curlycountertop's Xanga

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 20:52:49 GMT

God is GOOD

Thanks again to all of you for being so kind to me, and for interceding for me before our Father in Heaven. He always proves Himself good, even though it takes bad things to contrast His goodness.
It is good to recuperate and feel better every day. Your continued prayers are appreciated very much.

Well, now I guess it's time to do some more 'recuperatin' ...

God bless you all !!!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:10:30 GMT

Glory to God!

Thanks to you all for praying for me.
Thanks for the cards which are so encouraging.
Thanks for all the nice comments on LRH's site.
Thanks for thinking about me - I can tell that you are!

Today's menu:

64 oz. of chilled Gatorade (Lemon-Lime) mixed w/ a bottle of Miralax.
Dulcolax tablets: 4, I think.
All the clear liquids I can handle.

I know it all sounds yummy,
but it will be good when I can get some fiber back in the diet.

God bless you all, and please keep praying for my family and me.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:53:50 GMT

Grandpa W goes to Eudora

So what's going on around here, young man?

"Waall, ya see, even though my brackets are napalm,

I'm not upset, especially since YOU are here!"

"Hey, was that your little sister I heard upstairs?"

"Wait a minute, Grandpa ... I gotta get modest first!"

"Please hurry, Daddy, and make me more presentable."

"Here's my elegant little wristwatch!"

This visit was too short, but I did get to see mellowmorton, mahalaleel, memmart, and two fine grandchildren -

not too shabby, I'd say!

"I'll just have to think about that one, Grandpa."

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:26:09 GMT

Philippine Trip - Part Three

When we last checked on CCT's trip progress we had just returned from Mindanao to Luzon by way of Cebu. We got back to Roger's place on Friday and had four more congregations to visit on Saturday and Sunday before leaving for America on Monday. By the grace of God, we made it!

Wanasen Women! May, on the left, with her daughter, Shekinah, in front of her. In the middle is a neighbor who comes to church with them, Geneva. Upper Right is the First Lady of Roger, Doris, and Quennie is on the lower right, a lovely daughter currently in med school to become a Doctor. Here they enjoy Sunday dinner at Kenny Roger's Chicken Restaurant .... yep, that Kenny.

Traveling on Sunday with the family during a lighter moment.

The debonair Hilario Ace "Tyson" Wanasen

These pictures were all from the first Lord's Day in the Philippines, but I saved them for last. The couple in the front is Rolly & Cora Abainza, and we will see their famous children soon.

A heartwarming moment for me: The children at Lagro memorized a children's song with several memory verses and Bible subjects included - and they did it in English for my sake.

Alright now, here's a first for me: A homemade video! Well, not made AT home, but made a long way from home by me, so sort of homemade. I am so sorry I don't get sound, but at least you can sort of see them move - they were charming!

That afternoon, at Rolly Abainza's home, we had a service and here are some of the children present: Che, a neighbor; and the three famous children of Rolly & Cora: R.J.; Amazing Grace, and Charmin Faith!

Now fast forward to the last Saturday of the trip: We drive up to Macabebe where we have an excellent study with the congregation there. This is the church that has had elders now for about three years and it progressing very well.

Here are two shots that give you a closer view of the group, if you can sort of stitch the two together in your mind:

Here you get a view of Charles Ross delivering a lesson as Roger translates at first, then summarizes later. Charles wanted to be sure he translated his first words especially.

"Meaning to say ... Smoking is a sin?"

Sign on the front of the Macabebe meeting house.

ON TO RESURRECCION:

Roger's home congregation.

The Wanasen Patriarch: Hilario M. Wanasen - still smiling and out to church several years after his stroke.

Hilario and Carmelita Wanasen, mother of his four youngest children.

"I know it was the blood, I know it was the blood .... "

Uncle Pedro Wanasen on his way to the hospital.
He waited until he saw me before checking in.

Sunday morning at Cabanatuan meeting in the place of Roger's brother, Enrico, and his wife, Dr. Jody Wanasen.

The last four meetings I had Jinny Cris Sarceda as my summarizer, and once as a translator. He did a fine job, I think.

Another view of the Cabanatuan congregation.

A new name written down in glory: Charlene Padilla arises from the watery grave a new person in Christ! Brother Enrico took charge as we witnessed the happy event!

Another shot of Enrico and Jody in their kitchen.

Enrico and Jody's son, Jonathan, on the left and his sister, Rose Marie, on the right, with Jody's mother next to her, along with an unknown young relative.

Jinny leans on the balcony of the second story at Enrico's place with the scenic backdrop.

Looking down from the balcony at Enrico.

Oh yeah, they pump iron sometimes.

Food good! Charles and Rolly eat after the rest of us - some of the world's finest mangos and bananas seem to go better with Coke, and of course, who can forget the rice? There are some Carmelita-made egg rolls along with a meat and potato dish - an especially fancy meal for us.

Our last meeting was Sunday afternoon at the Bulacan congregation where we received a very warm welcome. The blue-plaid brother in front of Charles Ross may have been the tallest Filipino we ever met. I wondered if maybe he might be half-Filipino, but didn't ask. A very nice group.

One last shot of the happy congregation!

NOW ... What about Japan?

Here we see Japanese agriculture, industry, and fishing all in one shot!

Not a real clear picture, but out the window of the Northwest Airline cabin you can see a white dot on the horizon which is Mount Fuji !

A distinct view of the peninsula out from Tokyo, where we landed going to and from the Philippines.

"Welcome to Japan"

Some cool Japanese artwork

And of course, who could forget origami?

Well, that's all I got - thanks for taking the tour with me, and I hope you enjoyed the taste of Asia. Thanks for all the prayers on my behalf, and continue to pray for these good brethren in the Philippines!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:35:37 GMT

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

~~~ DEAR ABBY ~~~

Love,
Dad

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:51:25 GMT

PART TWO of my trip to the Philippines ...

We were in South Cotabato when we finished the first part of this report, and now we move on to the western side of Mindanao with the help of the Lord and our faithful body guards.

Sammy & Shirley Facun, a lovely couple from South Cotabato. He offered a closing prayer at one of the meetings which provided me with a great deal of comfort. They also had us over for a meal one evening.

Here Roger is preaching at President Quirino - this picture should have been in part one, but it gives you an idea of what he looks like up in front of the assembly. I would give my lesson first, and then he would follow up with a summary. He said he enjoyed this style and could go with my ideas and present an edifying lesson. I prefer this method also as it allows him more freedom to put thoughts into his own words, and I don't have to stop every sentence and wait for a translation.

After leaving South Cotabato and traveling most of the day, we had a very nice meeting with these brethren in Cagayan de oro. They loved to sing from the Red Books and asked if we could send them some more. We spent the night in a motel there before heading to Lantian the next morning.

Here is the place of Jun Tobias and his wife, Joy, and their three children, Phoebe, Samuel, and Roman Roger. We are relaxing outside one morning before the children went off to school. Who can pick out the bodyguards?

On Sunday morning, we had a good meeting at Camanga, a congregation that meets right by the side of the road separated only by a sheet. It did get a bit noisy from traffic, and then to make sure we didn't go overtime, the place across the street started piping in religious music (I had to ask if it was religious).

On Monday we had a morning and afternoon meeting with the Siay congregation. It was well attended by preachers from the area. Can anyone pick out Roy Tutterow in this group?

This is Sis. Pacita Peralta, a faithful sister who we have helped before, and were able to help again with reading glasses. I think she is a sister or an aunt to Sonny Tobias.

Here are some of the Tobias men: Sonny, the patriarch; his son, Jun, with his son, Roman Roger in front of him; Wilson Tobias, and Jason Tobias, both are sons of Sonny, also. Wilson brought his M-16 to accompany us to Siay, and it was no small comfort. By the way, Wilson is also looking for an American pen pal.

Ahhhh, a Sunday drive on the tricycle with Jun, Samuel and Roman Roger. Roger is sitting behind Jun on the bike, while Joy is sitting behind me in the side car with daughter, Phoebe. Seats 7 comfortably, I think.

Here is Phoebe sandwiched between her cousins - lovely girls but didn't catch the spelling on their names.

After our visit in the Tobias area, we headed to the northern areas of Mindanao to Oroquieta City and visits with three churches there. On the way, we had a lovely study at the place of Joy's parents. My picture of that meeting came out too dark to show here. This is the first church we visited outside of Oroquieta.

The second church we visited was called Bunga, which means 'fruit' in their language.

Roger enjoys the treats prepared for us by the sisters, while brother Mareno looks deceptively relaxed while he munches away. The brown thingies were a lot like donut holes, and the other items were variations on a rice theme. Brother Maraquet ("beautiful") serves from the cooler.

Some of those in attendance that day, including our van driver on the right. He did a fine job for us, at a reasonable rate. He was glad for the work, too.

Brother Olympio Lumacad ("walk") and his lovely family. We had an evening meeting there, and afterwards were able to help them buy the cement to get a floor for their meeting house (about $50).

Leaving Mindanao was not as easy as we thought it would be. The weather cancelled our flight so we went to Plan B: The SuperFerry from Osamis up to Cebu where we were assured of catching a flight back to Manila. It delayed us about a day, but we only missed one appointment and had a nice adventure in the process. Roger is pointing to the lights of Osamis as we steam out of the harbor - too dark to see it clearly.

The Super Ferry accomodations were very nice - we shared a cabin with four other Filipinos and had a nice comfort room. This gentleman was a great companion, and we enjoyed his company along with some good religious discussions. Our voyage took 11 hours to complete, most of the time spent in rest in the comfortable bunk bed.

When we arrived at Cebu, we bought tickets and checked on our refund status for the cancelled flight from Mindanao. We received excellent service and were able to get back to Roger's later that afternoon.

On the flight to Manila, we met not_tamika's Filipino twin - she was nice to converse with and we were happy to have met her.

Coming back to Roger's place we met up with Charles Ross, who arrived after I did but had already been out visiting congregations with Jinny Cris Sarceda and Rolly Abainza. He handles the Philippines well and serves the brethren faithfully.

I tried to get a banana leaf and rice plant for muchado, but this is the best I could do because of time and space constraints.

Speaking of, this will do it for Part Two - One more installment should cover the trip - join us again for more excitement from the Phillipines.

Maraming Salamat Po!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:39:21 GMT

Highlights from the Philippines

God granted me an encouraging visit in the Philippines from February 1-18, and it is good to back home again! Thanks to all of you who prayed for and thought about me while I was over there. Here are some actual photographs for your viewing pleasure and some informational benefit, too!

Jared Canto, a loyal follower who is on the 'Timothy' track.

We were stopped at a pineapple stand on our way from General Santos City to Jared's home where we would spend our first three nights on Mindanao.

Long rows of pineapples for sale...

... and for sampling - Tony Canto, father of Jared, offers some pineapple spears to the rest of his comrades.

Jun Tobias, Tony Canto, Bro. Fernando, Roger Wanasen, Berogelio Fontanilla, and Sonny Tobias pose with our 'hope' for transportation to the churches in the area.

This faithful brother was a great help out in the kitchen.

This sister shows us how it is done: a knife mounted on wood that you can sit on while you make coconut flakes for Filipino delicacies.

Easily mistaken for the latest Filipino 5 album cover, these are actually five good brethren who accompanied us on our visits. This was taken on the Canto's front porch.

Roger converses with Tony's father before breakfast one morning.

The first congregation we visited on Mindanao - Poblacion President Quirino.

The next morning at the Malingon congregation - a Muslim community.

Tony's wife, Priscilla, and two local teachers next to her along with other eager listeners that morning.

The men are just as interested as the women in listening, though not as giggly during picture taking.

After the meeting at Malingon.

The Bannawag congregation - see the stairway to heaven on the blackboard?

The New Cuyapo congregation.

The Kalahawe congregation

You often find Filipinos who remind you of American brethren. There is comfort in this, especially when you are away from Americans. Whenever I looked at this young man he reminded me, in spirit and in some facial features, of mellowmorton's sister - and that was a comfort!

The Mangilala congregation, where they are close to having elders qualified to serve.

Brother Gabriel Bravo with his first lady and their granddaughter -

what a cutie!

Brother Gabriel gave me a very special present - the Filipino Bible on CD for the computer. Several different versions. Can you believe that he is deaf?

Brother Isaac Valdez and his first lady and two sons - we spent one night at their place before leaving their part of Mindanao for the western side of the island.

Our faithful bodyguards ... Ariel (the Lion) Acha, a delightful brother in Christ ...

... and brother Moreno Marques, a godly man with his eyes always open for danger.

Here is Brother Moreno and his wife, with the rest of the sisters who helped with the delicious meal that day.

STAY TUNED....

For the exciting second half of the journey on our next installment. Until then, God bless you all, and thank you again for your prayers and for your love for our brethren in the Philippines!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 06:39:25 GMT

Mabuhay (or Hello) everybody !!

     I don't really like posting without pictures, but isn't there some kind of a saying that a thousand words is worth one picture? Or maybe not.  Well, I just wanted to post from the Philippines and let you know I made it here safely. One way to get here from there; you fly about 1 hour and 15 minutes from St. Louis to Minneapolis after a snow/ice weather delay in the former city. From Minneapolis to Tokyo you can expect to be in the air for about 12 hours, flying over Canada and Alaska and seeing some cold white blankets of snow over mountain and plain. Then from Tokyo Narita's new international airport is about 5 more hours to Manila.
      When standing in line at customs in Manila, the woman right in front of me pulled a Mr. Bean and took off her long sleeve shirt without taking off the short sleeve shirt on top. Going from cold weather to hot weather will drive a person to such stunts. It reminded me of the skit where Mr. Bean goes to the beach and in order to avoid being seen by the man on the beach, he manages to put on his swimming trunks and take off his clothes at the same time, only to find out the man on the beach was blind. Ha ha, you say, but then I looked over at the man in the customs line next to us and he had the white cane !
      Today was the Lord's Day and it was a treat to meet with the Lagro congregation! At the end of the services, the children treated us to a Bible song that contains the books of the Bible and a memory verse for every letter of the alphabet - and they sang it in English with their little Filipino voices! Wish I had a video WITH sound of the event!   Afternoon service with Rolly Abianza's congregation not far away went real well. Rolly and his wife have a son and two girls (one lalaki and two babai) - the boy has the inconspicuous name of R.J., but his sisters are named Amazing Grace and Charmin Faith.   I don't know if they were running low on bathroom tissue while singing church hymns or what, but their choice of names is so Filipino creative.

Thanks for all your prayers, and please continue.
CCT signing off from the Philippine Islands.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 09:56:07 GMT

Here's some cool pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Maybe we HAVEN'T seen it all .....

First we take a look at the new babies .....

Babies gotta eat, y'know.

Babies gotta have somewhere to sleep, too!

Speaking of cats .....

Here's a right stylish one.

Here's an example of good cat oral hygiene.
Kitty says, "Don't forget to brush, and please don't LITTER!!!

Some sushi would sure taste good right now.

This picture says caption contest - what do you think?

Now let's give the dogs their due ...

Four legs good, two legs better!

Horton lays an egg, I guess.

And Now
from the wide world of animal sports .....

Here's a budding tennis star that has so far gone under the radar.

John McEnhamster's the name - pretty fiesty little - I mean, BIG guy!

This mare tried to make it in racing,

but no one took her seriously ... for some reason.

Bicycles are good for getting exercise as well as saving gas.

This was one of the prototypes which never quite caught on.

When biking, this course is NOT recommended.

In automotive news,

we see some innovative designs from Volkswagen:

It's probably tougher than it looks, but it doesn't look like it would work in the sub-zero temps we have been having.

Animal lovers will come out of their shells with this deceptively fast turtlebug.

New on the menu at Denny's.

I know - this guy is surfcruising!

Transportation can come to a screeching halt sometimes ...

Fancy meeting you here!

"I run this business like I ran my ship"...

... aground

Always be sure to distribute the cargo on the ship EVENLY!

Bad news in the economy ....

Problems in the housing sector ...

Century 21 says nobody wants this property for some reason.

"We are NOT cutting that tree down; do I make myself clear?"

At least this guy has found some work ....

Repetitious and boring? Yes.

But he sticks with it.

"You want a raise???"

Friday, January 04, 2008

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:27:27 GMT

Some Famous People and

Fascinating Places along the journey of life ...

Mr. & Mrs. Dubois way back when ......

Mr. & Mrs. Dubois aged to perfection.

Corydon, home of some lovely folks, a cool blue house, ... and a TransVan!

Here is the Arctic Frog, the cute little sister of the Little Red Hen.

ELDRAD MUST LIVE !!!!!

Another shot from the blue house:
Eldradmustlive, CCT, Arctic Frog, and not_tamika pose for a cozy shot.

The Fam at Pleasant Hill around the time JennaLynn's folks got married.

Memmart's 5th Birthday was a real happenin' event!

The famous Eminence interview with Rocky Woody.

   "How many fights ya been in, Rock?"
   "a hunnerd"
    "How many did you lose?"
    "a hunnerd"
    "How do you explain that?"
    "Can't win 'em all."

    "What's your trickiest punch, Rock?"
    "My left hook."
    "Well, what's so tricky about that?"
    "I use my right hand."

And then they became drivers ... the 1980 Volvo Tank that was driven by four and a half young drivers. Not_Tamika created the first license plate: WILT 97
(Will It Last Till 1997)

Muchado makes her appearance at a Russell wedding ...

... and years later at the Morris/Rogers nuptuals.
You may spot some familiar folk in the background.

Some fine men at the same wedding ... Father of the Bride, Mike;
Tim Morris, Joe Griffin,
Father of the Groom; Mark;
Paul Morris and CCT.

CCT with SpeakGreek at a Kansas City wedding.

Say, isn't that the Caminator, Camchop himself?

Up north with the sisters at Heyworth, plus Muchado, Tom and Ann Dennis -

Goodtimes!

Further north at Itasca, SpringsTruth took this nice shot of
Sir & Mrs. McSpongebath. If you go visit Itasca, you will see a lot more of the fine photography she has done over the years to chronicle visitors.

On a trip back from Bolivar, PA, Tikvah, Variety and CCT stop in Springfield, OH, for a visit to Aunt Betty and Uncle Charley.

Sign created for the Fetters Cafe in Seymour, IA.
Not sure if it helped or hindered business.

All right, grasshopper, we see you.

Thanks for taking the trip with me!