24 HOURS FROM HOME

No, we don't have to cross this bridge to get home, but we did have to cross it to get to church Sunday.


You will notice that it looks like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. That's because the same man built both bridges.


And the statue of Christ on the cross in the distance looks just like the one in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. That's because Brazil gave this statue to Portugal as a gift.


There's a long story behind this photo. See that little green car. Well, we got lost coming home from church Sunday. And to make a long story short (leaving out the half dozen people who weren't able to give us the right directions to get back to the bridge), we stopped at a gas station (only pumps with a money taker behind a glassed in booth) to get directions. There were thirty cars waiting for gas. We decided to ask the nice looking young couple with a little child for directions, but God directed my steps to a scruffy guy with pock marks instead. Low and behold, he was a Christian and actually led the way to the bridge for us to follow. Cathy calls him our little green angel.


Remember the photo last week with Cathy looking down the well top to the water storage below? Well, this is what she saw. LOL


The school principal (the guy to gives us all the work to do) took us out to Chili's one evening. It's the only place in Portugal where you get free refills on Coke.


And the Hard Rock Cafe is in Lisbon, but we didn't even think of going there.


This Chevrolet dealership is typical of car sales places. One man may own several store fronts, each holding maybe five or six cars. If there is enough parking outside, he may have a few used cars. Someone lives above the dealership.


This block of buildings houses government office and the Supreme Court.


An up-close photo of the entrance to the court house.


Cathy found an interesting place to rest her weary feet. These resting places are part plant/tree holders and part seats.


While visiting downtown Lisbon, we found Portugal's version of Subway (sub sandwiches). No refillable fountain coke like in the States. You just buy a can or a small cup of coke. The subs were very tasty.


We didn't eat here, but Cathy wanted her picture taken showing how much of the eateries have open air eating.


Roasted chestnuts, anyone?


Statue/monument honoring those who gave their life for freedom during the Big War. (World War II)


All these pictures are hand painted tiles. Really artistic. Double click to enlarge and see clearer.


These next three pictures are of your's truly. You can pass over these quickly.






In the evening, we can sit here and see all of Ramada, the city directly below us. And so as we bid good evening to the night, we bid you goodby with our personal blogs about our trip to Portugal. Of course there are more pictures on the Mission Blog site.

You can click (or double click) on any picture to view full screen.


Vasco Da Gama Mall. Water runs over the glass top to look like an underwater mall. Done in theme with the worlds fair several years ago. Even the walk ways were built to look like waves.


The long road up to the Portugal's President's palace.


Guards keeping people out of the palace grounds.


Lifelike image of Saint Jeronimo in a glass enclosed "tomb."


Artwork lining Saint Jeronimo's Monastery Chapel.


Bill standing outside the huge gates to the monastery.


Tower of Belem where cannons protected the harbor to Lisbon.


Original lighthouse keeping ships from running around.


Monument in honor of Portuguese explorers who literally explored around the world. Notice the size of this monument.


Whoops. This should be above. This is the entire length of the Jeronimo Monastery.


Our bathroom here at the training center. The shower is 23" square.


Drive through to McDonalds.


Yours truly at the beach.


How would you like to make miniature boats all day long for a living?


The tourist shop where we bought all our gifts for our financial supporters.


This is a two way street, believe it or not.


Yours truly again.


Another Catholic church.


Cemetery right in town. This is the small city surrounded by walls that you saw in our Mission's blog.


Same city. Imagine being a serf protected by a "knight" or prince.


More pictures next Friday, the day before we leave for home.

Flood Pictures

Yes, the rain has stopped and the water is receding. Soon our ark will rest and we can send out the doves. But until then, here are a couple pictures of the Little River along side which I do my jogging. At least I used to; maybe when the animals get out of the ark and the ground dries I can get back to it. The first two pictures are before and after the rains. In the "dry" picture you can see in the foreground the storm drain entrance (about five feet high). It is made of cement with a steel lid on top for entrance by workers. Water from housing developments drains into an underground cement pipe and eventually (about a mile away) into the river. But the drain is underwater and there's no place for the water to go. For that reason, some lower level housing developments are completely flooded. We thank the Lord he led us to a home built on a hill and a life built on a solid rock.



The next two pictures are about a football field's length away from the river. The woods have now become part of the river.

School Time Already ?

Two months have gone by since our last post. Summer vacation days are over. It seems like summer sprouted a jet engine and just powered past us without ever so much as a wave of the hand. (How's that for mixing metaphors?)

In just a week or two our oldest two grand daughters will be starting their first year of college. The hustle and bustle of summer jobs and fun with friends will be over, and the urgency of study will be upon them.

But our youngest still has three more years of high school to go. You haven't seen much of her so here are a couple pics of her.






















And of course, we must throw in a little wildlife found in our back yard here in the backcountry of Woodstock, Georgia.

This close up (a little blurry due either to our inexpensive camera or the ineptness of the (male) photographer is of one of the cardinal family that frequents our bird restaurant. Cathy has named this one "hesed" which is Hebrew for faithful lovingkindness because he always shows up. Hesed is our favorite O.T. word because it is the word God uses of himself to His people.


















These last three pictures are of "Aslan" our tiny lion who just loves licking noses and drinking from the fountain in our tiny backyard. Her real name as you all know is "Abbie" but with her color and facial hair and expression she reminds us of Aslan.





Bill has started teaching once again at the home school program at church. This year he teaches a two hour World Literature class from 10 to noon each Tuesday. The church has hired a new Pastor to Seniors (age 67+) who has taken over the teaching of the Tuesday morning Bible Study at our local Chic-Fil-A restaurant so Bill now has one less preparation--the literature class preparation now uses that time.

We are both as healthy as 68 and 69 years olds can be. Well, Ok, we won't be those ages for another couple weeks. But we're still young enough to be excited over our up-coming mission trip to Portugal in October. Be sure to check out the link at the top of this blog page to see the photos and read the information on our trip.

Enough for now. We love you all and pray for you each week.

B and C