Saturday, January 26, 2008

January 16--Ian's birthday

Yup, he’s 34 now. Getting pretty old…!

To celebrate, we traveled further into the highlands to a town called Goroka. It was a beautiful drive through the hills and mountains. I think a beautiful part of the trip was when Ian received a few calls from his brothers on his cell phone. It was pretty neat to touch base with them personally coasting through highlands of PNG. Just think, some 60 years ago Westerners were only beginning to set foot to this area...now it is dotted with telecommunication towers. (We really hope those phone calls weren’t too expensive!)

Once in Goroka, we went out for lunch at what they call 'the Bird', for the Bird of Paradise Hotel. The food wasn't for the birds, though we nibbled away at it.



We praise God for being with Ian during this past year. It hasn’t always been easy--for about half of it, he has dealt with some kind of virus that has left him quite fatigued. Although he and we are coping we are looking ahead to this coming year with hope that things will improve, but also that no matter what happens, God is with us. He is our Immanuel.

7 comments:

Tracey said...

congratulations with your birthday Ian! We pray our Lord will continue to keep you safe and bless you!

Unknown said...

Hello Ian, Nad, Jonathan and Karlyn,

Hello from the Dutchies! Hope you're all doing OK. The first flowers are starting to come up here...the dutch 'winter' is on its way out. Love you guys. Jonathan and Kathelien

Joyce said...

Happy birthday Ian. It sounds like you had a lovely day out there - man i would love to celebrate my birthday in that heat:) :)
Anyhow dont worry, 34 is not that old - life has just started for us.
A fellow 34 year old

peter and nicole said...

Sounds like you had a great day! We're so glad you could celebrate on your holiday! For some reason we could never reach you on your phone (even though we tried every night for almost a week, and then gave up out of frustration!) - sorry! We continue to pray for Ian's health and strength! May He continue to bless you all! We miss you!

Elissa W said...

Ian, you look too young to be 34! What a great pic of you and your adorable kids! looks like you had a nice day and a good lunch!!

ddj said...

Happy belated birthday Ian! May God bless you abundantly in the upcoming year - we'll be praying for good health for you! And that He watches over the whole family. And that His kingdom continues to come in Lae. All the best!

Dave and Crystal

Jen said...

Hi all,
we are sorry we missed your birthday Rev Ian, we have been away and now i am catching up with your blog and i know its quite late, but we still wish you the Lord's blessings in the year ahead.
Who said 34 was old, not all all, we are in our 40's, with no regrets mind you.
Always in our thoughts and prayers.