P.S. from home

This is Saturday. We were to have arrived yesterday, but much as we had expected, we got caught in the confusion of the TAP (Portugal's national airline) pilots strike, which was Thursday and Friday. I had seen notices of the strike on the Internet, and although the union said they would guarantee flights to the islands, the pilots didn't show up for our flight. We arrived in Lisbon at 8 AM, after flying from Dallas, via Philadelphia, overnight. Our 2 PM flight was canceled just 30 minutes before flight time, then I spent 2 hours in a line to see what the airline was going to do (they promised to take us to a hotel and fly us home today), then spent another 2 hours waiting for them to take us to the hotel. Got to the hotel just after 5 PM, and it took over 2 hours to check in because there were bus loads of other stranded travelers (most of whom French) who had arrived at the hotel just before us. We made several friends while standing in the lines at the airport and hotel...haven't spoken that much French since my last year of French in about 1980. We got into our hotel room just before 8 PM... almost 12 hours from the time we had landed... 24 hours from the time we took off from Dallas ... 30 hours since we had last slept. (Discounting the two very short catnaps on the flight over.)

Although other passengers were being offered seats on the first flights today, I told the lady we'd rather not have to get up at 6 AM; book us on a later flight. And she did. We slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, took our time getting to the airport, and caught the 2 PM flight...24 hours later than our original schedule.

It's good to be home.

P.S. Only 1 of our 3 pieces of checked baggage arrived here when we did. We were told that one of the missing pieces would be on the last flight from Lisbon tonight about midnight. The other? Who knows?

Final shots of the trip

(Click on any photo to enlarge.)
Here are a few miscellaneous photos taken during our time in the US. The first one taken at a botanical garden. I didn't get a real sharp picture of the butterflies, but the water lily sat still long enough to get a couple of pictures.



Except for the cloudy/rainy weather the last half of our trip, the weather was good. Certainly not cold, yet. But fall is coming...we could tell by the pumpkins everywhere. In the supermarket there were little ones of varying patterns:





Outside the fruit and vegetable markets, the pumpkins were somewhat larger, and piled higher.



Some of the green squash took on odd shapes. I think this one swallowed a bird.




And speaking of birds, one day when we were out and about Dallas with Jeff, we heard a racket in the tree in the parking lot and discovered it was full of parrots, and there was at least one large nest up there. Not sure the nest was built by the parrots, but they seemed to have taken over the tree. What caused us to check out the tree was the fact we saw this pair jaywalking, oblivious to the traffic around them. (Click to get a better view of them.)



Last night in Dallas. Went out to eat with Jeff and Liz, who is in her 3rd year of residency as a surgeon at one of the hospitals in Dallas. While we were eating, she got a phone call and had to leave before we had finished eating. Because of her intense work schedule we didn't get to see her much, but even the short time was good.




This is a good time of year to travel because we miss the heat of summer and the cold of winter in the States, but it is also school time for the grandkids. We were fortunate to be at Chris and Rachel's over a holiday weekend. Not so at Rick and Margaret's: we only got to see Rick's two children, Gabby and Joel a couple of hours on two nights, and unfortunately none of the pictures we took there turned out very good. The time everywhere was short, but the visits everywhere were great!

Long time, no see

When we first went to the mission field in Brazil in March 1972, the first place we stayed was with Don and Betty Ross in São Paulo. We went from there to where we lived and worked 400 km to the west for the 3 years and 3 months we were in Brazil, but during that time we went many times to the city of São Paulo and always stayed with the Rosses. One of their daughters, Debbie, is married to Pastor Mike Rogers, whom I have mentioned here many times because of his battle with cancer.

I don't remember when we saw them the last time, but when we discovered they were living just a few miles from Jeff in the Dallas area, we went over to meet them. They live with their youngest son, James. He didn't have a beard 30 years ago.

Another daughter, Aileen, and her husband, Russ Woolbright, live nearby and we got to visit with them and their youngest son, Brian, and their newest granddaughter, Brooklyn, born a couple of months ago to their daughter.




Aileen came to our house in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo in 1973 to take care of Rachel and Rick and help Abbie when Jeff was born. We remember the last time we saw Aileen and Russ. It was the summer of 1980, and both Aileen and Abbie were pregnant. Joy was born a couple of months later. 29 years ago...long time, no see. What a good time we had catching up! 

In the home stretch

This is the last night of our stay in the States this trip. Tomorrow night we're to be crossing the Atlantic back to Lisbon, and from there to Madeira on Friday. The pilots for TAP, the national airline, have scheduled a strike for tomorrow and Friday...whee! The word is that the flights to Madeira will not be affected, however. Our experience of numerous strikes in the past leads us to think we should be prepared for anything. Even if the island flights are going, there'll be thousands of stranded passengers at the airport trying to get somewhere. Ah, yes...we're going to feel we're right back home.

I've included some pictures of Mia, one showing her walking outside with the aid of her "walker". The blue chalk marks on the sidewalk are bear tracks I drew from the street to the door for her birthday party Saturday. It will be interesting to see how long they last.

The other pictures show her with us, her folks and with her Uncle Jeff (sans bear suit--see previous post). 

We've enjoyed our stay with Jeff and Liz here in Dallas, although Liz's busy schedule at the hospital, where she's in her 3rd year of residency as a surgeon, meant we didn't see her as much. While we were eating out tonight, she got a call from the hospital and had to leave in the middle of the meal, right after this photo. 

The Party

One of the factors in choosing the dates for our travel this year was the fact that Mia would be 1 on Sept. 18 (last Friday) and we could be here for the party on Saturday. Mia isn't walking by herself, yet, but if she can hold a hand or find a piece of furniture, she'll walk all over. This was her birthday party dress, the brown color fitting the theme of the party: Brown Bear.

When Mia was born, Chris and Rachel gave her a teddy bear, and each month Joy has taken a picture of Mia with the bear, which is a very interesting way of charting Mia's growth. By following this link, you'll see most of the pictures in the series. This is one of the pictures taken Friday on her first birthday.

Jeff drove up from Dallas and met us at Harrison, when we visited Abbie's folks. It was good for him to visit his grandparents, and I know they appreciated it. He stayed up here in Arkansas to help celebrate Mia's birthday, too. In fact, he made it a very special event. The night before the party, on Friday, as we were making the various preparations for the party, Jeff went outside, then came to the door and knocked:

In keeping with the theme of the party, he had ordered a bear suit. (Abbie and I already knew about it.) This was Joy's reaction:

Here's Jeff holding his head:

All the kids at the party (and the adults, as well) got a kick out of Jeff's appearance during the party the next day. One of the little boys deduced that it must have been Jeff in the suit, because "Jeff said he didn't see the real bear." Elementary, for this future Sherlock Holmes. Well, almost everyone enjoyed the bear. Everyone, except Mia. After the initial fright (she cried), she progressed to the point of reluctant, but suspicious acceptance. She never did want to get too close.

As for Jeff, a whole new career is opening up for him. But after 15 minutes in the suit, he's not keen on making it his new line of work. Money is not the object, by the way. In fact, according to him, "No matter what you pay me to wear a suit like this, it will never be enough!"

Visit to the folks

The state of health of Abbie's parents has been a concern, especially of late. Her mother, as recently as a few months ago, was suffering from such serious blockage of circulation in her feet that the doctor thought amputation would be necessary. Second opinions suggested medications, which has removed that possibility for the moment. She is taking medication to help the blood flow and some pain medication, as well. At least she is not complaining of pain. She spends most of her time lying down, and the effort to get up and get out is very tiring for her.

Dad seems to be physically as fit as ever, but he had to ask us dozens of times where we live. He can't tell you how old he is, and he didn't remember having his 91st birthday last Sunday. He doesn't distinguish between the refrigerator and the upright freezer next to it. Ice cream is routinely placed in the refrigerator...he has put eggs in the freezer before.

We are thankful we found them as well as we did. Abbie's brother lives next door and keeps an eye out on them, but who knows how much longer they will be able to live on their own?

Mia is a big girl... A new perspective

This picture was one of the first ones of Abbie with Amilia Kate ("Mia") after we arrived at Joy and Mark's. In terms of body build, Mia is the opposite of her cousin, Braewyn, whom we saw a couple of weeks ago. From this picture, it appears that Abbie is thinking "Oops...what was I thinking when I picked Mia up!" This, however, is an optical illusion. I skillfully positioned myself so that the store sign lined up right behind Abbie. Okay, no skill was involved. I didn't notice the store sign in the background until I looked at the photos later.

Mia is generally smiling from ear to ear. I did catch her off guard by not using the flash, so she didn't know she was being photographed.

But size is only a matter of perspective. When seen from another angle, you see Mia really isn't very big at all.

(Intermission)

In between photos of flowers and family, I thought I'd throw in this interesting sign we came across in Tontitown, AR. As no further explanation is given, we assume the risk in question is the obvious one.

Special treat

A couple of years ago our church began singing "In Christ Alone", and subsequently other songs written by Keith and Kristyn Getty: "See What a Morning", "Oh, to See the Dawn", "The Power of the Cross". When we were at Grand Junction with Rachel a couple of weeks ago, "Speak O Lord" was one of the Getty hymns we sang. Not only is their music highly suited to congregational worship, but the lyrics are powerful messages of the essence of the gospel.

Last August Abbie saw on their website that the Gettys would be in Fayetteville on August 23; she was disappointed because that was a month too early for us, but she told Joy to watch for the concert, as Fayetteville, AR, is only 40 minutes from John Brown University, in Siloam Springs, where my mother studied in the 30's, where I graduated in 1968, and where Joy and Mark met, graduated, and now work.

August 23 came and went, but we heard nothing. Then a couple of weeks ago, just before we were to leave Madeira, Joy sent us an e-mail to inform that the Gettys would be in chapel at JBU on Tuesday morning, Sept. 15, and would give a concert that night! We had already scheduled our arrival at Joy and Mark's for Sunday evening, Sept. 13. We are only here for a few nights, and this was one of them! (Actually, the Fayetteville of August 23 was in North Carolina, and not Arkansas, a fact not clearly stated in the schedule originally published on the web page.) 

We attended the chapel session and the concert, in which some of the songs we've come to love were sung, plus new songs from the recently released album. Seeing the family has been great; being here for Mia's first birthday is a blessing...but to meet and talk with Keith and his wife was icing on the birthday cake. It turns out that the University has been trying to schedule a concert with the Gettys for over a year, and only now did it work out. We will not say that it was only for our sakes' it turned out this way, but we also know God knew how to cross our paths and give us this special treat.  

Check out the music and some of the story of Keith and Kristyn Getty, who are from N. Ireland, which makes their connection with John Brown University even more understandable, given the University's close ties with Belfast. We were there in May 2008 as part of a group from the University.

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Video Link -- Baptisms

Orlando, one of our members, has a blog, and he has just posted a video of events at our church this year, mainly the baptisms. Some of these were in May when my mother and brother and sisters and spouses were here. The music and subtitles are in Portuguese, but the events portrayed transcend all nationalities and languages. Of those baptized, there were believers from Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, and São Tomé, besides from Madeira.

Technical difficulties

I have been offline since Saturday morning, when we began our trip

from Pueblo, CO, to Granite, OK. We made the trip fine, had a good

visit with Pastor Tim and his wife, Kathy; preached at the services

there yesterday morning, then drove to Joy and Mark's here in NW

Arkansas in about 6 hours. We had some really heavy rain part of

the time, the first real rains we've encountered so far.

I have a few pictures to post, but will wait until tomorrow. It has

taken me all day to get my computer up and running. I think the

wireless card has gone out, because every time I switch on the

wireless antenna, I get the Big Blue Screen. If you don't know what

I'm talking about, be content in your ignorance! By the time I worked

through the possible fixes, the day was gone, but I am glad that I

didn't lose any files (although I seem to have lost a dozen e-mails

in my attempts to reconfigure the system).

One piece of news: I spoke with Pastor Mike Rogers by phone last

night. I mentioned him in previous posts towards the end of last year

or the beginning of this year. His non-Hodgkins lymphoma was not

completely taken care of by the chemotherapy 6 months or so ago.

The cancer seems to have returned "with a vengeance". He has

done tests to see if the latest flare up is more of the previous

cancer or if it has evolved into something new. He will have three

days of chemo starting this Friday, and the treatment will be

repeated two to three weeks later. Depending on the results of

those treatments, he may have a third round of chemo. A

subsequent treatment being talked about is a stem cell replacement,

in which stem cells will be taken from his body and will be

reintroduced after he has undergone a massive round of chemo,

which will require him to be in isolation for 2-4 weeks. By his

voice on the phone, I would never have guessed he had any health

problem.

We also learned that Louisa, one of our church members, has been

told that she must have an immediate operation to remove a kidney

which has a large tumor. Only after doing a biopsy following the

operation will the doctors know if it is malignant, or not. Your

prayers for both of these are truly appreciated.

This posting is also a test to see how well the new Blogspot feature

works for posting by e-mail. If it works, it may make it easier to post,

which in turn may have no effect on how often I post, anyway. Here goes...

Another day of travel ahead

We came back across the Rocky Mountains on Tuesday and stopped at Vail again, but just for coffee this time. The scenery is really beautiful. We took the opportunity to take a self-portrait under an aspen.

It's been a short time here at Pueblo...we went out with Rick and family, and my mother and brother and sister and their families on Thursday night. We ate down by the Arkansas Riverwalk in downtown Pueblo. As the name implies, there's a nice place to walk along the artificial watercourse built alongside the Arkansas River.

This last picture isn't very good quality, but I didn't have much time to grab the camera and take a picture of two quail leading their chicks across Rick's backyard. The little ones are not easy to see in the grass.

Tomorrow we have a 9-hr. drive ahead of us, to be with Pastor Tim Montgomery and his church in SW Oklahoma. This day is long gone, and I'd better get some rest for the drive tomorrow.

Ready to move on

We're on the move again. These are some of the last shots in Grand Junction, Colorado.

The surrounding mesas, while barren, are nonetheless interesting formations that enclose the towns along the river. They contrast with the lush green along the river banks and irrigated fields, which are a reminder of the picture painted by the Psalmist in Psalm 1, "Blessed is the man...whose delight is in the law of the Lord...He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither."

And speaking of fruit, this is a fruit-growing region, with apple, peach and cherry orchards spreading across the river valley. Sunday afternoon we went to an orchard owned by the pastor's mother- and father-in-law.  Besides the fruit, they grow some vegetables and flowers. These colorful zinnias were picked by our granddaughter to take to her teacher tomorrow. 

Visiting the orchard brought back memories of my boyhood days on the farm further south in Colorado. When Dad bought the farm, we "inherited" some old farming implements designed for use behind a horse, the traction of the iron wheels providing the power to cut, or in this case, scatter seed.

The odd thing about this sower is the tree trunk that had grown through one of the wheels.

I think we can safely say that this is the result of a long period of inactivity. May it not be the illustration of our spiritual lives, with long periods of inactivity that lead to our being ensnared and entangled in sin and worldly cares.

It was a blessing to be here the week Braewyn started walking. It's one more thing she has added to the list of her accomplishments. She was already an avid corn-on-the-cob eater, as she proved at dinner tonight. She is never still, always on the move, and for that she has to have energy. We have seen she eats well and often. OK, the only food we saw her turn down was green peas. When Rachel put one in Braewyn's mouth, she shuddered and spit it right back out. Not just once. I think Joy had the same problem with her daughter, Mia. Don't be too harsh on the girls, folks. Mom says I did the same thing when I was little. Is it a genetically-transmitted trait? Maybe in time they'll eat peas. I finally learned to eat them (not necessarily like them), and it only took me 30 years.

Over the mountains

After spending the night in Denver, we drove through the Rocky Mountains to get to Rachel and Chris's house in Grand Junction. The weather was great and the flowers beautiful. These were at Vail, the world-famous ski resort, built in the style of the Alpine villages in Europe.

At this altitude, the weather can become chilly, even in the summer, so the town thoughfully provides a throw for visitors to use when sitting on the benches. The town also thoughtfully made sure it chained the covers to the bench. Does that mean you're welcome to take the throw, as long as you take the bench with you?

But we have flowers back home in Madeira, too, of course. The latest additions were in window boxes, which cast shadows on the curtains as the sun was coming up.

Back to our trip... Braewyn, who turned 1 on July 26, finally decided that, although crawling around on all fours could get her anywhere she thought she had to go, two legs were all that are needed, after all. She only started taking independent steps a couple of days ago, so we arrived just in time to see her perfecting the technique of taking a series of them one after the other to get somewhere. She's catching on fast. And Rachel is going to have to be fast to catch her.

Summery Summary

First of all, we're not here. We got up at 5 AM yesterday morning and 24 hours later and 7 time zones away, we were ready to stretch out on a bed. In between were flights to Lisbon, then Philadelphia, and finally Denver, where we arrived 40 minutes ahead of schedule. We won't complain about that! We'll be in the States for three weeks, eventually getting to Dallas after visiting all the scattered family.

The only opportunities I've had to blog recently were to give updates about Jackie, who is apparently doing very well, and possibly going home today.

In other news over the summer: 

There were baptisms in July:

New members: (l-r) Sara, Vitória, Humberto, Silvânia, Rafael, Nelson (their father)

Also in picture is Paz, Sara's mother, and in the background, Sandro, Nelson's youngest son.

Notes: Humberto is from Ecuador.  As for Nelson and family, they are from São Tomé Island...and they have just moved to Lisbon. We will really miss them.

In related news, two more couples joined the church.

Rodrigo and Luana accepted the Lord earlier in the year through a ministry to athletes. They were baptized when they were in Brazil in June and now that they are back for another year (Rodrigo plays football/soccer), they wanted to make a firm public commitment to our church and its ministries. It was a blessing to hear the testimony of this young couple (early 20's) with a small son. They were present when my mother and brother and sisters were here in May and Luana said that she was inspired by Mom's example..."I want to be like the pastor's mother."

Last Sunday, Alex and Lisiane came forward to ask for baptism. They had had some contact with the gospel before going to Brazil for holidays. Alex also plays football/soccer and they have returned for another season. They accepted the Lord in Brazil and the first thing Lisiane said they had to do was get married. They have been living together for 4 years, but as soon as she gave her life to Jesus, she moved in with her mother. Alex, too, was converted through the testimony of fellow players, and the couple got married as soon as they returned to Portugal. They will be baptized when we get back to Madeira.

Other news:

Vacation Bible School---Some pictures taken in July.

Pastor Paulo Pascoal and family spent three weeks with us and the church was blessed by his messages on Baptist history and distinctives.

More on Jackie

After her by-pass operation on Friday, Jackie was out of Intensive Care by Sunday night. I spoke with Jaime yesterday (Tuesday), who said Jackie had gotten up and walked around yesterday and was eating solid food. She thinks she may go home on Friday. Not bad for someone who was not given much hope for a successful operation. Just shows that it's not only the doctor who operates; God does His own operating in our lives.