Gotta love that silly face! It's one of the things I've been enjoying lately-- good laughs. Life is too short to be too serious. The joy God gives is deep and it allows us to enjoy the fun, silly, and funny moments of life!

I had dinner the other evening with a friend that works here in Palawan. It was great to chat with Elise, catching up on what God is doing in one another's lives. God is opening some pretty amazing doors for her... doors that are opening via relationships. In fact, it seems in many ways that relationship is how God channels much of His energy. He changes us as we get to know Him. He shows us His love when we spend time with Him. He directs our course as we know Him. What an amazing thing to be in a personal relationship with the God of the Universe!

Garry was in Manila overnight and got back at noon today. Now he's helping Josh finish up some work on the airplane. It was so incredibly easy for him to run to Manila from here-- just a quick 5-minute drive to the airport instead of a 3-hour drive! While in Manila Garry learned an interesting piece of trivia-- there are about 45,000 registered taxis in the city (plus a lot of unregistered ones!).

We are really enjoying Palawan... it is a bit hard to pack up and "move" for 2 months. Yet we came with assurance that we were doing the right thing. We have been surprised by what God had in store for us here... so many places bring back fun memories and we realize how comfortable we are here. Yesterday we as a family were discussing cultural stress and how much less of it there is here than in Mindanao. It's an interesting thing... being in a town with a hundred or more white tourists means nobody stares at you on the street. Most people in stores have a higher level of English here than in Mindanao. A lot of small things like that add up.... and I'm sure it is also because we lived here for 3 years, while we've only been in Mindanao just over a year. Home: a lovely place in so many ways we do not comprehend til we leave it!