Taste and See

During our recent cruise, one of the highlights of the day was dining in the elegant Monet Dining Room each evening. It was like going to the kind of upscale restaurant that we never would go to under normal circumstances. There were beautifully set tables, and waiters hovering over you. The meal would begin with the waiter asking you which of the starters you would like. I enjoyed getting to try new things. Sometimes I couldn't make up my mind and I would order two. Every night there were new tastes awaiting to be tried. Whether it was the Asparagus Veloute, the Tropical Fruits, the Bing Cherry Soup, Roasted Eggplant on Puff Pastry, or the Gazpacho Andalouse, I was never disappointed. I enjoyed getting to taste and see what these dishes actually tasted like.


OUR WAITER TOMISLAV AND GINA

After the starters, the waiters would clear away the dishes and reset the table for the entree. Tommy and Anna took such good care of us. Tommy's real name is Tomislav, but when he is working he goes by Tommy. He is from Croatia, as he says, from the crazy Balkans. Anna is from the Philippines. She had to leave her son at home with her mother to be able to work on the cruise ship. She gets to go home every 8 months. Tommy offered us many different entree options each night. Once again it was great to be able to taste new things that are never available in my hometown.


ANNA AND I

When time came for the desserts, there were always many yummy options. One of my favorites was the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake. Other great desserts were Black and White Bread Pudding, Peach Grand Mariner Mousse and Baked Alaska.

My Daddy wasn't quite as impressed by the gourmet food. He would much rather eat in the buffet. He seemed to be quite suspicious of the food. Each time he was served he would carefully look his plate over as if trying to determine what it was. His favorite dish was the self serve soft ice cream that was available 24 hours a day.


DADDY ENJOYS HIS YAM POT PIE

I really enjoyed the food on the cruise ship, but I would never have known if I hadn't tasted it. God offers us the marvelous menu of life, and asks us to taste and see if it is good. In Psalms 34:8 the Bible tells us, "taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him". I really like this verse. God doesn't ask us to blindly follow him, he says taste and see that I am good.

Some people think that Christians blindly follow God, and that faith means believing with no evidence. God provides us with evidence and then asks us to trust him. When Paul and Barnabas were speaking to the people of Lystra they said, "God never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness". (Acts 14:7)

God has given me lots of evidence that he exists and that he is good. With that evidence it isn't hard for me to have faith in Him even though I can't see him.

In Hebrews 11:1 it says "faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being certain of what we do not see". God tells us to taste and see that he is good so that we can be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we can't see.

There is a Petra song from the 70's titled Taste and See. I haven't heard it for a long time, but the words go like this.

Taste and see that the Lord is good
He's got milk and honey for you
Come and dine at the Master's table,
He'll serve bread and wine to you

Well you tasted this and you tasted that
But you still ain't satisfied
You'll never find any peace of mind
In those empty things you tried

Don't be afraid of tasting something new
Your soul is hungry, nothing else will do
The bread of life will keep you satisfied
You won't go hungry or ever be denied

Taste and see that the Lord is good
He's got milk and honey for you
Come and dine at the Master's table,
He'll serve bread and wine to you

I challenge you to taste and see that the Lord is good.

P.S. Today is my son Gavin's 23rd birthday. Happy Birthday Gavin!!

A Really Useful Gift

For Christmas, Cynda and Dave gave me an unusual and very interesting gift. How many people can say that they got a gift for Christmas that changed lives? (A new PS3 doesn't count).

The gift was gift cards from the ADRA's Really Useful Gift Catalog. The catalog is full of projects that you can use the gift cards to donate to.

The basis for ADRA's existence, its reason for being, is to follow Christ’s example by being a voice for, serving, and partnering with those in need.


ADRA seeks to identify and address social injustice and deprivation in developing countries. The agency’s work seeks to improve the quality of life of those in need. ADRA invests in the potential of these individuals through community development initiatives targeting Food Security, Economic Development, Primary Health and Basic Education. ADRA’s emergency management initiatives provide aid to disaster survivors.


The project that I chose to use my gift for is to provide a food box and family assistance visit in Moldova. The Republic of Moldova is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with a poverty rate of 48 percent. By giving to the project ADRA will give a struggling family a food box containing essential food and hygiene items. This box will be delivered to their home by a social worker, who will assess their needs and connect them to service agencies.

Moldova is a newly independent country that declared it's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union annexed Moldova during World War II. After the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991, energy shortages contributed to sharp economic declines. During the last decade little has been done to reduce the country’s vulnerability. After a severe economic decline, social and economic challenges, energy uprooted dependencies, Moldova continues to occupy last place among European countries in income per capita.



Think what we could accomplish in the world if instead of giving gifts that will gather dust or add useless clutter to someone's life, we would give gifts like this that will make a difference in the world.

Y Is For Yellow

It's time again For ABC Wednesday. If you aren't participating in ABC Wednesday, you are missing out on a lot of fun.

My post for today is a little lame, but It is what I came up with. Y is for yellow.



This photo was taken in a plantation home. This stairway was small and cramped compared to the grand stairway in the main part of the home. This stairway at the back of the house was for the servants. I was captivated by the warm yellow glow and the shapes.



My family thinks that I take a lot of weird pictures. When I have my camera out, everything is fair game. As my wife was frying an egg, I just had to take a picture. Yeah, it is probably weird.



And you thought the last picture was weird!



This picture was taken at the Bluebonnet Swamp in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is a beautiful bit of swamp in the city limits that has been turned into a park with a visitors center and boardwalk so you can walk through the swamp. It is beautiful year round, but especially in the fall.



A soft focus close up of a yellow flower



In Belize, the inexpensive drinks are packaged in a plastic pouch. The yellow of the drink really draws you into this photo of a beautiful young school girl at the New Horizon SDA School in San Pedro, Belize

I hope the "yellow" has warmed you a bit on this cold winter day.

Back Home Again, Again!

Hey it's good to be back home again, yes it is. The old John Denver song really expresses how I feel. The last few weeks have been amazing and a lot of fun, but it sure is good to be back home again. We arrived back home from our cruise on Sunday the 28th, had 3 days to regroup, and then headed for Baton Rouge on New Years Day to see the grandkids.


AUTUMN WAS HAPPY TO SEE US

We stopped in Shreveport to pick up Autumn who had spent a few days with David's folks. When we got to Baton Rouge that evening, we celebrated Christmas with Cynda, Dave, and the girls.


WAKE UP PAPA

Friday noon we went to a wonderful; restaurant called ZEA's. In the afternoon, Gina and Cynda went shopping for scrapbooking supplies. Cynda has really gotten into scrapbooking. If you are interested you can see her scrapbooking site. She has gotten Gina interested, and Gina just started her own site.


AUTUMN SLEEPING ON GRANDMA

Autumn always wants to sleep with Grandma. Grandma would lay down with her until she went to sleep, and then get up. Autumn figured out how to keep Grandma with her. Just sleep on top of Grandma.


CYNDA AND DAVE CELEBRATE THEIR 7TH ANNIVERSARY

Saturday night Cynda and Dave went out to celebrate their anniversary while we kept the kids. They had a great time. People at the restaurant asked them if they were dating. We had a good time with the girls. We took them to the Himalayas Restaurant. Himalayas features an Indian and Nepalese menu. Autumn loves the Palak Paneer. My favorite is the Navratan Korma. Himalayas is Cynda and Dave's favorite restaurant in Baton Rouge. The owners love to see Autumn eat there. Not many kids her age will eat food that is unusual. Autumn will eat an adult portion of the Palak Paneer.


REBEKAH AND POOH TAKE A BATH

After eating at Himalayas, the girls needed baths. They enjoyed their baths, and we thought they would settle down and go to bed. They were way to excited for that. It was midnight before we got them to sleep.


REBEKAH DRIES OFF

Gina and Cynda had to take advantage of one more opportunity to shop for scrapbooking supplies on Sunday morning. After they were finished we got around and headed for home. It was after 1:00 when we left. We arrived home about 9:30, and yes it's good to be back home again.

Back Home Again

We had a wonderful time on our cruise. We made it back home Sunday evening. I have been so busy that I haven't had time to post anything. We are leaving Thursday morning to go see the grandkids and have Christmas with them.

Here are a couple of photos that we had taken on the ship. I haven't had time to go through my photos yet.


GINA AND I ON FORMAL DINNER NIGHT


FAMILY PORTRAIT

Gavin enjoyed the karaoke the had on the ship. Here is a video of him singing Come Together.



More to come later!

Our Christmas Letter

When I was growing up, Peanuts was my favorite comic strip. I loved Charlie Brown and the gang. In this short clip, Charlie Brown asks, "isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about"? Linus has the answer.

Gina wrote a Christmas letter to include in our Christmas cards. I thought I would share it with you.

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s that time of year when we bring you up to date on what’s been going on in our neck of the woods. This year has flown by so I’m sure that we have been busy, but the year has pretty much been uneventful.


STEVE, BERTA AND I IN THE BELIZIAN JUNGLE

In March we returned to Belize with Berta and Steve. We had a wonderful time once we got there. A snow storm in Dallas delayed us one day, then thunderstorms in Belize delayed us another. If you are going to be stranded in an airport for 24 hours the newly remodeled Dallas Airport is a good one. We just made an adventure of it and had a good time. We had a great time snorkeling, fishing and visiting with church members in Belize. The day we left they had another storm in Dallas, so we had to fly home via Miami. Then the next day we flew from Miami to Atlanta to Dallas. There is nothing like taking the scenic route.


GAVIN AND RACHEL

Gavin graduated from Southwestern Adventist University in May with a degree in Radio, Television and Film. This year he is back at Southwestern working on getting a teaching certificate. He is dating a young lady named Rachel, who we love.


REBEKAH TURNS ONE

Autumn and Rebekah celebrated there birthdays in October. Autumn turned three and Rebekah had her first birthday. There is nothing in this world better than being Grandparents.


AUTUMN BLOWS OUT HER CANDLES

David is still teaching at a technical college in the Baton Rouge area and Cynda is working at a nursing home as a speech pathologist and rehab director. They really have there hands full with work and those two little girls.


THE GRANT FAMILY EXPERIENCES SNOW

Richie and I keep busy as usual with work and the church. I’m also volunteering at the hospital one day a week to keep me out of trouble. I really enjoy it.


GINA AND I

This year we are skipping Christmas. Richie, Gavin and I along with Richie’s folks are going on a cruise for Christmas. Cynda, David and the girls will be spending Christmas with the Grant Family so……..we decided to skip it in Cozemel, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay, Jamaica.


We leave December 20th and return home the 28th. So while you are sitting under your Christmas tree think of us sitting under a palm tree. We’ll be thinking of you.



Much love,

Richie & Gina

Christmas With The Kranks

Last year we had a wonderful Christmas. Everyone was home for Christmas, my kids and grandkids, my sisters and their families. There were over twenty of us for Christmas.


LILLIE AND AUTUMN CHRISTMAS 2007

We had a wonderful time visiting. It had been a long time since we had all been together. It was very busy and a bit chaotic.


PHOTO BY JEANNIE AMOS

This year no one is coming for Christmas. Gina and Mom got together and decided that since no one was coming for Christmas, we should go on a cruise. By September we were booked on a Caribbean Cruise over the week of Christmas. The cruise leaves from Galveston, Texas, and stops at Grand Caymen, Cozymel, Mexico, and Montego Bay in Jamaica.

We are not quite as serious about it as Luther was in the movie, Christmas with the Kranks, but we have not decorated or even put up a tree this year. If anyone decides that they are coming home for Christmas, we won't be here.

We will be in Jamaica soaking up the warmth of the sun.