Early….Yes, we’re coming home, earlier than planned. Curacao remains on lockdown for now. Those places we can walk to and dive we’ve cleaned the reefs of the lionfish until they reproduce again, so our work is done for now. The count – Jay speared 196 lionfish, Bryan, our brother-in-law, speared 31 (during their short visit), and Lisette 25, on the couple of dives she dived with us. In total, we took 252 lionfish out of the ocean. Not bad for lock down. (Jay said the blog could end with just that piece of information. “What else needs to be said?”)

This is where it began on March 20th. We met up with fellow hunters our first morning at Bario Hotel to hear the rules of the lionfish derby and to recieve our goody bags. Our last night on the island we met up with Lisette to give her more fish and to eat at her corner of the Bario food court called “Lionfish and Mangos”. (Restaurants opened for outdoor eating until curfew as of Tuesday.)

Home. Acording to lyrics.com, there are approximately 13,636 lyrics, 36 artists, and 50 albums that have the phrase “coming home”. A little trivia. There are titles such as: “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” by Bon Jovi, or “Take Me Home, Country Roads” by John Denver. Ozzy Osborne even had a song named, “Mama, I’m Coming Home” and Motley Crue’s “Home Sweet Home”. If we’re going to talk about home songs, this one is for you, Ron Mitchell, “Sweet Home Alabama”.

It’s interesting how all of these songs may refer to home, however have different meanings. For example, “Welcome Home” by Metallica is not a song about anybody coming home. It’s Metallica, so……

On a happier note, “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is a lovely little romantic song. “Our house is a very, very, very fine house; with two cats in the yard. Life used to be so hard. Now everything is easy cause of you.” Doesn’t that make your heart feel joy and peace?

When I think of the song “Small Town” by John Mellencamp, I do think about Rancho Murieta, a very special small town. Even though some of the lyrics refer to “little opportunity” and “boring romantic”; it’s simply saying that at the end of the day, a small town is the place to be. And that’s pretty great if you love small towns.

“Home” by Iggy Pop talks about how you can go through tough times. The world can leave you feeling tired and weary. But, if there’s a place you can go back to, a place you can call a haven, you can feel good about yourself and your life.

And then there’s, “I Feel Home” by O.A.R. This song kind of talks about certain things that can remind you of home. It might be certain people and their faces. It might be familiar landmarks or neighborhoods. You may not be welcomed with open arms wherever you go. But home is where everyone accepts you for who you are, just as you are. Home….When you say that word, what does it mean to you? Is it a place where you live? Is it the people you love? Is it the beauty and familiarity in your surroundings?

Many believe where we are on earth is not our real home, it’s our temporary place until we die or the second coming of Christ when He takes us “home”….to eternity. Heaven, according to lyrics.com, is referred to in approximately 50,890 lyrics, 26 artists, and 50 albums. (Interesting both statistics were 50 albums) Of course my favorites are “I Can Only Imagine, by MercyMe, and I remember my Aunt Betty singing “When We All Get to Heaven”, what a great memory.

Since we’ve been in Curacao, Jay and I have had two loved ones go to their homes in eternity, which we believe is Heaven. Through the words of one of my cousins describing my aunt who passed on Monday, “June was filled with hope, joy, goodness, kindness, faithfulness and love. She made the most of every day and no matter what, she was safe and secure because Christ was her home.”

During lock down in Curacao we’ve managed to watch other species in their “home” environments. There are so many stray dogs in Curacao. We managed to tame a few, Blackie and his friend, who didn’t come near us until a couple days ago.

And puppies….believe me if we had a “home” on Curacao, these little guys would have had one as well.

The neighborhood iguana came to swim with us at the apartment.

There are several areas on the island where the flamingos like to forge. Bob, the flamingo was injured several years ago. The Fundashon is a wildlife rehabilitation center and conservation charity. They have rehabilitated Bob and his friend the pelican (we can’t remember his name.) The two, Bob and pelican, live at the center and are brought out to swim in the mornings where we have been diving.

The cats living at the dive shop love to greet us as we come out of the water with a zookeeper of lionfish. They sit and wait so patiently for Jay to clean the fish and give them their share.

There so many homes for the creatures below the waterline as well.

On the last dive, the last lionfish I spotted and Jay speared, it was just in time to save this precious creature. The spotted drum fish is probably my favorite to find. My heart leaps with joy each time I see one. Jay, my hero. I think she, the spotted drum, was saying the same thing as we swam away.

Can you tell we got a new underwater camera? Can you tell I’m learning how to use it?

Nothing speaks more about home when you get to see people you love. Pastor John and sister Marlene came to visit us on Wednesday before we left. As much as we needed family to visit a few weeks ago, that’s how much this visit was needed. Pastor John shared a verse with us, Jeremiah 3:15, “I will give you shepherds who are loyal to Me, and they will shepherd you with knowledge and skill”. They are truly shepherds of their flock on Curacao. Our hearts were full at the end of the visit. By the way, John loves Jay’s lionfish ceviche. He said, “It’s the bomb”. Pastors Phil and Ron, I wish you could meet these Kingdom builders.

Maybe, as Jay just said to me, home is where our heart is. Home….where is your heart?

Before we end, thank you Jeroen and Lisette. You blessed us with the ability to have access to air tanks for the diving we did and helped with information throughout this trip regarding all the updates of what we could do. You are such an adorable couple.

Even though there were so many trials to this trip, and not leaving too rested, we know how blessed we are to be able to come and be surrounded by such kind and loving people. If home is where the heart is, Curacao, you have a gigantic piece of our heart; and you are definitely a big piece of our home.

Rancho Murieta, leave the light on, we’re coming home.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Stardate Harris log April 21 – yes, we are still on lock down. The Prime Minister just gave us the news we will continue lockdown until April 30th with a couple of changes to keep morale up. We can swim in the ocean from the hours of 4:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., and curfew is 8:00 a.m. so technically you can swim long enough to get home by 8:00 a.m. A few restaurants are open for drive thru such as KFC and McDonalds, Ugh! The good news is the number of those infected with Covid is coming down significantly. The hospitals are no longer completely full, however there are still many in the hospital and in ICU.

You might have a few questions such as, “What have you guys been doing since lock down began on March 24th?” “Can you come home?” “Are you coming home?”

A quick answer to the last two questions: We could come home, however, we have a lease we would be breaking, so that’s not a good thing, so we are staying for now.

Since our last blog and during lock down we have managed to do some diving. I’m changing the phrase a bit from what our pastor said, Where there’s a Jay, there’s a way. That is certainly the case when it comes to Lionfish hunting. We have been walking down to the dive shop early in the morning and diving. The security guard kind of looked away and allowed us to take our ten steps on the beach and into the water.

Lisette, Lionfish aficionado of Curacao, asked us to join her on a dive to help stock up the lionfish for food to take to the nurses at the hospital. As we are swimming I see this coming toward us….

Then this happened…..

Hence today’s title. The coast guard hovering over us to take our picture. When we got back to the dive shop from the dive, the policia (police in Papiamentu) were there to greet us. Lisette shared what we were doing, they gave us a warning and told us we couldn’t dive anymore. They also scared the security guard enough that he was not going to look away any longer. So, dives from Pirate’s Bay in Piscadera ceased. We were truly locked down and finally becoming law abiding citizens of Curacao.

Here are the trays of food, minus the wine, that were taken to feed the nursing staff at the hospital.

It reminds me of a verse, “For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I know I should not. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree with the law that it is good.” There was something the apostle Paul was dealing with. He knew better, but couldn’t stop himself at times. Paul says so much about opposite behavior in this part of the text. Isn’t that just like us, me? Many times we justify by saying things such as, “what’s the harm with diving and helping to keep the reefs cleaned up during the lockdown?” Or we might say, “they don’t mean us, right?” Opposite behavior, we really do know better. So did Paul.

The Coast guard shut us down for a few days. Then the family from Atlanta came into town. (I wish I had a good picture of a trumpet fish to represent the sound of the Calvary.) One moment, please…I think I have one from previous trips.

Atlanta to the rescue before this caged animal (me) was getting ready to go stir crazy in this small apartment only getting to look at the ocean from the deck. Trust me, we do know what a blessing it is to have the amazing view of ships passing by, gorgeous sunsets, and having this amazing time in another part of our world.

It was just what all of us needed, family hugs and family time. Atlanta family needed a vacation and we needed to have some company. They stayed in an area called Blue Bay. Since Blue Bay is a private beach, the Coast Guard or government did not shut their beach down to tourists. The owner of the apartment the family rented from gave two extra wristbands for us to come visit. We had so much fun! Jay and I were able to drive over on Mondays and Thursdays. Brother-in-Law Bryan came to get us on their drive days, Tuesday and Friday. You get the picture, diving the better part of the 10 days. Time went by so quickly. Each day we had to kind of watch the clock in the afternoon to rush out of the Blue Bay gates in order to get back to our apartment by the 7:00pm curfew. We finally figured out in order to have a meal together it needed to be a lunch/dinner type event. You know, the 4:00pm meal. This family can set a beautiful table and prepare wonderful meals with the minimal amount of kitchen utensils available. P.S. Only two of those corks are our part of the light fixture.

A couple years ago our sweet (dushi) niece, Beka, participated in a discovery dive and was hooked. She went home and completed her diving certification. Since then, she has been my dive buddy while Jay partners up with her dad. We come up with the same amount of air. Our diving technique is the same, safety first. It is easy diving and a break from hunting, no offense Jay.

Dushi niece, Annie, has been snorkeling bravely these past couple years. This year, her bravery was evident it was time for her to try a discovery dive course. She was hooked. So hooked, the big event this yea….drum roll, please….. Annie completed her certification while on vacation. Of course not without Aunt Kelly hovering, staying eye and ear distance to make sure she was safe to comfortable. I did have to strap a tank on when she was working on her underwater drills.

We are all so proud of her. Mary, Michael, and Debi, you all are next.

The last dive of the Atlanta clan’s trip was Annie’s first official dive. A part of her final training was to plan the dive and lead those with her. Usually this is one dive buddy and the instructor.

In Harris/Miller tradition one for all and all for one, she had to lead the whole bunch. If you can envision the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, that’s how it kind of looked except underwater.

She did great! As we were in the last half of the dive I looked back and there were five additional divers following us. In essence, Annie was leading ten divers on her first dive. Her instructor, Angel Koonz, as we like to refer to him as, said to me, don’t help her too much. Allow her to figure these things out. I can honestly say she did the whole thing. She had a moment I looked at her dive computer, however she was right on course. I am absolutely thrilled we might have another “Safety Samantha” (that’s what they call me when it comes to water activities) in the water leading this crazy bunch!

Remember the verse I mentioned? One more confession, we did it again, broke the rules. In order to be a part of Annie’s first dive, we had to drive over to Blue Bay on Sunday. During lockdown there is no driving on Sunday. Here’s a question: Would this be like driving 5 to 10 miles over the speed limit breaking the rules, but with a much bigger fine? What we can say is most people on the island abide. We saw three cars on our way there, one was a police car. That will get your heart beating. If you continue reading in Romans 7 Paul says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Jesus, that’s who saves.

We decided to go with the “no harm, no foul” and risk the fine on this one occasion and celebrate the accomplishments our sweet (dushi) nieces have made and safely enjoy our vaccinated family before they head home. Millers/Kueks, thank you for coming to visit. We love you a bunch!

What’s next? As of today, we are allowed to swim in the early hours of the morning, that’s what we are going to do.

At the beginning of lock down I was “teasing” when I said to Krista Fuller we would probably be walking (the nearly one mile) with all our gear on our backs to a beach if lockdown doesn’t subside soon. Krista, in order to be law abiding tourists on our beloved island, it happened.

Not too bad with the braiding at 5:30 in the morning. Walking almost a mile with all this weighted equipment reminded me of the Camino De Santiago and thankful we had our belongings transfered each day. I have a deeper appreciation for all those who carry everything many more miles each day than we did this morning. Thankful full tanks were not attached.

Thanks for listening to all our confessions. Remember, today is the day the Lord has made, so rejoice and smile for the camera.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

But not locked in or out…so far! Beginning last week, March 24th, Curacao went into lock down once again due to the high numbers of Covid-19 cases each day. The Prime Minister declared lock down for two weeks to try to get the numbers down. Right now tourists are still allowed to come into the country.

It is the UK variant that has arrived onto the island and it is spreading quicker than the original. Vaccines are not getting to the island as they needed. As of this day, April 2nd, only 16,500 out of approximately 160,000 people have been vaccinated.

The hospital is full. The old hospital, Sehos, is now on standby to open for overflow. Healthcare workers are suffering from exhaustion and there is a call for healthcare workers from the Netherlands and possibly other countries as well to come give some relief to these professionals.

Lock down, what does that exactly mean? There is a curfew. No one on the streets from 9:00 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Businesses are closed except for grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores, and some delivery only restaurants. Not even Starbucks is open!

Exercise outdoors is allowed, however only during certain times of the day. I’ll get to that in a moment. According to the first letter on your license plate, (Plachi di dia) Plate of the Day, you may go to the types of stores opened. Our days are Thursday and Monday. Sunday, no cars are allowed on the street and no stores are open.

Restaurants that provide take-away are not allowed to operate at this time which is becoming a bit controversial and many, due to this rule, are getting ready to file bankruptcy. It is certainly a catch-22 around here at the moment. The restaurant owners are arguing that take-away and drive-thru could alleviate the crowded grocery stores on the plachi di dia. We can attest to the overcrowding in the grocery stores and it feels like that is going to be the place a person is going to contract Covid-19. A couple days ago, they finally figured out how to allow a few people at a time in the stores, hence lines standing 6′ apart outside along the side of the store. Everyone that walks in has to have a grocery cart, that’s how they know how many are in the store at a time. That means when Jay and I go to the store together, we each get a cart.

Not only all the many businesses are closed during lock down, so are beaches and churches. No beach time and no Sunday church, no Easter service two years in a row for us.

Ten days into lock down….the covid-19 case numbers seem to still be high, leveling off from a few days ago, however not lowering like they should. So new curfew went into effect as of today – 7:00 p.m. – 4:30 a.m.

Our walks each day have been very quiet – no one on the streets or walkways.

This morning at 9:00 a.m. Jay and I decided to walk the corridor and on to Otrobanda. The bridge is closed to walk across to get to Punda, so Otrobanda is our dead end.

At the end of the corridor we witnessed a police car clearing the few people sitting in or on their cars along the coastline, which is the corridor.

Not really understanding curfew, we decided to ask the police officer to help explain. Mystery solved as to why we have been the only ones out walking when we’ve been out each day. During lock down outdoor exercise is allowed, however it is only between the hours 4:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Then the police officer kindly said to us, it is after 10:00 a.m. so you need to turn around and go back home. Oops!

For those of you who know me well, did you catch the 4:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.!? If I’m going to get any quality sleep, those are my hours! Stay tuned…the new adventure in this trip could possibly convert me into a morning person. (I know you are laughing as hard as Jay is right now.)

To continue the laughter and before we get to what Jay and I have been up to during lock down, I have a list, “The World’s Favorite Lockdown” songs because you know how I like to get songs into a blog and I have had time to think about these things. Here we go: “Toxic” by Britney Spears; “Stayin Alive” by Bee Gees; “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer; “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” and “Every Breath You Take” by The Police; (By the way, when I walked up to the police car to ask the rules, the officer put his hand up for me to stop and not get so close. (Just thought of that when I noted that song) “I Will Survive” Gloria Gaynor; “Mask Off” by Future; “Work from Home” by Fifth Harmony; “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child; “Harder to Breathe” by Maroon 5. I know there are several more, but that’s all I can think of at the moment.

Lock down sounds a bit dismal, however my mind is going to 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed.” I think many traditional versions say, “We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned, we are struck down but not destroyed.”

We are locked down, but we are not defeated, feel a bit persecuted because our freedom to walk except for certain hours that are not conducive to my hours, but life on an island is not destroyed either. It’s kind of the old adage “When given lemons, make lemonade.”

While Jay is watching lectures and panels on quantum physics, entanglement, and black holes; with a great view, I get quality time to write things like this and….. A Bible study???…….get ready!! Ladies, there could be something around the corner this fall.

Okay, there are island things going on as well. A lovely pool in our complex to enjoy.

And, you guessed it, lock down does not stop Jay Harris and lionfish spearing.

A typical lock down day begins by dragging me out of bed at 5:45 a.m., walking a mile, (.86 of a mile to be exact) to a dive shop that has been so generous to give us the codes to many of the doors to store our gear and get tanks to dive, gear up, ten steps from the dive shop into the water, swim 20-30 minutes (dodging a fishing boat or two) while watching the sun come up, to keep a reef or two clear of the invasive lionfish.

Unbeknownst to us, we were kind of abiding to the curfew rules by walking back from the dive, again a mile, and home by 8:00 a.m. Our day ends, again abiding by the rule of curfew, walking the mile back to the dive shop around 4:30 pm to put our gear away that has been out drying, then walking back home to enjoy a lovely glass of wine with dinner and a sunset while slapping a few mosquitoes away. It might not be the Camino, but we are getting the miles in each day.

Yes, Jay is baking sour dough bread in Curacao.

There may be pressures of learning what we can and cannot do, by no means we are crushed. We get a bit perplexed as to why some of the rules get made, but we are not in any type of despair. Many days, I can’t imagine how perplexed and struck down some of the business owners and workers who are just trying to keep food on their table are feeling, but they are not destroyed. As a matter of fact, during our walks at the incorrect times, we’ve see many of these business owners using this time to paint or update their facilities. That is a picture of hope. That is making lemonade. This Holy Week, we are reminded these momentary afflictions are producing absolute incomparable eternal weight of glory. We can’t focus on what is seen because that is temporary. It is the unseen, the renewing in each of us that is so important, because that is the eternal.

We don’t know when we will be released from lock down and we don’t know if rules will tighten up even more, but what we do know who is really in control. We want to let His light shine through any of the darkness we are seeing or feeling. And we want our hearts to shine the light of Christ to all those we do come in contact with, even 6′ apart so very early in the morning. His mercies are new every morning.

Happy Easter! Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Here we go again! Two years ago this week we left for what became truly a year of highlights in our lives that we continue to refer to quite often. As many of you followed our year long blog, thank you for following us. As you followed, you knew Covid-19 ended our trip with four different booked flights to come home, impossible to cancel, and we left on the last flight out of Curacao to the United States.

First item on the agenda at home was making masks.

This time last year who knew Dr Suess was going to be controversial.

Unlike past years filled with trials, celebrations, and adventures, 2020 looked different to say the least. For most of us the words “back to normal” have crossed our lips once or twice. As I’ve said or heard those words, my thoughts have been what is normal? What does normal really mean? And, do we really want “old normal” back?

One of my favorite verses I refer to quite often is in Isaiah 43, “This is what the Lord says – who makes a way in the sea, and a path through raging waters….Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.”

One version says it like this, “Forget about what’s happened, don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert and rivers in the badlands.”

Since I’m a 7 in the enneagram, I love new. I love adventure. I love to plan and play. You can see why this verse can be exciting and one to cling to especially during this past year where travel has been out of the question. Since quitting my job that nearly killed me four years ago, I’ve been able to live as a true 7 instead of my 8 wing, the realist and control freak.

Jay and I have been blessed this past year to live in a community surrounded by beauty.

Our serene backyard, the gorgeous paths around swan-coupled enhanced lakes, eagles nesting, and other birds have made our daily walk/runs enjoyable to say the least.

We’ve actually enjoyed one year of not having any remodel projects in our house. That is a record in the Harris household.

Our 25th wedding anniversary was celebrated right here in our home dancing the night away around the kitchen island while cooking a 5-course meal for ourselves. (The dress still fits.)

We had the honor of hosting a very small group of five in our home for our niece’s big 5-0.

Our church reopened with a newly remodeled building and the change of guard by loving our previous pastoral family all the way to the east coast and transitioning in of a new pastor.

Learning keeps our brains active – new recipes such as sour dough bread baking, testing our golf game, or teaching ourselves to play the flute. (That would be me – a surprise to me, Jay already knew how to play and needed to show me proper finger position .)

We’ve seen what a new normal would look like when traveling is not available. I can say, we have enjoyed our new and our normal.

I’m painting a picture that appears we live a life of zero chaos or struggles, trust me, they are there. Again, being a 7 and continually trying to live out my favorite verse, John 1:16, “…and from him we all received one blessing after another” I choose to place the blessings instead of the chaos in the forefront of my mind. We have thought and prayed for those younger families who have found their new normal trying to work from home and home schooling children at the same time; and those in a sandwich generation trying to also care for their elderly loved ones. For many those loved ones are in facilities and you weren’t able to even visit. Our hearts have truly gone out to you all. Most of us have lost loved ones and not been able to say our good-byes in the way we were accustom to which makes our mourning and grieving different. And, those who are fighting to keep their businesses going, we have not forgotten you.

We have missed seeing grandchildren more often since we’ve been home along with so many other loved ones.

However, we did manage to keep a couple Christmas traditions.

We’ve seen more innovation during this past year than many of us have seen in our lifetime. Technology has been our friend. Zoom meetings are the new normal. As one who telecommuted beginning in 2000, it has come a long way, thankfully so. Restaurants popped up tents in their parking lots and barcoded their menus for review on our telephones. Church went to Youtube and live streaming. Even half-marathons became virtual. And so many other innovative ideas have come this year that I don’t even know.

We learned how to not be in other’s space – six feet apart. For huggers, this has been quite difficult. But I feel like we are learning some manners as well as great appreciation of others. We are not assuming everyone wants to be hugged. We get the choice if we shake a hand or not; and an elbow or fist bump has become appropriate. We don’t know if a person has autoimmune issues and can be compromised these days. I wish I could say everyone is being respectful, however I think I can say most are. Probably best of all, we stay home when we are not feeling well!

Sports, there’s a subject. We love sports. That’s part of the adventuresome piece to the Harris’. One day a year it’s a house divided – Oklahoma Bedlam.

How do we bring that back? Do we bring it back to “old normal”? Today I read about neutrality, remaining neutral about certain things is not an option. Here’s one I’m choosing a side on, “No children’s sports on Sundays!” Again, we love sports, but I have and always will hate that families are having to make a choice of sports or church on Sundays in order for their children to be on certain teams.

Speaking of families, we have loved hearing the stories of so many families coming together better during this year. Families doing things together. Families sitting down to dinner with each other more. Families – brothers and sisters becoming each other’s buddies again. Families playing games together. That brings us joy.

Something new, do you not see it? It’s bursting out! Or, bring back old normal, please! Which one are you?

With our vaccines in our arms, covid tests taken and hopefully results back soon, tickets booked and bags packed, here we go again! Back to the island.

Which one will it be normal or new? The lionfish have had a year to multiply while Jay and I have been gone. Will there be more spearing? Our church is open and as one of our friends said, with new faces. What will be going on in Punda? Cruise ships? Will there be Punda Vibes on Thursday? Is the ice cream store open? (Please be open!) What new people will come into our lives? We can’t wait to see what the “New Normal” will be.

Maybe that’s what I really should have titled this blog, “New or Normal?” But, instead, Mama Mia, Here we go again! Curacao, we’ve missed you and can’t wait to see what’s new and normal.

Dios bendishona boso tur (God bless you)

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

“On the road home in the early spring, got our radio on, and all the miles are just running by. Like so many love songs, Jay and I, are on the road home. Thoughtless in our traveling, loving it in our souls. Oh, oh the river’s run so clear, oh oh the oceans from here to there. We’ll tell you our stories from the heart and from our bones, we’ll tell everything when we get home.”. A loose version of Heart’s “On the Road Home”.

From Boise to Bosnia and Brussels to Botswana; from Curacao to Caen to Croatia and back to Curacao; from Cape Town to Cairo; from Fort Lauderdale to Faro; from Grand Cayman to Georgia and Geneva; from Jordan and Jerusalem; from Matagascar to Marseilles and Montenegro; Portugal to Punda; from Sacramento to Slovenia to Seville, and all the way across Spain; Zimbabwe and Zambia. We’re now on the road home.

Plan C (see previous blog to read about plans A and B) was a flight that gave us less than six hour to spare in Panama, due to Panama’s announcement that no fights in or out will be allowed after 11:59 p.m. on March 22nd. Our connection left at 6:09 p.m. We were up for the challenge, then that flight was canceled.

On to plan D, American flight to Miami, Dallas, then home. Part of that flight canceled.

Plan E, the very last flight out to the US is what our neighbor heard, we are on it. Whew!

Curacao Airport, not good-bye, instead see you again soon.

Landing in Miami. The sounds from behind a mask was a greeting, “welcome home” from the passport control person.

We landed at LAX at 2:24 a.m. and our connection wasn’t until 6:45 a.m. We got out the lysol wipes and began cleaning a place for a little nap. The golden state has a chill in the air for us islanders.

Final destination, thirty hours later and one lost piece of luggage, Sacramento. We just had our first piece of luggage lost. Apparently, my luggage isn’t finished traveling. It decided to go to Chicago instead of coming home.

Needless to say we have a few credits on a few airlines to use this next year. That must mean our travels are not quite over. Hmmm…where will we go next?

I think I used this quote at the beginning of our trip, ” To dance when we do not know the steps requires us to value our partner above our performance.

Yes, we are on our way home, plan E style, and that quote never meant more than it does right now. We have been dancing this past couple weeks. God has guided this trip more than you will ever know. And we know He is still guiding as we maneuvered through the several airports we’ve gone through the past twenty-four hours. We have thought many times that we didn’t know why our adventures worked like it did until we were on the other side of that particular piece of the trip. Oh, the value of partnering with God. How about you, who’s your partner?

Our hearts are confused right now, we will be happy to see everyone, although probably virtually for the time being; and sad we are leaving our island we love so much.

Pastor John gave a beautiful prayer over us to send us on our way.

Thanks to Sister Marcia for taking these pictures and surprising us with them. I also have four new prayer pals via What’s App, Sisters Marlene, the Pastor’s wife and spiritual mom to this church, Marcia, Ruth, and Editha. Sister Ruth, would definitely be my Chichi on this island. She reminds me of my Aunt Betty who is the one who led me to the Lord. I have tears in eyes just writing about these special woman.

Sister Marcia and her husband, Ramirez. Ramirez translated each Sunday unless he preached. We really relied on him to get what Pastor John was saying. However, when Pastor John was sharing a joke or something else funny, Ramirez had a difficult time translating due to his laughter. That would be good enough for us. And, I kind of began understanding John’s jokes before I heard the translation.

Sister Editha, she is the sweetest (Dushi mashe) woman. I have a great story, I’ll be glad to share when we get home.

FYI, Ron Mitchell, I’m not sure how we are going to handle only an hour of church when we get home.

Jay’s commercial fishing business with Lisette lasted only a few days since our flights were changed again. Thanks to Jeroen (pronounced ooh-roon), the Diveshop owner, and Lisette, the best Lionfish hunter on Curacao, for helping to make our time on the island so enjoyable for us and all our guests. Also, my coffee mug was painted by a local artist and our neighbor, Melissa.

Lisette, along with her lionfish jewelry, sews. Such a crafty young woman. She gave me some pieces of material and a beautiful pair of earrings from some of the fins we gave her. So you know what I’ll bet doing as we’re sheltered in place – quilting.

We’re coming home. Toilet paper is packed

along with a few other essentials, and so many statistics. Are you ready? With one pen (RMCC Extend the Reach) in hand the whole year, we experienced

11 different airlines, 39 flight segments, 51,000 miles flying, 8 car rentals, 18 countries, 90 hotels/air bnb’s/vrbo, 9 oceans/seas, 5,000+ pictures, 21 visitors along the way, 167 dives for Jay, over 700 lionfish speared, 139 dives for me, 1,000 + miles on foot, 300+ sunsets, 12 full moons, and we don’t have a count on rainbows, waterfalls, and fireworks. And one lost piece of luggage. We are not going to count all the cancelations that occurred only these past two weeks. That’s pretty amazing.

We have so many to thank. Without them this one year away could not have happened. Just to name a few: Jeanne Wilson for taking care of our mail this entire year and making sure we saw the important stuff as well as storing a few items at your house. Bill and Pat Kelly, we can’t list everything you did, it was so much. Lee Fields and Phil Clevenger for starting our car every once in awhile to make sure all was okay with that. Ed Bourne for keeping the Comanche running well. Dale Horner for getting flooring in the condo after the flood we had while on the Camino. Mark, Vicki, and Trenton Williams for all the work you did to help sell the condo in Okc. Penny Crownover for selling it, hallelujah! Thank you, we are blessed to have you all in our lives.

There is a sign on the island that says, “Travel is the one thing you can buy that makes you richer “. Yes, we’re on the road home much richer.

I wonder if this is how an author feels when they type the last words of their book. Should I say, “The End”?

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Stardate – March 17, 2020: one year ago today we embarked on a journey we never imagined what it would completely hold. We began the journey with the following phrase and pictures:

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

That still holds for us today. We have loved sharing and hearing from you throughout the year. I think our travels have turned back the clock for us as well. Looking at our then and now pictures, we look a little healthier and not as tired for sure.

Packing was probably the most difficult piece to this puzzle. As we look at all that we started with, wow! Our belongings have dwindled. We sent quite a bit home after completing the very first destination. And we have learned this year how little a person really needs.

So, the big question this week: when are we getting home? How much longer will we be traveling?

We like to say, “Fluidity is key”. Let’s start at the beginning:

Plan A: We would end our year long trip the end of March with almost three months in Curacao by flying home via Panama.

Plan B: Jay teaches occasionally for an organization called DBIA. The organization called a mandatory meeting for all instructors in Washington DC. This meeting would be on March 16 and 17. So we booked a flight to DC thinking what a great way to add more adventure to this trip.

We would spend a few additional days visiting our nation’s capital by going to the air and space museum.

Spending a day at the National Archives.

We would have had a lovely dinner tonight celebrating our one year travel at my most favorite restaurant in DC, Marcel’s.

Part A of Plan B: On Thursday, the 19th, we’d fly to Florida to visit Mustifa, Susan, Alia, and her family. Alia just had a new baby and delivered in Florida, so it was going to be a wonderful opportunity to meet this new little bundle along with big brother.

When rumors of the virus began, we canceled our time in Florida as a precaution and decided to stay a few extra days in DC. (I think I call this part B of plan B)

On Friday, the 20th, we were flying from DC to Winnepeg to visit some friends who own a restaurant in Gimli near Winnepeg and possibly participate in some ice fishing. (Our conditioning for the cold was going to bed turning on the air conditioning, which we only have at night in the bedroom, to 18 celcius and taking the covers away from Jay). I think that would get him in condition for the cold.

Then we were training across Canada, stopping in Jasper/Baniff for a couple days, then home via Vancouver.

Last Wednesday, the 11th, Jay received an email from DBIA: “Meeting is now canceled until further notice”. Hmmm…..we began trying to get through to United Airlines to cancel the flight to DC. ….Still haven’t gotten through, the flight left last Saturday, the 14th.

That same Saturday night we got an email, “All trains in Canada have stopped services”. Hmmm….so we canceled all those reservations. Much much easier than getting through to United. Except for our Delta flight from DC to Winnipeg. it’s an over six hour wait to get through to an agent. With $.25/minute, we canceled online and will deal with refunds later.

Back to plan A: Stay in Curacao, fly home via Panama.

Since cruise ships have been banned from the island and all flights from the Netherlands are closed, we decided to go see a piece of the island we have avoided due to crowds.

First place – the aloe plantation.

Aloe Vera’s history can be traced back to the Southern Mesopotamia (Iraq) in 2200 BC as an important plant for healing purposes. Alexander the Great conquered an island known for its aloe in order to have it for medicinal purposes. Queens Cleopatra and Nefertiti used it for beauty treatments. And, it is said it was one of the plants used in the embalming of Jesus.

We also toured the Ostrich farm, which is a small zoo for the Curacaons.

As we were driving back from our tours and evening dive, we noticed the grocery store parking lot extra busy.

Then last night….Curacao’s government closed all airspace without an end date. Schools are closed, restaurants closed unless you have “take away”, churches closed, funerals can only have 10-12 people at a time. (Not sure how their funerals work here. I’ve seen where they have them and many people at each one.)

We could be going to plan C – we don’t know what that one is just yet.

So….Now that we are here for a little bit longer and the government has closed all restaurant unless they have “take away”, I went to buy some more groceries this morning.

Our stores have lots of toilet paper. Jay said we can send some to anyone who needs it. However, I think there must have been a run on the chips last night.

It’s getting serious around here now. How in the world are we going to eat our ceviche!!

In the meantime while plan C is being developed, Lisette has invited Jay to become a commercial lionfish hunter with her. I don’t think the Lionfish know what’s coming with these two hunting together in these waters.

When Martin Luther was dealing with The Black Death plague, he wrote these wise words that can help inform the way we approach things happening in our world right now…

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.”

The Prime Minister of Curacao said this:

During this time of self quarantine for all of us and social distancing, what are we learning? Of course, cleanliness, such as handwashing. For huggers, like me, we are learning it might not be the best way to greet or say good-bye to others. What are some of the other things we are learning during this time? Flexibility, patience, love and care for our elderly,

What are we leaning on? When our battles continue to rage with no end in sight, we can grow weary. Things and plans, such as plan A or B, that once ran so smoothly might not be working at the moment. What do we do? Self quarantine possibly gives us more time to spend with God in prayer. His word says, “..if my people, who are called by name, humble themselves and pray and seek my face, and turn from their sinful ways, I will hear from heaven, I will forgive their sins and heal their land”. Another promise in the bible is, “He gives power to the weak”. We have victory in that. As we seek God, he will give us strength and tenacity. He will give us a strategy, possibly plan C, to come out of this even stronger and hopefully wiser.

In the meantime, wash your hands, no more hugging, you fellow huggers, for awhile, be flexible and patient. Every life matters, so care for one another.

And until plan C comes to life, we are not in a bad place to be stuck.

So we will take good care of ourselves.

Sing His praise in different languages.

And dive. There are no viruses underwater.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

What’s been going? As I think back over the past six weeks, quite a bit has happened. So grab a cup of coffee or something fun to drink, sit back for a few and we hope you enjoy getting caught up.

First word – Celebrations! The question, have the celebrations found us or have we found the celebrations all over the world? Our time on Curacao has had its share of just that, celebrations.

We celebrated our twenty-forth anniversary February 10th with a morning dive and a wonderful dinner at Fort Nassau, a restaurant with one of the best views of Curacao and great food.

The Pastor, John Lont, at our Curacao church celebrated his 65th birthday. Jay and I were invited as his special guests. What an honor to experience a celebration with our Curacao church family. It was an evening of praise and worship music along with stories and entertainment. The children and youth group, called “Gang”, “God’s Annointed Next Generation” entertained us with songs and dance.

At the Punda Vibes Thursday, they revealed the additional hearts to lock your love on. The heart is one of the most photographed objects on the island. The original one has over 10,000 locks (one being ours) and now they needed to add.

With the Karnival king and queen at the new hearts reveal party. See the empty hearts in the background. The same artist that designed and built the first one was invited to build the additional ones.

Karnival occurred the last week of February. Curacao loves their Karnival. Yes, they spell with a “K” and/or “C” here. A week of parades and street closures. Generations of families gather together. They build their platforms along the road to take in the seven or eight different parades. If you are new to the island, be careful not to place your chairs or build your platform where families have built for years. This is big! For six kilometers, hand-built platforms on both side’s of the road.

We just stood in a blank spot for about 45 minutes. I’m officially old-the noise was too much for my ears.

We weren’t sure what we would see, however we were pleasantly surprised the costumes were not as revealing as those we have seen on other islands.

The third Sunday of each month a group of divers gather to clean the reef. I like to call that a celebration as well, “Making our waters cleaner celebration”. So much trash in our waters. Unbelievable! One of the dive shops on the island provides a boat, tanks, and sacks to pick up trash from the reefs.

This is from just one dive – 200 bottles, I forgot how many cans, yards and yards of fishing line, and one old toothbrush. Thank you, Bluebay for providing the equipment for the divers to be advocates for cleaner reefs.

I’m mixing it up a bit, Company – We were privileged to have some wonderful guests again helping make our time on the island even more memorable.

The first was a friend of Jay’s (and now mine too). They met at a Lionfish research expedition in Belize. Noella and Jay apparently had bathroom clean-up duty together when they weren’t counting and measuring lionfish on an atoll off Belize last February. It was a joy to be with her and her sister, Edith. They are both general practitioners in Canada.

Noella and Edith were with us when our next guests arrived, the real Mark and Vicki. We now call them 3-D Mark and Vicki. We were able to have a couple of dives together before Noella had to leave.

Flat Mark and Vicki had so much to tell the 3D’s. It was fun to see them together.

We can call the William’s trip a dive, eat, drink, and sleep week. Mark is a lionfish hunter as well, so I was able to enjoy Vicki, my new dive buddy and sister from another mother, to find all the other fun things underwater with an occasional lionfish, of course.

This is a sea robbin, part of the flying gnard family. This was my first time seeing this particular fish in the Caribbean. The four of us were diving probably the ugliest dive sites on the island. Talking about trash on the bottom of the ocean, I think this is where they dump everything. Unbelievable! Until….Vicki and I were off doing our own exploring and came upon two of these with their wings completely extended. I’ve read since the dive, we must have frightened them for that to occur. A great find and ending to an ugly dive site.

Our lesson – God gives us beauty in the ugly if we just keep our eyes open for what He wants us to see. I call that a blessing.

I had not realized how much I have missed these two until I had to take them to the airport.

But, not until we put our footprints in the sand.

….and they sealed their love on the island with a lock on the hearts and a picture on the bridge as well.

Our next guests, Bryan and Debi, were able to have an evening with the Williams before their departure. We greeted the Miller’s and gave the 3-D William’s a send off with a lionfish taco night while watching a gorgeous sunset.

This month Bryan and Debi are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. So, our three dushi neices and new nephew, Mary’s husband Michael, came as well. We had a great time with the whole family. Not only an anniversary, we also celebrated Mary’s Birthday with a Curacaoeon fruitcake. Delicious!

….And Beka’s first open-water diving after completing her diving certification.

My new dushi dive buddy, Beka.

Uncle Jay taught Annie how to clean lionfish and make ceviche. Annie’s a nurse, so dissecting and seeing what was in the belly became a little biology class. I don’t think it counts toward her CE’s though.

While Jay and Bryan were, yes, lionfish hunting and cleaning,

Beka and I were exploring. What a dive trip for her….and myself. I love showing new divers what there is to see – frog fish, turtles, seahorse, barracuda, big scary green moray eels trying to swim next to me, Ugh!!! (Not the word I used underwater when that occurred) And without a camera working, an eagle ray on Beka’s last dive during our three -minute stop. Oh well, best way to end a dive trip even if you don’t have a camera. Instead, the wise words from a two-year old, “take the picture with your eyes” and heart as you see it swimming along the sandy ocean floor.

By the way, a very long story about the seahorse. When you see us and if you would like to know it, just ask. Jay’s version could be a bit different than mine.

The yellow thing in the coral is the frog fish.

The whole family spent a day on a sailboat snorkeling around the island.

The family also spent some time locking up the love of the 30th anniversary couple along with their two-year married daughter and husband.

The five of us ladies spent some time in Punda painting a Chichi. Chichi – In Papiamento, its first meaning is “Big Sister”. However, chichi’s meaning has evolved refering to older women that young people hold in high esteem. Maybe it’s a favorite aunt, an older sister, your mom, nana, or a female family friend, if you turn to them for advice and guidance in Curacao, then they’re your chichi.

I’m fortune to think back on the many women in my life that I can call my Chichi. Who knows where I would be without those women who have mentored me.

Question, who are your Chichi’s? How about giving them a call and tell them how much they mean to you. Men, that means you too. Who are your Chichi’s in your life? Let them know.

Celebrations, Chi Chi’s, and Company – I think we covered it.

Two and half months on an island that has stolen our hearts. There is so much more to share such as our favorite dive friends. Lisette, who takes an invasive species disrupting our eco-system and makes jewelry from their fins.

Ruby, one of the Dive Shop guys. Ruby has the kindest heart. I will really miss this sweet spirit. Young ladies, he’s single!!!! Uncle Jay has his what’s app number.

Gina, the owner of the restaurant, Purinchi, who buys some of the lionfish Jay spears so I don’t have to eat them everyday. She is a pretty important person in my lifetime on this island. She is so friendly to everyone she’s meets. If we all could have that spirit.

And our newest friend, Captain Andy. Andy has his boat that is basically a rubber life boat. He took us out to a few rarely explored reefs. The beauty is what we remembered twenty-five years ago when we first began diving. Andy calls the reef prehistoric. I don’t think he was calling us old, only the reefs look like they did way back then. Thanks, Andy, for taking us out, the adventurous boat rides, and your great sense of humor you shared each day we were with you.

Curacao, the best kept secret in the Caribbean. Why the best? Hands down it’s the people. You can have island living on any island you choose, however you won’t find as kind and loving people there as you do here. And, with 82 dives each so far this trip and 396 lionfish speared (not including the ones that escaped out of the zookeeper) the diving is pretty good too.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Bon Dia! How can it be that we are in our final stages of one year of travel? How can we be greeted any better than with a sunset like this from our apartment just as we arrive in Curacao?

So far a couple things are different – a clean apartment with a normal owner. Although our apartment is stocked pretty well, it did need a few things to make it comfortable for our extended stay. After a big grocery store stop for all the essentials, our next stop, Kooyman, because as their moto says, “There is always something to do”.

And finally, day four…..

Lionfish! Yes, second verse same as the first. Jay doesn’t care if they are 17 inches or 2 inches, he is out to spear them all.

Ceviche and chips for lunch, grilled filets for dinner.

For several years I have chosen a word and a phrase to be my focus instead of resolutions. A couple years ago it was “health”. Last year was “rock”. My phrase was, “The LORD is my rock, He is inmovable and unshakable. He is bigger, greater, and provides more protection than any mountain we might climb this coming year.”

This year my word is “simple”. (For 24 years Jay has wanted me to choose the word “obey”…. yeah right.) Luke 9:3 in the message says, “don’t load yourselves up, keep it simple, you are the equipment “. The common denomitator throughout our travels in Europe, Africa, and Curacao have been how simple life really can be. We’ve seen the importance of greeting those you see, smiling at those you walk by, stopping to chat with people while having a cup of coffee, and having meals not only for sustenance, but as events with those you love as well. Taking time – keeping life simple, not crazy busy. It’s a pretty easy word to fulfill here on Curacao, but what about when we get home? How does one bring this type of lifestyle back to the states?

Our brother-in-law shared a story about one of his employees who is from Italy. His time card showed he was working until 6:30 each night. They called him in to inquire since everyone else left each day at 5:00. The gentlemen explained, “coffee breaks”. The Italians (and the rest of Europe) take time during the day for breaks. He was going over to Starbucks a few times a day, so therefore 6:30 was making up that time, not adding overtime to his time card.

Taking time – pretty simple to add balance and health to our lives.

How about you? Did you set a key word for yourself this year? Or did you declare any resolutions? How’s it going?

Awwh, life on Curacao is pretty simple. The most difficult thing is deciding what dive site to go to each day.

We have met up with many of our familiar faces, such as Gina, the owner of Purunchi, the restaurant where we can sell all the lionfish we don’t eat. Lissete, the Lionfish jewelry maker, Jeroen, the dive shop owner, and Melissa, the artist, now along with her parents, our neighbors.

Lissete has given out Jay’s number to those needing a dive buddy. We met up with a Canadian named Stephen, a construction guy in Toronto who escapes the cold weather in the winter, and now has the lionfish fever as well. Our last day diving with Stephen, they speared twenty-four while I spotted for them. That’s a record for Jay and Stephen. I would call that teamwork.

Many things on the island are just as we left it. Our favorite dive shop.

The iguanas pose for photos.

The flamingos sweeping their heads side to side filtering food from the mud and waters in the bay.

Our favorite Papiamentu words.

Sitting on our deck watching ships good by.

The full moon out our front door and sunsets from the back. It’s difficult to decide what sunset picture to add. Hey, there’s a sameness and a difference every evening, each sunset is unique.

And a frequent rainbow.

Our Coast Guard helping to protect the island.

Fireworks on Thursday off the shoreline in Punda.

Punda, vibrant in color and kind people.

The same amazing dutch donut truck at the same place cooking fresh Oliebollens.

The wandering street artists such as Jhomar Loaiza and Francis Sling are still spreading their love throughout the city.

And the best same, Victory Church. The same beautiful smiles, hugs, and voices. Oh, how we were greeted when we walked back in. It was like long lost family coming back home.

Interesting that the sermon involved setting a key word as your intentions for the year. He asked everyone to turn and share it with someone and ask them to walk with you and keep you accountable. Do you have someone walking with you? Amos 3:3 says, “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?”

Second verse, nearly the same as the first on the island of Curacao wouldn’t you say?

Our life is pretty simple here. I would even describe it as Dushi – eating lionfish most days, sleeping, diving, going to church, weekly date night downtown Punda, some light reading, long walks along the shore, and enjoying beautiful sunsets each night. There might not be much more to say about the island. So, with that said, after thirty-nine blogs written since March, 2019, I will be taking a break for a month or so.

A common phrase in Curacao, “too blessed to be stressed”. That’s us. May you be as well.

Until March, Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Happy New Year! We welcomed the new decade of the 20’s in Atlanta, Georgia at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

In 1996, a few months after we were married, we attended the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta, arriving the day after the infamous bombing. Talking about chaotic – rerouting of people in order to accommodate this new thing called bag screening and x-ray for our safety and to get into the events. Almost twenty-four years later, it’s hard to fathom not going through all that process to enter an event or airport. The Mercedes-Benz Stadium has “a no bag unless they are clear” policy. The world has changed, and it felt like that was a day that slowly began that particular type of change.

Prior to the Olympics, Atlanta gave people an opportunity to be a part of building the Olympic Park. Our first event of placing a mark on this world as a married couple was to buy a brick in Olympic Park. Oh, how exciting that was deciding together what to write on our brick. Twenty-four years later we went to visit our brick.

The security ladies, first, kicked us out of the area where our brick was, long story, then decided, after Jay spoke to their supervisor, to help us find our brick and take our picture.

Twenty-four years. Think back, what were you doing? How were you preparing for what you are doing now? What marks were you placing?

For us, we always knew we loved to travel. We took a week at a time, however most of our travels were long weekends. In 1996 we were working hard and, one of us, was working some pretty long hours. (Jay) Later my job became increasingly more and more until a few years ago my auto immune decided it had enough.

Twenty-four years ago, for the first time in my life, my auto immune was not cooperating. I remember having to take a nap under a highway bridge or in the park between the Olympic events.

This New Years we celebrated with 65,000 attendees, average age – twenty-four, along with 3,000 volunteers at a conference called Passion 2020. These young adults, many not even born at the time of the 1996 Olympics, and probably not born when Louis Giglio and his team had the vision of this amazing church and young adult’s event. This year’s event had more volunteers than there were attendees in 1997.

“What no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”….exceedingly abundantly more? I think so.

We had the privilege of sitting with our neice, Annie, and her longtime dance friend, sweet Mia. Pat Kelly, you and Mia could share clothes. She’s so tiny and as precious as the smile you see in the picture.

Jay’s sister, Debi, and brother-in-law, Bryan, were two of the volunteers this year.

Speakers such as Levi Lusko, John Piper, Christine Caine, Tim Tebow, Ravi Zacharias, and the one who hit it out of the stadium, Duck Dynasty’s, Sadie Robertson. Wow, that young lady is one speaker to follow. Jay and I love that these young adults have someone their age to follow. And, we learned from her as well. The music was, well….loud. Thank goodness for earplugs. This is where we did feel our age. However, the young adults worshipped to this music, and for us, that was the joyful noise.

Levi Lusko, a pastor from Montana, used the term roaring 20’s. He took us through a little blast of the past reminding us of the 1920’s, then some outcomes that occurred in the 1930’s, due to our actions in the 1920’s. The dustbowl was one of the largest natural disasters due to ignorance in our actions of the previous decade. Being an okie-at-heart, I never knew the full story of the dustbowl. (Remember, I slept through history.) Of course, Levi used my mother’s favorite phrase, “If you don’t remember the past, the past will repeat itself”.

Remembering the past is obviously important and, many times fun to remanice, however let’s not live in it. Let’s keep learning and improving.

He challenged those attending by asking, “What are you building your life on”? “How will what you are doing today and this decade affect the next one”? As parents and grandparents, I feel these questions are pretty relevant to us older folks as well. How would you answer those questions?

Christine Caine threw out some challenges of being committed. She said this generation has a bad reputation of no commitment. Her challenge was to commit to having real relationships and get off so much social media that is causing anxiety, depression, loneliness, and fomo. Commit to being involved in our communities, commit to actually going to church not internet church. Commit to prayer and reading your bible. She also reminded us of our real purpose in life is to love.

Sadie Robertson amazingly built upon Levi’s talk. She asked the questions, “What are you seeking? Where are you searching for it? And, when you have found it, how will you know”? If you have a chance, Google the YouTube of her talk.

Statistics say there are approximately 3,865 language groups in the world who have never had the opportunity to read or hear words from the bible. The Passion Conference’s mission was to raise money to help the organizations that interpret the bible into different languages in order to have it available to those language groups by the year 2033. Louis challenged these college-age people to donating one million to begin this new endeavor. Poor college kids, one million dollars, are you kidding!?

Exceedingly abundantly…..they donated 1,200,000!

Numerous times over the two and a half days in downtown Atlanta, Jay and I commented on how courteous, kind, and committed these young adults were. If these 65,000 are our future leaders, we’re feeling pretty good about our future.

With that, all the questions and challenges brought forth to ponder and act upon such as, What are you building your life on? What are you seeking? Where are you searching for it? And, when you have found it, how will you know?….. And a couple American fixes, off we go again.

Blessings, Jay and Kelly

Between the three puzzles (the third and most appropriate for our Portugal visit, the Tower of Belem) and relaxing we have done a few side trips. All the white buildings in each of the towns of Portugal are so fun to see.

About an hour and a half from our apartment is Huelva, Spain, best known for the site where Christopher Columbus set sail on the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. They have full-size replicas of each of the ships and how the village looked when they left that glorious day. After sleeping through many history classes and my mother always saying, “If you don’t know history, history will repeat itself”, I have enjoyed learning even a deeper meaning of what and why certain pieces of history happened. Admiral Columbus was a very intelligent and honored man. He surrounded himself with seafaring experts to make not only the one famous journey, but three successful journeys. It is told that he thought by traveling west they could reach and see the east.

Christopher Columbus’ remains are located in the cathedral located in Seville.

We ate lunch at a fun restaurant that makes good use of all their space – like bunk beds except dining tables.

For our Portuguese Christmas we are working in as many of the Portuguese traditions we can along with our own.

The three of us spent a day Christmasing at a couple of malls. Our stockings have been hung with great care and so it was time to see how they would be filled.

After shopping we settled into a Christmas movie at the mall. Yes, that’s 6.50 euro per ticket for an English speaking movie, popcorn, and drink. We can’t get that even on Tuesday senior citizens day at home.

Last week we shared that the Portuguese decorations in this area are pretty simple. They have a few traditions to share. On Christmas eve the family builds a presepio, which is a crib without baby Jesus in it. When they leave for Christmas eve service someone places the baby in the manger for when they come home, they see baby Jesus has been born. Jay didn’t build a presepio, however we do have our nativity placed and we found an English speaking Christmas Eve service to attend. The church, Riverside International Albufeira, was so tiny, and the most loving people – about 30 people at the most fit in this tiny place. The pastor spoke Portuguese and his wife translated to English. Unlike Curacao, the service was an hour long, however it did make us miss our Curacao church people when we heard the translating.

Another tradition is decorating the table with azevinho which is Portuguese for holly. Even before Christianity, it was a sacred plant in many cultures. It represents love, hope, and protection.

Christmas dinner is quite a bit different from our traditions, however as they say, “when in Rome”.

Balcahou, also known as salted cod, the most prominent ingredient in a Portuguese cuisine.

The cod plated beautifully, but, Wow, was it salty. Extra blood pressure pills for anyone who takes them when they eat salted cod. Thank goodness we chose to do this earlier than Christmas day. For Christmas dinner we made a Cioppino using a little bit of the salted cod.

After Christmas Eve Service we decided to do the “Christmas Story” dinner at a Chinese restaurant. It was really good.

Not a single Portuguese table goes without a Bolo-rei on Christmas. This is the Christmas dessert. It used to have a gift baked into it, like Mardi Gras’ king cake and whoever ate the piece with the gift had to supply the cake for the next year. For tradition, our table did not go without either.

Christmas in Portugal is about celebrating the birth of Jesus and what that means such as celebrating life, peace, and most of all, love. After all, God is Love. All throughout the year the Portuguese are affectionate touchy people. Men greet one another with a handshake and may pat each other on the shoulder. They will continue to talk while holding the hand and shoulder. When women are good friends and family they may walk around holding hands. Becky and I thought we would be a part of that tradition when we were shopping.

Although we did not experience this, Jay read a blog that said, “If an English speaking Portuguese person finds that you are English they tend to latch onto you and invite you to their homes to enjoy Portuguese food and hospitality”. You can definitely feel the kindness in the locals.

We spent a few days in Sevilla, Spain to add to our holiday celebrating. Once again, Game of Thrones was in our midst. The Alcazar Real is another place they filmed, season five is what I heard. It must be a theme for us these past couple months. The castle was built for the Christian King Peter of Castile beginning in 1287. The upper level of the castle is still used by the royal family as their official residence in Seville.

The Plaza de Espana was absolutely beautiful.

The Cathedral in Seville is the third largest in the world and the largest Gothic one. Legend says as it was being built the elders said, “Let us build a church so beautiful and so grand that those who see it finished will think we were mad”. They did do that, beautiful and grand. It’s difficult to take good pictures due to the enormity of this place.

Seville loves Christmas. There are Christmas markets everywhere beginning each evening in December with different themes. One is the nativities. Two blocks of nativities.

There is a market for children, and others showing different artists’ works.

The streets are decorated beautifully all throughout the city.

Flat Mark and Flat Vicki showed up for the festivities.

Nothing says the Christmas season like Spanish Flamenco dancing, right?

Maybe not, however Handel’s Messiah certainly does. It was the best Messiah concerto Jay and I have ever seen. Along with the twenty choir members on stage, when the words,”Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace” began members of several choirs were sitting on the sides, (200 choir members) stood up and sang with the twenty. Amazing! You can only image how the Hallelujah Choir sounded. Again, amazing!

There have been a couple places that we left pieces of our hearts this year, Spain is one of them. If I were a little more adventurous and we wouldn’t miss grandchildren, friends, and family, we would learn Spanish and move to Spain. Jay and I both love so many things about this country.

Christmas day we were back in Portugal – what a fun day. We began with a beautiful sunrise and Jay cooking pannetone bread french toast and eggs. Orange trees are everywhere so freshly squeezed orange is a daily drink. I like to have fresh squeezed pomegranate juice mixed in my orange juice.

We became hooked in Israel and here in Portugal we continued our new addiction. We used this juicer everyday for pomegranates and oranges. This might be our first purchase when we get home.

We opened gifts from our stockings. I think Santa felt I had been a pretty good girl this year.

The exciting part of the day was being a part of the sixteenth annual Santa Charity Swim in Armacao de Pera. The Portugal news media was covering the event.

Later that day we had the television on; low and behold, there we were on the Portuguese news.

Adding a little of our own tradition to the day that began 20 years ago – poppers on the Christmas dinner table, popped before eating, wearing the crown while eating, and sharing the jokes and trivia that comes inside the popper. This year the joke and trivia paper also had a charade to act out. We had enough poppers to have one at the Christmas dinner table and the breakfast table the next morning.

Our last day in Portugal with not a cloud in the sky and about 70 degrees was spent hiking, my favorite past time, near the lighthouse along the tops of the cliffs and caves we saws on boat a couple weeks ago. 16,000 steps- 62 flights of stairs and gorgeous views.

It’s a Christmas like no other for us with special moments abounding. It’s like one of my favorite verses, John 1:16. The message version reads, “We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift.” During this warm-hearted season and, throughout the year, may you cherish every moment and appreciate the time you spend with family and friends. It is important to the Portuguese, and hopefully important to each of us as well, to feel grateful having them in their lives. So hug them, kiss them, and show your appreciation for them as often as you can.

We are grateful for Becky to have come this far to spend the Christmas season with us and getting to know the Portuguese traditions along with us.

Blessings and Feliz Ano Novi (Happy New Year), Jay and Kelly