I enjoyed working with Ashley today! I met her at her house and we went over the wording for the letters showing the contributions to our ministry from our donors. It took a while to figure out how a basic template would look. By the end of the afternoon, she’d done all of them! Way to go, ASHLEY!

I’ll take the letters, sign them and address the envelopes, and take them to the Post Office.

Came home to rest after eating lunch with Ashley.

Then off to the mission to help the kids with their homework.
Fun with googley eyes.

I liked the sound of this.

Enjoyed watching Elementary with K.

Admin duties now.

I liked this sign from Ashley’s house.

Ashley and I had fun briefing the team from VA Tech on Islam, Catholicism and Hinduism.

We had our dedication service this morning. They pass the baton and say, “It’s up to ME.”

Then on safari to Plaza Fiesta.

We met up with the leadership missions team from Perimeter Church.

We talked about plans for next Summer with the large team for their youth conference “Gold Rush.”

Always something fun to see at Al Madina. We also took them by the Islamic bookstore.



Then to Global Mall to check out the Hindu temple.

Great day working with the kids.




Today the team did the salvation bracelets.

Grabbed a bucket of chicken on the way home. K and I watched the Mentalist. It’s the final season of one of my favorite shows.

Admin duties now.

Ashley and I had a wonderful time briefing our team from VA Tech!

They’ve had a group come work with us every year (sometimes TWICE a year!) since 2011!

They usually do a substantial amount of labor for First Baptist Doraville as well. FUN to be working with Ashley again!

We took them on safari to the Buford Highway Farmers Market.

They loved Asian Square too! Here I’m extolling the virtues of the Cobra in a Jar in my new, red jacket.



My good friend Doug Allison came to visit us today. Always a blessing!

After Asian Square we took them to the Buddhist Temple to see the door that the Tibetan monks had carved.




I think the artwork is beautiful.

Then off to organize the mission.

I went to Lowes to get some more dry erase marker boards made.

I take the waterproof wall board and cut it into 12″ squares. I made 24 for about $15.

The guy that cut the boards for me was from Ghana.

I asked him if he spoke Swahili. He said that he didn’t but his girlfriend did–she was from Kenya! He called her on the phone so that I could talk with her. I had fun practicing my Swahili. The things I get into.

I stopped at QT to get a drink and saw my old friend Mrida from Bangladesh.

His family was the first to live at Azalea Place Apartments. Back in Bangladesh, he was a lawyer in the Supreme Court.

Now he drives a taxi.

And work with the kids!

The VA Tech team told the story of Jonah.

I thought the crafts were very colorful.

Admin duties now.

Frozen weather.

Cleaned out the bird baths.

We were living in the clouds today.

Ashley and I had a fun lunch with my friends from 12 Stone, Shawn and Michael. We had great food at Al Madina, and also stopped by to see the men at Halal Pizza.

Met up with the parents of a partner of ours. Amanda had her parents, Doug and Laurie, down to visit.

They enjoyed seeing the Buford Highway Farmers Market.

Also met up with one of our youth leaders who is from N. Georgia.

Always something interesting to see.

Then over to the mission to work with the kids.

Went to Walmart to buy a couple more pillows.

K and I watched the last of Emma by Jane Austen. We really liked it.

Admin duties now.

I saw this hornet nest at FBC Doraville.

Ashley, Kathy and I enjoyed showing the Self family from Perimeter Church around the International Village.

Always something interesting to see.

Watched Jane Austen’s “Emma” with K this evening.

Admin duties now.

Very cold weekend. Hummingbird Popsicle.

On Friday I worked on errands around the house. Also took my car over to my mechanic.

My car has nearly 250,000 miles on it. The compression is getting old and needs a thicker oil. They put a 40 weight instead of the 30. Runs better.

Super cold outside. K and I stayed in most of the day.

Enjoyed watching the last of the Upstairs/Downstairs series with K.

I’ve had fun playing Far Cry 4 on my PS4. Absolutely gorgeous landscape set in the Himalayas.

There are lots of wild animals in the world they’ve created. I especially like the elephants.

Saturday I met up with Jesse for lunch. We went to Repticon to check out the Poison Dart Frogs and other interesting animals.

Hard to believe the colors of these Poison Dart frogs.


And speaking of color!

I even got to pet an Ring Tailed Lemur and a baby armadillo. Groovy.

Who doesn’t love a piglet?

We stopped at Barnes and Noble for a brief visit. I thought this was mature reading.

K and I watched and episode of Emma, a Jane Austen novel. Also watched an episode of Call the Midwife. Not super into either of them.

Admin duties now.

I thought this article in Wired was interesting.

Beautiful clouds and contrails.

WOW! It got really cold last night!

Lots of things froze.

I have all my plants inside. I was glad that my new gardenias seemed to be just fine.
We had a wonderful lunch with Ann and Katie.

Wonderful to see baby Meredith.

Had fun working with the kids at the mission. I had a big group of them that I was teaching long division. It’s very gratifying when you see a child suddenly get it.

We stopped by a friend’s house to see their baby, Daniel Jesus. Nice to have Jesus in the neighborhood.

Good supper with Kathy and Jesse. They both were a great help at the mission today.

Looking forward to more of Upstairs/Downstairs with K.

Admin duties now.

I signed up for another year of AAA. With our cars having nearly 250,000 miles each, it’s pretty much mandatory.

Paid off some credit card debt this morning. It was due mainly to car repairs and dental bills. I’ve made great progress this month.

One of my favorite things this morning: podcast!

I really like this episode of Verbal Surgery. It’s easy to get our minds stuck on a one way road. Sometimes it’s good to try “Channel Surfing!” Some really practical tips that can change your life in simple yet profound ways.

Enjoyed lunch with Kathy.

My first completed book in 2015.
It’s about a family from Afghanistan. It jumps around in time over a period of 70 years. Gritty stories with few happy endings. Welcome to the real world.

Enjoyed working with the kids at the mission.

We have some real artists!

It was great to have Kathy help today. She organized the gifts we were given to be distributed to our other missions.

I took the baby supplies to my friends at the Pregnancy Resource of Doraville. I’ve worked with them for over a decade.

Dropped off the CDs at the library. I almost always use Audible.com. Kathy went to the library and got these. We listened to most of the book in the car on the Texas trip.

I’m thinking about getting some hubcaps like this.

Dropped the financial report to our treasurer.

Ashley and I enjoyed our time with Pastor Paul Mallarc today!

He’s the pastor of Briarcliff Baptist Church. We’ve enjoyed a long term partnership with them.

We had a fun lunch at Plaza Fiesta.

Visited four of the missions.

Then over to the Buford Highway Farmers Market.

After Paul went back to the church, Ashley and I rearranged the gear in our office. We start hosting teams soon. We’ll need to have all our presentation equipment together.

Had a great time working with the kids at the mission.

Ate supper with Jesse before going home. Always something interesting to see.


I thought the Bruce Lee images were different.

K and I watched the start of the second season of Upstairs/Downstairs. We’ve liked this series.

Admin duties now.

One of my favorite things: Podcast!

When you are driving home in the car, and your mind wanders to that time at the beach, are you in the car or at the beach? How often do we pay attention to what’s happening right now? It’s always best to have “Present Presence, NOW!”
Just click on the title and groove!
I brought my Venus Flytraps inside for the next few days. It’s supposed to get down to 14 degrees. Ouch.

K and I had lunch together.

This afternoon Kathy and I met up with Ashley and Jesse at Azalea. We rounded up the kids for a Christmas party.


Our new friends at SOAR ministries brought over some clothes and back packs.


We sang songs.



Told the difference between Santa and Jesus.

They made a thank you craft for their parents.

Then gave out the presents.

After the party, Kathy and I joined Ashley and Jesse for supper. Great fellowship with the family.

Part of the menu at Taco Veloz. I thought their translation of “spy shrimp” was interesting.

Kathy and I enjoyed watching Upstairs Downstairs this evening.

Admin duties now.

I thought the sunset was marvelous this evening. I liked the progression of colors.

I lined up the kids. Reminded me of a pose that the Beatles did.

Jesse showing the kids a new scrambler face app on his phone.