May-June 2018

We missed Maggie and took a photo.

Lily got a bunny.

 Our property getting prepped for a rebuild.

 My birthday--trip to the coast.

 I found flowers on our property.

Carl and I enjoyed a trip away for our 25th anniversary.

Trey's ready for camp with the theme Cat in the Hat.

Happy Birthday to me!

This month I turned 46.  As I reflect on the past year, I once again am astonished by one fact.   

I have been gifted with exquisite, beautiful, by grace through faith, eternal life now and forever from the Creator of the the ends of the earth and the universe.  Because of Him.  All Him.  Just Him.  

I traveled around a bit of the world and met a lot of people in the last couple months.  I am still processing and weeding through thousands of photos.  And even more memories….from England, Germany, France, and Switzerland.  What a joy to spend time with family and friends with three of our children, and such a privilege to meet Christian siblings at the churches I spoke at.

It was amazing to hear the stories.  In England, an elderly gentleman “just really wanted to be a pig farmer, but God called me to trust in Jesus and follow him and I haven’t ‘worked’ a day since.  Serving the Lord is pure joy.”  He became a missionary and pastor for over fifty years.  They haven’t been easy, but you wouldn’t know it.  When he heard some good news on Easter, his response was “isn’t God astonishing?”  Yes, yes He is.  

In Nürnberg I heard from an older woman from Eastern Europe who had tried to pursue every other pleasure and religion for over forty years how “God pursued me and wouldn’t let me be until He had me, and though it hasn’t been easy, He is everything.”  The woman next to her, who had been born in Viet Nam, nodded in agreement.  

In Berlin I heard from a mother about the struggles in bridging the gap in a church that is half Russian and half German.  Then there was a terrible jumpy castle accident, and as a result much more unity.  Her little 9-year-old daughter, on falling face down from up high (in the accident), breaking her jaw, and having a concussion, remarked in the hospital “just like Job, although all this terrible stuff happened…I still believe God is good.”  

I was privileged to speak publicly about the one and only, living, calling, pursuing, good God of the Bible.  What a delight to find interest in hearing more about a relationship with God, or hear how encouraging my talk was!  It was such a privilege.  All from God, through His strength and wisdom.  And all of it completely true.  My eternal life and home are secure because of Jesus Christ dying on the cross of Calvary for my sins and rising again from the dead.  I know this.  For sure.

But at the end of the trip, I had to come back to Santa Rosa.  

That was hard.

I didn’t get to drive up my driveway, go in my beautiful garden, see my familiar things…the list of  “don’t get to anymore” goes on and on, ad nauseum.  

It’s been dragging me down, and so discouraging.  Driving through Coffey Park, the vacant lots and park grounds are covered in new growth of weeds and grass and garbage that has blown there, with the occasional new home popping up. It’s still such a topic of daily conversation.  Santa Rosa is feeling it.  This is such a long, hard road.  

One friend put it well, saying we want to know “when will I feel normal again?”  What is normal?  

And then she mentioned going to her favorite place, the coast.  There, everyone can clearly see the vastness of God’s creation, the majesty of His power, the smallness of me and my issues.  She later sent me these verses from Psalm 63:5-7:  “O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and the farthest seas; the One who by His strength established the mountains, being girded with might; Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and most importantly the tumult of the peoples.”

I reflected on this passage and delighted in its words.  He is my salvation.  He is the hope of all the ends of the earth and the farthest seas.  This became so clear to me in my travels…as I gazed on the countryside in England dotted with sheep and flowering thickets, flew over the English Channel, explored Germany from north to south, west to east (even seeing the Netherlands from across the channel), walking around quaint ancient cities in England, France, Switzerland, and Germany, seeing winter turn to spring repeatedly, climbing in the Alps, gazing at the snow-covered Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau with the turquoise Tünersee below, watching the rushing waters of the Thames, canals, Rhein, waterfalls, and Spree, walking the cobblestones, hearing the birds (even the cuckoo on a morning run), seeing fields of brilliant yellow flowers, hearing voices raised in prayer and songs of praise in other languages, seeing His love reflected in dear faces, being granted sweet times of fellowship and generosity, and flying home gazing down over countries, continents, and oceans…He is the one who by His strength established the mountains, being encircled with might. And He is the One “who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and most importantly the tumult of the peoples.”  

I looked up “tumult” to better understand and flesh out what it means.  Some synonyms are turmoil, confusion, disorder, disarray, unrest, chaos, turbulence, mayhem, maelstrom, havoc, upheaval, agitation, trouble.  Sounds like my heart some days, for sure!  And maybe some days yours?  There were definite times of  struggle and tumult in our travels.  Sometimes in the most unexpected places.  And definitely in Santa Rosa.

Today I read Psalm 117, which reads:

Praise the Lord, all nations!

    Extol him, all peoples!

For great is his steadfast love toward us,

    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Praise the Lord!

So this cemented my thoughts about these last months and year for me.  

The command in this Psalm is to praise and extol the Lord, all nations and all peoples!  That’s you wherever you are, that’s me wherever I am.  Why?  Because God has great steadfast love and enduring faithfulness.  And salvation.  Hope.  Strength.  Might.  Stillness.  He loves and remains forever and ever and ever, enduringly faithful.  Praise Him!

Which brings me back to my one astonishing fact.  I have been gifted with exquisite, beautiful, by grace through faith, eternal life now and forever from the Creator of the the ends of the earth and the universe.  Because of Him.  All Him.  Just Him.

Europe Trip 2018

Maggie, Lily, Trey, and I had the privilege of flying to London on March 27.  I found super cheap tickets in August and had enough art money to plan this trip.  We were blessed to spend time with our friends, the Chow family, first in London and then in their home in Rugby.

Tower of London

Tower Bridge

We traveled around London on a bus.  That was such fun because we were above everything in a double decker, dry (it rained), and we didn't need to deal with traffic while seeing all the sites.  Then we took a boat on the Thames.  We stayed in Essex and I enjoyed jogs in the countryside.

We traveled north to Rugby, where I had the privilege to speak about "Where is Our True Home" at a Cream Tea.

The Chows

Exploring Rugby

Fast friends

 Lilbourne Evangelical Chapel and Lilbourne on Easter Sunday, Chi Wah Chow preaching.

 Warwick Castle

 Although it was a rainy day, we enjoyed seeing the archer and the falconer.  The falconer had huge eagles landing on his hand.

Time with Lisa

Dinner is fun with all these kids!

We flew on through Düsseldorf to Nürnberg.  Sadly, our suitcases didn't make it for a day.  But we so enjoyed the hospitality of my cousin, Raphael, and his wife, Kathrin, and their sweet children.

 Marktplatz and Heilig Geist Spital

Schönbrunn and Burg

 View from the Burg

I had the privilege of speaking in German about "Wo ist Unsere Wahre Heimat" at a women's breakfast at the Freien Baptisten-Gemeinde Nürnberg.

Someone pressed this into my hands

 God keeps his promises.  God's world is beautiful.  And colorful!  We saw fields dotted with purple and yellow.  He is so creative!

 It was a blessing to see my Onkel Joachim and Tante Elke.

From Nürnberg we traveled to Bochum to spend time with my father's side of the family.  We got to stay with my cousin, Sabine, and her husband, Bernhard.

Hiking with Sabine.

 I was so glad to see my cousins and Tante Siglinde...

...and the rest of family at a family gathering at my cousin Barbara's.

Hattingen is such a cute old town by the Ruhr River where we got to stay.  I enjoyed jogs through the town and along the river.

 Onkel Manfred and Tante Siglinde treated us to pizza, coffee, and ice cream in Hattingen.

My favorite drink!!!

 With Sabine and Tante Siglinde

Best ice cream flavor: Hazelnut

 Villa Hügel

 Gasometer

Delicious crepe dinner

On route to Emden

 Emden

Spitting sailor

 Seebrücke Knock

View toward the Netherlands

Greetsiel

We had ice cream first...then a lunch of delicious fish & chips, and Bismarckhering on fresh rolls.

The North Sea and Norddeich

Watt is' datt?  It's called "watt."  It's the muddy bottom of the North Sea.  You can walk on it at low tide all the way to the islands.

 We enjoyed staying with my cousin, Johannes, and his wife, Gudrun, in Aurich.  I loved runs along the canals.

 We got to spend time with my Onkel Johannes and his friend, Edith in Westerstede.

 Evening walk along the canal

 Ewigen Meer

Next we took the train to Stuttgart.

Along the way, we saw the Rhein and castle, after castle, after castle.

We were so glad to spend time with our friends, the Krugers, and see some of the area.

We climbed this giant spiral tower at Höhenpark Killesberg.  What a view!

Wilhema Zoologish-Botanishcher Garten.  Lots of animals, including giraffes...

...and elephants.

 Breakfast with Christy

 Fildorado Erlebnisbad...such fun with a wave pool, water slides, whirlpool, and ice columns.

 We got to explore a quaint town, Esslingen am Neckar.

 We climbed over 300 stairs to the top.

 For Lily's 14th birthday, we traveled to Strasbourg, France.

On the Rhine River

 Cathédrale Notre-Dame 

 We celebrated in a cute cafe, where we got to eat all sorts of delights in a small upstairs room overlooking the garden.

Lily's choice for birthday cake

 Our next stop, Switzerland.  Our train went through Bern.

 We got off the train in Thun, and took a bus to Interlaken where my cousin, Anja, greeted us.  Anja and Roland hosted us in the Beatenberg Seminar Für Biblische Theologie.

This was our view, with Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau greeting us every day, and the Thunersee below.

 The first evening we went for a walk, and a herd of sheep came down the road toward us!

 Sunset made the Alps glow.

 We journeyed down into Interlaken, which is between two lakes.  I found a great deal on a latte macchiato and Apfelkuchen.

We spent one day on a climb up the Niederhorn.

 Trey figured out that there were trail markers we needed to find.

 On our hike, we came across this waterfall.

 Trey and Lily took turns on a swing halfway up, while we ate lunch.  The climb go a great deal more difficult after that, since there was still snow.

 We made it!!!

We decided to go a more straight down route on the descent.

We loved hearing the cow bells.

 Under the mountain, we explored the St. Beatus-Höhlen.  These caves go way back into the mountain, with streams of rushing water, waterfalls, and still pools.

 I enjoyed time with my cousin.

Maggie got a new dirndl, which she gave a spin on the Alpine slopes.

Lily joined in the fun.

I really enjoyed runs along the road overlooking the beauty of the Alps.  

We caught the bus to the train.

 We took 1 train all the way from Interlaken to Berlin.  It had 3 major delays...but we enjoyed not needing to make any connections and conversing with all of the interesting passengers.

 Berlin!  We were so glad to spend some time with our friends, the Fröhlichs.  This included (of course) walks to playgrounds...

...and helping with the backyard projects.

 I was privileged to speak one more time to the women at a breakfast at the Evangeliums-Christengemeinde Hellersdorf-Berlin.  What I said was translated into Russian as well.

May Day was spent having a giant picnic with the church at Schlosspark Oranienburg.

 The kids and I journeyed into the inner city of Berlin.  The first day, we visited Alexanderplatz...

 ...and the Pergamon Museum.  Here are some bits from Ninevah.

 And these walls are from Babylon.

 We also visited the Ritter Sport factory.

And enjoyed some delicious chocolate at Rausch Schokoladenhaus.

 Everything is made out of chocolate.

Holocaust Memorial

 Brandenburg Tor

Reichstag

Siegessäule

Gedächniskirche

 It was so special to get to know new friends...and enjoy pizza and crepes.

 Maggie found this on the bakery bag, a quote from Göthe, saying that "even out of stones that are laid in your way, something nice can be built." On our second day exploring Berlin, we walked down the the East Side Gallery.

 East Side Gallery.  This was an interesting spot with a long stretch of Berlin Wall with art on it.

 Then we walked along the Spree.

 We crossed over the Schlossbrücke and searched for a place to eat.

The Bürgermeister looked interesting, but right on the road with not much seating...so we kept walking.  Trey was thrilled with McDonalds (which is pretty tasty in Germany, I even got his Black Current Slush), but we found a great spot at Hühnerhaus and then grabbed some delicious ice cream near by.  I found some cute second hand kids things at Rosenrot. And Markthalle Neun was full of interesting foods.

 It was a blessing to see the downtown Europäisches Bibel Trainings Centrum and meet up with our friends, the Friessens.

 Our third Berlin city travel day, we took the bus and then the Straßenbahn to Potsdam.  The train station housed a McDonalds (for Trey) and delicious pizza for Maggie and me.  Lily stayed home with the Fröhlichs to enjoy the kids and a quieter day.  We walked the beautiful cobblestones and explored the Dutch Quarter.

 Nauener Tor

Sanssouci Palace

 Our time with this sweet family was a gift.

The kids loved playing together.  Here they did charades.

 On May 5th, we flew from Berlin to Oslo, to Oakland.

 Berlin from on high.

 We ended up with seats with lots of leg space.

 When we landed, we went through passports and customs, and then a friend took Trey and Lily home so I could fly from Oakland to Burbank for Carl's graduation.  Here is the sunset view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

 Landing in Burbank.

 Carl graduated from Masters Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry on Sunday, May 6th.  We enjoyed the worship at Grace Community Church that morning, a lunch with fellow doctoral students (where Carl was presented with a new tie), and then graduation.

Carl with his professors.  He is fourth from the right.

Shaking John MacArthur's hand

My brother, Georg, and his wife, Jacqueline, and our daughter, Hanna, all joined in the festivities.

Celebration dinner