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!

What a difference a week makes!

Last Wednesday night as our family was enjoying a meal with a friend we did not know that the rest of our evening would not be as calm. After we had had an enjoyable meal, we decided to put our boys down so that we could continue talking with our friend. As I was putting medicine in Daniel's eyes, because he had pink eye, I heard Grace begin to scream. I immediately thought that she would calm down as soon as I held her and that she was just mad because I had not been holding her from the beginning. After trying to comfort her for a few minutes and her screams continuing to intensify I called the doctor and explained that her shoulder was red. He immediately told us to go to the ER. Our friend stayed with the boys as we prepared to get to the hospital. Chris did tell me on our way to the hospital that Daniel and Joshua were praying for Grace as he entered their bedroom. We are very blessed that the hospital is only a ten-minute walk from our apartment. I held Grace very tightly against me as she seemed to be more comfortable and we walked in the cold air with the beautiful Christmas lights sparkling all above us. When we arrived in the hospital we saw a tiny waiting room crowded with many children and adults. We gave our information and then waited for our turn. The room was crowded with so many different stories. There were many concerned faces in this tiny room. I tried to interact with a few and find out what their stories were. There were so many sick children. As we waited there in that tiny room for two hours, I was so thankful that Grace was sleeping and that the Lord had placed us there so that we could pray for these people. I felt so privileged to be able to pray for these people, who did not know me and did not even know that I was praying for them, but the Lord had placed us there so that we might glorify His name through prayer. When it was finally our turn, we were directed to a room at the end of the emergency area. After discussing Grace's accident, she was given some pain medicine and we were told to wait and see if that helped her to calm down. We became a little frustrated because we knew that she was in pain and we wanted to stop her pain immediately, so we prayed for wisdom and the doctor finally agreed to an x-ray. Moments later we found out that she had broken her collar bone and that the nursing staff was looking for a small enough splint to keep her arm and shoulder stable. The nurses were wonderful and bandaged her up nicely. As we were leaving we were blessed to find out that our doctor is a believer. What a blessing from our Lord! He is so good! Christians are hard to find in Belgium and the Lord blessed us with a Christian doctor on a night when we needed encouragement. As we walked home from our first ER visit, it was now past midnight, but we were stregnthened and encouraged by our great God! The Lord blessed us with unimaginable strength. I look back and think what a week, but the Lord is so good and so faithful. Throughout this incident Grace has had so many people praying for her and we have been able to give God the glory even in this accident. Grace is doing great with the harness that she has to wear for another two weeks, but each day she seems to be feeling more and more like herself. I am so thankful for the past week and the strength that the Lord has given us. Tomorrow my parents arrive and we cannot wait to see them and have some extra help! What a mighty and sovereign God we serve!

Waiting...

Waiting seems to be a theme in my life recently. It seems as if I must wait everywhere I go. At Daniel's school before I pick him up, at the post office, at the grocery store, for the elevator in our building and for the plumber to come back and fix our tub. Waiting, it is in every part of my life. We are waiting on several packages which are coming from the States. Some have important documents in them and some have goodies in them, but no matter the content we are still waiting on them. I am still waiting on my official papers to be finished here in Belgium, so that I can recieve an identity card. This is a very long process which has numerous steps involved. I am still waiting on some paperwork, so that I can advance to step two of the process. And just recently, we have added to our waiting list, medical results. Chris has been very sick for the past couple of days and today we should get back his results. We hope to find out something so that we can proceed with a treatment to help him feel better soon. It sounds like he may even get some antibiotics, which are not commonly given out in Belgium. I think that one has to be very ill before they will prescribe an antibiotic. So we wait patiently for the doctor's call. I know that in all of this waiting the Lord wants to teach me how to lean more on Him and not be impatient. Some days I do better than others. I pray that as I wait for all of these things that I have mentioned that I will not miss out on what the Lord wants to teach me while I'm in the waiting process. I know that when I am waiting it makes me more dependent upon Him and not myself; this is always a lesson that I need to continue to learn. So, here I am waiting, trusting in the One who is always faithful, knowing that He is still in control and knows what is best for me at His perfect time, not mine.

Living in weakness!

It has been such a long time since I have written anything on here, but the last month has been difficult. Daniel came down with the chicken pox, much to our surprise, since he has been vaccinated twice against them. He had a mild case (only about 40-50 bumps) but he missed about a week and a half of school. We expected the other two children to get the disease, but the Lord spared them this time. We are still baffled by this. Sickness has just been a part of our lives these days. Chris has been constantly battling a sinus infection which medicine does not seem to help. I had the flu last week and Grace continues to have a cold. Josh got sick earlier in the week, but is doing fine now. To be honest, we are just very weak and tired right now. As I was crying out to the Lord this morning, I was taken to Psalm 21, and the Lord did not let me leave the first two verses. "Oh, LORD, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips." As I was pouring out my heart to the Lord, He reminded me that I must rejoice in my weaknesses, so that His strength can be made even more glorious in my life. I must surrender each day over to Him. He is the One who is in control. He has brought us here for a purpose and we must continue to be obedient even in the dark and confusing times. He is our ultimate source of strength and hope. Psalm 18:32 states "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." Even though these days are hard, I will continue to trust in Him and in His faithfulness.