For various reasons I was asked not to tell too many people that I would be spending thanksgiving with the rest of the missionaries in the Eurasia region in Turkey. Now that Thanksgiving is over I think it's safe to mention that fact and to elaborate on my experiences a little.

I left Germany on Wednesday evening where it was below freezing with a blanket of snow covering the whole area. I didn't get to the retreat center until after midnight so I missed seeing a magician the first night that was the source of several jokes through out the week. The next day was beautiful several people were swimming in the Mediterranean sea (I waited until Saturday, which happened to be the coldest day of our stay, to do the same). The event organizer arranged for our group (which happened to be mostly Americans) to have a traditional thanksgiving dinner complete with Turkey and pumpkin pie.

Friday I had the opportunity to go into the city of Antalya which was about 45 min from the retreat center. I still can't get over the oldness of this part of the world. While we were there we passed through Hadrian's Gate which was built in 130 AD. You could still see the grooves in the stones from centuries of carts passing through the gate.

Every day we started and ended with devotions and worship. It has been a long time since I've had the opportunity to get away from everything and just focus on God for a few days. I personally felt that God spoke to me about a few things; encouragements and corrections to my attitude. I won't get into it here, because this post is already too long, but if you ask me I'd be happy to talk with you about it. All told it was a wonderful time of relaxation that ended all too soon.

The last few weeks have been busy though not hectic. We taped a few projects while we were in Turkey and we have been working on getting those done before Christmas so that we can get a head start on things when we return in January.

I can't wait for Christmas and I can't wait to get home. I love what I am doing here but haven't seen my family in six months and am looking forward to seeing them and friends. I fly in on December 22 and leave again January 6 which makes for a quick trip, but I'll get to see just about everyone I want to if things work out as planned. By the way; I will be at PazNaz on December 28, if you're around stop me and say hello.

That's all for now. See you soon.