The West Coast Has Some Beautiful Sunshine

Our 2 week cruise came to an end in California.  We made the most of it by visiting friends we hadn't seen in over 3 years.  

We enjoyed reconnecting with Pamela and Gary again.  Thinking we hadn't seen enough of the water, they drove us to Huntington Beach to stroll along the parkway, witness a beautiful sunset and celebrate my belated birthday by tasting some 'to die for' fish at Duke's Restaurant.  (Also famous for its location in Hawaii.)  They also blessed us with their Jeep Liberty to drive up to Fresno and around Southern California.  Thank you Gary and Pamela!

We were blessed to spend some time with dear friends, Ken and Mary!

And to top it off, we did some letter-boxing with Mary.  She had planted one within walking distance of her house.  What a treat!  Ken even gave us a mini concert on the piano.  We are so blessed to have these friends who love us, care for us and counsel us along our life journey.

An added bonus was having lunch with Lois and the Seifords, retired missionaries from Camino Global (formerly Central America Mission).

 

We connected with my "OLD" youth director from Northwest Bible Church days.  Thank you Mark and Jeannie for your support over these 30+ years.   

And finally we saw Tom, who served with us in Bolivia 25+ years ago.

As I think about the people God has placed in our lives, I smile as I see and think about how just our Southern California friends have blessed us in every chapter of our lives.  We knew Gary and Pamela from Moody and Foster Ave Baptist Church days, Ken and Mary from my Practical Missionary Training days, Lois and the Seifords from Central America Mission days, Mark and Jeannie from high school days and Tom from our years living in Bolivia.

Cool.  We are blessed.
~J

My Favorite Port Part 3 of 3

We sailed to a new port I had never heard of Huatulco, Mexico in the state of Oaxaca.  There were homes hanging on the cliffs in this beautiful port town.

Again, we walked through the town, got a taste the local culture, sipped on some local coffee and watched the people.  We found a taxi driver who took us to a cobbler who repaired and polished Glenn's dress shoes, all for 4.00$

Our next stop was Puerto Vallarta.  We took a taxi into town and then the public city bus back to the dock.

While Glenn was getting a haircut, I sat in the lobby and connected to the internet.

...and my favorite port of call was......Cabo San Lucas...

And my favorite shots:  Reflecting on a relaxing time.

Thank you Jesus for new life and another new day.

~J

Celebrating my Birthday Part 2 of 3

On Oct 20, we were out at "SEA". We had a relaxing day of walking the deck, reading, cross stitching and taking a nap.  Then we had a birthday party with a couple we met on the ship from NY/FL and a single gal from Jamaica/FL with cake and all.  The attendant even decorated our stateroom.

We had stops in Costa Rica and Puerto Chiapas, Mexico (on the Mexico/Guatemala border).

I loved this sunset the best!  There were rain showers off in the distance.

Part 3 tomorrow.

Doctor's Orders Part 1 of 3

While visiting Glenn's cardiologist in Guatemala City earlier in October, he wrote out a prescription for Glenn.  "Caribbean Cruise as soon as possible". And we always obey our doctor:).  Thanks to a dear friend that generously gave to us, I was able to find a "last minute" Panama Canal Cruise - 14 days. 

We had stops in Cartagena, Colombia.  It is a colorful town.  Hot.  Friendly.  Glenn was there back in 1976 on his bicycle ride.  It brought back memories for him.

4 days after leaving Miami, we had a day long transit through the Panama Canal.  Magnificent!  It has wonderful technology and it was educational.

It took approximately 8 hours to travel from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Did you know?

• The canal is not just a “path” of water between the two oceans. There are a series of 6 locks in two parallel tracks that raise and lower ships between the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
• The canal runs North and South, not East and West.
• Each vessel has to pay in cash for their transit.
• The locks are gravity fed. (the Pacific is lower than the Atlantic and the Gatun Lake which is the primary part of the transit is about 80 feet higher than the oceans)
• A cruise ship pays over $200K in cash, well in advance, to enter the canal. You pay the same amount whether you go completely through from one side to the other other or turn around in the middle and go back the way you come in.
• The lowest toll paid was $0.36 and was paid by Richard Halliburton who transitted the Canal swimming in 1928.
• “A man a plan a canal Panama” is a palindrome. Check it out.
• There are no pumps on the canals. Valves allow water to pass from the higher elevations to the lower ones by power of gravity. The water accumulates in man-made lakes produced from tremendous amounts of rainfall.
• Ships do not simply sail through the canal. They are aided by tugboats and are guided by electricity-powered “mules” attached to the ship with cables.

I love the Panama City skyline!

Oh How He Loves You and Me

 

O how He loves you and me
O how He loves you and me
He gave His life, what more could He give? 

O how He loves you
O how He loves me
O how He loves you and me 

Jesus to Calvary did go
His love for mankind to show
What He did there brought hope from despair

Psalms 92

    Psalms 92

¹² The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
¹³ Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
¹⁴ They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
¹⁵ To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Electrical Boxes

Now which electrical box is Mr. Smith's?

This photo was taken near SETECA and the Guatemala City Dump.

Weaving

In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

Proverbs 31:19 

Pop's Ice Cream

Tuesday, we had quite an adventure.  

The tradition goes like this: If you are a missionary living and serving with us (Bolivia and now Guatemala), then when you purchase a "new" vehicle, we like to take your family out to celebrate by riding in the vehicle and going out to purchase some ice cream.  In Bolivia, we would go through the "Drive Thru Dairy Queen" (not really a DQ, but that is what we called it.)  Here we go to Pop's Ice Cream!

Today was Stephen's 2nd birthday.  He loved it.

~J

Manuela in San Antonio Palopo'

Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.

 Psalms 55:22

2 Stories High

 I am just amazed how people stack things on their roof racks!

You never know what you might "run into".

{photo: Barbara R}

Psalms 150

Let Everything Praise the Lord

150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens!
² Praise him for his mighty deeds;
    praise him according to his excellent greatness!

³ Praise him with trumpet sound;
    praise him with lute and harp!
⁴ Praise him with tambourine and dance;
    praise him with strings and pipe!
⁵ Praise him with sounding cymbals;
    praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!

Psalms 32:8

Psalms 32:8

The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.  I will advise you and watch over you."