Intro

On this site I'd recorded some of our experiences during our years in Europe. Turns out, we were forced to return to Canada due to my health, or lack of it! I've left the Euro-posts below, but have now added some more current ones.

This site is not set up to accept feedback directly. Our email address is gbhildebrand@googlemail.com, and you can contact us that way if you like.

The most recent posts are at the top. The postings began in December 2004. All can be accessed through the Archives section in the sidebar, even if you cannot reach them by scrolling down through the main page. By going to the archives and accessing things by date, you can follow things in chronological order. Most months have two posts, but not all. Click on any photo to see it full-size! Before proceeding through the archives, read the immediately following post for some context.

This photo was taken on one of many hikes above Sitzenkirch. It reminds me that life consists of many paths, some of our own choosing; many not. Our desire is to make the right choices when the choice is ours to make, and to respond rightly to situations not of our choosing that confront us. We are dependant on God both to choose well, and to respond in an honourable way.

The Way we Were

For 20 years we worked in Niverville (Manitoba). God gave us a beautiful family, allowed us to acquire all the good things most people could want, and we more or less did what we liked. We had many friends and good relationships. Though Niverville is arguably the most boring and ugly town in Canada, those were nevertheless wonderful years! Yet, with time, it seemed something was not quite right. Was there something else that God had used these years in business, and our former teaching years, to prepare us for? It seemed so.

We sensed that God was directing us to move into something new, perhaps something less secure, something He would take charge of. Eventually, in 2000, we left Canada for Prague, where we worked with Riverside School for two years. Then, in '02, it was on to Kandern in Germany for a position with the Black Forest Academy.

Kandern is a few minutes north of Basel, Switzerland. This is pretty country indeed, and the town in the picture above is where Bernice worked, at the elementary school. Kandern is 3 km to the left, just off the picture.

All good things come to an end to make way for other things, and in Aug 06 we moved back to Canada, this time Winnipeg.

Too Sick to Pray

In 2003, I photographed this old man in prayer in a Prague cathedral. I remember wondering what was on his heart ... what burden did he carry that he needed to talk to God.

Subsequently I found myself in a situation which reminded me of this song, and of the old Czech man:

Too Sick to Pray
Lyrics and Music by Willie Nelson on Spirit

I’ve been too sick to pray, Lord - That’s why we ain’t talked in a while
It’s been some of them days, Lord - I thought I was on my last mile.

But I’m feelin’ okay, Lord - And I’m glad that I called you today
Never needed you more ... I woulda called you before
But I’ve been too sick to pray.

Remember the family, Lord? I know they will remember you
And all of their prayers, Lord - They talk to you just like I do.

Well, I reckon that’s all, Lord - That’s all I can think of to say
And thank You my friend ... We’ll be talkin’ again
If I’m not too sick to pray.

The good thing ... I have a condition that actually never makes me sick in the physically-feeling sense. But the relentless downward spiral, with its attendant constant losses, can get me down. Can one be "too down to pray"?

Easter

Jackie got a new bear again. I shoulda bought stock in the Build-a-Bear company.

My favorite celebration as recorded in Scripture is Palm Sunday. How exciting it must have been to be caught up in the "Hosannas" that day, especially listening to the children as they caught the excitement of their parents, and enjoyed the special experience of a donkey-riding King! And to think that the Creator rode a donkey - only to be turned against just 7 days later.

I have been listening to a new dramatization of the NKJV of the Bible, following the text as it is read. It does make it come alive, and in a way makes Jesus feel more like a real person.

It's Christmas!

Nothing brings Christmas to my heart quite like Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol". How sweet it is to have family come together for these days.

This is our second Christmas back home, and already questions like "Where does the tree go?" and "What kind of lights should we get?" don't need answering. Christmas needs that sense of stability - unchanging traditions in a world where little is certain, too much is always shifting.

Bleakness Here

Manitoba in November is so bleak that I don't know as I've ever taken a photo here in this month. Certainly not now in 2006! So I looked back, and lo and behold! in 1975 I was in North Dakota with some friends staying at a Motel 6, and here's where I actually did take one photo.

I did not break the bed, in case you're a Motel 6 shareholder - just tested it to make sure it would be safe for the night.

Beavers

OK we're back in Canada. It's been a good transition, though we so miss our friends and familiar places in Germany. But Canada has its own attraction, here we're at Pine Point, a hike I've done dozens of times going way back. Will this have been my last? Likely, but I'm holding out for beaver dams and wilderness trails in heaven! And of course I pray that my children will join me there, but that's up to them.

It was a perfect fall day, and I love this photo of Jackie. The beaver will come back tonite to finish his work.

Our Work in Europe

We worked with the Black Forest Academy, a school in Germany operated by Janz Team. The school has a North American curriculum, and is a boarding school with about 180 boarders plus 180 home students. More on BFA later...

Gary: As the Business Manager here at the school, I looked after the assets, managing the money as it came in and got spent. As a team of 9 men and women, we managed different aspects of BFA. Working with these people was always fun!

Bernice: I worked as the Librarian for the Elementary School. That means I got to buy lots of good books, kept the library looking good, helped children as they checked out books, and taught library skills. I love being with children, and since I'm also certified as a teacher, I provided cover for other teachers when they couldn't be there!

Good-bye, Black Forest

Sitzenkirch Trail - a fitting place to symbolize our years here in Germany. This 35 minute link between the high school where I worked and the Elementary School where Bernice worked winds through pastures and cherry orchards, the wooded hills of the Black Forest rising all around.

How often, on a nice day, would I walk the 3 km or so to lunch with Bernice, often down by the village fountain, and then make my way back in the sunshine. It was a wonderful break, and we've made so many memories there. Always, walking there, often with cattle or sheep alongside, the narrow valley entrances like gates to places of mystery and great beauty, brought to mind these verses from Psalm 100:

1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
5 For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

This was our last walk down this trail, kinda sad, but the memories are lasting and beautiful!

Hofen - The Sandstone Church

It was here that it all began.

On August 3, 1979 Bernice and I were married here, and we've always made a point of returning on our trips or anniversaries.

It's an old sandstone church set on a hill in the country, unlike most churches in Germany which anchor the town centers.

Back then, we hoped Germany would be an important part of our life together, and indeed, through what we see as a gift from God, so it came to be!

Graduation!

And then we had two grads! Chris has had three years in Niverville Elementary, then three years home-schooled, then two years in Prague, and now finally four years here in Kandern. What a rich mix - and how thankful we are for all the wonderful teachers and others who have built into his life.

Where do things go from here for Chris? He will start his first year in Manitoba at the University there, and then we will see where things go.

One of the prices though of moves such as Chris has made is that good friends get left behind - often never to be seen again. Of course, the blessing of family is that some people will always be part of your life--and here Chris is posing with his sister Jaclyn.

Track Day

The first Saturday of May is set aside to watch our athletes at Black Forest Academy compete against athletes from American Department of Defense schools around Europe. Chris runs four events, including these 320 m hurdles. Here, Chris was competing with just these two students in this heat, and by the time the finish line rolled around he had just enough energy left to come out on top. Because BFA has so many residential students, it is really important to provide them with weekend activities which they enjoy, and sports is certainly a big part of life at our school. There is much more to sports than playing games, as the relationships which are formed between coaches and team members, and between the team members themselves, are very satisfying and helpful to the students. So much of life can be made so much better with the injection of a good dose of self-discipline. And self-discipline is certainly the word for success in sports.

Hey - It's a Mazda!

Our trusty Mitsubishi van, first cousin of the feared Japanese Zero fighter planes, has died.

It lasted almost 4 years taking us everywhere, but the head gasket sealed its last, and breathed a sigh of anti-freeze vapour.

But in its place, we have found this nimble 93 Mazda - for just 1000 Euros - exactly what we sold the broken van for, to some Arab traders.

Lucky us!

Tulip Time

April is blossom time in our corner of the world. The hillsides are covered with white and pink, as the cherry and apple trees do their best to attract the bees they need to produce the fruit later in the summer. And although we are not in Holland, there is always a profusion of tulips and daffodils at this time of the year. This picture below was taken in the roadside field of a farmer who has planted millions of tulips. The public is invited to stop, cut what flowers they like, and drop the money into a roadside box.

Yes, each part of the world has its beauty. while the flowers here are amazing, I still remember the acres of tiger lilies growing on the farm I lived on as a boy -- and these were not planted by any person, they grew wild. And then there were the amazing expanses of Indian paintbrush in Waterton National Park -- reminds me of what the flowers' designer had to say: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Indeed he wasn't, and he probably didn't smell as nice either.

Mauritius

In March we were given the opportunity of a lifetime by my parents -- a two-week vacation for the whole family in Mauritius. Mauritius is an island nation off the coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, and is truly a tropical paradise. How excited we all were as we boarded the 12 hour flight from Frankfurt and headed south!

Mauritius is completely surrounded by white sand beaches inside a coral reef, and between the reef and the beaches is the warmest, most beautifully colored water we had ever seen. The friendly Mauritian people added to the experience, and it was a vacation we will never forget. Even the sky looks different in the southern hemisphere at night -- gone are the familiar characters, replaced by stars we had never seen. It was a wonderful experience all around.

One morning as we stepped out onto our deck, we were greeted with this 180° rainbow in a perfectly clear blue sky arching over the Indian Ocean. The rainbow reminded me of God's many promises, promises which we find especially important given the uncertainty of our lives at this point in time. As we read his word, we are reminded of the many times in the past when he has come through for us, and we know he will do so again even as we consider the unplanned return to Canada we will soon need to make.

This is what the Indian Ocean and some of the creatures enjoying it looked like up close. Mauritius is only about 65 km long, but off the coast are numerous smaller deserted islands, and this last picture is one of our family enjoying the deserted beach there, with the mountains of Mauritius some 15 km in the background.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for allowing us to make memories we will never forget, in Mauritius of all places!

Cat in the Hat

Feb 27 is birthday time as Jackie and Gary share that one. Jackie invited 3 friends out for bowling - do you know they have 9-pin here? Set up like a diamond. We are so blessed to still have a single-digit-aged child in our home - the enthusiasm and joy of a child is something that has brought a bright ray of sunshine into our home, no matter what the circumstances. As for Gary - well - as you get older, the obvious fact that we are fragile short-lived creatures is ever-more evident. So we live life to the full while we can. The shadow of ALS over our lives notwithstanding.

This month is also reading month at the school, and Bernice, being the librarian, encouraged kids to come to school dressed s a favorite character. So here she is in her catty best. It just so happened that on this day a boyfriend she hadn't seen for 30 years dropped by the school!

Jaclyn is one of the top winners in the school, and that means a trip to McDonald's, on the house. Not sure McD's is the best choice, but kids like it no matter what the contents of the food may be.

Turin Olympics

With Canada's hockey team favoured to win a Gold Medal, 50 of us, including Tim (left) & Chris and me, bussed down to Turin to see them play the Czechs.

We headed out from Kandern early in the morning, crossing Switzerland and the Alps into Italy to take in the game.

Turin's a large city, but the huge Olympic flame was our guide to the venue in the heart of the city. It was amazing to think that we were in the same city as many of the world's top winter athletes!

Included in the crowd was The Great One - Wayne Gretzky, and although he wasn't sitting far away, a glass barrier separated the box seats (his) from the cheaper seats (ours), and so we did not meet him. His Dad was walking around meeting folks though, and here is likely as close as I will get to greatness. I don't know who the kid who popped into the photo is.

The Olympic Experience was terrific, and it is a day we will not forget! The game was great - Canada even won 3-2, though the Czechs played much better and deserved to win.

Given that these winter games only come once in four, one wonders what the world will be like, where will I be, what will happen before the next ones. I'm glad God knows the future - not me!

Broken Bones

Skiing is a perfect way to enjoy a beautiful day in the Black Forest - and today we headed out to Belchen, the second highest hill in the area, just 30 minutes from home. All went very well - Jackie honed her 7-year-old skills, and Chris joined some friends already there for an exciting day of Snow-Boarding.

BUT ... the fun only lasted so long, and then a particularly bad fall on the last run of the day resulted in a hand that was bent at an odd angle, and a lot of pain. After a $500 ride down the hill on a snowmobile, then another $550 ride to the hospital in the ambulance, well, Chris looked like this. Surgery in the next few days inserted some metal to stabilize the bones while healing.

Belchen is one of three high hills in our area - from 1165 meters to 1492 meters above sea level. Kandern is at 350.

Plastic Friend

The Burger King in Freiburg had this nice girl, whom Tim befriended.

Christmas 2005

It doesn't take much of an excuse for us to head back to Prague! And so with Jayne back, and some of her best friends in Prague for Christmas, and some of our dear friends there too, we made the 750 km trip back there, one last time? Maybe. It was great to see the old familiar sights again, and to enjoy the experiences which remind us so much of our two years there.

Kandern was also very beautiful this time, due to an unexpected snowfall, and this is the town we have come to call home and love as our own!

Christmas - the ghosts of the many we've enjoyed in the past, the reality of the one we are presently enjoying, and the unknown future ones - sometimes shadowy and scary - the verse that comes to mind is this: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."

Christmas with Jayne

November 30 was to have brought Jayne to us for a month at Christmas. When she arrived in Montreal via Air Canada on a ticket purchased from Expedia to board her leg to London via British Airways, she was in for an unpleasant surprise...they refused to board her claiming she was late for the flight. (She was not late - Air Canada had delivered her on time.) So that meant a 24 hour wait in Montreal overnight, and a $250 penalty which she had to pay on the spot.

Well - she did get here, and now we are in a celebratory mood as we look forward to the month of December! (Later, she did get her $250 back, plus a credit of $250 to fly BA again. Might never take them up on that one though!)

The hardest part of living overseas is the little you see of your children once they are on their own. Without the conviction that we are where God has clearly led and placed us, this would be the time to cut and run!

Cafe LaCoste

German desserts often look better than they are, but not if baked by Cafe LaCoste - they are every bit as good as they look. I hope you visit us someday - we'll be pleased to treat you to some of these!

Kandern is a quaint town, 1230 years old - that's right, founded in 776 AD! Thus it has narrow, crooked streets, lined with buildings dating back hundreds of years. It's at the confluence of two small mountain streams, and at one time had a few mills to show for the water power.

Kandern has three fine grocery stores, the usual banks and offices, and a hardware store, Schneider's, that brings one back to the days when a store had everything in one little place - be it in bins and boxes or whatever. We actually rarely need to leave Kandern. And that suits us just fine.

Many of our Christmas traditions, including the Yule tree, originated here in Germany. It is a wonderful place to be during the Christmas season. It helps that it's not minus 30 degrees Celsius too!

Ocean

The sun shone beautifully today, and in late afternoon we headed up into the hills around Kandern. Good friends, Ted & Betty Dick, were with us. Not more than 7 kilometers out, a bank of fog rolled in from France, completely obscuring the landscapes we had hoped to see. Blauen ("The Blue One"), looming some 800 meters above our valley, provides the best views. Might we rise high enough to penetrate the fog?

The view from below had been one of gloom and greyness. But from on top, it was as though we had emerged from a misty ocean, an ocean which pushed into the bays formed by the hills as they descended toward the Rhein River to the West. There was no trace of the many towns and roads below us - a normally busy scene had been transformed into one of complete tranquility.

The transformation we witnessed reminds me of God's work in our lives. What appears to us as fog and disappointment, He changes to a thing of beauty, peace and joy. I think He will do this with my ALS as well.

Hiking

It has been conjectured that when the Lord takes us to heaven, it will be via Switzerland. This picture was taken today at around noon, looking out over the mighty Central Alps from Műrren, a town on a ledge suspended high above the Lauterbrunnen valley. This is typical Swiss country, and we so enjoy a sunny day spent in the Alps. A farmer down the valley was burning some wood this morning, and the smoke stratified and hung in a thin layer over the valley floor.

On this day we were with my cousin, Paul Loewen, and his wife Mary. We hiked for about 5 hours with these scenes all around us. We had to remind ourselves constantly that this was Real - not just a wonderful Dream. Later Paul and Mary took us to a wonderful restaurant, right on the shore of the Thuner See - a lovely mountain lake. We watched the Alps turn pink, and then purple as the sun set behind us.

In my condition, heaven looms large. Here's what I anticipate: With the creativity of God so evident in our fallen world, I'm anticipating even much better - lots of diversity in stunning geography with seas and rivers and mountains and all, amazing new kinds of plant and animal life, a spectacular accessible "deep space" cosmos around it all - I really anticipate a lot more than golden streets and cities. I imagine the colours and sounds, sights and smells and tastes to be many orders of magnitude beyond what we already have. I hope there will be lots to discover and learn about - not just that we know everything about the new created order from the outset.

Yes - even if heaven is "only" as lovely as Switzerland, I will be quite happy to live there forever ... with the Son of God who has made it possible for me.

Rome Trip

The Senior Class of the school is very special - they are only months away from being torn apart, many never to see each other again, because they come from so many different places, to whence they will return. So in October, this class of 75 kids takes one week off school to travel to Florence, Venice, and Rome. Rome is a long day's drive from where we are, the other cities a little closer. Staff who have been class sponsors for the past four years as the class has moved from Freshman to Senior status accompany them. It really sets the tone for the remainder of the year, serving as a bonding time, not to mention the many things they learn in places of such historic significance.

This is Chris and his friend Charity, in front of the class's lodgings right by the Mediterranean Sea.

School Begins Again

Each Wednesday, I meet with the Administrative Committee of the school and this is where the issues confronting the school are discussed. We represent our different divisions, and our group includes the Director, the Principal, the Residence Life Director, the Student Life Chaplain, and others. It really is a great time to talk through things that can make the school a better place, and the camaraderie we enjoy is about the best I've ever experienced. Teamwork is stressed, and we all help each other as we each bring items to the agenda in a free-wheeling discussion that really does seem to work.

I enjoy my brother-in-law Mark, here second from the right. He leads the meetings this year as Interim Director of BFA.

Water

These rusty pipes can be found on high pastures, bringing water from a spring to a trough, sometimes hewn from a single large log, for the cows to drink. We often fill our Sigg bottles with this water, and it is always cold and good!

Life is a little like water. It flows and flows ... until it is exhausted. It can be beautiful and clear, providing refreshment to those it comes into contact with. I've become more aware of how precious is life, since being told I have ALS. A disease for which there is no cure, nor known cause, it is always terminal, and usually runs its course within 4 years or so. As of today, I've had ALS symptoms for one year.

Flowing clear and clean water also reminds me of the Living Water that Jesus offered the woman at the well in John 4. Jesus used a picture of the most important and beautiful life-sustaining substance there is ... to show that there is something even much more important, and that while it is freely given, only He can provide it to us!

I pray that Jesus' Living Water will be accepted by many, so that we will share it together, without end, when life's water, good as it can be, is exhausted for each of us, as it inevitably must be.

Pool Days

Summer in Kandern usually means lots of time at the pool. We're lucky in that there is a great park there, season tickets are cheap, and the pool is beautiful and, typical of all things German, very clean.

Jackie has learned to go off the high board, though not diving yet from that height, and loves this long water slide - here she's just at the top ready to go!! Given that there's little else to do in this small town in summer (OK, lots of hiking and biking opportunities, and a nice ice cream shop, but that's about it), Jackie is almost never alone at the pool - all her friends are there too. So it's a great place to cool down on a hot day.

But I have to admit it's not West Hawk Lake, or Grand Beach. There just are no natural water features around here except rivers and streams. Manitoba does have some great things going for it!

Happy Birthday!

She's 47 today - and we've also been married 26 years today! So I planned a surprise dinner for Bernice and 8 of our best friends here in Kandern. It was a super evening at the Mattenműhle restaurant in Oberegginen. It's been a great 26 years - only regret might be that we didn't get married younger. But then, Bernice was only 21 that day.

Hard to believe that we were married right here in Kandern - who'd have thought we'd again be living here all these years later! We visited the church this week too - a little red sandstone chapel on a hillside, with a tall spire pointing to God above. It has been a wonderful 26, and we hope for many more!

During the dinner, a waitress accidentally spilled about half a litre of Coke onto our friend. She was very apologetic, but at the end of the evening I accidentally tipped her about $30, due to my misuse of a German phrase! I had intended to say that everything was fine, but used a phrase telling her to keep the change. She must wonder about us North American types.

31 years ago Bernice looked like this - cute, eh?

Ice Water

Chris can't pass up a swim if there is one to be had. Today we were high up above Grindelwald at Alpbachsee, a small icy lake in a mountain-ringed bowl. Although it is July, the water still had snow fields next to it. Not to be outdone though, one of his friends, though from sunny California, also took the plunge. They didn't stay in long, I can tell you!

We used to go camping every other summer along the Great Lakes, often Lake Superior, and there too the water is not very warm. Maybe someday we will get back into camping - Jackie has never had that experience - she's grown up in a very different world than our older three did! She doesn't actually have any memories of Canada at all - but then, she was only 4 the last time she was there.