A Bit From Belgium - Week 3

~ Psalm 51:10-12 ~

Bonjour les Amis et la Famille!

Wow... Week 3 passed already?! So how was your week? How are you doing? What's new and exciting where you are? Thank you so very much for your e-mail updates. I love hearing about what's going on in your lives; how your dogs are doing, how your kids, dances, work, fall preparations, or summer fun is going, etc. I just love hearing from you all! :-)

Life here continues to be "bon", and I am "tres bien". :-) As I was telling my Grandma this week, I feel like... well... me! In a way, I also feel a bit like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz; like I've been swept up, flown to some interesting, far away world and dropped down to continue on living. The funny thing is, that's exactly (almost) what happened! :-) I continue to enjoy learning bits and pieces about Belgium and Europe every day, and also enjoy using the teeny bit of French that I've picked up here. (I'm trying to write some phrases and words in a notebook to remember them :-) The days are going quickly and the "caretaking" and work around the house keeps me plenty busy! It's hard to get more than 45 minutes to an hour of uninterrupted time to myself throughout the day, but that's part of what's good for me here... :-)
While I do feel like "myself" here in a good way, I am also being stretched to live, do things, or think and act in ways I have not before. I have to take responsibility for my periods of free time and use them wisely: resting (which is a hard thing for me to do during the day!), quiet reading (selecting the type of book (since I'm reading 6) based on my time, location, and circumstances is a task in and of itself! --- light novel reading for more distracting or short-term, more devotional or educational stuff for longer, quieter times when I can have a notebook and highlighter handy :-). I am also finding/making time to write letters, take walks, stetch out some currently unused dance muscles, or just listen to some uplifting music! All of these things probably sound incredibly wonderful to have time to do, but quite honestly, I've not had time (or maybe motivation?) to do them in my life back at home, and this is something I had hoped I could work on while I was here. It's actually hard for me to not be "going places and doing things", but at the same time, it's very, very good. :-)

The majority of my time each day is spent doing things for Rebecca or around the house (cooking, dishes, some cleaning, unloading groceries, etc.), but I have been encouraged by the grace God has given me for this. Tasks that I may not have enjoyed at home I am actually enjoying here, and those which I have never done before have also proven to be very do-able and/or enjoyable. :-) You guys won't believe it, but I'm actually somehow enjoying the cooking and dish-washing I've done! It could be that I enjoy the company in the kitchen (Susannah C.!), or the new/different kitchen itself, or possibly the fact that I'm cooking or washing dishes for about half of what I cook for at home (grin), but more likely, I believe that God is just giving me the grace to find joy in even those tasks which I normally do not enjoy. Talk about an encouraging touch from God! :-) [Thank you for your prayers!]

If you would have told me last year at this time where I would be and what I would be doing, I would have told you "No Way!" and that I would have been scared, miserable, and overwhelmed. It is so not so, and I am so grateful to God for planning and calling me to this!

1 Corinthians 10:10 "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect."

On to my Belgium Bits! ...
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Thursday - July 26, 2007
My first day "off". Whenever possible, the Petries try to make sure each care-giver gets one day "off" each week or every few weeks to relax, rest, catch up on whatever they may not have time for during the week, etc. I found it to be a very nice, restful, "recharging" day, but also kind of strange. I couldn't help but help out in a few small ways... it's almost impossible to sit back and not do anything as we are "supposed" to! :-) At any rate, I got to sleep in later and began my morning slowly and quietly. I read awhile and caught up on some e-mails before heading downstairs for lunch. After lunch I took a walk to the lake and spent two hours there writing a few notes, reading, and listening to music. I also walked around the lake before heading back home. I stopped at the bank on my way home and finally exchanged some US money for euros. Unfortunately (or fortunately?), I accidentally got a 50 Euro note, so now I will have to back to exchange it for "smaller" notes. :-) Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening visiting, reading, writing, and catching up on more e-mails. I also made a phone call and chatted with my family online a bit. I found a book off the Petrie shelves that is a biography about Jim Elliot. It's a nice, easy read and very interesting, as I've read a lot about and by Elisabeth Elliot, but less about Jim. Oh dear... so does that mean I'm not reading 7 books? Hmmm... :-) They're a huge variety though, and so interesting!

Friday - July 27, 2007
Back to work! A long, more typical day starting with the getting up at 6:45 in order to be ready to help Rebecca get up at 7:00. I was able to squeeze in a walk and some reading in between the rest of the day's tasks. A lot of work to do, but it continues to be relatively enjoyable and I'm still happy here. It was a lovely, partly-cloudy, windy day. It's rainy now, at 12:32 a.m. It was my night to do the "midnight turn". The guests that were here for 2 weeks to help with Rebecca's book have left, so things are a bit quieter now, which is good, so everybody can recharge and rest up!

Saturday - July 28, 2007 - Sunday - July 29, 2007 - A quiet weekend of rest... excluding all the typical day's work! :-) I did the usual, serving, walking, reading, etc. We watched a movie together on Saturday evening, and some guests stopped by Saturday evening as they were going by Genval on their way somewhere. Sunday was also a quiet day with a bit of preparation for some notable Norwegian guests coming for lunch on Monday. It was rainy and chilly most of the day. Sunday nght was also a full moon and very pretty. Made a very nice nightlight from the skylight in my room. I looked at the moon and wondered if you might have gone and looked at it some 6 hours later. Did you know we were looking at the same moon tonight?! :-) Also had a good laugh as we briefly saw a bit of Looney Toons on TV... in French! Sylvestor the cat talked with the same "lythp" he has on American Looney Toons, only he was lisping in French! :-) Tweety Bird also surprised me by his fluency in French. :-) Pretty cool and funny! Oh, and also, did you know that (at least for Genval), there is a "noise law" for Sundays? You're not allowed to mow grass (and probably participate in other noisy activities?) on Sundays because of this noise law. Interesting! I'll bet my Dad would be all for it in our city! ;-)

Monday - July 30, 2007 - Busy, tiring day! The morning was spent preparing everything and everybody for the arrival of the Norwegian guests. The lunch was prepared beautifully, deck swept, table set, etc. I actually made an egg salad, which is funny, because I don't even care for hard-boiled eggs, but I actually really enjoyed making it! I've found a funny joy I've never known that comes from preparing foods I don't even care for! One day I took the shells off of shrimp, another day I chopped mushrooms. I laugh at myself happily working with food I don't like! Everybody here is so accomadating and tries not to let/make me eat or prepare food I don't like, but I really don't mind it! :-) The lunch seemed to go very well, and was my first glimpse at a "semi-elegant" meal in the Petrie household. Apparently they get even more gorgous! This meal they only used one set of silver ware, although it really was silver, which had to be carefully hand washed and dried after the meal. Another opportunity to expand my education here! Did you know that on a tea tray the rounder pitcher is for milk and the more oval is for cream? Okay, so maybe you knew already, but now I know too! :-)

Tuesday - July 31, 2007 - Pretty typical day. Started a new book by George MacDonald called "The Maiden's Bequest". It's a novel off of the Petrie's bookshelf and is set in Europe. :-) Yes, I did finish the Jim Elliot biography before picking up this book. I also found Tozer's "The Pursuit of God" and am reading that as well. I went for a walk today and took one of the Petrie dogs with me. That was fun. :-) I think I will do that more often when I take my shorter walks. Speaking of the dogs, Maddie the puppy has learned to "Shake" and "Roll-over" now and is very anxious to learn more tricks. Anything that involves food and attention suits her fine! Molly, the 6 year old, has also learned to shake and is a very fun and adorable girl once you get her "out of her shell". These dogs are such a blessing to me! :-)

Wednesday - August 1, 2007 - Hmmm... that's today! It's my second day off and a LOVELY day indeed! Sunny, clear blue skies, temperature in the 70's. I hope to go to the lake and spent a few hours again reading, writing, listening to music possibly, and walking. I also have a few errands to run and may make my first solo trip to the store. Should be interesting and may make for a good story next week! ;-) Speaking of next week, this coming week is likely going to be a very busy week, as the other caretaker who has been here is leaving and Rebecca's husband will also be gone for a week. That leaves two of us to the caretaking and house work, although I believe another girl will be coming for a few days until Rebecca's husband returns. I anticipate more work and less rest, and also less time for calling, e-mailing, writing, etc. , so if you don't hear much or anything from me, that may be why! Today will be a nice "gearing up" day for this weekend and upcoming week!

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Blessings in Belgium:

* The grace of God for me to be here, be happy, at peace, and enjoy what I am doing!
* Another full week gone by smoothly and happily!
* My wonderful friends and family who I am priviliged to miss! (Missing people is hard, but not having people to miss would be even harder!)
* The letters, notes, e-mails, pictures, and encouragement I have received from friends and family members!
* The beautiful weather, town, country, and continent to get to be in!
* The life, ability, and provision God has given for me to do and be where I am right now!

Prayer Requests:

* My right wrist has been sore for the past few days. I have had problems with strained wrists before and think that's what this is (it would make sense with the type of physical stuff I've been doing). It is really not that bad and doesn't bother me much unless I use it or stretch it certain ways, but I would appreciate prayers for its healing so that I may be more effective and so that it will not become a burden!
* That this next week of more intense work and time of just 3-4 of us together would go smoothly
* That I would continue to openly submit to the molding, shaping, and stretching that the Lord is doing and and has in store for me
* That I can be humble and serve the way Jesus has taught and demonstrated
* That the grace He has given me so far would continue to carry and fill me with His joy in all I am doing!

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~ 2 Corinthians 13:14

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all",

~ Mary Beth

"God's training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future... If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough atention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is a precious." ~ Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" (July 28)