Week one in Belgium

The Cole Family's Home

Today I decided to explore my surroundings a little bit and took off for a walk around the town of Neufville's which is where the Cole family lives.  As I walked, I listened to some new songs I recently downloaded at Tim's suggestion.  It was surreal and for some reason absolutely enthralling as lame as that sounds.  Here I am, in a totally new place, listening to new music and breathing in new smells.  It was a sensory overload as I took in all the new sights- the buildings, the roads, the houses, the fences, the cow pastures, they all look so new and different to me.  The flowers are different, the trees look different and the fresh smell after the rain passes is intoxicating.  

As I walked I spent a little time with my Abba Father expressing my thanks and gratitude to Him and as if to answer, the heavens opened up and poured down on me washing me clean and cooling me down.  I looked up and laughed as I continued my walk in the rain which quickly tapered off and gave way to an absolutely beautiful sunny afternoon.  

 

Towards the end of the walk, I looked down and saw a beautiful orange flower that seemed to stand out among the greenery and I picked it up.  It reminded me of a sunrise, a new day, and I took it home with me to remind me that despite the uphill battles I may face, this is a new day, a new journey and God has many amazing things in store for me.  I will stand firm on the positives despite a few disappointments.

Let's start with the good things from this week.  As I mentioned before, I have a great office and I love the location of it on base.  Tim and I had a good time talking about the calendar for the next 6 months and we have found that we are eerily similar in odd ways.  Have you ever met anyone else that wishes that the world were one big musical??!?!?!  I thought I was alone in that...but NOPE!  Tim and I discovered that we both have thought up the same idea, we have similar tastes in music and we are both big pranksters.  I have a feeling we are in for an interesting (and awesome!) year! :)

I had a great time with a couple girls on Thursday night and really began to connect with them.  I found out later that one of them made a comment to Tim saying "she's perfect!  Just what we needed."  I cannot wait to get to know these teenagers better and I look forward to building relationships with them.   I feel like a perfect fit here (a God ordained fit) and that's an incredible feeling.  I KNOW that I'm where I'm supposed to be and that fills me with a sense of peace.  I had many good conversations with Tim and Angella this week and have enjoyed having a family to live with.  I'm incredibly blessed.  

 

(Above right: Andrew, Above left: Cole Family (Angella, Gracie, Andrew and Tim)

Rough stuff for the week- well, I still don't have my id's which basically puts me on hold to do anything else.  I can't really buy a car, find a place to live, visit the commissary, check my mail to see if my boxes have arrived or get into any of the facilities on base without those id's.  Patience is definitely something I'm learning!  

But for me, the hardest part is that I'm in pain and it's constant and at times excruciating.  For a long time I thought I just had 'restless leg syndrome' or something stupid like that because the tops of my thighs would hurt after a long day of sitting.  It only got worse through the process or packing and lifting heavy things during my move and it took on a whole new world of pain after sitting on the plane for 8 hours and then in a car for 13 hours.  It's gone from annoyingly painful to searing pain when I sit for almost any length of time.  I talked to a professional masseuse (wasn't actually treated by her, just spoke to her) who asked a few questions and concluded that my sciatic nerve is most likely pinched and thus the reason my neck, hip and right leg hurt.  I've been taking ibuprofen and similar medicines but they've done nothing for the pain which makes sense since those are for muscle injuries, not nerve issues.  I cannot see a chiropractor on base or get a referral until I get my military id's.  See my problem???  So, bottom line is that I hurt and am feeling antsy to become settled into a new routine but I can't yet so I just need to be still and know that HE is God.  Prayers though would be appreciated!

Oh yes, so let's do prayer requests :)

*For the pain I'm experiencing- just pray that it would go away and NOT hinder my ministry or the next week in anyway!

*Tomorrow I'm going to Catholic Mass and the Protestant Service to be introduced to the chapel.  Please pray for a good introduction and fast relationships!

*I have decided that my first choice is to live on base.  It would give me incredible access to students and I would love to be able to walk to most of the places I need to go.  Please pray that there are housing spots available and that I would be able to quickly get affordable housing.

* Belgium is a VERY expensive place to live.  Please pray for me as I continue to figure out how to budget everything I need and please pray for that I will continually trust my finances to God.

* Pray that I find a reliable and relatively inexpensive car to drive as well as all the other things I need to purchase in the near future.

*Pray that my belongings arrive!  It's been 3 weeks since I mailed my boxes- pray they arrive soon and NOT in pieces! :)

* Pray for the ministry here as I begin to meet students, parents and chapel staff.  I just want to know how to love the people I encounter daily.

Thanks for your prayers and being a part of the great adventure!

Megs