Lifelong Learning...

I don't know what it is about college campuses, but they inspire and energize me.

Dennis and I are finishing up our last day at Bethany Bible College (New Brunswick, Canada) where we have enjoyed engaging in all sorts of venues with the student body. From Dennis speaking in chapel to classroom teaching to one-on-one sharing, we have certainly found our days here to be fulfilling in many ways.

Perhaps it's not the campus, as much as it is the students and faculty, that send bursts of energy into my being. I love the atmosphere that a college campus creates, and I love the stage of 20-somethings. They are in a learning mode, growing toward maturity, and asking questions of life. I love being a part of that.

I was in the bookstore the first day I was here and wanted to buy so many books, and wished I could take the classes the books represented. I want to be a lifelong learner. Always discovering, keeping my mind stimulated and growing, whether in a formal or informal setting.

If you know my life story you would understand how significant it is for me to call myself a lifelong learner. Stepping out to attend college at the age of 20 was a step of faith that jumped huge hurdles of self-doubt and insecurities in my academic abilities. What a joy it was today to share with a class of Bethany students how God has worked in my life to bring a competency and confidence that I never could have imagined as a high school student.

Thanking God for the opportunity we have had over the past three days to invest in the students at Bethany, and we hope to see some of them on the Europe fields in the months and years to come!

Thoughts from 35,000 feet

I remember the first time I flew in a plane. I was 19 years old. Flying from Miami to Manaus, Brazil. I remember gazing out the window in awe of the puffy clouds that summer day in 1975. It was my first mission trip with a group of teens from all over the country. I only knew the friend that signed up with me. We were both disillusioned with our current jobs and ready for some adventure. We came upon the Teen Missions pamphlet in a local bookstore and picked it up as we paid for our purchases. We had three choices out of the many opportunities to serve in missions around the world. Guess enough others wanted our first two choices, so those being filled up, our third choice became our adventure - building an airplane hangar on the Manicore River in the Amazon region of Brazil for the Wycliffe missionaries. It was a summer that changed my life.

But the thing that takes me back to that adventure more than anything else is when I'm 35,000 feet high looking out an airplane window.

I remember realizing the minuteness of man as I looked down on the monopoly size houses and streets below. Who is man that you are mindful of him?

I was struck with the awesomeness of a sovereign God, Creator of the universe, as I looked out over the vast, unending stretch of cosmos before me. I can never escape your Spirit! I can never get away from your Presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there. . . If I ride the wings of the morning, If I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.

With kids and grandkids living here, there, and everywhere, plus our role in Europe, I have had opportunities to gaze out an airplane window more than I could have ever imagined since that first flight in 1975. In fact, I haven't counted, but I would venture to say I've had over 30 literal windows of opportunity to consider such thoughts since our move to Budapest a year ago come the 13th of this month.

And, I still get the same sense of awesomeness when I look down on earth in all it's majesty - the barren desert of California, the juts and cliffs of the Rockies, the snow-capped Alps, the Danube winding its way through eastern Europe. I often wonder as we cross the expanse of cities, small towns, and rural life about the people below. Life. Needs. Desires. Relationships. And, again I'm reminded of the minuteness of man.

From 35,000 feet up man appears insignificant, yet we have a Creator who sees us as significant in every way.

Dutch Blitz and Family Seasons

Today is our final day with family in CA. We left Pasadena a few days ago to return to Mike and Joni's to finish out this leg of the state-side journey. It's been a delight to connect with one of our "other daughter's" while in San Diego. Rachel Nafis (Pitney) lives in SD with her husband Chris. We've said several times as we hung out today... who would have thought when she and Julie were in Jr. High that years later we would be sitting in a coffee shop in San Diego playing Dutch Blitz?

Over the years our family has had numerous games we have played when gathering together for holidays or family vacations - Speed Scrabble, Up & Down the River, Uno, Poker, Catch Phrase. Today, our final day, was our first time to play Dutch Blitz - a card game we played endlessly and ferociously in the past - which reveals what stage of family life we are in. Not as many late nights or long competitive card games with little ones in the mix. In fact, one night in Pasadena, Dennis and I said we would stay back with Miles and Stella after they were down for the night, so the adults could go out. They decided they were too tired and opted to stay home. Funny how things change.

Mike, Julie, and I were talking on our walk back from the coffee shop this afternoon. We shared how fast our family is growing. We remembered when it was just Evee, and how it seemed a long season with just Evee. Now 3 more kiddos have been added to the family, and another one to come in April. We shifted our thoughts to 10 years out. Evee will be going on 14. Crazy thought! We decided she could babysit Julie's kids when the family gets together then :).

It feels like life went kind of slow when Dennis and I were raising kids. It took a long while to get through the first 25 years raising 4 kids. Now it feels like the years are flying by. Going too fast.

We'll do our best to keep connecting with our kids and grandkids over the miles, and find new games to play at family gatherings, with the grand-kids joining in before we know it. All I know is that I want to stay as healthy as I can to get in on all the fun and games, even if I still lose at Dutch Blitz.