SO MUCH HAS BEEN GOING ON...

Time just has a way of whipping by with the blink of an eye. There is so much going on, and its mostly good things. I say that because I spent the better part of a week sick. That was not a good part.

First of all, today is a wonderful day. I just completed another year of my life. My darling husband has been having fun trying to pull all kinds of surprises on me. This morning he fixed me coffee, and gave me a great present. He was able to find a creamer and sugar bowl for our china. The pattern has been discontinued, and its hard to find pieces, but being the bargain hunter that he is, he found them on e-bay. We bought our china with anniversary gifts the first year we were in Germany. (I held on to the money for quite a while until I found what I really wanted for china). And we use it everyday. Its great. If we would have know that the price to buy more pieces would go up so high, we would have tried to buy them before they discontinued the pattern.

Next, he made a date with me a few days ago to take me to breakfast this morning. So, off we went to the restaurant. When I walked in the door, a group of staff members started singing Happy Birthday. What a shock it was. But such a fun one.

A couple of pictures from the big event. At breakfast with my darling hubby and at home with many expressions of love waiting to be opened.








On Thanksgiving - which isn't celebrated here in Germany like in the states - our leadership team took us out to celebrate the great day. They even asked Dick to tell a little bit about Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it. We didn't have a traditional "turkey and trimmings" dinner but we did have a wonderful "Duck dinner with all of the trimmings." It was a wonderful evening with good friends and lots of laughter and joy. At the end of the evening they gave us a huge bouquet of roses.





We have so much to be thankful for. First of all, the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done in our lives. Then we have the most wonderful family any parents could have. 4 wonderful children and their spouses and then the added blessing of grandchildren. 11 grandchildren with one marrying into the family last August. Our family just keeps expanding with more blessings from the Lord. Then there is the opportunity to serve the Lord here in Germany at an international Bible school. The opportunity to speak into the lives of students from so many different places. I could keep going on and on but there wouldn't be enough time for people to read it all, so I will just say that I am truly a blessed woman.

Another thing we were able to partake of, was an amazing group of orphans from Africa, that sang and danced for over 2 hours. There was one young woman - probably early to mid-teen that gave an amazing testimony of how Jesus healed her of AIDS. She was born with this disease and now is completely free of it. Her previous tests had come back positive, but the last one she had, it came back normal. NO AIDS. She had everyone in tears by this time in her testimony. Now she is praying for her brother who also was born with this disease.

This group of children and adults have traveled all over Germany and so many people have been blessed by their songs and dancing. The girl with the pots on her head has learned how to concentrate and hold them steady as she dances. She started out with one and ended up with with 6 clay pots on her head.









So many things going on that we are able to partake of . Thank you for reading my blog. Be blessed. Until next time.

Can't believe how long its been since I posted here.

Well, a lot has happened in the last two weeks. We have been to Wornetz for a weekend of meetings. Richard did a men's meeting on Saturday morning the 25th on October. On Saturday afternoon I spoke for a woman's meeting. We both enjoyed our times with the people. On Sunday morning Richard preached for the Sunday morning church service. One thing he was invited to do was a baby dedication. There were two children that were dedicated that morning. One was the baby daughter of the Pastor and his wife. This baby is a miracle baby. While pregnant, the mom had some serious health issues, had to have massive doses of antibiotics and a couple of operations. With all of the trama to the mom and the medicines she was on, the Dr's kept saying they didn't know how it would affect the child. Well, to see her at 5 months old, she is a happy, alert little one.

The other child was a little boy. He was a little older and the parents were so blessed by the service. Its always so much fun to pray over the little ones like this.

It is in German, but it means...We come together to bless...
Now to get the little girls page done, so I can send them to the parents.

Another grandchild becomes a teenager. I can't believe how fast time goes. Of the 11 grandkids, 2 are in their 20's now, and 5 are teenagers and 4 are 10 and younger.

We stay very busy with all of activities at the school. This week Richard has had 2 full class schedule days, and tomorrow it is the same thing. Then he has no classes the rest of the week.
We have had special meeting to attend, a birthday party for one of the staff, getting together with the 3rd year students to hear about their mission trip, and the early morning staff meetings before classes start. But, we really love it, or we wouldn't be here.

I have gotten started on making my Christmas cards. I have about half of them made now, so this week its on the agenda to finish them and get my addresses put together. This is the first year I have actually done this. I have wanted to do it, but just put it off to long, and then it was to late to get it done, so store bought cards for people here in Germany.

Today I had my two ladies for English classes. It is always so much fun to get together with them. The lady that is about my age was so excited today. She said the time spent with me just talking in English helped her to speak to a couple from New Zealand last Sunday without any fear. YEA Elke. Today, she asked if she could just tell me about some of the German holiday traditions and what they represent. It was so fun to hear what the mean of many things is. From the Advent Wreath to the special holiday cookies and the Christmas Stollen. I think I am learning way more than she is. I get to help correct her English and I get a lot of information about Germany.

Here is a current layout of Richard and I. I am glad at our ages that we are still healthy and able to do so many awesome things.