Our 2021 Blog ⇔ (Clicking on photo galleries reveals the entire caption and often makes pictures bigger; for individual photos, “open in new tab”)

Jan to present (click here for 2020a or 2020b)

Thanks for visiting wp.krigline.com. If you are an old friend or former student, maybe we can get “caught up” during IFM’s weekly Friday night Zoom gathering. Everything is always free, everyone is welcome. See the graphic for info. If IFM is having an in-person meeting, I’m usually there, but if you tell me you plan to join some Friday, maybe I can join you online. From 7:30-8pm, guests talk casually with American volunteers who enjoy meeting our international friends. The meeting ID and passcode are always the same, or you can write to the address shown for more info.

In Sept 2021, I launched a YouTube channel called “Poiema K.” Click here to visit. There isn’t much there yet, but I hope it will grow as time and funds allow.

Dec 31, 2021

I thought I’d post a few more photos before starting my 2022 blog in January. See ya’ next year! (And also notice that I posted a well-written, timely article by Pastor Greg Laurie.)

Since there was no school for the kids after Christmas, they spent several days with us. Here, they are being artistic.

CJ was eager to “build things” with this wonderful Christmas present.

The unseasonably warm weather continued, so we were able to do some yard work. Caroline loves helping outdoors. (Here she’s picking up acorns with a roller.)

CJ and Michael moved our home-made “stable” to the storage shed, to await next Christmas.

Christy prefers to be indoors, so she helped us put decorations away.

It’s always sad to see the beauty of a Christmas tree go back into it’s boxes, but Rosie’s smile and always-helpful attitude made the task brighter. (She is finishing her Master’s degree at UofSC next semester.)

You can see that the temperature is 60 degrees. Michael pulled out his workbench and made a cedar frame for a light-up decoration he created decades ago.

Then we were off to Georgia to spend a few days with family. It started with the holiday lights in Atlanta.

The great-uncle’s role is to capture the chaos of capturing a family photo!

Kudos to those who went to a lot of trouble to make the Atlanta Botanical Garden a magical place at Christmastime.

You can see part of the city skyline on the left, and Michael’s two nieces on the right. Also notice the “s’mores” sign…

Great-nieces and nephews made s’mores (chocolate, roasted marshmallows, crackers). Unfortunately, Michael woke the next morning with signs of a cold, so we drove back to SC to recover.

For the second year in a row, we ended December with a family outing to Snow’s Ice Cream.

Dec 27, 2021

Christmas has again come and gone. We’re always grateful for this special time of year.

As is our tradition, we invited international students to help us decorate our Christmas tree, early in December. They did a great job!

I inherited my parents’ “light-up nativity scene” this year. So, I built a “stable” for them and decorated our porch.

We enjoyed several Christmas programs at local churches; that’s one of the best things about the Christmas season! This is a candle-light service at the local Chinese church.

On Dec 21, Vivian, myself, our daughter and her kids went to get professional portraits made. This was our first time to do this as a family.

My classes with CEF leaders in Brazil continue to go well. We took this year-end photo to celebrate our friendship.

On Christmas eve, we added luminaries to our porch and walkway.

Our family likes to celebrate on Christmas Eve Day. Here you see grandchildren opening their gifts.

One “big gift” we got this year was a croquet set (this is a yard game). Fortunately, the weather is unseasonably warm, so we got to play outside!

Playing croquet with family.

On Christmas Day, we invited international students to join us for a delicious lunch, and…

…and a game of croquet!

Our daughter Beth also joined in the fun. It was a wonderful Christmas!

Nov 30, 2021

We enjoyed a unique Thanksgiving at the beach this year. Here are some photos.

Early morning view from our balcony

Thanksgiving morning; pancakes with the family

Macy’s famous parade on TV, then Cracker Barrel take-out for lunch

After lunch (2pm?) we started to build a sandcastle, working until the sun went down

The kids helped for a while, but they said it was too cold!

The next morning, we went to see how much of the castle was left (not much!), before playing Putt-putt golf.

We enjoyed many beautiful sunrises over the Atlantic (sunsets were nice too!).

Most of the family left on Saturday, but Vivian and I stayed for a few days

We took a few walks on the beach.

Vivian had visited this garden as a teen

Selfie in the shade of a restaurant, where we enjoyed shrimp

One last treat: ice cream at Friendly’s

Nov 23, 2021

Seasonal colds hampered much of November, but we did manage to clean up enough to finally get some guests from church to come for a “house-warming party.”

Here’s a nice view of the house (in Sept), after we replaced the windows and a friend cleaned our sidewalk.

Nov 18 house-warming party

Meanwhile, Mom decided to sell her house in Ohio and move to GA; we went up to help pack in mid Oct.

Nov 12 was Game Night

Nov 12 was Game Night

Our lives are filled with many different hands: old, young, very young, the beauty of many skin tones, hands that serve and hands we serve, hands that play and hands that work, hands on a mouse far away and hands close enough to touch, some who know “what time it is” and others starting to ask the right questions. We’re grateful for all of these hands!

Here’s one of the English lessons I’ve recently added to EFLsuccess.com

Vivian and I have also represented IFM at some area churches recently.

Nov 23, we went to a local theater to enjoy this new film about CS Lewis. We enjoyed it very much!

Sep 24, 2021

I recently sent an email update to friends, and included this “summary” photo about our house. I thought my online friends would like to see it too. (click it for a larger image)

(A) Our lot faces a corner, with a big yard; here’s the front of the house after power- washing the house and sidewalk. (B) Before we even moved in, the sewer backed up. “Welcome to the neighborhood!” (C) Moving a work-shed that had belonged to Vivian’s parents. (D) Painting trim. (E) We’re very grateful to many for doing work on the house, including Dede, Danika and Randy from CLC; Charles; and especially my brother Kevin. (F-G) Randy let us use a company truck, and slaved away all day on July 5 to help us move. He also helped me assemble several pieces of furniture. (H) We hired a local company to go back for what Randy and I couldn’t handle ourselves. (I) Old windows out; new vinyl windows in. (J) Removing branches to keep squirrels off the roof. (K) Dozens of boxes. (L) Adding sound- proofing to my office door (the kids find it hard to be quiet!). That’s all the photos, but certainly not all of the work (indoors and out)!

Starting to look like home.

Here’s a montage about our grandkids, over the past few months.

Here’s Vivian’s summary report on the “grands”:

Christy (11) is growing into a young lady. She loves to read books about dogs and is very artistic. I am amazed at how well she sketches and the effort she is starting to put into her work.

CJ (9) is still very affectionate. He loves his little sister (most of the time) and is willing to play with her often. He is also trying to sort out his skills and how to use what he is learning. He loves knock-knock jokes.

Caroline (4) loves to be outside and play with her dolls. She nurtures, rocks, and sings to them as if they’re real babies. I pray that her speech and focus will continue to develop so she will want to continue her love of music/singing.  

Speaking of “music,” check out Michael’s new YouTube channel (search for “Poiema K”). Michael also has a hand in the Columbia International Festival YouTube videos. Watch for more videos as time and funds allow.

I closed the letter with the words to a favorite hymn….

Our lives are complicated, and certainly don’t look the way we expected at this point in our lifelines, but as the favorite hymn goes:

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!

(from Thanks to God; August Storm 1891)

There’s much we don’t understand about Life, but God is Good, all the time. We love all of the opportunities to share His love with others.

Aug 17, 2021

Today is the first day of school for our grandchildren, so yesterday was the “last day” when we had all three at our home for the day (until someone gets sick, a classmate gets COVID and they all go home, etc.) We’re not sure how this will affect our lives, but we hope that it will give us more time to finish “moving in,” as well as more time for ministry together.

Haircuts, wellness checks, shots, doctor/dentist visits, speech therapy, meet the teacher, kids’ gymnastics…. There always seems to be a reason for Grandma to head for the car.

It’s hard to get a photo of Vivian doing what she does! But here, all three grandkids are in the same room. Michael has the “Chosen” episode about kids running on the TV. Christy (you can see her feet) is sort of watching, as is CJ (while building with Lego); Caroline is actively playing “house” (she just told the kids upstairs that she’ll be there in a minute). They are all so different, and difficult to entertain! They’re looking forward to a return to school.

She doesn’t exactly get the idea, but she likes playing with the bricks!

Here’s a slide I just prepared regarding my local work. We are looking forward to hosting a banquet for international students at the end of the month. I also worked with a videographer this week to prepare things four a big anniversary in Hong Kong.

Aug 3, 2021

Here is a bunch of photos to show why I haven’t added much to this blog in recent months. Basically, we bought a house. I’m already so busy that I often lack adequate sleep, and the process of buying-fixing-packing-moving house just takes the work/stress levels higher and higher. We’re living in the new-to-us house in West Columbia now, but we’re a long way from being “settled.” But I thought I should include some photos anyway. Oh, and we also enjoyed a short, needed break in Ohio in July. 😊

Note the dates. We first saw this house in mid-April, put an offer on it in late April (when it returned to the market), closed in mid-May (but we were too busy with The Festival to do anything about the problems/move), waited until late June for contractors to fix the floors, and moved our stuff just before heading to Ohio July 9 (teaching dates had been set before). A few photos artificially compress a complicated, exhausting, expensive process! Remember that the next time you read in the Bible a summary phrase like “after two years” or “a week later” — a lot of complicated, faith-testing things probably filled that time!

I guess we toured 10 or so homes. Each had things we liked and didn’t like. This home was in our old (pre-China) neighborhood, was well-built, and (being a corner lot) has plenty of parking for our first party for students or church friends.

It was “on the market” for only a few hours (mid-April); someone took out a contract; two weeks later, they backed out; the price went up $10K; we made an offer and had a contract hours later. We took this selfie just after we “closed” in mid-May.

Nichole was very helpful and professional. Since 3-yr-old Caroline was usually with us when we looked at houses, Nichole blessed her “showing buddy” with her own little house!

Before we even moved in, the sewer backed up. “Welcome back to the neighborhood.”

The house had been empty for over a year, and wasps had moved in to almost every window. We used sprays, removed the storm windows, and called Blue Line.

The previous owner (age 92) had several cats, and their fur (etc) was in the carpet. We pulled it out, and refinished the original hard-wood beneath it. (We had done the same down the street in the 1990s.)

Randy has been a good friend since the 1990s. He helped Michael build several items of furniture, and borrowed a company truck to help us move. What a great guy!

Squirrels were using our roof as a bridge between trees in the front and back. Since it’s not a good idea to have squirrels on your roof, I pruned the trees.

This is sort of where we are now! Lots of boxes stacked in my new office.

Up close, the old floor looked terrible. It hadn’t been put together well, so there were spaces (and a gooey substance) between boards. In the kitchen, two layers of linoleum were under the old vinyl. The photo with the blue lines shows where we could walk, after intensive goo removal after I removed the vinyl layer. Fearing old chemicals that might be in the older floors, and to deal with the goo, Floor Source added a new subfloor, and then the chosen luxury vinyl. Now it looks great.

We did far more during the trip (see friends & partners, teach, sleep, watch “The Chosen”…), but one highlight was a trip to the only Roundhouse built in the US since 1950. They have an incredible collection of trains, and our guide told fascinating stories about many of them.

With Mom and Oreo in Ohio

Our son and his wife also came for a visit.

This church had asked me to come speak. This particular class met during lunch.

Vivian at an antique mall on the way back to SC

Back in Columbia at the Fireflies baseball game (“The Fireflies” doesn’t evoke an competitive spirit to strive for–like the Braves, Indians, Vikings, etc–but at least it shouldn’t offend anyone!)

Soon after our return, these good friends surprised us with a visit as they passed through SC (taking their daughter to college in SC).

June 12, 2021

Since mid-May, I’ve invested many hours daily to help my friend Dr Aluri prepare for the 2021 Columbia International Festival. Due to COVID-19, we faced many uncertainties and challenges. But on June 5&6, the Festival was open to the public, and an estimated 8000 enjoyed the chance to see, taste and experience the world. Here are a few representative photos from this year’s popular annual event.

Columbia International Festival, June 5&6 2021, filled two buildings at the State Fairgrounds with sights and tastes from around the world. This is the main National Exhibitions center in the Cantey Building.

The 2021 Highlight Country was India; here an exhibitor demonstrates a traditional instrument. Around the clock, guests engaged their international neighbors, learning about different cultures and making new friends.

Guests enjoy looking at student Art Contest display at the Columbia International Festival.

Students from all over South Carolina submitted artwork on the theme “Discovering India,” often in connection with a curriculum exploring East Asia. Many of the works were on display at the Festival, including these prize winners.

The Columbia International Festival main exhibition hall at the State Fairgrounds, June 5&6 2021. On the left, participants line-up to walk in the popular Parade of Nations. In the center, original floor-art by Indian Folk Artist Jugnu Vermu, under a 10’ globe added this year to celebrate the Festival’s 25th anniversary.

India Folk Artist Jugnu Verma poses with her daughter, behind the sand-art she created for the Columbia International Festival

Festival guests shop at the International Bazaar

Throughout the Festival, guests enjoyed international performances in the Nutt Building, which also hosted a food court featuring dishes from 16 nations.

Outside the Nutt Arena, guests enjoy the stage performances on TV while eating food from 16 nations.

Stilt-Dancers from the US Virgin Islands were a big hit with children (of all ages!).

The Food Court in the Nutt Arena included food from India, Myanmar, Peru, Pakistan, Congo, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Korea, Germany, Liberia, Eritrea, Russia, Kenya, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

May 7, 2021

Space seems to be closely connected to sanity, and after a year of COVID conditions we have been feeling the need for both. In April, while the kids were on a vacation with other relatives, we headed for the hills of North Carolina to enjoy a spacious change of scenery. Since our return, we’ve been busier than ever preparing for the Columbia International Festival (and looking for a more spacious home).

A wonderful Greek meal, just before checking into Ridgecrest

Enjoying the hills of North Carolina, above Ridgecrest Retreat Center. On the way down the hill, we encountered a black bear! (Fortunately, we were in our car)

Ridgecrest has the most beautiful putt-putt golf course we’d ever seen. We enjoyed 36 holes in this tranquil beauty.

After two short days at Ridgecrest, we drove home via the Billy Graham Library.

The complex is filled with memorabilia from the lives of Billy and Ruth. This display is about Ruth’s childhood in pre-war China.

Their graves are on site. Notice the Chinese character for “Righteousness,” made up of two pictographs: “a lamb” covering “me”. This is the simplest explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the “lamb of God” whose blood covers me, and makes me righteous.

Billy would’ve been the first to point out that the focus was never on himself. It was about how an awesome, loving God can use a simple, obedient Carolina boy to bring many fellow rebels into His family. (I’ll type this caption below.)

We are now working to prepare for June 5&6, when we fill these two buildings with food, entertainment and exhibits from around the world!

Finally, the need for more space has led us to buy this 1968 home in West Columbia. (More about that after we “close” the purchase.)

If you can’t read the caption under Billy praying, here it is: “The secret is not me. So many people think that somehow I carry a revival around in a suitcase, and they just announce me and something happens – but that’s not true. This is the work of God, and the Bible warns that God will not share His glory with another. All the publicity that we receive sometimes frightens me because I feel that therein lies a great danger. If God should take His hand off me, I would have no more spiritual power. The whole secret of the success of our meetings is spiritual – it’s God answering prayer. I cannot take credit for any of it.” ~Billy Graham

If my comment about Ruth Graham’s gravestone make you wonder what the Gospel is, see my article on being born again.

Mar 16, 2021

After lunch with friends, I got my first COVID-19 vaccine today (Vivian has already had both shots). Here are some recent photos.

Today, I got my first COVID vaccine. It was a “drive-thru” place, run very efficiently. I was grateful for all the polite staff and volunteers who spent the day outside in the cold to help us put an end to this virus.

Now that many restrictions have been removed in South Carolina, it is great to be able to have lunch with old friends again. We enjoyed a nice buffet at Doc’s BBQ in Columbia.

We live in the tall building (7th floor, other side). Spring has begun across the street at the Garden Club property.

Now that the weather is getting better, CJ and I enjoyed this trip to one of Columbia’s nice parks.

Great picture by Grandma, who enjoys taking the kids to parks too.

One of our favorite things to watch is CBN’s SuperBook cartoons. You can find them at CBN.com or the CBN Family app. I also love CBN News (same app).

Christy (with some help from Grandpa) completed this 300 piece puzzle today, and graciously let her little sister put in the last piece. CJ couldn’t pull himself away from his device to help much, or maybe decided that the saying is correct: “Two’s company, three’s a crowd.”

These tenacious daffodils reminded me that God’s beauty triumphs over life’s disasters. (The Garden Club building burned down some time ago, but no one told the flowers to find a new location!)

Feb 26, 2021

Although we don’t have many photos to show for all our work, you can enjoy some of the “fruit” of our labor on our “English as a Foreign Language” website: EFLsuccess.com. I’ve added study guides for some good films, like Family Man, Far and Away, and It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve also added lessons about Valentine’s Day. Look at the “Recent Posts or Updates” box toward the top.

Today is the Lantern Festival in China, marking the end of the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) holidays. I’ve long enjoyed this holiday, being fond of the beautiful lanterns on display at this time. This year, being in the US, we helped our grandchildren make paper lanterns to decorate their home.

Our grandson is standing on a chair, to finish putting up the new lanterns he and his sister made.

In between Valentine’s Day and Chinese New Year, we enjoyed a delicious Chinese meal with an old friend–one of those who actually visited us in China!

First signs of spring in Columbia.

On my neighborhood walk, this tree’s early attempt to announce spring grabbed my attention, so I had to stop and take some pictures.

Feb 10, 2021

Vivian uses her collection of toy bears to add color to our apartment month to month. “Grandma and Grandpa bear” always stay under the TV (yes, Grandpa has control of the remote), but Valentine’s Day bears now keep them company. Across the room, a Groundhog Day bear enjoys the blossoms of our “Christmas cacti” (which normally don’t bloom until around Chinese New Year–which is this Friday). Today is the birthday of one of my nieces, so I created a graphic for her, and I was so happy with the result that I’m posting it here too! For our foreign friends (who might not understand the white text), if there’s a shadow on Groundhog Day (Feb 2), then winter will be shorter; the cacti in the photo bloom only once a year (often in Feb); and Valentine’s Day (for lovers) is in the middle of this month. Oh, and “love bears all things” is a quote from “the Love chapter” in the Bible: 1 Corinthians 13, which I’ll paste below.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,^[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹² For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

¹³ So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

“The Love Chapter” ~ 1 Corinthians 13 (by St Paul, the Bible, ESV)

Jan 29, 2021

I can’t believe that January is almost over!

Most of our Christmas decorations have been put away, but this Christmas Tree candle remains, surrounded by two Christmas cactuses. The cactus is so-named because it blooms once a year, normally around Christmas or in January. Vivian loves to see these annual flowers, which prove that even dry, prickly, leafless things can produce something beautiful! That’s a life-lesson for us all!

Christmas cactuses blooming in January.

We haven’t done much (except work) in January, but here are a few photos. One of the special things we did was to scan old photos from our pre-digital photography days. I’ll post a few here, but you can see “early digital” photos of the era (and three gorges) on our old website.

We ended 2020 on a sweet note at a local ice cream parlor! It was a great ending for a rather terrible year!

Every year, we add ornaments to the tree that point to the year past. The left ornament includes masks, hand-sanitizer and toilet paper; the one of the right (from WhiteHouseHolidays) says “We’re all in this together.”

On Jan 22, I strolled around the SC State Capital grounds. This memorial remembers the men and women who gave their lives to protect the rest of us as law enforcement officers. The central column says “Lest we forget.”

When a rumor indicated that our grandchildren might have been exposed to COVID, they were all tested, as were Vivian and our daughter. All came back negative. Vivian got her “drive-up” test after waiting in this line.

In 2000, as a college graduation present, we flew our daughter to Shanghai for about two weeks. She never saw the sun, and never came back to China! (Here she is with her little brother, Andrew.)

From 2000 to 2002, Michael taught a variety of students, including these Yew Chung students, young professionals, and corporate clients.

In Shanghai, Vivian was mainly studying Mandarin; but she also taught a bit, and conducted this after-school club for young foreign students.

In 2001, Michael’s parents visited, and we enjoyed a cruise down the Yangtze River, just before a huge dam changed the landscape forever.

This village had to be moved to higher ground before the dam was finished. Now, it is completely under water.

(click here for 2020b) 

©2021 Michael Krigline. For contact info, visit About Us. To make a contribution, see our Website Standards and Use Policy page (under “About Us”). Pre-2015 blogs can still be found on our old archive pages.