Blast from the Past Propels Us to the Future

One thing that I know for sure:  nothing happens without some kind of purpose.  I just begun to share about the trip to Ireland but long before that trip was finished our eyes were on the next trip we have in mind.  The Philippines is now looming closer than ever.  Fortunately the trip to Ireland equipped for what’s to come, we could all feel that.  We have had some very wild weather that seems to capitalize the spiritual struggle to maintain faith for this next great adventure.  Not just one but two tornado touch downs were recorded as of Monday.  I was outside watching the looming storm after Lovely and I had walked when I felt compelled to go get the children from the neighbor’s house where they were playing.  I crossed the street just in time to hear the sirens begin to blare.  Mom, Dad and I watched the clouds as Lovely brought the kids to the vault in our basement.  During the constant lightning we witnessed the approaching funnel cloud.  From inside we watched a lightning bolt exit from the bottom of the funnel…it was one of the most awesome yet terrifying things I’ve ever seen.  It marked the one year anniversary of the tornado we had a year ago on Father’s day that caused a lot of destruction in our town…many roofs are still being repaired in fact…not to mention our town community center which was on high alert during this storm because they had a concert over there.  Fortunately the funnel didn’t touch down here but it did elsewhere throwing a grain bin into an outbuilding and causing some damage there.  Scary times!

 

Now we continue our regularly scheduled broadcast!  Our refinished cottage in Ireland had some interesting iron rings near the gate.  I posted this on FB and some of you have had some great ideas on what it could be.  Anything from a old piece of the gate that may have been there before to something tie horses to.  I felt both far away yet somehow like I was at home when gazing on the fields of Ireland this time.  We have more cattle than sheep in these parts but still the pastoral fields felt very much like home.  The sheep had a mild curiosity about us when we were looking right back at them.  It made for a good photo opportunity.  I always liked coming to an opening in the endless hedgerows to see the mountains beyond.  Montana is the Big Sky country so I’m used to seeing for miles!  The blossoms on the hedges were delightful but there were some nasty thorns in there too.  The yellow gave me what the sun could not…minus the warmth of course.  We had two paths that we walked for the most part and one of them had some wonderful flowers that reminded me so much of Blue Bells.  Near the house there were some delightful blossoms to enjoy as well.  Our little girl loved to explore the paths and see the sheep and horses but on occasion she actually stayed still so I could get her picture.  I can’t stress enough what a joy the kids were on this trip.  They just keep getting better!  Not only are they a joy outside the meetings but serve so well during the church services…I’m very proud of them, they are the best mission team I’ve ever travelled with!  Whenever mist covered this mountain you knew that a drenching was on the way!  When we first arrived this pasture was empty but soon a mother and her two little ones became an every day delight.  One of the things that I truly love about Ireland is that there are many old structures that are intermingled with the villages and cities.  This little bridge looked very old and we crossed it every day coming and going from our little cottage.  This is the view near the bridge as you look toward the cottage we stayed in.  The Tain Way is a path that everyone should walk before they die.  It went right by our house and we loved walking it whenever we could.  This horse was at the turnoff near our cottage.  She was very sweet and loved any attention we could offer her…this often consisted of apples and carrots.  Sometimes we would walk the path beyond where the horse was and it took us to a wonderful countryside view.  Our way back led us through an overgrown pathway that I felt had a rather slanted personality.  These delicate blossoms looked rather sad when the rain continued for many days.  The many vines and ferns that grew everywhere sometimes looked alien depending on what stage of growth they were in.  There was a babbling brook that we crossed quite often.  I never grew tired of the peaceful sound as it went lazily down the stream.  You know you’re in a rainy country when you see grass growing on the top of fence posts!  There were many birds happily singing and flitting from one branch to another all around us however I never saw them use this cute little birdhouse.  Now I will close with some more of the interesting rings that were on so many of the old walls around there.  Remember no matter how difficult the circumstance and its iron grip it only serves as a ring that you pass through when God’s grace intervenes on your behalf!

Gone Green But Now I’m Back

It’s been a while, three weeks in fact.  I’ve been away like this before but it seems that it felt longer without the Internet or a way to really know what’s going on.  We stayed in a cottage in Callingford, Ireland that is about a half an hour from Drugheda, a suburb of Dublin.  The weather was very difficult, lots of rain, lots of terrible wind that even broke large trees and it was very cool.  The bright side of it all is that it was still Ireland…it is oh so beautiful and this time we weren’t in the city…it was out in the countryside where there was little but countryside cottages like our own and hedgerows and stone walls where sheep, horses and cows and even one ostrich grazed peacefully.  It was the Ireland I’ve always dreamed of.  Come on and walk with me! 

 

I had to catch my bearings a little since I was used to being in the city last time.  Scenes like this lamb helped me begin to really soak up the peace of this wonderful country.  Note the barbed wire with the wool that the sheep rubbed off when they scratch themselves on the fence!  The many ewes that we saw had young ones with them…they were a joy to behold!  I never tire of the Irish green…it is in fact my very favorite color!  The hedgerows were in blossom which added splashes of color to the green.  The damp weather provides and excellent environment for vines that seem to find their way around walls and trees alike.  One day we walked and saw these interesting berries on the growing on the hedge on the side of the road…I didn’t know what they were so I just called them “cow pie berries”!  One color that surprised me quite a bit was the amazing yellow that could be seen everywhere.  I’m quite used to the mountains and pine of Montana.  The hedgerows and low rolling hills was a change for me.  Often you couldn’t see what was on the other side of these hedges for many meters then there would be a gap and you could see for miles.  White, yellow and green seemed to be the colors of the year!  Here in our state you see barbed wire most often on farms but in Ireland it’s thick rows of hedges and stone walls…often the hedges had nasty thorns in them and bushes that remind me some of our sagebrush.  Not far from our cottage we ran across what I thought was an unlikely sight!  I never thought I’d see an ostrich in Ireland!  She was quite friendly and almost always approached the fence when we walked by.  Our friend Julie was observing this ostrich and an Irishman was there who said:  “we have them all over Ireland you know.”  Julie replied:  “Really?”  to which the Irishman replied:  “no.” and walked off!  LOL!  You’ve got to appreciate the dry Irish humor!  I wonder if the ostrich was also a smart alec!  I didn’t care whether the fields were full or empty, they were always beautiful.  Occasionally a little butterfly would cross our path and land on the flowers…total photo opportunity!  This one was amazing though its colors well mirrored the flowers it was on at the moment.  My goodness, what a beautiful country!  You know what?  Mossy rocks have character!  Dublin has its doors but we had one of our very own!  Now I will walk through one of my very own and bid you all good day.  It’s great to be back, thank you all who prayed for us and have been so good to us.  I look forward to sharing more of our trip as the days go by!

Birthers, Truthers and Now Deathers…What Next?

I have to admit I didn’t think I’d see the day when they caught and/or killed OBL.  I think that the events that followed are far more typical.  There has been controversies that have surrounded so many things over the years whether that be the JFK assassination to things surround Hitler and even aliens…let’s not forget the many controversies around religion as well…ugh, I could go on forever.  We’ve had those that believe Obama wasn’t born in this country, those that feel Bush helped blow up the trade center towers and now a whole slew of people that won’t believe Osama is truly dead.  For me I truly believe he’s dead and gone, I don’t believe our government blew up the trade centers nor do I doubt Obama was born in this country…oh yeah, and most important of all I believe Jesus Christ is the son of the living God who died for our sins and rose again from the dead that all who believe on Him and confess His name shall be saved.  Just thought I’d clear that up.  Mostly I feel that the passing of OBL or other evil men means little in the big scheme of things.  I believe this will show that nobody can hide, nobody is invulnerable to justice…the day will come when it comes knocking on your door and you will have to face it no matter who you are or who you think you are.  Kudos to the military for what they’ve done.  The thing is I believe that above this is the importance that we remember what it is to be as Christians…as Americans…there is a conflict of purposes in this world…it’s far bigger than a threat to our things that we’ve obtained in this life…it’s our liberties that are threatened.  We must fight to keep our purpose in life alive and not forget our neighbor in these times…or neighbor being whoever we come in contact with.  We must keep our faith and not allow anything or anyone to take this away from us.  Remind yourself daily what you really believe in and what you stand for and live accordingly.  I will never bow to those things that rob us of who God has meant us to be nor will I lose my humanity when it comes to treatment of my neighbor because if I lose that I lose my humanity.  Ignorance and hate walks the globe in a manner unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.  I will fight this until the day I die.  There, that was all free today!  LOL!

 

I can hardly believe that we leave for Ireland a week from today.  It will be a very early departure for us which doesn’t bless me too much.  I’m glad to go and believe strongly in our mission and that gives strength to carry on.  This is not a simple sight seeing trip or vacation.  There’s much to do and I so much appreciate your prayers and support.  I’m excited to meet our dear friends there again and to be able to minister once again in Ireland.  The pastor there is actually from Ghana and he ministered with us while we were in Ghana.  Our relationship with him and our dear friend Ade and Festus is strong and are very excited to see what God will do.  Our weather is finally starting to look more like spring.  at least during the day but in the evenings we’ve yet to have a low above forty.  The sunsets are getting more beautiful at last.  I love to see this again.  Seeing pine needles dipped in the gold of a wonderful Montana sunset still grips me and fills me with wonder at God’s remarkable creation!  My walks have gotten decidedly more pleasant as well.  The hues of the sky and the sound of Western Meadow Larks is a positive delight.  No matter what any may say I find that these things reinforce my believe in God…the author of all these things I witness with my own eyes.  Those that do not believe I do not condemn though I will do what I can to live a life that testifies in what I believe that this might shine as brightly as the sun that God has made.  We can be trees of righteousness every bit as real as the trees we see every day and like them I choose to lead a life that glorifies God.  If I screw up I will not be discouraged because by His grace I will rise again and be stronger than before.  Life is so much bigger than my own little world.  I never travel abroad, pray for another person or see someone else without being reminded of this truth.  This likely will be my last post since we leave next week.  I will be off the grid as far as I know but hope to return to share some nice pictures and some stories from Europe.  God bless and keep you all!

The Countdown Continues

It’s been a very wild week.  The weather has been absolutely devastating and many have died.  I heard that one of those tornadoes was even an F-5.  That is a tornado that few see and live to tell about it.  I see it as another example of how we cannot know from day to day what will happen.  We must not take for granted the time we’ve been given on this earth.  The disaster in Japan is another perfect example of this.  Just think there are likely people in Alabama that thought it was tragic what happened in Japan and now they are not with us today…very sobering.  I think we are marching on to the end times.  This is one countdown that continues.  The other is the countdown to our departure to Ireland that is now at the two week point.  Once again I remind any that care that there will be no internet for us.  We will be staying in a rustic Irish home in a rural area near Dublin so I won’t likely be on-line until I get home.  I won’t forget you all if you don’t forget me!    I have a few pictures that I’ve taken around here…not much to get excited about but I’ll share them anyway.  Remember the hullabaloo over the big moon a while back?  I did get a couple pictures of it .  I’ve never done well getting pictures of the moon…I guess some things never change!  LOL!  My son turned 12 recently as well.  My wife made a very creative cake for himand at first glance I thought it was an actual bag of popcornand be honest, wouldn’t you?  The only thing that was “real” was the popcorn at the top of the cake!  I thought it was very cool!  Next we had a lot of excitement over some Sand Hill Cranes that came to visit us…they were far away so it’s a bit hard to see.  However what was exciting was it was a couple with one other Crane who looked to be a very young adult.  We hoped that they would find a spot to nest…sadly we’ve not seen them since.  Please excuse these far away and bad quality shots…it’s the best I could do at that range.  Next was of course Easter and the big egg hunt that we always do.  It was fantastic weather…about the best we’ve had in a very long time.  Who knows?  If this keeps up we may actually see some leaves this year!  LOL!  Anyway, it made for a very pleasant time both hidingand findingthe eggs.  The kids actually do like to eat them as well.  Gabby went to work on some of the eggs right away.  Besides, there were friends to be played with and they even brought a bunny!  It was a good time had by allbut I must say the rabbit may not have agreed with us on this point!  Only a post or two left before we’re gone for three weeks.  The countdown continues!