Eden Nature Park

We recently went with a friend to a nature park about one hour from the city. It is called Eden Nature Park.

So, the saying goes, "move to Davao and you are between Paradise and Eden!" (Paradise Beach on Talicud Island, Eden Nature Park one hour outside of the city.)

It really is beautiful. I am continually amazed and awed at all God has created for us to enjoy here on earth....and it is only a shadow of things to come in Heaven!

Enjoy the pictures!

Better yet, come visit us and we'll take you up there to see for yourself all the beautiful handiwork of God!

Mikayla, Kirsten, and Ben under beautiful flowers!

Stream!

The colors of flowers here are so vibrant, pictures don't do them justice!

This is called a 'Spirit Tree'; I'll blog more on that later.!

Our kids by bamboo!

Our kids standing on a rock; a good reminder that our lives should be founded on The Rock!

Religious Freedom

Frequently, the malls here have praise and worship songs playing mall wide. One mall in particular also has times of prayer. An announcement is made on the PA and all clerks and most shoppers stop what they are doing to follow along in the Lord's Prayer.
Another mall doesn't open it's doors until prayers have been said over the PA speakers out in the parking lot.
The religious freedom here is really refreshing.

That's Bear Not Beer!

Yet another surprising revelation in the Philippines. During our Cebuano language lesson this morning I heard our language teacher say the word beer, as in the drink (which is an English term that has crossed into Cebuano). That caught my attention because she pronounced it like we would pronounce "bear" (as in grizzly bear) in the states. I asked her to repeat it. Again it came out as "bear" to me.

So I asked her, "Do all Filipinos pronounce beer like 'bear'?" She replied that they do. I then asked her, "So when we call our dog Bear, everyone here thinks that we named our dog after an alcoholic beverage?"

"Yes!" she said.

Well, that ought to make our Christian witness a little colorful, to say the least!

Kitty Rescue

A kitty was out on the street meowing a sad cry one night last week. Mikayla and I watched the kitty for about 15 minutes, debating if we should rescue the kitty but then the momma cat came and got her kitty.
But a day or two later the kitty was once again in the street in front of our house meowing a pitiful cry. The Momma cat never appeared.
So we brought the kitty up on to our veranda, washed out her eyes, fed her...and now, have adopted her.

Mikayla with her answer to prayer!

The kids are so delighted with her. Her name is "Taters".

I had suggested "ATP" or "TAP" ("Answer To Prayer" or "The Answered Prayer") because Mikayla especially had been praying for a cat.

Taters!

One of the hardest things for our kids to do in preparation for moving overseas was giving up their cats.

Taters!

God heard their prayers and provided a cute little kitty to nurture, feed, and love.

Kirsten with Taters!

Ben with Taters!

Mikayla with Taters!

Taters really likes rice and tuna! We had bought some kitty food for her but she prefers the rice and tuna!

Ben and Mikayla with Taters!

Bear

While we are on the subject of pets, here are a few pictures of our Bear! He is such a sweet dog and bio-security system.

Bear!

As you can see, he is getting bigger!
He sleeps outside at night now to gaurd our house.
His bark has deepened.

Bear!

He is lovable and likes to lay at Kurt's and my feet in the morning when we are up having our quiet time. He is gentle with the kids too!

Bear and me!