The World IS Flat!

The world IS flat and you thought that I fell off — well that is pretty close. Today, I realized it has been nearly a month since I’ve posted anything. Sorry, but I do have a good excuse.

The two months in the States was non-stop, with a real push the last two weeks in Phoenix. The time spent with my sons, Shawn and William, William’s wife Stephanie and grand kids was priceless. Sorry boys but new grandbaby Bradley and grand daughter Antonella learning to speak German were at the top of the chart. We all needed the extra time together this year.

Dodged a Bullet
Remember the grounding and canceling of all flights using the MD-80 planes of Delta, American and Southwest Airlines? By the grace of God, I flew the day before that all happened and it was on a Delta MD-80 from Charlotte to Atlanta. This could have been a real problem for me. God is good.

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock
In a previous post, I mentioned looking forward to a men's retreat near Prescott, Arizona and expecting some peace and quiet so I could get before The Lord. Well that would have been at a “normal” retreat. The Tres Dias retreat was great but completely different than I expected.

I was blessed to be there and the Holy Spirit ministered to me differently than what I expected. It also gave me the opportunity to minister to some of the other guys that were there. My “immediate” prayer needs were delayed slightly by God’s plan.

With only 11 days left before leaving for Germany, it was non-stop “meet & greet” with as many people possible. It was fun to be able to see as many friends in Phoenix as I did. Granted we didn’t get much time to visit but at least it was something. Thank you for your flexibility in allowing me to drop in on your lives, sometimes with little notice.

Night Owl Flight
My trans-Atlantic flight from Atlanta to Dusseldorf turned out to be a “night owl flight”. On prior flights, I could manage to get about five or six hours sleep out of a ten hour flight. On this one, the ambient cabin lights brighter than “normal”, the "million candle power" big screen TV ran all night, (my cheapy eye covers couldn't keep out the light), the entire plane seemed to be up, talking, or moving around. My normal “jet lag prevention” routine went out the window at 31,000 feet, near Iceland, about four hours into the eight hour trip. It took a full week before I finally got back on schedule from the jet lag and the crazy sleeping patterns.

The German Custom's officers gave me a long second look as wheeled all my stuff through the “Nothing to Declare” lane. I really didn’t have anything to declare but you wouldn’t have guessed it by the load. With the dollar so weak against the Euro, it's a common thing now to fly to the U.S. from Europe and shop, shop, shop till ya drop. German Customs is happy to make the additional revenue from your trans-Atlantic shopping trip.








Left: Previously photographed, looking across the Rhein River at Konigswinter, a small town nearby, that used to be the vacation spot for royality, hence the German name for King is "Konig".

Right: A view from my village Rolandseck across to Bad Honef, also a place for vacationing royality in the 1850's and now famous for the manufacturing of Birkenstock sandals and shoes.

God's Beautiful Creation
My German friend, Uwe, picked me up at the airport. He and I jammed my two big maxi-legal airline suitcases, the largest airline legal rolling duffle bag, my computer roller case and briefcase in his little Fiat and shuttled me home to Rolandseck.

Even with a jet lagged brain, there was a moment when the beauty of God’s creation here where I live, struck me. The morning was clear and crisp as we drove down the autobahn. The bright blue sky, puffy white cumulus clouds and morning sun, contrasted the still leaf-less, barren trees of winter in the forest. The evergreens are always "evergreen" but the rest of the trees in the forest looked like a army of skeletons, with arms out stretched, diligently waiting to be covered with "fleshy" leaves. Nothing had begun to bud.

During March, Germany had terrible weather this late in the season. This day visibility was nearly unlimited which can be rare for winter in Germany. Because of the previous weeks of bad weather, the Rhein River was running unusually high, fast and brownish due to the above normal rain runoff.

Honestly, I have never taken for granted the wonderful place God sent me to live and work as a missionary. This has always been appreciated even more after returning from various missions’ trips to Third World countries.

America will always be my home. I would never trade my dark blue U.S. passport for any other country in the world. Somehow God builds in grace for all missionaries to have a “second home” mentality.

The glorious weather disappeared the next day when it all went back to rainy, cloudy, and cold. As I unpack my suitcase, I thought I guess I can pack my shorts and t-shirts away again for awhile. Even my neighbors were complaining about the extended winter when it should be spring.

Finally — It’s Spring
Spring struck yesterday and of course I'd rather be out in it than sitting at my computer working. Don't we all. But the extra light of spring and summer days at this latitude will allow playing outside later. This trip produced a lot of good conversations and exchanged ideas. It’s time to do some praying and research to see what The Lord wants, if any, out of all these ideas floating around.

My plan is to really try and return to Florida a second time to see my sons and grand kids. There is also enough ministry work available in Florida to combine the trip with work and family. I wanted to do it last year but it didn’t work. I believe that it can happen this year. Would you be in prayer agreement with me for this and for this years ministry travel expenses.

In the mean time, it is time to set ministry schedules here in Europe and elsewhere as The Lord would direct and make possible.

2008 promises to be a good year with lots of interesting ministry opportunities and possible changes ahead. Working for God is always an adventure of some sort.

Blessings,
Lawrence Blakeslee
Missionary

Jacksonville, Florida to Charlotte, North Carolina

Well I just wrapped up a couple of wonderful weeks with my son Shawn and grand-daughter Antonella in Jacksonville, Florida. And just before that time, with William, Stephanie and baby Brady. It was hard to believe how much Antonella has grown over the last year. As a first grader, she has turned into a “walking-talking-thinking” little person. She asks lots of good questions about everything she observes. She is terrific. Although my German friends will probably cringe when they hear this, I even started teaching her some German. Kids have minds like sponges. I guess there are some advantages to being a kid.

Windy & Wet
Shawn and I did lots of guy things. All three of us went out fishing on his little boat a few times but got blown off water because of fronts moving through the area.

Even though Antonella was cold and wet from the waves crashing over the bow, she never complained. I was impressed with her ability to put up with a pretty miserable time on the water without complaining when she really had a bit of a right to do it. Overall, fishing was not good but still anytime boating with your family is a good time. I regret not getting any pictures on the boat but it was so wet I didn’t want pull out my camera and risk ruining it.

On To Charlotte, North Carolina
Easter Sunday I flew up to visit friends Grant and Emily Gray in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. Grant is a budding missionary, having traveled to Africa last year for a short-term mission’s trip to dig and repair fresh water wells in the remote areas of Kenya. Grant is planning on going again this year. His wife Emily works for Rick Joyner’s MorningStar Ministries. It has been great to see them and their family again.

MorningStar took over the old Jim and Tammy Bakker “Heritage U.S.A.” facility in 2004 and is continuing to do a remarkable restoration of the property since then. Many improvements and repairs have been done since my last visit to the facility in 2006. Rick Joyner’s heart is for restoration not only of people but to this property which was previously dedicated to God’s work.

Back to Phoenix
I return to Phoenix this Wednesday evening and then leave the next day to attend a four-day men’s retreat in Prescott with my friend Nathan Hale. This will be my first time to attend the Tres Dias retreat and I think it is very timely. It will give me some quiet time from all the travel during this trip to the U.S.. More importantly it will give me some quality prayer time with The Lord before I return to Bonn.

Every year, during my trips to the U.S., I get asked how long I will be in Germany. Every year, I take time to see what The Lord’s plans are for me during the upcoming year. It is important not to get “trapped” into doing the same thing every time without “checking-in” to make sure that I am fulfilling God’s plans and desires for me. During the last six months there have been a couple of different thoughts and ideas come up in my heart the last six months and I want to make sure that I am on target with God’s plan for my life.

Friday, April 11, I fly from Phoenix and return to Germany via Atlanta. The last two weeks in Phoenix will be very hectic trying to “meet and greet” as many people as possible before I return. This year, my friends in Phoenix got the “short end” of my total time on this trip to the U.S. with literally only the last two weeks being spent in Phoenix before returning. I’ll try to make the best use of time before I leave. If I fail to see you on this trip, please accept my apology in advance.

God bless you,
Lawrence

From Snow Storms to "Sons-Shine"

I’ve just spent the best time with my youngest son William, his wife Stephanie and my new three month old grandson Bradley Scott. We really had a wonderful time together.

Winter weather has been following me around the U.S. since I got here. I left Kansas City in cold and icy weather on my way to "sunny" Tampa, Florida. We made an enroute stop in Indianapolis where we needed to de-ice the plane before take off. We approached Tampa, with thunderstorms surrounding the area and got off the plane to find everyone bundled up wearing jackets. I was really looking forward to wearing shorts and t-shirts in Florida and eventually did happen.

Wednesday, 27 February to Thursday, 6 March / Tampa, Florida

Family Time
During my previous annual trips to the U.S., I would take only a few days off during the trip to visit my two sons in Florida. But this year, with new baby Bradley and Antonella now 7 ½ years old, it was important to spend much more time with all of them.

On my last day with William and his family in Tampa, Shawn and Antonella drove down from Jacksonville to join us for a Blakeslee Family Fun Day at Busch Gardens in Tampa. Busch Gardens is an amusement park and mini zoo with many animals and birds from around the world. It was a great place to have a family day. Despite the rain, which started in the afternoon and never let up though out the night, we still had a great time together at the park.

(Left) Proud Grandpa and Bradley Scott

(Right) Bradley's First Pro Hockey Game








(Left) Antonella

(Right) Antonella and Her New Bird Friends




(Left) The Blakeslee Boys & Girls

Friday, 7 March / Tampa to Jacksonville, Florida

Farewells & Tornado Watches
It was great to see William, Stephanie again and meet Bradley for the first time. Yes, I know this is “grandparent talk” but even you have to admit when you see his pictures that Bradley is the cutest baby in Florida, if not the world. I’m going to miss them until I see them again next year. Before we went our separate ways, all of the “Blakeslee Boys & Girls” gathered at a local Mexican food restaurant for lunch and another round of pictures with all of us together.

Shawn, Antonella and I drove north as tornado watches were being posted for the Florida’s Panhandle area that also included touch downs and sighting in a small community just west of Jacksonville.

The heavy weather hit as we drove north of Daytona Beach. Rain just down poured down for the next two and half hours as we traveled north. Coincidently it was also Bike Week in Daytona Beach. This is a huge annual 250,000+ person motorcycle event. All of the riders traveling south to Daytona Beach were just being soaked. The best rain gear would not have kept you dry in this constant torrential rain storm.

The next couple of weeks will be spent with Shawn and Antonella. She has gotten much taller and grown up so much from last year. As you can see in the pictures, she is incredibly cute and smart. More to come from our time together in Jacksonville.

Blessings,
Lawrence

Snow Storms, Freezing Rain and Icy Roads but Not in Germany

Amazing but true… It wasn’t until I arrived in the U.S. that I really saw winter weather this year. Briefly, here is how the trip has gone so far.

Thursday, 14 February / Dusseldorf, Germany to Phoenix, Arizona
Despite adding an extra two hours of travel time to the airport, I nearly missed my flight because of traffic jams on the autobahn. I made it through security quickly, which was only by God’s grace, considering the amount of electronics in my backpack, then on to passport control and to the departure gate just in time to board my flight to Phoenix via London’s Heathrow airport.

Friday, 15 February / Flagstaff, Arizona
Met with Pastor Mike Tenpenny and eight others from Lamb of God Bible Church. I met Pastor Mike and the others when they traveled to Zurich, Switzerland last December to participate in the Faithful Men’s Commissioning at Power House Church. On the way to Flagstaff, we ran into an incredible local snow storm and traffic jam, which brought traffic to a standstill for nearly an hour. At one point, I really thought I wouldn't make it to Flagstaff. But everything cleared up and I made it in time.

Saturday, 16 February / Flagstaff
Attended the LOGBC Men’s meeting and also met Franklin Santagate who shared about Market Place Ministry. A topic and a form of outreach to the public that is close to my heart.

Sunday, 17 February / Flagstaff
Attended LOGBC church service and spent the weekend with close friends.

Monday, 18 February / Travel from Flagstaff to Phoenix
Back to Phoenix to get ready to fly out to Tulsa early the next day.

Tuesday, 19 February / Phoenix to Tulsa, Oklahoma
Caught an early flight out from Phoenix to Tulsa. Attended my 20th Anniversary Home Coming for Rhema Bible Training Center and the Winter Bible Seminar. Renewed some old friendships and made some new ones as I attended the Missionaries Luncheon and my Home Coming luncheon. Took the opportunity to share the Kids’ Prayer program with many.

Thursday, 20 February / Tulsa to Independence, Missouri
It’s the last day in Tulsa and I woke up to an ice covered car, the results of an ice and snow storm that passed through the area the night before. Flew out late in the afternoon to Independence, Missouri to stay with Pastor Tim and Wendy Vogel of Independence Four Square Church. The same cold front that hit Tulsa, shut down Kansas City highways earlier in the day. Walked off the plane and into 9 degree (F) temps, wind, ice, slush and snow. Very glad for a last minute decision to bring my boots and heavy down parka jacket.

Sunday, 24 February / Independence
Had the opportunity to share the Kids’ Prayer Program and my new First Step Ministries promo DVD with the church. A special thanks to Spencer Fry for his help in putting the DVD together.

Monday, 25 February / Independence
Will spend the day at Mike Bickle’s, International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Missouri. IHOP has 24/7 Praise & Worship in their auditorium. This has become an annual blessing to be able to take the time to spend the day in this incredible atmosphere of prayer, praise and worship.

Tuesday, 26 February / Kansas City to Tampa Bay, Florida
I am looking forward to spending some time with my youngest son William, his wife Stephanie and my new grand baby Bradley Scott Blakeslee. This will be the first time for me to see Bradley in person. Really looking forward to spending some quality time with them.

More to come as the trip progresses.

Blessings,
Lawrence

On My Way to... Actually the U.S.A.

Hi Everyone,
Tomorrow morning, I fly out of the Cologne/Bonn airport on my anual trip back to the States. I'll be arriving in Phoenix late Thursday afternoon.

I leave Phoenix the following morning to start five weeks of travel and ministering as I work my way across the U.S. all the way down to Tampa, FL. After Tampa, I start heading back towards Phoenix, returning back to the Valley of the Sun in late March.

This year I will only have less than two weeks in Phoenix before returning to Germany. It is going to be non-stop. If I don't get a chance to visit with you this year, please accept my apology now. I'll try to make it up to you next year. This will be one of the busiest trips planned in six years.

As I travel and time permits, I'll try to do some postings to keep you up to date.

Be blessed and be careful.

Talk to you soon.
Lawrence Blakeslee