Today is one of those days. I wouldn't qualify at is as bad and I wouldn't qualify it as good, just one of those days. Either it is the sleep deprivation that has followed me since the beginning of August (camp, a wedding and staying up with good people all night before you leave the country does that to you) or it is the sickness that I picked up by the twenty people that have coughed on me on the metro. Either way, I stumbled to my internship (which I am in love with....check it out @ ecraal.org) bright and early on a Monday morning. After some meetings I wasn't feeling well so I went to the bathroom. Let me reiterate how much I hate bathrooms. My hatred of bathrooms is on par with my love of Owl City...and that is a lot. I'm in the stall, trying to avoid all contact with anything and I hit my ID badge just right so it flies off into the toilet. After I choked on my gag reflex, I stood there staring into the toilet. I couldn't flush it down....to replace it would cost 200 Euro (which is around 300 dollars), I couldn't stick my hand down there because that would mean I would have to chop of my hand.....but I had to do something. So I cringed and shoved my hand into the toilet water (even now my eyes are tearing up at what I had to do). Success. However, there was still cleaning stuff in the water (which is a very good thing I must confess) and I have an open cut on my hand and it burned my cut. Now I have toilet water in my body....slowly burning me. Oh the misery. But if this is the equivalent of a bad day, I think I am doing okay. I'm just glad I survived (always the dramatic)
So, to update on my adventures so far!!! I am gradually learning french. It is quite difficult and I have been laughed at quite a lot but I am trying. Everyone thinks I'm European till I open my mouth...so I try not to talk to strangers (which is a struggle for me). My host brothers have been trying to teach me key phrases and numbers. They laugh at me.... a lot. But I'm going to through myself into this language so I can finally communicate with the many people I see everyday!
I have done a fair amount of exploring in the city. My roommate, Julia, and I have made a goal to find a new place every week and so far we have. We found a beautiful park, the Atomium, mini Europe, and the Palace. We enjoy our adventures but we have been followed on more than one occasion. I pray a lot. I sing praises and I pray for protection. The verse that keeps going through my head is "You have hedged me behind and before...." Psalms 139:5. My philosophy is that I came here because I really felt that God wanted me here. If he wants me here, then he will keep me safe. He knows my days; He knows when I am going to die and he knows what is going to accomplish with my life. He has a perfect and beautiful plan for my life. I have learned to give Him a lot of worries. And I wouldn't have it any other way. He is the great Comforter and the great Designer of my life. I feel so much better knowing that someone else besides me is in charge of life (I would screw it up completely...I know that much).
Have you ever traveled? And you walked around an entire city filling up the day with more historical sites than you can remember. Lunch consisted of a warm water and a soggy baloney and cheese sandwich....you have had those trips, right? But is it not so wonderful to make it home, shower and eat a delicious meal with a tall glass of water? Can't you feel the relief? Well, I felt like that when I made it to the church here in Belgium. The address was online so my roommate walked me there (cause I get lost time and time again....it is something I am rapidly getting used to). We got lost on our way there (because the streets in Belgium are crooked and crazy) and I was kind of upset because I was trying to do something good and here I was, not going to make it to church. But God, of course, worked it out so I made it just in time. The church of Christ here in Belgium is a very diverse selection of people. Half the church is from Africa (yes, you heard me right.....God has even blessed me in that regard), some are Asian, some are Hispanic and the rest are from the South of the US. The first day I sat there I imagined this is what a sliver of Heaven must feel like. I have never been in a church with so many ethnicities in one room (and it was a small room). It was like the Newsboys song "He Reigns"....really listen to the words and that is how I felt in that small, rented church room. God is very good to me. After church a couple from Texas took me out to a nice restaurant and welcomed me into their home. True Christian hospitality, I don't think they will ever realize how much I needed that Sunday.
One thought that keeps going through my head is "I am here so I can be there." By "there" I mean Africa. I can't explain it but God has just placed the strongest burden on my heart to go help people in Africa. And I find it kind of funny that I ended up in a country learning French (which is heavily spoken in Africa) and at a church that is half African (a tribal chief from Ghana led our communion thought my first day there). God working on something here? I think so. I mean, I am completely open to what he wants for my life. If he wants me to go to China or Alaska or Afghanistan....I pray that my heart and mind would be open enough to follow His plan.
I saw the US men play soccer!!! Never thought that would happen! I had to get frisked before I went in (and they thought my lip gloss was questionable). We lost, but it was nice to feel American again. I am not ashamed of being American, I just don't announce it everywhere I go. At my internship today the doors were locked so a group of us hung out for quite some time. We went around the table telling where we were from, what we did,etc. We had an Irish man, a Polish man, an Italian woman, a Mexican Woman and an American (me, of course. When I said I was American, the Irish man said "Not everyone is perfect." that is the second time someone has said that to me). It was really interesting sharing my life with people all from different cultures, and they did the same thing too. It was a good way to spend an hour.
This may sound strange, but I modeled my newest haircut off of the movie Tangled. When I told my host mom about it she told me straight out that it was strange to base a hair style on a cartoon, but I showed her a picture and she cut it for me....and it looks good! I was so happy to have a host mom that can cut hair! Saving money in as many ways as I can :) That and just taking samples from stores for lunch. I didn't eat lunch for a week to save money to see Owl City. I think it was worth it. We will find out next Friday!!!
Saturday was a beautiful day here in Belgium. Such days are rare because it is mostly overcast and cloudy all the time. I do not mind because cloudy days make me smile, but a little sun on the skin couldn't hurt me a bit. So, because it was so nice, my roommate and I went with two of our friends (Malik and Johnny) to Brugge and then biked from there to the North Sea. I think in total we biked 50km. The whole next day I couldn't go up the stairs I was so sore. But it was such a beautiful day. We biked along a path next to the canal and I couldn't get over how beautiful the countryside was. The houses were just what you would expect in the countryside of Europe. I was so happy the entire day. Even when we got stuck in the thunderstorm and got completely wet. The sea was cold but nonetheless wonderful. I collected sand dollars and ate ice cream.
I seriously go to bed each night wondering why I get to live this life. I don't deserve any of it, but I am so grateful to God for blessing with this life I'm living. Looking for a good song? Listen to Jason Castro's You Are. It is my worship song right now. "You came in my darkness, you came in my night, you can without warning, you came to my side, You are the One, You are the One. And I will never move on from You!"
Never.
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