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Happy New year! This week is a good time to compare our past to our future. There is no straight line from 2022 to Heaven and now we get to live 2023. How great is that? I’m thinking of my friends son, a young father of two, having cancer surgery for Christmas. Not a diversion…

I have been the foreigner who cannot find the correct words. I have learned that wasser is water. I will always say “ja” instead of yes. I’ve been lost multiple times. I have seen the impatience on the faces of people who want to help me but don’t understand me. I have been embarrassed. I…

I should warn you that this may go long. So much to wrap up after these break days for Christmas and New Years next. First of all – I love and will miss Switzerland. Here are some things I have learned but from my own view of the world. I may not be accurate so…

There is a very fine film called ‘A Walk to Remember’. I just returned from a walk and will try to remember every walk I have taken at Wiler. Because the time here is winding down, I want to savor even the hard ones. Today was one of those. I invited others but all are…

There is an eastern restaurant that the bus from Lyss to Wiler passes. I always chuckle at the phrase that means pick-up or take-out. A take-away to an American is usually a summary of what you have heard. We constantly condense what we consider important and forget the rest or put it in a file…

I forgot a lot today. I’m typing from bed with a cold. I’m usually a one-cold-per year person so not happy. For people who do deal with illnesses regularly I sincerely apologize because each day has enough trouble and does not care that we don’t feel up to it. I took a bus after lunch…

A highlight for me last week was also a lowlight. One stronghold over my life is underestimating my talent in music. I have been told that my voice is not as good as others and that my piano skills are not up to snuff. Both are true and I do not disagree but comparison is…

Mark 5:20, “And he went off and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone marveled”. One minute this man is a mess and, in the next moment, then he is, “sitting down, clothed and in his right mind”. As Jesus is leaving, this man wanted to follow…

I had forgotten how children decorate Christmas trees. At the center in Biel, I handed ornaments that had been without hangers (now with strings attached – my important contribution) to a pony-tailed 7 year-old girl. She was the size of a 7 year-old and lined up all of the bulbs at her level straight on…

First week of outreach is complete and gearing up, again, for days at a childcare center. They do tutoring, after-school snacks, mentoring, arts & crafts, more snacks, a Christmas party this week, and empathy when a child hurts their toe while playing – oh – and don’t forget ping-pong aggressively played by 14-year old boys….