Extra Credit item - Skate on a frozen body of water January 30, 2011

Ice fishing and ice skating went together today!  Kristin and I headed to her parent's house in Morton for an afternoon of winter fun.  Kristin's dad drilled holes in the pond for fishing while Kristin and I took turns shoveling a circular path on the pond for us to skate!

The fish were not biting.  Kristin and her dad each caught a fish.  I however, caught a fish but in the process of bringing it up through the hole, hit it on the side of the ice and it got it's freedom!  Oh, well.  It was still exciting. 
After and hour of being really cold.  Kristin and I went to warm up by the fire before trying again. 

After another 45 minutes of fishless time, we decided that we were done fishing and got out our skates.  I put on my ice skates while Kristin laced up her roller blades!  We set off along the bumpy path on the pond just laughing and having a good time as we watched each other stumble along.
Kristin's dad prepared the 2 fish and then defrosted some fish from the freezer for a fish fry for dinner!  Yummy!

We had to shovel our own skating rink for this event.  Kristin and I shoveled an oval shaped rink that was the width of 2 shovels.  It was a lot of work as the snow covered a layer of ice.  The rink was definately not smooth and we needed a zamboni to come to our rescue!



Kristin on rollerblades









                                                       

Adventure #16 - Serve those in need in the community at least once a quarter. January 27, 2011

It is easy to become wrapped up in our own lives and to miss out on serving those in need in our communities.  Sometimes it is easier to give money rather than time to help those in need.  However, spending time in service opens the eyes to those needs in our community and to respond to meet these basic needs thus granting the privilege of also providing for the spiritual need for Jesus.

I first heard about the Midwest Food Bank from a dietitan who serves on the Peoria board.  Marjorie was the dietitian that I worked for at the Cooperative Extension Service the summer between my graduation from Bradley in May of 1993 and the start of my internship at Barnes in St Louis in August of 1993.  When I returned to Peoria in 2004, Marjorie and I were now a part of the Central Illinois Dietetic Association together.  During 2010, I first heard about Tender Mercies program at the Midwest Food Bank.  Volunteers allow the Midwest Food Bank to use their resouces to meet the needs of those in the community with very little overhead cost. 

I received an e-mail that the Career Impact Thursday night Bible study planned to go and serve by making Tender Mercies packets.  So even though I did not attend this Bible Study, I e-mailed to see if there was still room for me to join them.  This was a special privilege to join with my brothers and sister to serve while meeting the needs of those who would one day receive this food packet. 

Tender Mercies is a mixture of TVP, beans, rice and a high nutrient flavoring that is able to feed a family of four.  All that is needed is water and a heat source to prepare this meal. 

So our team spent time putting together these packets.  What was impressive to me was that most of the volunteers were men.  It was great fun watching them enjoy one another's company as they filled the bags, tried to increase efficiency (can we say engineers), laughed and modeled new and fashionable hairnets!  I was blest just to be with them and watch them at work.  During the shift, our team put together 800 packets of food which would feed 3200 people.

On February 14, 2011 for Valentine's Day, the dietitians hosted a bake sale at Methodist to benefit Midwest Food Bank and the Tender Mercies program.  We raised $615 for Tender Mercies.

Adventure #11 - Eat a new ethnic food each month - January

Turkey provided the opportunity to try new dishes.  Some of the items were not new because I had tried them at Shannon's Turkish teas.  The food was so much better than the food in Europe.  It was less salty and had less fat.  There were lots of vegetables and local fruits available at all meals.  Yes - even vegetables at breakfast.  I loved the tomato and cucumber salads that I could eat for breakfast and missed them when I returned home!
Part of the unique dining experience at this 5 star hotel was the additional meal time guests - the 2 cats!  The cats would rub up against your legs and just look at you and Meow!  Occasionally the cats would hiss and spat at one another.  It was a little disconcerting to also see the birds sitting on the fresh bread that was put out for all meals.  Definately a new dining experience!

Adventure #36 - Winter Swim in a Body of Water January 1, 2011

Happy New Year from turkey!  So instead of participating in the Peoria area polar bear club by jumping into the frozen Illinois River.  I rang in the New Year by jumping into the Aegean Sea in the winter.  The outside temperature was around 40 degrees so the air was chilly.  Not what you would think for being along the sea.  The water was not frozen but it too was chilly. 

Pastor Lyall, Kevin, Dorothy and I were joined by 6 of the MKs and one parent to take this morning swim.  We all jumped together!  What fun!  We were definately awake after this swim!

 

Adventure #16 - Missions Trip December 25, 2010-January 3, 2011

Adventure 16 - Missions Trip
This open door took me to Turkey.  The trip was to support a mission organization's conference for European missionaries and their families.  Our purpose was to provide the children and youth programming for the families by loving on them, teaching and providing cultural experiences with the goal of growing their walk with the Lord.

If you have been reading my other posts, you will then know that my trip really began in Geneva in early December.  Really I consider it God's confirmation that I was to be a part of this team and trip for God's glory.  Only God could orchestrate the meeting of a missionary with a team member from the States while in Geneva as he was teaching at the school where my friend attends for the week.  God really is that big and in these moments God himself is clearly seen.  Malia and I laughed that she was getting to be a part of my trip as she was able to hear Mark teach about Ephesus before I even stepped foot in Turkey or heard the teaching myself.    Also God enabled me to get home so that I could depart with the team rather than departing after a few unplanned days extra in England. 

God calls all believers to be involved in missions - either to go or to support those who go to tell all over the world.  At this point in my life, God's call for me is to find ways to support those who he is sending to the field.  This was such an opportunity to serve. 

My brother, a Christian school teacher in Nashville, always reminds me that just because kids are in a Christian school does not mean that they are believers and that they are still in need of the life changing ministry that comes from the application and living out of the gospel in our daily lives.  As our team taught through Ephesians, we too had the opportunity to speak the truth from God's Word found in this book to these MKs and to assist them as in their walk with the Lord.  God's word too also was at work in my own heart as I spend time studying Ephesians 3 for my time teaching.  God is still using this chapter to challenge my own daily thinking and application in my life.

Adventure 22 - Prague December 12-16, 2010

Prague - the adventure started with the flight and the need to use my limited medical training for the man with the seizure.  Prague also represented the blessing of spending time with Janna and the unexpected blessing of seeing Mark.  The time spent listening to two missionaries share about their service to the Lord in Czech was encouraging and to actually see where Janna is serving was a blessing.

The city itself was amazing!  I had been told this by many people but was not prepared for the city's rich heritgae, culture and beauty.  It is a must see gem for a European travel adventure.  I was able to see the Charles Bridge, The Prague Castle, Old Town Square and it's various buildings and churches, The Jewish Quarter (which was amazing).  I would have loved to have more time to see buildings, hear concerts and tour museums. 

Pictures are worth a thousand words!



Old Town Square and Christmas Markets



              

St. Nicholas Church in Old Town Square

                                                                                                                                                             

 
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Mozart played here and introduced Don Giovanni



Adventure 11 - Eat a new ethnic food every month December 9, 2010 and December 15, 2010

December 9, 2010 Malia and I set out after her classes finshed and took a train to Morges to investigate a Christmas market.  The Switerland tourism site recommended this Christmas market and it was a short train ride from Geneva.  Lesson learned - Never assume based on a title. "Christmas market" to both Malia and myself meant that there would be booths selling Christmas items.  Not so!  It was a glorified craft show and flee market and there were very few traditional Swiss items.

However there was traditional Swiss food being served.  Malia was not sure what some of the food items were either so she talked to a couple about the sausage and cabbage dish that they were eating.  She told the couple that I was looking to try some traditional foods so the woman cut off a bite of her sausage and added some cabbage and gave it to me to try.  It was pretty good.  So Malia and I each ordered one.  We, really Malia, talked with the couple in French.  Then the gentleman brought over 2 wine glasses and they shared their wine with us. In reality for me, it was a very gracious and generous form of hospitality given by this couple to welcome us to Switzerland.   (Now the not so fun part was that sausages are often so high in fat that they disagree with my gut and I was in the bathroom within the hour!)

December 15, 2010 Prague

In prague, I had the opportunity to eat many different traditional foods which was very fun.  Two of the restaurants spoke English so this was helpful.  One of the restaurants was in Rick Steve's book on Prague and was recommended by one of Janna's co-teachers.  In addition, I was able to eat lunch with Mark and I had fun watching him enjoy his favorite Czech dish from one of his favorite Czech restaurants in Old Town Square.  The last evening provided the most fun with food!  For my last evening in Prague, Janna and I went to the local tavern for some traditional Czech food.  Our waitress did not speak english and no english menu was available, lending itself to a very fun food adventure!  So I decided to just pick an item off the menu and try it.  I tried to use common sense to figure out some of the words and my limited Russian vocabulary for food items from my job in St Louis.  So I ordered an item using my best Czech pronounciation possible and actually got a thumbs up from the waitress.  What arrived, you may wonder?  It was a surprise to me too.  I ended up with red peppers filled with a melted salty cheese of some kind.  The peppers were good and I eventually just scraped off the cheese.  It was fun however just to order.