Bits From Belgium - Week 12

~ Psalm 91:1-2 ~

Bonjour les amis et la famille!

Oh, where to begin... and how to end?!

... "It is a strange feeling when one reaches the end of a journey. Of course there is a sense of accomplishment. It is rewarding to have pursued something and achieved it. But then there is also the remorse of having to leave that pursuit behind. Add to that the excitement, expectation, and fear of the journey that lies ahead. The end of a journey is as much of a beginning as it is an end."

I recently read this quote from a friend, and it nicely summarizes some of the feelings and thoughts I've had as I near the end of what has turned out to be an incredible, wonderful, life-changing adventure!!!! As you may already know, this Bits from Belgium is the last you will receive from me while I am actually in Belgium. Next week at this time I should be at home with my family in Ohio, United States. It is hard to identify and describe the mixture of emotions that have gone through me this week. Actually, I should rephrase that. It's not hard to identitfy the emotions, because they're pretty much all there! It is hard to describe them though! :-) It's a strange thing to be so terribly excited and yet so terribly sad about the very same event! I tell people that I'll leave Belgium with tears of sadness and will arrive in Columbus, Ohio with tears of joy!
I will be bringing home with me so much more than the (now heavier ;-) luggage, and enough stories, photos, and memories to last a lifetime! :-) This journey has had its share of ups and downs, twists and turns, trials and errors, but the One thing (Person) I needed most has remained stable and with me these 85 days, and for that I am eternally grateful! Truly, the joy of the Lord has been my strength!
I look forward with great anticipation to seeing, feeling, and hugging you all again! E-mail and letters have been wonderful, but there's nothing like the you in real life! :-) Your dedicated reading of 'the Bits', excellent contact in keeping me informed of life back "in the states", and faithful prayers have been incredibly answered and appreciated! Did I ever tell you how grateful I am for you?!


On to the "Bits" from Week 12...
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Jeudi - 27 Septembre , 2007 - A very "normal" day. Paul returned this evening from his visit to northern Africa, bringing with him some very lovely gifts! He gave me a "tooled", small brass plate that is incredibly and intricately hand-done! He also gave me a small, beautiful, hand-made box of wood that will be a lovely case for jewelry or something of that sort. Thank you Paul!

Vendredi - 28 Septembre, 2007 - Another relatively "normal" day. My dog training urge started to bubble up a bit, so I worked with Molly a bit on learning to army crawl. :-) I also made a spaghetti and stir-fried zuchinni dinner. Not much else to report.

Samedi - 29 Septembre, 2007 - This morning I rode around the Brussels suburbs area with Hans and Norma Fischer and stopped at a Kringwinkel. The weather was rainy and "sleepy". We had a couple who are very good friends of the Petries over for a lovely lunch. Watched the movie Amazing Grace again and loved it just as much as last time... if not more! :-) I tried to trim Maddie and worked a bit with her on retrieving a ball on command. She's so much fun to work with because she's so smart and eager to please!

Dimanche - 30 Septembre, 2007 - A beautiful day! Having several rainy days in a row always seems to make a beautiful day all the more beautiful! :-) This morning there was an incredible fog that was sooo pretty and stuck around until mid-morning. This afternoon I was able to go out for a walk to... you guessed it... Lac Genval! I always enjoy these walks so much. Being a lovely Sunday afternoon, there were a LOT of people there, and such variety! People dressed professionally, joggers, young families, elderly couples, paired up teens, and just about everything in between! It was the same with their dogs... big dogs, small dogs, tiny dogs, old, young, hairy, and short haired dogs. Jack russells, Labradors, a Newfoundland, pug, westie, gordon setter, yorkie, boxer... they were all there. :-) Amazingly, I also heard TWO people speaking various forms of English as well! There is something about walking around a lovely lake surrounded by people of such variety in every way that is beautiful, exciting, and enjoyable. Another thing I have noticed about Europe compared to the U.S. is the high level of PDA (public display of affection), and not just among teens. I SO enjoy seeing many elderly couples walking hand in hand around the lake, not to mention the other couples of various ages! I also see alot of gentlemen carrying the purses and bags of their female friends without a blush or sign of embarassment. So many little, fascinating cultural differences that never cease to intrigue me!

Lundi - 1 Octobre, 2007 - Another rainy, chilly day. Paul and Rebecca went out to lunch today, and we had the privilige of helping Rebecca get all ready to go. They looked lovely, all dressed up, and enjoyed a nice Chinois (Chinese) meal right by the lake. After they left for lunch, Annie and I hopped into her car and also headed to the lake for lunch. We ate at a lovely Italian restaurant (where the hostess spoke French with an Italian accent :-) We also got to eat right by the lake, and it was really lovely! The trees are just starting to change color here, and it was soothing and beautiful to watch the raindrops on the lake, thousands or millions at a time, each making its own little circle of water around it. The waterbirds were fascinating to observe as well. One in particular kept diving under the water for several seconds at a time, and would then pop back up out of the water quite a distance away. I enjoyed a pesto spaghetti and had a wonderful time visiting with Annie and learning a bit more French! It was the first time we had done anything like this together, and was a very nice time. We got back to the Petries just as they got back, and had a pretty quiet, peaceful afternoon and evening.

Mardi - 2 Octobre, 2007 - Another damp day with rain on and off. My friend Jessica departed for Belgium this evening, and naturally I was thinking about and praying for her a lot today! I also enjoyed preparing her room for her arrival in the few spare moments I had throughout the day. We changed sheets, cleaned the room (whoever was there before was messy! :-O), moved my stuff out, (ooops, it was moi in the room before! :-), and enjoyed adding little bits and pieces that will hopefully make her feel welcome and at home. Jessica will be staying in the room I inhabited, and I moved into the small guest room next door for the next few nights. Otherwise a pretty "typical" day. I did the midnight turn tonight, and as I settled down to sleep I thought of Jessica again, who was just boarding her plane in Ohio and getting ready to head our way!!!

Mercredi - 3 Octobre, 2007 -
JESSICA IS HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D I got up this morning and checked my e-mail, which turned out to be a good thing, since Jessica's Dad had e-mailed to let me know that her plane was two hours delayed and not scheduled to arrive until about 2 hours later than the original arrival time. (Thank you sooooo much Mr. Heskett for letting me know!!!!) So the morning consisted of several phone calls back and forth with Hans & Norma, who were scheduled to pick me up and then head to the airport to pick up Jessica. After some scheming, Hans and Norma offered to take me out to lunch and pick up Jessica afterwards. We enjoyed a lunch in the Ikea cafeteria (Ikea is a HUGE department-ish store, plus a nice cafeteria/food court). I had meatballs and frites (aka French Fries). After eating, we headed to the airport and made our way to the arrival gate. It was nice to get a glimpse of where I will need to go and be next week, since it was a part of the airport I did not see last time. We made it to the arrival gate, and sure enough, it looked just like what it looked like when I came through those doors... not so very long ago! The only difference was that I was on the receiving end this time! We scanned the area to see if Jessica had arrived yet, but didn't see her in sight and settled by the gates to intently watch all the passengers coming out. I was surprised by own level of excitement and nervousness. It was SO hard to wait and watch people come out without them being Jessica. But then, at last (you know, like 5 minutes or so... but it seemed so long! :-), I saw Jessica come around the corner, and we saw eachother immediately! Oh, what joy and excitement to see my friend here! It is such a strange and wonderful thing to see somebody you know and love in a context so far and so different from that which we normally see eachother! Jessica had a good, but not uneventful trip here, but looked great and was amazingly not wiped out! We headed to the Fischers' car and back to the Petrie's. It Seeing all the sights and scenery that I remember passing by in awe not so many weeks ago brought back many memories and emotions from that first day here. Now I had the privilige of reliving it with Jessica! The rest of the evening and afternoon consisted for the normal care with Rebecca, plus helping Jessica get settled in and know the house and her room and all. We made chicken enchiladas for dinner, which I was hoping to surprise Jessica with, but then ended up preparing with her. :-) She'd been here only a few hours and was already cooking with me! Amazin! :-) After dinner we went for a short walk up the street and I pointed out some of the things I liked or noticed from here. We also got on our computers and e-mailed our families to let them know Jessica had arrived safely, and then e-mailed eachother back and forth, laughing and talking to eachother in our next-door rooms as well. It is SO neat to have Jessica here, and I'm looking forward to our next few day together! She's handling the time change and routine adjustment incredibly well! I wish I looked that good when I arrived! ;-)

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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!
* JESSICA arriving safely and doing well so far in the adjustment!
* The opportunity to share this experience with a dear friend and also get to spend a few days together before I leave!
* 3 months gone by in a blink of an eye... sometimes a blessing, sometimes not so much! :-/

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 both here, on the trip back, and back in Ohio!
* 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 Jessica can continue to settle in quickly and smoothly (she sure has so far!)
* That I can explain and help Jessica learn all the tasks and ways we do things here without confusing her too much, (smile), and that we can make the "changing of the guard" a smooth adjustment for the Petries and Annie!
* That I and my friends and family will be able to smoothly prepare and handle my "re-entry" to life in Ohio! :-)
* Safe and almost uneventful (but not too boring! ;-) travel back to the U.S. on Monday
* Smooth good-byes :-(
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Only one more "Bits [not from] Belgium" left! You can heave a sigh of relief or sadly savor these last two Bits, depending on your perspective. :-) I have truly enjoyed writing them and have really appreciated your feedback and encouragement as well!

Have a lovely week until "la prochaine"!

Amour,

~ MB

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"There is no growth without change; there is no change without fear or loss; and there is no loss without pain. Every change involves a loss of some kind: you must let go of old ways in order to experience the new. We fear these losses, even if our old ways were self-defeating, because, like a worn out pair of shoes, they were at least comfortable and familiar." - Rick Warren "Purpose Driven Life"
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