things that remind me i am no longer in america #1

dangerous machinery left unattended by the city. power tools can’t hurt anybody…right?

 

first impressions of belgium

I am finally moved into my apartment and I am getting settled. I walked around downtown today to go to some museums and just get feel for the city. I thought you all might enjoy taking a peek of what this place is all about. First of all, everywhere you walk is usually covered in some variation of this:

Let me tell you this is a treat on the feet: ) Some of the fancy shmancy old buildings look like this:

I went to an art museum and saw the following painting. It gave me hope that one day the doodles on the side of my notebook will someday be worth hundreds of euros.

I live on the 4th floor of this:

And I sleep on this:

I went to a Music Museum and saw a pipe instrument that looked like this:

And I even had time left over for one of these amazing gifts from heaven:

Thank you so much through all your support through prayer. If you want specific requests here are a few:

* Language study!!!

* Opportunities to talk to my classmates about the Lord

* Relationships with other M’s here. That we would learn to love each other more deeply and work together in unity.

 

first day of class

Today was my first day of language school in Brussels. I was so nervous because of how difficult Spanish was for me to learn. I thought I would be the only one in the class that only knew colors and numbers and that the day would end with everyone pointing and laughing. Well, there was laughing involved, but it was all in jest: ) The professor had us draw our country and put and X over where we live. Apparently my depiction of the United States was closely resembling a giraffe. O well, I am here to learn French not win poster contests.

The professor was really cool and the other students are really rad. It is fun to have such diverse cultures in one room. I did get lost on the trams coming home from school, but that was expected. I always get lost and I have dealt with that. All in all, it was a great day. I still have not taken any pictures…they will come soon I promise.

 

a whole new world. don’t you dare close your eyes.

This has been a very LONG day! I left good ol’ CA at 8am Monday morning and it is now 6pm on Tuesday  in Belgium and I’m still awake! I slept a few hours on the plane and I just woke up from a small (yet delightful) nap. Everything here looks the same, just different. The drivers are crazy and the weather is very cold. I went grocery shopping today and there was horse meat in the fridge for purchase. Mmm yummy? The family I am staying with is very kind and I should be in my own apartment by the first of the month. Well, that’s all for now, I going to a spring musical thing at their daughter’s school in Waterloo. Wasn’t there a battle there or something?

 

What say you, Bob Saget?

        

Five days till I fly out to the land of mussels, chocolate, beer, and waffles.  As I prepare for the trip I face a few challenges. First of all, how do you fit 2 years worth of life into 2 suitcases? Some of my friends overseas managed 1 suitcase…apparently I am more girly than I thought. 

My second challenge is not so much present now…it is just a dark cloud reminding me of what is yet to come: language school. I have tried to no avail to learn simple French words and phrases. My 8 years of Spanish education has ruined me. I say all French words with a Spanish accent. And if I cannot remember the French word, I say it in Spanish (Let’s hope the Belgian people understand Frenspanglish).

Third challenge is getting emotionally, physically, and most importantly spiritually ready for my journey. I think about saying goodbye to my parents and to Beth and I just cannot picture it. I thought rehearsing it in my mind would make it easier once I actually do it, but I think I just haven’t let go yet. I feel sorry for the poor person that gets assigned to sit by me in the plane…they are in for a real treat: ) 

My dreams have been so weird this week. They have not made any real sense, and 2 of them were starring Bob Saget. What does this mean, I wonder?

As for my physical state, I have been walking everyday to get my body used to it. Two years with no car….so weird, but I imagine great for my calf muscles!

Spiritually, the last few months have been rough. I would go back and forth with the Lord about why He allowed such a  delay on my visa. One day I would say “Lord Your will in Your time” the next day I would be like , “Anytime now God”. Through ups and downs He proved faithful to me. I believe He was waiting for me to really ask. Asking Him with faith that He can and will do it. And He did! Now I am trying to get through a devotional called “God’s Heart For The Nations” alongside my normal time with God. It has been brilliantly preparing me for the task, and to give my heart a new lens in which to see the world.

Thank you for your prayers for me during this time. Please pray for my family as I go, and pray for me to let go.

 

glory, glory, hallelujah!

THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME! MY VISA IS IN MY POSSESTION AND I WILL FIND OUT MY FLIGHT DATES ON MONDAY! THANK YOU FOR PRAYERS!

 

ode to valentine’s day

yes and we like them. happy valentine’s day friends and family! i love you!

www.urbandictionary.com

(while you are there check out “tomjoy” and give it a thumbs up)

 

between goodbye and hello

so i am still waiting on my visa and trying to find things to fill my time. i actually have been quite successful. here is a rundown of things that have been occupying my time:

first there was Christmas. my brother and sister-in-law came down to hesperia and we had a great time living under the same roof again.

then i had an exciting trip to disneyland with kyle and sarah. it was beautiful at christmas!

things settled after the holidays and i was going a little stir-crazy at home. so i found out about a crisis pregnancy center in hesperia that is owned by a woman from my parents church. i began volunteering there a couple times a week. it has been an awesome experience that will be invaluable to me in belgium. 

i took a trip to riverside and threw a surprise birthday party for beth. it sure was a surprise (being that her bday is not really until july) and we had fun at wahoo’s!

also in riverside i spent time with val climbing mt. rubidoux. it was so beautiful up there! riverside can be nice, you just have to see it from a different angle.

as some of you know, hesperia has dirt…o and my parents live there. so dirt and my parents…that’s it. i decided that since my visa still was not here and i needed a change of scenery, i would travel to sacramento to spend time with my brother and his wife. we mostly watched some movies and walked to safeway to use the internet. as it turns out, there are really creepy people that hang out in the starbucks inside safeway. i have a couple good stories if you’re interested.

 

we went to this place called “Big Spoon” which i assumed was like “Swirl” in riverside. it was similiar but kinda kicked butt in the condiments category. as you can see in the picture it was like topping heaven. way to go sacramento.

i also got to see good friends while i was here that i have not seen in over a year! i saw ken, angela, and bella hansen. bella is so cute and getting so big!

i went to get pedicures with xica and emily which was totally girly and really fun!

good times have been had, but please keep praying that my visa will come in!

 

new life resolutions

i have had writers block for weeks now. no grand things happened. no change in my status for belgium. no marvelous ah-ha moments. however, i have been learning so much about who God really is and who i should be in light of Him. after being in virginia around 270 Jesus-followers that absolutely knew what life means and what we were here for, i was struggling coming back to where people are living “normal” lives. apparently in the real world not everybody is leaving the country. not everybody is as excited as the 270 to go tell, go share, go. i had a hard time understanding this. i know the Father has a different plan for everyone, but everyone has been commanded to tell of Him where they are. share Him. BE like Him. that WAS the message of the gospel, am i wrong?

i have spent the last 3 weeks feeling like all 270 sent-out ones need to stay here and teach our churches what we learned in virginia about the Church. about being disciples. about our purpose. the Church is a mess people….hope i am not the only one that has noticed that. what are we doing? i feel like we are wasting valuable time here. time that should be spent investing in people and loving people and sharing the scandalous truth of Scripture with people. when did being a follower of Jesus become something you do when people are watching? when you feel like it? when it does not cost you anything? d. bonhoeffer said “the call to follow implies that there is only one way of believing on Jesus Christ, and that is by leaving all and going with the incarnate Son of God”. this made me think. leave WHAT? i know, i’m so deep. but really, this made me think “well i am going to belgium…so i am leaving friends and family”. the end. that makes me a great Christian then, huh? mmmm not so much.

as this new year began i was trying to think of a great resolution because i have never before had a new years resolution. i never though of a good one…but good ol’ bonhoeffer did challenge me to look at being a follower of Jesus a little differently. maybe in light of what has been revealed to me i need a higher, stronger resolve than the typical assumed failures of new years resolutions. what kind of follower do i want to be? do i need to be? what about my old nature have i held on to? what do i really need to LEAVE? what are things i have yet to pick up that are mine to carry? many questions with answers i don’t have yet. but a few things i do:

resolved: to love my neighbor, whoever that may be at any given moment. really love.

resolved: to live like Jesus died for me. not making His grace cheap and His call to follow a suggestion.

resolved: to stop judging people for not bearing fruit, but actually bear fruit. woo them into the movement by my fruit and showing off the life-giving vine.

resolved: to not waste moments because of fear or laziness; where would i be if Jesus decided not to die because the cross was inconvenient?

resolved: to live with abandon as an expendable follower.

i will most likely fail at these terribly. actually i will probably never get it right. but the point is not perfection…the point is chasing after holiness with everything in me. so i have no new years resolution. but what i do have is a new resolve to be different than i have been. old mistakes behind me. who i was is not who i am. what was true of me then is not true of me now. i have decided to follow Jesus. no turning back.

 

waiting waiting…no fun at all

well my visa still has not come in….please keep praying! i have had a great time with my parents and my brother & sister in law that came down from sacramento, however,  it is really hard for me to enjoy my time when my departure date in unknown. i have a tendancy towards worry. as it turns out, worring gets me no closer to belgium. thank you for keeping me in your prayers,

love you all and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!