Life on the Vine

When Tom and I went to Tuscany in October, we flew in and out of Florence. On our last day, en route to the airport, I wanted to stop and visit the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial.  I've mentioned it before on this blog that my maternal grandfather served in Italy during World War II and my paternal grandfather was in the Pacific. Both of them survived the war but so many others did not. Visiting the cemetery, for me, was a way of honoring both of my grandfathers' service and the service and sacrifice of so many who did not come home. Delmar Marks, United States Army Unit patches of the Northern Italian Campaign In front of the memorial is a pylon with a sculpture on the top. It's called the Spirit of Peace. Spirit of Peace Inscription at the base of the pylon. The figure hovers over the fallen, bearing olive branches. Tablets of the Missing - 1,409 names are inscribed here Inside the memorial is a chapel  Markers throughout the

I recently volunteered to do a monthly post on my blog in support of a Christian ministry that Tom and I have been supporting for many years - Gospel for Asia .  I first learned of Gospel for Asia, referred to as GFA, through my mother-in-law, who supported the ministry for many years, and my father-in-law continues that support since Mom's death in 2004.  Also, around this same time, someone at our church in St. Louis, gave me a copy of the book "Revolution in World Missions" written by GFA's founder K.P. Yohannan.  My support to GFA began small, giving bi-monthly through the Combined Federal Campaign, which is the Federal government's program providing employees a way to give to charities of their choosing through automatic deductions from their paychecks.  Recently, we've become more involved, helping to sponsor two missionaries in India, and participating in GFA's annual Christmas catalog .  Once a month I'm going to depart from the normal foc