The Hills Roll On

We just got back from Athens a few days ago (LOVED the retreat itself, Athens was besides the point. I wrote up a story about it with some pics on our website, just click here if you’d like to check it out. I just put Eden down for the night and the apartment is quiet as I wait for Gavin to return with a few kids we’re watching tonight. We are quite involved this week with a wonderful series of seminars that are going on through the church. The first seminar is themed “Biblical Foundations for Finance” and the next one coming up this weekend is “Ancient Paths” (focusing on blessing and healing). We are privileged to host the leaders of the seminar (veteran missionaries from Madrid; they’re Americans so it’s been a treat to talk in English and glean from their lives, marriage and ministry). It’s just one of those times when you stand back and marvel that the Lord is so thoughtful towards you…this is EXACTLY what we needed at this time in our lives, in our marriage…we’ve been going through alot of honest examination of our heart attitudes towards finances. The times of prayer and ministry have been tremendous…I don’t think I can adequately convey it in this email. I think it’s just one of those things you have to experience for yourself.

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To me, Athens felt like New York City.  Sprawling, fast, scuzzy in a cosmopolitan kind of way.  It had everything you’d find in any major city center and then some.  Europe is notorious for being even more licenscious than North America; you especially notice it in the sexual if not flagrantly pornographic images on display for all to see.  Corner kiosks abound in Athens; kinda like a mini-corner store every 50 feet.  Very convenient for buying such necessities as chocolate, a newspaper, smokes, beer, etc.  All the products are jammed together around a little insulated hut where the seller takes refuge from the 1ºC temp of Athens in mid-January.  I’d found myself eyeing the chocolate bars on our first night in town and suddenly, WHOA!!!  Full frontal!!  Didn’t need to see that!!  It frustrated and saddened me on so many levels; the woman on the cover, the seller who placed it within the chocolate bars at children’s eye-level, the culture that condones it all….*sigh*

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Well for the first entry in this journal I figured I would write about my own experience at the 3 Kings parade. As we stood and watched the floats go by, with a 23 lb baby on my back I couldn’t help but think about the Santa Claus parades from my own youth. Seeing the kids all lined up along the streets just waiting for a glimps at the Kings. They didn’t have to wait long the Kings are near the begining of the parade, some of the older children wait for the candy then quickly run over to the next block in order to meet the parade again and thus maximizing their candy opportunity. With Eden on my back I was unable to bend over to pick up the candy, but it was more fun to watch as children swarmed my legs grabbing every bit of candy their little hands could get and then disappearing. I had plenty of smiles and Eden enjoyed the music from the floats so much she couldn’t help swaying to it. With her dancing on my back it made me sway as well. She is a darling and I enjoyed her excitment. As we walked down the street she would put her hand on my shoulder causing me to turn around wondering who kept touching me (it was like that game people would play on you when they tap the opposite shoulder than what they are standing behind). To top the night off it ended with some wonderful fireworks and an upset Eden. Well at least one of them was a good thing. So our 1st 3 Kings day parade was fairly exciting. Tara managed to get a fair amount of candies as well which of course tickled my fancy. So, all in all we had a good time. I’m not sure if we will experience another, so we enjoyed this one for what it was.