How Do You Title This?

Things are never dull around here, as you can see. We have giants and hobbits, Prince's and Princesses, and Delirious concerts that rock the house. Friday night was a great night. We took a group of Portuguese friends to see Delirious in concert. The band was great and we worshiped hard. It was nice to get to worship in a big way. We don't get as much big group worship these days.

The other pictures are of my little girl goofing around. I love how big Scott looks standing there next to her in Hobbit form.

School starts back up tomorrow, so we will all be busy again, but I'll still try to be regular with the blog. Be Blessed

It's the Simple Things

The kitchen is warm and smells like fresh cook tortillas. If you could feel the joy that we felt when I cooked up this batch of tortillas...well let's just say that I made them last night and again tonight, except tonight I made burritos. Last night we ate them with butter and cheese. Tonight I made salsa, and beans to go with them.
One of the things I remember about the first few months we moved over here was the lack of pleasure I found in eating, nothing tasted yummy. But these tortillas were out of this world. (If I do say so myself) They were the right texture, the right color, the right consistency and the right flavor. They are also the right price. Flour, milk, oil, baking powder, and salt are all affordable in the quantities it calls for. What a treat. Thank you cooks.com, that's where I got the recipe. So we may get sick of tortillas and never want to eat another one, but who cares, right now were loving it.
All you folks in So Cal enjoy your Mexican food and Be Blessed

Our Easter

Look at these two Godly women enjoying the sun on Easter morning. The weather had been really cold and rainy all week, so the sun was a wonderful sight Easter morning. (It's cold again)

Good Friday was great. We meet at Ali Baba's, a Moroccan Hookah bar. There were about 30 people or so there, including kids. I presented an interactive drama/Seder/Last Supper. We worshipped and walked through the last meal of Jesus and then had some wonderful Moroccan food that the owner of the place, Mustaffa, had prepared for us. It was a great time. The best part for me was how much Mustaffa enjoyed having us there. He asked if he could get pictures of the event and really extended himself to make sure we were taken care of. I hope we can build a friendship.

Easter morning was also great. We cancelled the sunrise service because they were forecasting 0' degree temperatures up on the mountain. Pancake breakfast was all ready planned for after the sunrise service, so we just went with that. The sun came out strong and we feasted on pancakes, fruit, breads, jams, eggs with real American sausage and more. The kids hunted eggs and ran around like a pack of wild monkeys. Scott shared about the resurrection and the implications of it if it is true. And we worshipped. We sang, laughed, danced and lifted our voices in praise. There were smiles, and tears. It was a great Easter weekend. We hope yours was beautiful as well. Be Blessed for He has Risen.

The Prince of Egypt

This is what my living room looked like last night. (I know it a horrible picture) Our community gathered in our house to watch "The Prince of Egypt" There was lots of root beer, provided by one of our NATO families and more pop corn than you can shake a stick at.

Tonight we are going over to Ali Babas, a hookah bar/restaurant, for a interactive dramatic Passover/Good Friday event. I got to create it and I am really excited and nervous about how it is going to play out. It should be really cool, if it goes the way I am picturing it in my head.

For Easter morning we are going to go up the mountain for Sun Rise Service. The forecast is calling for it to be 0' that morning. (That's 32' for you folks in the states) So it should be quite invigorating. Then well head on down the mountain for pancake breakfast at the Uhlers. I love this.

I'm hoping that I can get a copy of the Easter drama my 5th and 6th graders performed yesterday. Maybe I can get the guy who videoed it to post it to You Tube and then I could get a link. Got to run so I can put the finishing touches on tonight's stuff. Be Blessed for He has Risen

Anywhere but Here! (Our Story part 5)

The Journey from the state of Washington to San Diego, California was a three day push. Forced to be with each other hour after hour, we soon discovered that "all was not well in the land of Nod." Morning sickness combined with travel sickness caused our nerves to get raw. By the time we reached San Diego things were not as rosy as they had looked before.

We pulled into Escondido with three cans of soup and $8.00 in our pocket. I figured I could work for my dad for a little while, make some cash and then we would head off to Mexico. When I say a little while, I meant a little while. The last thing that I wanted was to be back in Escondido where I had grown up. I mean hey, I had lived in New York, New York. I was a man of the world. I wasn't going to get stuck back in my home town.

Paula on the other hand suddenly had a different plans. They went something like this; Get a job, get an apartment, have the baby in a hospital instead of a cave and then go back to law school. Huh? The old nesting instinct had kicked in and we were not going anywhere. WHAT!?! How had this happened? Had I been tricked. Was it witchcraft? Stuck back in Escondido with this crazy girl who was going to have my baby. Stuck here? Where had the freaky wild hippy chick gone? And what did she mean she wanted to go to Law School? Was she kidding? You don't decided to go to Law School when your having a baby. Do you? What was going on?

We did get an apartment and I kept working for my dad. She started nesting, preparing to have the baby, but we were getting further and further out on a limb. Our relationship was going down to tube. Basically it went something like this; I hated working for my dad. She wanted me to buck-up and be a man. I wasn't ready to be responsible. She wasn't ready to give up her independence. We fought more and more until she decided that maybe I could live in an apartment next door, but she and the baby didn't need me around. I on the other hand had a few choice thoughts about her. Things were about to explode.

So one day after work I told my dad to get me my money and drive me to the airport. I wasn't talking about it, there was not going to be a discussion. Just give me my money and take me to the airport. I was going back to Orcas Island to live with my sister and her husband. I was gone. Good-bye. So long. Good riddance.

The State of Things (And a Few Pics)

Well here is a little photo log of what we have been doing the last few weeks.

Top left; Eden on the beach with a bunch of kids from the Aldiea SOS orphanage learning to surf.

Top Center; is Noah's black eye from getting punched by one of the Nigerian kids at his school.

Top Right; The volunteer fire department parade coming up our street on Sunday morning.

Bottom Left; Kelton, Branson, and Noah at the beach. Kelton and Branson were visiting from Amsterdam.

Bottom Center; Saying good-bye our German friend Eddie, and our American friend Jared as they got ready for their walk about to Spain and on...

The Euro is strong against the dollar ($1.57 as we speak) and oil is $109.00 a barrel. Americas banking institutions are standing on rocky ground and the stock markets across the globe are on a roller coaster ride. Kosovo is seeing fighting again. Tibet is going crazy. And who knows what kind of darkness waits around the next corner.

Yet this is exactly why we are doing what we do. In the words of Jesus, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have over come the world." Earth quakes, famine, cancer, war...they're not going away. The poor will always be with you. Trouble, trouble and more trouble, but Jesus, he's the great Lover of our Soul. The Comforter. The Teacher of the Good Ways. The Over Comer of the World. In this crazy world, we are bring the crazy upside down kingdom of Jesus to people who need Hope.

So pray for us. Pray with us. This Easter may we have beautiful feet as we bring the Good News.

Be Blessed

New Rhythems

Teaching is our new rhythm. P and I are both working part time at the International Christian School of Cascais. She is teaching American History and I'm still teaching theatre. Not only are we able to develop relationships with these young international students, but we are also able to take a little pressure off of the cost of tuition.

This picture is of Eden's 5th and 6th grade class working on their Easter drama.

So now we are working out our new rhythm/schedule. Who is doing the grocery shopping? And when? What about that pile of dirty laundry? Who takes the car to school and who walks? Etc, etc, etc. So much of our life's are centered around routine. Yet so much of our growth happens when we are in uncomfortable positions. And we are uncomfortable right now. Uncomfortable with our lack of time. Uncomfortable with the learning curve. Uncomfortable with the things we don't know.

One thing that is starting to be less uncomfortable for the kids and me is having P go away on business. She just flew to Amsterdam this morning for a ServetheCity leaders strategy/planning event. She will be home Sunday. But hey, five days is nothing after having her gone for over three weeks. We're pro's now. Pray for good work to be done in Amsterdam with the ServetheCity leaders. Pray for us as we are with out mommy again. And pray for us to keep leaning into being uncomfortable. Miss ya all. Be Blessed