the Dusit Island Resort within the last year and that one of the managers has accepted Christ as a result of that exposure to the Good News.
Thursday afternoon we spent sightseeing … we did a lot of driving but smooth roads with tons of less traffic than in Kahtmandu! We had the luxury of walking in the Queen’s Garden before we drove to the border of Burma (Mynamar) and experienced some real culture of the streets with the vendors, etc. Fortunately we didn’t have our passports with us so we didn’t cross over the bridge to Burma but we went as far as we could – to the river’s edge and took a lot of photos there.
Then we drove to the Golden Triangle where three countries meet: Laos, Thailand, and Burma (Mynamar). This point is celebrated with a gigantic temple to an even more gigantic Buddha. It was huge! So many people walked up the steps to worship this huge, gigantic golden Buddha and the smaller idols lined up in front of Buddha (just encase Buddha didn’t pull through, maybe one of these lesser idols could) – I was nauseated.
I took too many photos of the Buddha and that night when I closed my eyes, that was all I could see. I purposely pictured the Cross of Jesus and that cleared away the image of the Buddha and I was able to relax and sleep. One of our couples said they had felt a heavy oppression that night and spent time prayer intercessory prayers for each other. I’m telling you, there is a heaviness of evil over everything here. I can’t explain it.
We also visited a Hostel, which is a boarding school for tribal children whose parents desire for them to be educated. The children stay at the Hostel where they are taught the English language and God and they attend a local school for the rest of their education.
Thursday night we went into the city to experience the market place that really comes alive from 7pm to midnight. I think I previously described this also so I won’t go into detail.
Friday (11/30/07) morning arrived – finally! This is the day we’ve all be secretly sitting on the edge of our chairs waiting for. Our first and only opportunity to see the church that will be dedicated in Miriam Cook’s memory. The photos will kind of tell the story but not really. Shock and amazement – that’s what we all experienced as we stepped out of the van. Not one of us expected the building to be such a wonderful piece of construction. I personally was expected an opened first floor with the second floor enclosed with walls and windows without glass. Maybe the potential of a third floor. What we saw would rival some smaller churches back home. Ahhh what a testimony to Miriam’s faithfulness to God. These people, Sucurra and Faith, used the finances contributed by Miriam’s Memorial donations along with some additional funds contributed from various sources and in just one year’s time oversaw the construction of this church building. A year ago the land that the church building is sitting on was an empty lot overgrown with trees and shrubs. If I get the photos uploaded, I hope you can see the living conditions right next door to the church. Such opulence in the middle of such poverty. The church (the people, not the building) are reaching out into their immediate community … providing free English lessons in exchange for sharing about God with the people. Lives are being changed here in Chiang Rai!
The dedication service was the first service to take place in the new building. The service was packed to overflowing and we had front row seats. Close your eyes and picture this: several hundred people of different nationalities praising God in their own languages; a general hum of sorts surrounding you as people interpret for the person sitting next to them the messages coming from the pulpit (some in English, most in Thai language, some in tribal language) A few of us were humbled to tears to realize that we were all singing the same songs but in our own native tongues – to the human ear it sounded like total confusion – but oh how glorious it must’ve sounded to the King of kings! What an experience to witness!
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at the original church building and I’ve included some photos so you can see for yourselves what God has done here as a result of the death of one of his faithful servants (Miriam). What man interpreted as something horrible (her sudden, unexpected death) God used for His glory here in Chiang Rai).
We dropped Chris, Ann, Brent and Susan off at the airport for their return flight back to the States this afternoon. John, Reva, Jay, Eleanor, Mike and I continued on to visit one more church and orphanage that ABWE/GAP is assisting with financially. John, the Pastor and Director of the orphanage was excited to show us around. This project is directed toward the Akha Tribe. Next year at this time, the orphanage will house 25 children from the Akha Tribe. Children who are orphaned as a result of war, etc. When completed, the orphanage will be the home of approximately 100 boys and girls. It will be self-sustaining. Bethel Baptist Church from Kalamazoo, MI is one of the financial supporters of this project. We’ve got pictures of the orphanage which is still under construction. Notice how the workers are moving the dirt. This would put our construction workers to shame back in the States. Everything is constructed excellently here and it’s completed in a very timely fashion.
On Saturday 12-1-07 we traveled from Bangkok to Phuket where we will spend time with some more ABWE missionaries. Phuket was hit by the tsunami big time. The church we’ll visit today was established 2 years ago (1 year after the tsunami) – they weren’t any Christian churches in this region until that time. God used a disaster to reach the people here.
Saturday was a long day … once we got to Phuket, we traveled by car for about 5 hours going from one end of the island to the other looking at some of the popular sightseeing areas. We were all exhausted by the time we arrived at our hotel. It was dark so we didn’t get a chance to really look around.
This morning – Sunday 12-2-07 – we woke to another beautiful day here in Thailand. Today is our 29th wedding anniversary. We celebrated by working out together – Mike on the stationary bike and me on the treadmill and then we went for a walk on the beach followed by breakfast outside by the natural pool.
Today we spent several hours with the local church – attended the morning worship service; had lunch with them; listened to some of their stories (testimonies and tsunami); viewed the land where they’ll be constructing the new church building and also went to the fishing village that was virtually wiped out by the tsunami.
If you didn’t know that 3 years ago this month a killer tsunami came through this area, you’d never know. It’s amazing how this area has been rebuilt and the foliage looks like it was never striped bare from the tree limbs. It’s amazing really.
Tonight we had dinner with Pastor Raul, Phoebe, Jamima and a couple other women from the church. One of the women had never experienced a buffet until tonight. Our accommodations are excellent. Another 5 star hotel.
Tomorrow (Monday 12-3-07) we head back to the Phuket International airport and begin our long journey back to the States. The flight from Bangkok to LA is 18 hours – and we’ve got an 8 hour layover in Bangkok and then another 3 hour layover in LA. Mike and I will arrive in Detroit around 6:30am on Tuesday 12-4-07. Like I said, we’ve got a long trip ahead of us.
This trip to Thailand and Nepal has been an unforgettable experience for me.
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