Many Partings

A conference like this involving so many dear friends from around the world inevitably ends with "many partings." About fifty will be staying on with us for the tour of the ruins of the seven cities that Christ addressed in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation. For others, today is farewell. Again we sang "We are one body". Tears sprang to my eyes with the first line--400+ brothers and sisters in Christ from 70 countries. We ended up holding hands as we sang.

David Baer of Overseas Council (Steve's old employer in Indianapolis) had the last session, summarizing what we have learned. He ended with the words to the old hymn, "Tell Me the Old, Old Story" by A. Katherine Hankey, penned in 1866.

Tell me the old, old story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory,
Of Jesus and His love.
Tell me the story simply,
As to a little child,
For I am weak and weary,
And helpless and defiled.

Tell me the story slowly,
That I may take it in,
That wonderful redemption,
God’s remedy for sin.
Tell me the story often,
For I forget so soon;
The early dew of morning
Has passed away at noon.

Tell me the story softly,
With earnest tones and grave;
Remember I’m the sinner
Whom Jesus came to save.
Tell me the story always,
If you would really be,
In any time of trouble,
A comforter to me.

Tell me the same old story
When you have cause to fear
That this world’s empty glory
Is costing me too dear.
Yes, and when that world’s glory
Is dawning on my soul,
Tell me the old, old story:
Christ Jesus makes thee whole

Fitting as we scatter to our various lives, so easily caught up in church politics and administrative challenges. This old, old story is the point: Jesus and his love.

After lunch (and several conversations) I returned to the beach for a nap. Only I read so long that the sun disappeared behind the mountain when I had just begun to drift off. Still a beautiful spot.

Steve was honored a couple times in the closing session for his contributions. Proud to be married to this guy.

Lunch for me has usually been a salad and a piece of meat from the grill outside. They don't cut their chicken the same way we do. A couple times the piece I chose turned out to be part of the back. Hard to eat politely. This one was breast meat. We LOVE that bread, chock full of sunflower seeds. The egg, I stole from breakfast to cut up on my salad. They always have eggs at breakfast. Never at lunch.

Discipline for me has consisted of one inch square of baklava per day and take the stairs. :-)
Confession: some days I ate two.  So good.
The other sweets were good, but resistible--once I had tasted them, that is.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Breakfast and lunch on the verandah. When the sun goes down, it is too cool for supper outside.

Beach to the left, hotel to the right.

Another afternoon nap on the beach. (Yawn...)

And in between, trying to focus on editing a student's dissertation on nurturing spirituality in Korean pre-school children. Not exactly where my mind is these days. Poor Steve was in meetings all day, except for the meals.

Hotel Akka Antedon

Rocks between the sand and the water.
Not pleasant. As I recall, the Riviera is the same.

Today is get-over-jet-lag day. Not that one can get over nine hours of time change in a day, but this is relax time before meetings start with dinner. Several times today I have had to check my mouth to be sure it wasn’t gaping as I marveled that I was actually here to enjoy this spectacular place. Lots of prayers of gratitude going up from my beach chair or from the garden table at lunch or the balcony where I had my devotions. I have a dissertation I have to finish proofreading. It will take discipline to get it done in this setting.

The hotel is the Akka Antedon about half way down the bay from Antalya. Winter rates started November 1 and are all-inclusive—buffets breakfast, lunch, dinner and 11 PM that rival any cruise ship. There is a Mediterranean flare (duh) with six or eight varieties of olives, tomatoes and cucumbers at breakfast as well as awesome breads, egg dishes, etc. At lunch I didn’t even look at anything but salads with mussels and mixed cheeses in a vinaigrette.  Free beverages from several little kiosks on the grounds conveniently located for conversation nooks along the beach or among the trees. Actually, there are plenty of inviting nooks inside as well that shout Turkish coffee and maybe some dancing girls.

I have only two complaints: I haven’t been able to download a new library book. (I had no problem in Korea, so didn’t worry about not getting around to it before I left home on Monday.) And this may be the Mediterranean, but our sandy beach in Wisconsin (when we have one, which we didn’t this summer because the water is so high) is WAY better. Of course, the temperatures here cannot be rivaled in Wisconsin. At least, not at this time of year.

Grandson Simeon would LOVE this.

The resort pools just go on and on, crossed by occasional bridges. Too bad the water is in the 60s.

Still working on this selfie thing. Here is the balcony where I had my devotions.

View from my afternoon nap. Steve thinks it looks like a portrait of my tea mug. I'm thinking of making the tea mug my avitar, taking pictures of it in different places where I drink tea.

When I turned the opposite direction during my nap, this was my view. Steve opted for a view of the room. Bor-ing.

Peaking through the fence on the way back to the room after my nap.

 No wonder they call it the Turquoise Coast.