Bits from Belgium - Week 11

~ Psalm 91:1-2 ~

Bonjour les amis et la famille!

It seems like I just finished my e-mail update from last week, and yet here I am sending out an update about Week 11 already! Next week will be the last Bits from Belgium that will actually be from Belgium. Wow. It's strange and exciting to think about coming back to Ohio and my friends and family!!! In many ways it feels like I've only been here for a few days and am going/coming back so soon. There are so many more people I could get to know, places I could go, things to do here, and lessons to learn! I realize when I get home, however, and see so many things that have changed, I will realize just how long I've been gone! And when I think about seeing you all again, I am filled with SO much excitement and can hardly wait to see you and hug you and be with you again!
I feel like my time here has been a very intense and important time of learning and growth. It has opened up a lot of doors to me both obviously and in ways only God and I may know. It has helped me get to know myself as God desires and has designed me and has led me through experiences I could never have dreamed of being a part of and am SO incredibly thankful for! Sometimes I worry that all this will stop or slow down when I return. It was encouraging to be reminded that God says "He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." There is soooo much work that needs to be done in me, and it certainly won't be left or end here in Belgium! A recent quote I read fits with what I've been mulling over this week...
"Since every moment is the beginning of the rest of your life, and every moment is the end of the past, every moment should be governed by the glad affections of both gratitude and faith... " We should be "continually humbled by our backward look of gratitude and continually emboldened by our forward look of faith!" - John Piper "Life as a Vapor"

Looking forward to seeing you all SOON!!!


This week's bits from Belgium...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeudi - 20 Septembre , 2007 - Nice day today. Warm with a cool breeze. Very Fall-like and the sky is so beautifully blue! The day was pretty quiet and typical. I did some more flower picking and arranging per Rebecca's request... ;-)
A funny incident also occured today with Susannah Petrie (Rebecca's daughter) & I. Susannah is trying to learn some Spanish because she works with quite a few people from Spain, so she has been practicing some words and phrases with us. (She's already fluent in English and French!) Anyhow, we were in Rebecca's room chatting together and Annie knocked on the door to come in. Simultaneously, Susannah and I both said "Yes"... but the funny thing was that neither of us said it in English! I said "Oui" and Susannah said "Si" both at the exact same time and way! We just looked at eachother and burst out laughing because both of us had responded at the same instant without any planning or forethought and had both replied in the respecive languages we are learning! :-)

Vendredi - 21 Septembre, 2007 - GORGOUS DAY!!!! Warm, sunny, breezy. We ate dinner outside today. A pretty busy day today with a visitor from Alabama who will be here until Monday, plus four other visitors, the morning and evening nurse, and the physical therapist all coming and going throughout the course of the day! Susannah made a fabulous dinner of grilled turkey burgers and vegies and we worked together to make a pasta salad. Dessert consisted of a pear pie from the fresh pears off the Petrie tree. The recipe came from one of the Petries' friends from Israel who visited in August. The "pie" looked more like a cobbler or crisp, but tasted just fine... I don't think it mattered that it didn't look like it's name! :-)

Samedi - 22 Septembre, 2007 - The weather was again AMAZING! The morning and afternoon was typical, but this evening the Christensens (friends of the Petries) came over and grilled delicious chicken wings and we had a feast. :-) I made another pear "pie" and a pear/apple "pie" like the one I made the other day. Before the Christensens left this evening they had a short time of worship led by Chris on the guitar in Rebecca's room. The music and singing was lovely and it was so special to be in live worship again. Didn't realize how much I'd missed it! It was a very peaceful, enjoyable time and boy did I sleep well!

Dimanche - 23 Septembre, 2007 - All's fine here. The weather was gorgous again today. Sunny, warm, and perfect temperatures. I got in a walk to the lake and around it in the afternoon. It was as beautiful as always! I had my camera with me and was able to get some especially neat pictures of the sun making a rainbow in the water fountain. Wish you could have seen it in real life! LOVELY!!! Had our usual Sunday evening popcorn and TV watching together. We watched some more episodes about a humorous, obsessive/compulsive detective Monk as he solves mysteries.

Lundi - 24 Septembre, 2007 - A lovely morning - very windy and cool with sun and big, white puffy clouds. These clouds piled up as the day went on, and by early afternoon it was raining. Paul left for a short visit to northern Africa. He will be back Thursday. Our guest from Alabama, also left today, so things went from quite lively and loud to quiet and very un-exciting in a very short amount of time! Seems to happen both ways here quite often! We had a quiet afternoon and watched some BBC James Herriot videos, which follow the books quite closely and were enjoyable. To anybody who is not a fan of the James Herriot veterinary stories or British humor, (or should I say humour?) the videos can be quite boring, however I have read enough of his books and have enough of an interest in the subject that I really did enjoy watching the videos. I will have Maddie with me tonight and through Weds. since Paul is gone. :-)

Mardi - 25 Septembre, 2007 - A pretty typical day here. We had the usual incoming and outgoing of people plus the predictable unpredictable-ness of surprises and excitement, peace, and quiet. This evening is the night before a full moon, and just as it has been the past two months, the moon here is very bright and beautiful. At about 11 p.m., Rebecca and I basked in the moonlight in her room. I pulled her bed over by the window where the moonlight shined down on us and formed shadows in Rebecca's beautiful garden and through the pear tree. It was so lovely and something that even my camera, writing, or words cannot capture...

Mercredi - 26 Septembre, 2007 -
I got up early, helped Rebecca get up for the morning, and then got picked up by Norma, who has unofficially become my official Belgian personal tour guide! Today, Norma drove me through more Belgian countryside and up to the lovely, very quaint city of Brugge/Bruges, in northwestern Belgium! The weather on the way up was most fascinating, as it was a sunny, misty morning when we left, but gradually become more and more cloudy as we drove. We drove through several rain showers and then back into sun. During the drive, we had the privilige of watching God paint the sky over 5 times with various beautiful rainbows!!! I took some photos of them, but once again, the photos don't come even near to displaying how lovely they were! By the time we got to Brugge, it was raining pretty steadily and rather chilly. We visited a nice kringwinkel in Brugge first hoping the rain would let up a bit. When it didn't, we decided to go ahead and make the plunge (literally! :-). With umbrella in hand, we walked together through a bit of Brugge, stopping to check out the lace, chocolate, and tapestry shops. We purchased a chocolate bar and split it and stood inside the chocolate shop eating it. We headed back down the streets in the rain afterwards, but gradually the rain let up until it completely stopped! It barely sprinkled the rest of our time in Brugge, until we got in the car to leave. :-) Thank you God! Brugge, like Brussels, is GORGOUS! It is sometimes referred to as "the mini-Venice" because of it's beautiful canals that run through the city! Among the many beautiful medieval buildings is the "Church of Our Lady", whose 122 meter brick spire makes it one of the world's highest brick towers/buildings. This church also contains a Madonna by Michelangelo. We didn't go into the church, but did get to enjoy walking around the main square of the city, and I also enjoyed a boat ride through the canals of Brugge, giving me a lovely, small taste of the city. The boat tour guide said everything three times... in English, French, and Flemish! After all the pictures I took last week in Brussels, the bets were being cast back at the Petrie household as to how many pictures I was going to take during the day in Brugge. :-) No need to fear, there are plenty of pictures to share with you about today! ;-)
Like almost all of Belgium, I found Brugge to be quaint, beautiful beyond words, very "European", and very comfortable to be in. On the way home, Norma and I stopped at several more kringwinkels. I got home in time to eat dinner, watch part of a movie with Rebecca and Annie, and then make a few phone calls back to Ohio before heading to bed very tired and very happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blessings in Belgium:
* The amazing people I'm getting to meet and learn about!
* The giving of time and self from other people, which has allowed me to see and do what I have!
* The knowledge and experiences I am gaining here in areas so different from those I had at home!
* The ability to communicate with "all ya'll" at home and throughout the U.S.!
* The beauty of this place and the world we live in!
* The amazing privilige it is to be here in this place, doing what I'm doing, with the people I'm with!
* The surprising enjoyment I have found in the challenge of learning and practicing a bit of the French language!
* God's faithfulness and grace each and every day...
* God's little and big miracles I've gotten to experience and grow in faith through
* The ways I've been "pushed" to grow up and do things I may not have dreamed of doing before this!
* The ability to be able to capture and share some of this experience through pictures, videos, and e-mails!
* The prayers of my friends and family and the many ways I've seen them answered... faith builders indeed!

Prayer Requests:
* That I can be humble and serve the way Jesus has taught and demonstrated
* That I might decrease so that He might increase
* That I can love, be a light, and bless those I interact with
* That I will be in tune with and always seeking and listening for His guidance throughout each moment and day
* That I will continue to be open and moldable to the "good work" God is able to do in me here, at home, and throughout the rest of my life!
* That my dear friend Jessica H., who will be arriving in 1 week (!!!!!) will have smooth and peaceful preparation for coming here and a safe trip! I can't wait to see her! :-D
* That I and my friends and family will be able to smoothly prepare and handle my "re-entry" to life in Ohio in a week and half...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you again and again for your prayers and encouraging e-mails and notes!

A la prochaine!

~ MB

------------------------------ ----------------------------------
"It is easy for us to imagine that we will suddenly come to a point in our lives where we are fully prepared, but preparation is not suddenly accomplished. In fact, it is a process that must be maintained. It is dangerous to become settled and complacent in our present level of experience." - Oswald Chambers "My Utmost for His Highest"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--- www.mbbelgium.blogspot.com ---