A blessed week!

We have had a beautiful two weeks and we have been so blessed to have Chris' parents here with us. We have all enjoyed having them here with us. It has been so nice to have extra help around the kitchen and extra people for the kids to play with! We have had lots of fun introducing them to Belgium and to our new culture. Since they do not speak French they have enjoyed having Daniel as their little translator when they have gone out shopping. Chris and I have enjoyed going out on a date! We plan to go out on another one at the end of this week. What a blessing to get to spend some time just with my husband! We were definitely very spoiled when we lived so close and we could have babysitters very quickly, but now it is much harder to find extra help, so we have been very blessed these past two weeks. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of family. We are so grateful to have two sets of parents who love, support and encourage us so much! Thank you, Lord for these wonderful blessings in our lives.

Open our eyes, Lord.

We trust that you are having a blessed day in the Lord. We hope that this coming week each one of us will be able to focus on remembering what our Lord and Savior did for each of us and that we will be able to share that amazing gift with others. We praise the Lord for the gift of eternal life and for our eyes being opened to the truth of the Gospel. As I was reading my Bible this morning, I came across another story of someone's eyes being opened by the Lord and I thought that I would share it with you.

2 Kings 6:16-17 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

May the Lord open our eyes to see what He sees and to see people the way that He sees them. May we not lose sight of the Lord and His plans for us. May we earnestly yearn for Him to open our eyes so that we may see His plans and His people all around us. If we have His eyes we will be victorious and the enemy will not be able to distract us. With opened eyes let us fix our eyes on Jesus, no matter what is going on all around us.

A Couple of Updates!

Well it has been a long time since I last wrote on here. My how time flies! It is amazing to see what the Lord is continuing to show us each and every day! He is so faithful!

Well, as the title suggests I have a couple of updates since the last time I wrote! Daniel did find his hat the next day at school, which was such an amazing blessing, because he was able to see that the Lord does answer our prayers and that the Lord is faithful. It was also great that he found it, because I was able to tell his teacher that we had been praying about it and that the Lord had answered our prayers! It always a special treat to insert some truth into her life! So, thank you Lord for answering our request and showing yourself to our little son.

Well, another exciting piece of information is that the family is expanding! We are pregnant with our fourth child and due in late October!! We are very excited and looking forward to experiencing a Belgian birth! The Lord is so good and so faithful to us. The kids are very excited about the new addition to our family. Joshie asks me on a daily basis if I still have a baby in my tummy and then always seems a bit confused, but he is excited. Daniel is very excited and thinks that we need to girl. He says that it would make sense to have two girls and two boys. He is praying to the Lord about it and I told him that we would see what God has planned for us. We are so thankful to the Lord for his provisions and blessings in our life.

We go back to the doctor in a few weeks for another ultrasound. We can't wait!!

A lost hat

Yesterday Daniel took his only baseball cap to school. On our way to school I told him to be very careful with it, because his Bop had given it to him and it could not be replaced. Well, when he got home from school, there was no cap with him. He told me that he had lost it in the cafeteria yesterday morning. So, this morning I went with him to look for it, but to no avail. I was very discouraged and almost began to cry thinking of the picture of him and Bop wearing their matching hats when he was only two. Then, the Lord spoke gently to my heart and asked me a very difficult question? Am I as concerned about all of the lost people around me who do not know about Jesus? Is the loss of a material possession making me sadder than the lostness that is all around me? How have my priorities become so confused? May I praise the Lord for this lost baseball cap, because it reminded of a much more important truth! May I seek hard after the lost of our city. Thank you for this uncomfortable lesson!

Thriving, not just surviving!

To be perfectly honest with you, the weather here in Brussels is grey and cold today and I feel that this is representative of how we feel right now. We are tired. Over the weekend, we were blessed to go see some colleagues in another city and this was a wonderful excursion for us. Daniel got to play outside in a yard!! It was a wonderful time for all of us. As we were having conversations around the table the topic of thriving instead of just merely surviving came up. These days we feel like we are just surviving, but we do not want this to a way of life. We WANT to thrive here where the Lord has placed us. We want to display His glory and it is most difficult to do when you are barely hanging on, or is it? Is it when we are barely making it that we learn to shine for Him the best? As I was reading my Bible this morning, I was struck by a passage which I have read countless times before but the Lord gave me a new perspective on it. Psalm 9:1-2 states: "I WILL praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I WILL tell of your wonders. I WILL be glad and rejoice in you; I WILL sing praise to your name, O Most High." (emphasis added) As I was reading, it was like the Lord was telling me that it is a conscious decision that I must make each day to praise Him. I must set in my heart to praise Him no matter what may come. This may seem very simple to you, but it was exactly what I needed this morning. When days are incredibly dark and difficult, I must determine to praise Him and when days are joyful and light, I must determine to praise Him. My praise of Him should not depend upon my circumstances, He is the same and thus worthy of all of my praise.

School adventures!

This morning, Daniel's class had a special crepe day, so we all went to his school, except for Daddy. When I say we all went that means that I was carrying Grace and holding hands with Joshie as we walked. Daniel was a big helper and held Joshie's other hand as they walked together. We have a huge double stroller and I did not think that I would be able to get into the school building with it, so at the last moment I chose to walk while carrying Grace and holding Joshie's hand. We were definitely a sight walking down the sidewalk. I always get lots of strange looks when I push the double stroller, but today I got some strange looks because of all of the children that were walking with me. We took up all of the sidewalk, but praise the Lord we arrived safely to school after having to cross the road three times. It was fun to walk with all of the children and we did pray for safety as we were walking. This is the second morning this week in which Joshie has joined us for our morning walk. He enjoys being a big boy and walking, though it is not always convenient. I think that the Lord is teaching me to be patient as I slow down to walk with Joshie. This morning, we arrived to school and went to the cafeteria where I was able to sit with some other parents and begin getting to know them a little better. I always appreciate any opportunity which the school allows for me to be able to come and meet other parents. I thank the Lord that I am able to communicate either in French or English with the various parents from the school. I was also able to watch Daniel interact with the other children in French. I am amazed at how the Lord is opening up his ears and mouth to this new language. Grace and Joshie enjoyed eating a crepe (Grace even sat at the table like a big girl) and then we were on our way back home again. We will now pick up Daniel from school, because he only goes during the morning on Wednesdays, but this time, I think that I will use the stroller. Enough exercise for one day! What a privilege to walk and talk with our Savior!

walks and talks with Daniel

One of the blessings of living in Europe is that I get to walk our oldest, Daniel, to school every morning. I love these times because we always pray for his day and for his teacher and Daddy's day. Some of the conversations that we have are so precious to me and I hope to never forget them. This is a very special time for the two of us, because it is basically the only alone time that he gets with me. We hold hands and walk and talk with our Lord. Some walks have been in the beautiful sunshine, some have been in the rain, but this morning's was in the snow. It was snowing so hard that we could barely see, none the less, it was quite memorable. I love these walks because we get to see our city as it is waking up and all of the shopkeepers who are beginning their day. We pass by many people rushing off to work or parents rushing to get their children off to school. It is just a very special time with Daniel and the Lord. I pray that as Daniel continues to grow up he will continue to want to walk and talk with me; I know that the hand-holding will not last forever, but more importantly, I pray that Daniel will walk and talk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ all of his life. I pray that as I am walking with him that he will see how important my walk with Jesus is in my life. May this be the legacy that I leave to him.
Thank you, Lord, for these walks and talks with you. I love you!