Hansi

Have you ever read the book Hansi, the Girl Who Loved the Swasika? It's an autobiography of a girl who grew up during WWII. I'm not going to say much because you might want to read the book. I had the opportunity to listen to her talk about prayer today. She is a wonderful person, woman, speaker, writer, Christian, friend, what more can I say? She'll be telling her life story this Sunday evening at 6:00 at my church. If you live in this area please come to hear her, you won't be disappointed. I promise you.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Hansi. Thank You for all the lessons you have taught her along the way. Thank You for bringing her to our town to speak to us. Keep her safe as she travels around the country and the world.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Miller! June 24, 1997...I remember that day so well! We were building our house here but I flew down to be with your family because a new baby was about to be born! You! And now you're 12 years old! I can't believe 12 years have gone by so quickly! You're a fine grandson! I wish for you a happy, happy birthday! I love you, Miller!
Lord, thank You for Miller. The years are going by so quickly. Please watch over him. Keep him safe and well as he grows. Please be with him and with the rest of the family as they make another move and go through all the adjustments of a new neighborhood, new schools, new friends, etc. I love Miller so much and You love him even more.

Surprise!

Yesterday Jerry brought an article to me to read that was in the newspaper. It was our 50th anniversary write up on the society page! There were two pictures: our wedding photo and a more recent close up photo. It was well written and was a total surprise to us! I was going to put it in the paper but with our trip to Malaysia, and then jet lag, I just hadn't taken the time to do yet. But I had determined to get it in this week! So who did it? Would you believe our son-in-law? Yup, Gene is the guilty one! He even did it before our trip! The last time they were here visiting he actually got into my computer to get our wedding picture, e-mailed it to himself, then deleted the e-mail from my computer so I wouldn't find it! He sent the article to our newspaper on-line before we left on our trip and had it come out after he was sure we'd be home! What a guy!

Here's basically what he wrote: "Gerald (Jerry) and Anita celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary recently. The former Anita W. married Jerry A. on June 13, 1959. They have five children: Pamela B. of Chicago, IL; Ted A. of Holland, MI; Christy B. of Columbia, SC; Tim A. of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; and Rob A. They also have 13 grandchildren. Jerry is retired. Anita is a homemaker. They will celebrate Sunday, July 12, with an open house at their home for family and friends."

Lord, thank you for Gene! He's a very thoughtful son-in-law. He took such good care of us on our trip to Malaysia. Please be with him in these difficult days of job hunting. Bless him with Your Presence.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, Jerry! You've been a good dad to our five children and a good grandpa to our 13 grandchildren. You're a good husband to me! You're a fine Christian example to our family and friends. What more could I ask for?

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jerry. Please keep him well. Thank You for the great trip we just took to Malaysia and for keeping him well and strong for the trip. I love him and I love You. Thank You for all the blessings You have given to us.

Batik

Again, I have my pictures in backwards. Batiking is painting a picture on fabric. Shauna took us so I could try my hand at it. I loved it! This is a VERY HOT day. This Muslim woman has got to be even hotter than we were with her black head covering!

This man is the artist and is painting the pictures onto the fabric with hot wax. We paint between the lines of wax. When we are finished painting we leave our work there. They cut them apart and wash them in very hot water. The wax washes off. Then they sew a hem around each piece and deliver them to us in a couple of days!

Shauna, Kaleb, and Annie each painted two clothe napkins making a set of six. What a nice souvenir of their years in Malaysia. They've been here several times before too.

Pam is doing a beautiful job on hers!
Kaleb picking out the color of paint he wants to use.

It's kind of like paint by number, except there are no numbers and you can use whatever colors you want! Scroll down to see what this material looks like before we started painting. Kaleb did a good job on his.

Annie did a good job too. They've been here before so they knew what they were doing!

Pam is almost finished painting her beautiful flower, the frame around it brings out the colors of the flower. Pam has also been here before...a year and a half ago!

Looks good, Shauna!
Here was mine before I started painting. Come to visit and I'll show you the finished product! It's on the table in the sun room as my table clothe!

Lord, we had so many new experiences in Malaysia. Thank You for this wonderful time.

Our Actual Anniversary Day - June 13

On June 13 we flew from San Francisco to Chicago. It was the last leg of flying from Malaysia. We were exhausted. Pam said she knew we were too tired to go out to eat, but we had to do something for our anniversary... So Gene's mom, Gloria, got supper for us of steak, baked potato, tossed salad, and cake. From somewhere Gene got enough energy to cook it for us. It was perfect and all we had to do was sit down at Pam's dining room table. The steaks were cooked to perfection! After we ate Pam and Gene had a gift for us...a puzzle! It seemed like a nice...but unlikely gift for us, because Jerry isn't really into puzzles. But after we read the box we understood! It's a picture of an eagle's head. It's an earth friendly jigsaw puzzle, imbedded with wildflower seeds! Over 3,000 aluminum cans were used to create the image... or the same amount discarded in just the U.S. every single second! So after we put it together we're to soak it over night and then plant the puzzle!
Lord, thank You for our creative children. This is a wonderful gift for us. Thank You for our 50 years.

Places of Worship

Shauna, Pam, and I were walking to a mall when we went by this little Buddhist shrine set up along the busy street. Candles and incense were burning and various foods were set out for the gods. I think you can see bananas and eggs.














We visited this very crude Chinese Buddhist temple.
No one was there but there were both candles and incense burning. The pictures are hard to see but I think you can get the general idea.

Heavenly Father, please reveal Yourself to these people.

Religions

These are some temples and places of worship we saw as we were driving through the city.


























About the saddest part of our trip for me was seeing so many different religions. My heart ached for the people. I just wanted to go to them and tell them about Jesus, that He died for them, and they would only have to believe. Being a born again Christian is not about religion. I wanted to tell them being a born again Christian means having a personal relationship with God through Jesus. What a difference...

We saw so many Muslim women with their heads covered. Some wore beautiful long dresses and some wore blue jeans, but all had their heads covered.

We also saw lots of Muslim women completely covered in black. Only their eyes showed. They would have to lift the face covering in order to drink or put a bite in their mouth!

Heavenly Father, I praise You because You are Omnipresent, You are Love, You are the Creator, You are Peace.

Graduation at Dalat International School in Penang, Malaysia

Here he is: Kaleb, the happy graduate of Dalat International School!

Kaleb and his happy family! Tim, Kaleb, Annie, Shauna.

Grandpa and Kaleb!

Tea for Senior Parents and families.

Each senior was given recognition and gifts. Kaleb receiving his.

Kaleb introducing his parents, even though everyone knows them since they're on staff!

Tim and Shauna, proud parents of Kaleb!

Here we all are, and we are all proud of Kaleb! Pam, Gene, Tim, Kaleb, Shauna, Me, Jerry.

Thank You, Lord, for Dalat International School. Thank You for Kaleb! Thank You for giving us this privelege of being there for these important days in Kaleb's life.

Paradise Hotel

Looking down on the outdoor eating area at the Paradise Hotel. We ate breakfast here every morning.


This man cooked us each an omelet every morning. They were soooo good!

Looking down from our balcony at the hotel pool!

One of the fishing boats, there were many.

Sunrise from the balcony of our room! We were on the 17th floor, Pam and Gene were on the 24th floor!
Tim and Jerry, our first day there. I'm in the mirror, taking their picture! We had a very comfortable room.

Looking up at the hotel from Dalat International School. They are next door from each other. We stayed at this hotel for the first week. When school let out and all the students went home to be with their families for the summer, we moved over to stay with Tim and Shauna, Annie and Kaleb.
Looking up at the front of Paradise Hotel.

Heavenly Father, how can I ever thank You for the wonderful trip we just took to Malaysia. Thank You for keeping us safe. Thank You for Dalat International School. Thank You for Paradise Hotel and for the wonderful relationship they have with the school.

We Arrived in Tanjung Bunga, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia!

The sign telling us we've arrived at Chandler House where Tim and Shauna, Annie and Kaleb have lived for three years. We finally arrived to visit them. Tim and Shauna were house parents to about a dozen kids whose parents were living and working in another country where quality education was not available.

These steps took us up from the porch to living room of Chandler House. I loved how the kids all left their shoes outside.

This is the sign on the front wall beside the gate. There are guards keeping watch and opening the gate for us. (No picture, sorry) This is an OUTSTANDING school!

Tim on his motorbike. You know the saying, "If you can't beat um, join um!" There are thousands of motorbikes in Malaysia. I'll show some later. Tim sold his to a friend before they left.


Annie on the computer...again! Thank the Lord for computer's and the internet.

Tim and Jerry waving to me from the steps that go up to their house...Chandler House.

Thank You, Lord, for the wonderful experience we had of visiting Dalat International School and our own kids, Tim, Shauna, Annie, and Kaleb.

Home, Sweet Home!

We're home from our wonderful trip to Malaysia! We were accompanied by Pam and Gene. They were great traveling companions...in fact they took care of us! We never would have made it if they hadn't gone with us! Gene made all the arrangements and took care of everything. Pam was right there at his side and at our side. I'll be posting more details and pictures as the days go by, but right now I'm very tired. I must go to bed.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the safe and wonderful trip to Malaysia. Thank You for Pam and Gene going with us and taking such good care of us. Thank You for Tim, Shauna, Annie, and Kaleb who hosted our stay in Malaysia. Thank You for Kaleb, who graduated from high school and was the reason for our trip!

Happy 50th Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Jerry and me! 50 years and still in love, WOW!
Lord, thank You for 50 years together! Thank You for Jerry! I praise You!

We Were Honored!

Jerry and I reading the card given to us by Tim and Shauna. What a wonderful anniversary surprise!

Here we all are at the table in the revolving restuarant. From left: Annie, Tim, Gene, Pam, Jerry, Me, Shauna, Kaleb.

This picture was taken out the window and shows part of the city, the ocean, and a little of the mainland!

Our 50th anniversary is June 13! We're having an open house at our house on July 12. Tim and Shauna, Annie and Kaleb can't come then so they decided to honor us last evening! Tim's family and Pam and Gene took us out for supper to a very fancy restaurant. It was similar to the Space Needle in Seattle! It was fantastic! We didn't know it was for us until we were eating and then Tim told us and gave us a card.
Thank You, Heavenly Father, for our children. Thank You for our 50 years together as husband and wife. Thank You for Jerry. Thank You for loving us.