Friday, April 27, 2007

Just One Of Many....

I'm sure we will have many more pictures to show you, but I just had to 'borrow' one from a friend's site to show you about one of MY experiences on our trip. Okay...here's the pic:














This is what you call a "squatty potty". Yep...it's a 'toilet'. I got the privilege of using this device twice on our trip. Once in a bus terminal, and once in a 'truck stop' type of bathroom. Believe me, if I really hadn't had to 'go', I would have waited until we found a normal one. The 2 I got to use were actually nicer than the one pictured. If you consider them 'nice'. Most places have the newer types of toilets, but there are still a few squatty potties out there in the world for us foreigners to enjoy using. It is definitely an 'unique' experience. Thanks to my friend Natalie for the use of her picture.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Some pictures so far...



This is a young lady I sat by on the plane; her name is Dilek and she lives in Toronto, but was on her way home for a few weeks.





Left: This is a Starbucks. Yes, they even have them here.

Right: A shot from above the city;
we had a nice view.





Left: This is a restaurant where we ate.
Lots of good food here!








Right: I am standing in front of a library in an old Biblical city.







We are literally 'sitting' on the floor in a traditional restaurant; and again the food was fantastic!










Thursday, April 19, 2007

Just wanted to give everybody an update; we did make it and so far having a great time. We have traveled by bus, taxi, and even a ferry boat since we've arrived. The weather was kind of cool yesterday and it did lightly rain, but not real bad.

We went to a place called 'Top Of The City' which has a park, restaurants, and generally a nice photo spot. This time of year the tulips bloom, and they are ALL over the place! We were going to go to the local big 'indoor' market, but didn't have time. We might try to make it there before we leave to come home.

We traveled to another city last evening by ferry boat...but this is no 'small' boat. I'm not sure how many it seats, but I'm sure it's over 200! It was quite an experience. We left at 6:30 p.m. and arrived shortly after 8:30 p.m. We will spend the next few days here looking around the city, and on Friday we will get to visit a major tourist attraction in the area; we'll post pics later.

The food has been good, and of course after every meal you have 'cay' tea (pronounced 'chai'). It comes in small glass cups with sugar cubes. It's stronger than your normal tea, but it is good.

We walked a lot yesterday, so we slept good last night!

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Hard to believe that tomorrow morning Billy & I head out for our 10-day trip to Central Asia; we hope to be able to update at least every other day, and maybe even put up some pictures along the way. Looks like the weather will be somewhat pleasant, and luckily our connecting flights do not take us to the Northeast!

Hopefully our next update will be from the other side of the world!

Sunday, April 8, 2007

My how time flies....

Billy's ordination service was a very blessed time; it's very humbling to know you have so many individuals that are willing to invest their time praying for your ministry. We had many family members there, and that alone means so much to Billy & I. It's a big relief when you know they are going to support you in whatever path God chooses for you.

He also had the opportunity to speak at the BSU on the Joplin campus this past Thursday at their weekly service; we got to witness a 'Peeps-eating-contest'. You know...peeps...those marshmallow candy things they sell at Easter. There are 9 to a box, and 5 students volunteered to see how many they could eat in 3 minutes. One of the girls ate 5 boxes. I thought she was going to hurl on stage. It was fun. And it also snowed that evening. Yep...we had snow in April. It didn't stick to anything, but was fun to watch. It's been very cold here; we've kind of wondered if Spring will ever get here to stay!

I think sometimes we take time for granted; we go about our daily routines, and all of a sudden, it's a week, month, year later!

I think about time whenever our kids' birthdays roll around. Our son turned 17 today. And I always look back and think "Where did the time go?". I guess our parents always tell us to enjoy them 'while they're young' because you'll never get those years back.



But I think as we get older we don't reflect as much on our 'younger years' as we used to. Whenever my birthday rolls around, I don't think "Geez; seems like only yesterday I was learning how to ride a bike!".

Why am I rambling about 'time'? Because we DO take it for granted. We are given each day as a gift from God to 'live like there's no tomorrow' because we really DON'T know if there will be a tomorrow for us! I look ahead at all the things we have planned: appointments, trips, dates with husbands and friends, Holidays, etc. We plan them like we KNOW we're going to be here.

Billy & I are getting ready to embark on a trip to Central Asia in just over a week. We've been planning it for months, yet until I'm actually in that country, I can't believe I will actually be there. Sound weird? It's just that we can never be sure of tomorrow, so it's best not to concern ourselves with future events to the extent we forget why we were given this day in the first place. For example, we tried to plan a similar trip in June of 2005, however, God had a different plan for us. It was in the form of a beautiful granddaughter. So 'delays' aren't always bad!

The next year at my job will be bringing some definite changes. Some will be good, and some possibly bad. (I'm hoping more "good"!) But I take one day at a time. And that's not always easy. It's too easy for me now to start worrying about the 'bad' stuff that MIGHT happen. I should just be concerned about the now and let God take care of the "might happen" stuff.











Easter was today; we got to spend time with with family which is always fun. Our son-in-law's father and one of his brothers were in town as well. And we celebrated another year in Christopher's life. (The picture on the right is of Danny's father with Sydney.)


I am looking forward to what the next year might or might NOT bring. But I suppose that's up to God, isn't it??

I'll leave you with another picture of our beautiful granddaughter; until next time, I hope you've all had a wonderful Easter!!