Last Pic's of Portugal and some Thot's

Took a sail along the coast on a beautiful but windy and choppy day. Which made it really, really fun. For Rachel and I - who loved hanging over the side, feeling the sea spray and whooping it up every time we hit a large swell. It wasn't fun however for those who were "feeding the fish" and those who decided to brave the rest of the journey in the belly of the boat. I refused to go downstairs mid-way through the trip - I don't know what was happening down there and I didn't want to. Apparently, Rachel's penchance for motion sickness does not include the sea - Yeah!!!! And Bart was hanging onto Kendra - she's a trooper but has never been entirely comfy with boats. We're re-thinking whether a cruise is in our future or not. Little courtyard/street in Monchique (inland). Home of the Algarve's most famous 'moonshine.' And as we are not hard liquor drinkers, it was not the purpose of our visit to this quaint little mountain town. But, after lunch (the one with the big prawn kebab and the giant sole fillet), we were both given little shot glasses of appertif/digestive along with our bill and dessert. My was slightly lemony looking and Bart's was clear. He sniffed his and said there was NO WAY he was drinking it. I tasted mine and declared it to be lemony, sweet and not much alcohol - lighter than an Italian Limoncello. But I am curious and had to sample Bart's little drink so I'd know what all the fuss was about. And declared it strong enough to strip the paint off the car. I don't think I actually drank any either - I think I just got fumes on my tongue. Needless to say, that little shot glass stayed full.
Monchique again - it was sooooo pretty.
Nice people took our picture on Gale Beach - lot's of shells and fun.
At Sagras - there were many men fishing off the cliffs. We wondered how heavy their lines were as the cliffs were probably between 150 - 200 ft high.

The lighthouse at Sagras - "the end of the world." This was the final land mass on the European continent that the Explorers would see when leaving on their adventures in the Atlantic from the Mediterranean. Thus - the end of the world. The next bit of land they would find was South America.
Looking down the western coast.
More western coast.
Cool little fishing village of Salema with a terrific beach.

I think that will do it for Portugal. It takes me a while to digest all the pictures and think about what I want to share. Now, I already have pictures from the Sechsalauten Parade in Zurich yesterday and need to share a bit more about our host country of Switzerland.

I think I'll have to do that tomorrow, or the next day, or......

But I would like to share a little thought from our Bible Study last week. I thought about it a bit more after Bart and I watched American Idol last week and heard them singing "Shout to the Lord" by Darlene Z. and Hillsong. I wondered how many of them understood what they were singing about? If it made any of them curious? I could tell one of them was not into the song at all.

Some of you reading may have faith in Christ Jesus and some may not. I really liked something the author (Beth Moore) of our study (Breaking Free) said. "Interestingly, the lost world enjoys characterizing Christians as emotionally needy people who use religion and faith as a crutch. How wrong they are. In John 5:8, Jesus encountered a man who was lame. Christ didn't hand the man a cane or a crutch. He healed him so he could walk on both feet!"

This is how I feel about the life I have in Christ. It doesn't mean that everything is perfect (and certainly I AM NOT perfect), that I will not have challenges, illness and hard times in my life. But I do know that when I can't walk - He does the walking for me. And when I ask - He gives me the tools to keep going. I'm a strong-willed, albeit mild, person and certainly don't consider my faith a weakness or a crutch. It gives me strength.

There were several big prayers answered this last week: for a very close friend and the church here in Zurich (our pastor finally arrived - it ONLY took a year :) to process their coming into Switzerland). So - Thank You God!

That's all - for now......