travelmonkey4christ

The United Airline plane touched down in Melbourne on Australia Day. I left Seattle 44F and stepped out to 39 C. (At this point go to www.ask.com and type in Celsius to Farahrenheit conversion if you aren’t sure what either temp is). Short hand version: I went from jacket weather to “Where’s the Air Con?” weather. Got off the plane wearing my Seahawks cap and 12th Fan Shirt and was greeted by an unruly mob (Carolyn Boyd, Pier and Hil Van Van Netten) hoisting a meter (www.ask.com) long Australia flag and screaming. Of course I knew instinctively the correct reply was “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!” Which is always answered by “Oy, Oy, Oy”. We went to Carolyn’s house where both one of our interpreters from Eastern Europe and an Australian missionary friend were staying for a few days. It was lovely catching up with them and sharing photos and memories. On the weekend we attended CityLife Church for special meetings with Kong Hee from Singapore. It was great soaking in and being minister...

Seahawks won! The city has gone crazy! We are going to the SUPERBOWL! The 12th man did it! I immediately checked the time and date. If my calculations are correct it will play out Monday Feb. 6th at noon in Australia. I'll be in Tasmania and already have found a place to catch the game. Perfect timing for me since Australia is a day ahead, all the weekend ministry will be finished and Monday is a break day. Go Seahawks! This morning I shared with Chapel of Hope in Puyallup,Washington my thoughts on the 12th man (See previous post). God doesn't really want US to be spectators. He asks us to join his team and, like the Seahawks today, to give it our best - leave it all on the field! So who is the 12th man in this respect? Hebrews 12 answers that. We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. They are cheering us on and we have home field advantage!

I'm departing the USA for the annual 3 month ministry time in Australia. I will not miss the rain (but FYI we didn't make the record in Seattle - however Olympia was not so lucky). Seattle VS Melbourne: Going from 45F to 84F, dark at 4:30pm to dark at 9:00pm. I will even see the Sun again. Hardest part of the prep - packing for so many different kinds of ministry - kids/teens/adults - clowning to lecturing to preaching and trying to pick clothing for heat of summer while shivering in flannel sweats. GO SEAHAWKS!!!! Ok, so this Sunday is a big one for the Seattle Seahawks. One game between us and the Superbowl!!!!! Seahawks VS the Panthers (Carolina). This city has a dream - everyone is dressed in blue and the #12 is flying from the top of the Space Needle. (Reference to #12 is the unofficial # given to the fans since in American Gridiron football a team has 11 players on the field) One of the local female news anchors dressed up in a Seahawks uniform and did the following ch...

Seattle: We are now in our 26th straight day of rain. A record? No, apparently in 1953 the Seattle area had 33 straight days of rain. But the forecast looks like we are on track to break the record. You'll be happy to know that I am high and dry and in an area with no mud slides or floods. I learned my lesson well 10 years back when I lost my trailor home to a monsoon season here! After that experience my first criteria for a place to live was high ground, solid foundation and good drainage! I was thinking how that relates to life. We all experience storms: health - finances - relationships - spiritual crises. How can we look for high ground? For me high ground is looking up to Jesus. The Psalmist says, "raise your eyes to the hills, it's the source of your strength." Looking up gives life perspective much the same way as going to the shore and looking at the ocean gives perspective. You are standing next to something so powerful, so much greater than yourself....

Belarus Interpreters Czech Worship Team Belarus Leader's Seminar Czech Chidren Worshipping

Just arrived back in Seattle. Great time in Boise, Idaho for the past 5 weeks. Visiting unstablemonkeys in Idaho City, family and friends in Boise, Eagle, and Meridian. Also caught up with a couple of my favorite grown up kids, Terry and Dena, now both residing in the Eastern U.S. but home for the holidays. Did some speaking (in the Church I was on staff at for 10 years Central Assembly) at a Christmas Banquet and for the Sunday morning service. It was snowy, windy, rainy, freezing, sunny, in short - everything you could expect in Southwest Idaho for December! I really enjoyed the many Christmas lights and decorations for the holidays. This year seemed to be the year of giant inflatable. Almost every yard had one (as opposed to the year of the lighted icicles, the year of the flashing ORBS, etc). The movie "Christmas Vacation" is not just an exaggeration in America. I helped decorate three homes for Christmas - from the simple to the sublime! This year the big controversy s...