Preface to Europe

I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. My
help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1.

I cannot believe how blessed I am to be sitting in one of my favorite
places and to be able to share it with you. The Lord is truly good and
I am so thankful for this opportunity.
The earth that He created is a beautiful place. And, Europe is one of my
favorites.

My love affair with Europe began at an early age. For as long as I can
remember, I have felt like I should be here. Perhaps it was the movies
that I watched, like Heidi with Shirley Temple or Journey for Margaret
with Margaret O'Brien. Maybe it was the fact that I was born a few years
after the war, so I watched a lot of WWII movies set in Europe. The
Weekly Reader books took me to foreign lands. And now the Christian
books that I read by the Thoenes or Michael Phillips take me to Eastern
Europe. The Diary of Anne Frank was required reading in school, making
me want to see where she lived and died. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten
Boom made me want to visit her home. In addition, some of the people in
my hometown were Polish so I wanted to see where they were from. I
loved the accordian music and other sounds of Europe. All of those
things made Europe sound so exciting.

While in High School, I worked three part-time jobs for three years to
spend it all in three weeks on a tour of Europe. I was totally hooked.
. .and I still am!