New York

How can a short period of time bring such favor, value and love? That's how we felt about our "interim" phase (just over a week) at Eastern Hills Wesleyan Church. Their welcoming and gracious spirit was a blessing to us. Dennis preached from the book of Joshua (particularly chapters 1 and 5) focusing on the Israelites transition from Moses' leadership to Joshua's. Many shared with us how encouraging and challenging both messages were as they walk through a transitional time in the life of the church.

We were also overwhelmed by the response of many who desire to partner with us in our new role in Europe. One lady who attended the Saturday evening service came back Sunday morning and told me she couldn't sleep that night as she thought about the call on our lives for Europe. Who knows what plans God has in mind with the little "slice" of God's grace we encountered with the staff and people of Eastern Hills? We are grateful!

Within one week we made great connections with Houghton College and six churches/pastors/mission directors in NY and PA to share the vision for Europe. Here again we sensed God's favor as we had only a short period of time to make these contacts.

In the midst of a full week, we took one evening out to revisit a place we briefly passed by 31 years ago on our honeymoon. Traveling back to MI from PA we were passing through Niagara Falls on the Canadian side. With only enough money left for one more night at a hotel we had to give up the $8 parking fee that would have given us extended time to view the falls. So, as we drove in slow moving bumper-to-bumper traffic running parallel to the Niagara River and Falls, Dennis suggested that I get out and walk along the sidewalk so I could see the falls. It was only a minute or so later that I climbed in the driver's seat (while the car was moving in slow motion) so Dennis could view the falls before we headed out of town - a memory we look back on with laughter.

This time though we took our time parking on Goat Island, walking along the rapids to the top of the falls on the American side, then walking across the Rainbow Bridge to view the falls from the Canadian side. All absolutely free! The power and magnitude of the falls is spectacular. I picked my best shots as I tried to capture the falls in all their beauty. This time our evening at Niagara Falls felt more romantic than 31 years ago :).








From NY we enjoyed seeing family in PA, though the time was short. I'll end this post with our sweet little Evee who we are currently visiting in Princeton for a couple days before returning to MI. One of her favorite songs is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Enjoy!