It was a soirée to remember...

Music, laughter, games, people who smile and love one another. And remembering. Remembering the "reason for the season..." You see, Christmas just puts a smile on my face. :)

This year I celebrated Christmas with a few different groups of people. First I was able to spend it with some really good friends, I've known them since I was an exchange student in Comines, Belgium. We laughed and ate, and talked, and ate, and exchanged some presents as well on Christmas eve. Then today, Christmas day, I returned back to Brussels to be able to celebrate with the Turley family and my extended SFC family. I ate again and then we all sat down to a very Christmas-y movie, Spiderman 3. All in all, it was a wonderful time spent remembering Christ and celebrating it in community finished off with games, puzzles and laughter.

That's one of the things that is striking me the most recently is that one of the first things God established in Genesis is community. Us with Him and with others. So to all... Merry Christmas! (I encourage you to go to the following site to hear an extra special Christmas greeting from me: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ndA7iLLJ67Y ) Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

Scaffolding is covering Belgium

I mentioned earlier that Belgium was going through a time of "political unrest." In Belgium, the country is fairly divided into two different people groups the Flemish (Dutch speaking) and the Walloon (French speaking). After their national elections in June, they effectively elected separate governments over each people-group as it is habitual to do. Yet they were unable to decide on an overseeing government.

For the next 190 days, Belgium was without a government and a transformation came over Belgium. Places that have never before "seen" the colors red, black, and yellow together were suddenly doting flags commemorating the Belgium flag from their windows. Nationalism poked out its head and reappeared as a part of the Belgium society. Belgium people realized that amongst all their differences, they desired unity.

Earlier this month, the Belgium government decided upon a temporary government for the country's national affairs. They put up a sort of façade of unity over the country. But this façade is still needing work and prayer to become a permanent part of Belgium culture. This temporary government is like scaffolding that is covering the country, restrengthening the structure of the building as well as redefining the layout and construction of this building many call "home," Belgium.

The guest of honor showed up

Music softly playing in the background. People smiling all around me--everyone remembering the day that HE came. The day that Jesus came with the purpose to give us new life through His death. Last Tuesday, we had our "Fête Noël" or "Christmas Party." It was a lot of fun, filled with laughter, food, good conversations, and a fun white-elephant game where gifts were stolen, re-stolen, and finally hidden from the eyes of other possible present-stealing-thieves. :)

It was a lot of fun, and Jesus was there with us too! He was laughing with those laughing. He was comforting the hearts of those who were hiding their worries, stresses, and broken hearts. He was the reason for the party, and as guest of honor, he showed up and stayed!

Lisette met Him there that night, so did Félicité and Noah. I met Him there in a new way, you see Jesus reminded me of His everlasting, immortal, unending, limitless love. That regardless of who I am, He loves me. Wow, I now invite you all to breathe a sigh of relief in with me, Jesus is coming to town! He's already in my town, my house, my heart...won't you invite Him to come into yours?

Hunting, Searching, Fishing, Looking, and Praying...

The time has come. And I have been hunting, searching, fishing, looking, and praying for the perfect apartment. Although I thought I had found it a few weeks ago--and yes, it was perfect! But, it went to another party and so now the search continues. In less than a month I need to move out with two friends, Joëlle (a current roommate) and Adeline (a girl in my small group) to that unknown address. We are looking for a place that can become a home, somewhere we can invite others to "be" with us, somewhere that can be easily accessed in a good area of town (that last part is my Mom's prayer...), and a place that can be our refuge and the refuge of others.

But at the same time, even though the time is coming up to move out, I feel at peace. I have looked for apartments some are good, some are not-so-good, but I know that God already knows my address and at the right time--I will too.

So, sounding like the Ani diFranco's song "Wishin', and hopin', and thinkin', and prayin," I'm hoping that I will soon have an apartment! That way I will no longer wish for it, but instead I can call myself 'home' in it. :)

Earth-quake!!

God truly shook up our annual SFC Belgian retreat. The theme this year was "The book of Acts today" Over 70 students were gathered from all over Belgium, in unity from both the French and Flemish speaking parts. They came wanting to hear what God had for them. The retreat speaker, Wim Kok, started off the weekend by saying that when he had first became a Christian, the book of Acts annoyed him because there was no end to it as there had been with the Gospels. Yet he continued by saying that the reason that the book of Acts didn't have an "end" was because it hadn't ended.

The book of Acts, the workings of the followers of Christ, is still being written today. No longer by Luke who wrote the original book, but by God inscribing our acts in Heaven. It was an amazing weekend of waiting on God, seeing His miracles of healings and being "shook-up" by Him. You see, as in Acts, one night there were a group of students who stayed up to pray and while they were praying a student prayed out "Lord shake this place up." At that very moment, they all heard a loud noise and the building began to shake. There was an earth-quake! The next day, when reading the newspaper, it said that there had been an earth-quake 2kilometer from where we were meeting. Was it a mere coincidence of science and words, or was it God?

One thing that I know is that, Belgium needs to be shaken up. I believe that this weekend, God did some things that effected Belgium in ways we cannot see, but I am waiting and watching for I know that God is preparing the ground here for His harvest in a new way! As in Acts 4:31, "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Let us continue to pray that God will shake this place up!

A Day of Thanksgiving

It's funny how even though Thanksgiving is not a very commercial holiday (note: there is no mention here of "Black Friday" with people buying anything and everything at unheard of hours in the morning) it seems sometimes "unfinished" without the things one is used to. Today my Thanksgiving was rather uneventful, but I had to remind myself that it was still the day to be thankful. I went to the University ate with a friend, went on our campus prayer walk, hung out on campus, went to go look at an apartment, ate a 'regular'--but good dinner, talked with family, and then ate ice cream while watching "A Christmas Carol." Although I did not eat turkey and stuff myself with stuffing or pie--God really showed me that this day, Thanksgiving is just what it says it is, a day to be thankful, regardless of what I eat or how I spend the day.

It got me to thinking how I often overlook things for which I can be thankful, good friends who have seen the worst of me--and they love me still, I am thankful that I have food to eat and a warm bed to sleep in with a roof over my head, I am thankful that I have a God who loved me sooooo much that He died for me. I am thankful that I have a family who cares about me and who misses me. I am thankful that I am here in Belgium, having one of the best jobs ever--walking with students to deepen our relationship with Christ! There's so much to be thankful for.

I must admit, at the beginning of the week, I was sad that the "normal" ways one might "classify" Thanksgiving were not there, a big Thanksgiving dinner with all the stuffing and family to share it with. But then, as this day came closer--I realized something. Turkey does not make Thanksgiving and that God has given me a family here in Belgium. Today was a good Thanksgiving day where I had the opportunity to reflect on what a day of Thankfulness really means, just that actually remembering what I have and thanking God for it.

One thing's for sure...

One thing that is for sure is that I am not going to make apartment hunting a hobby! I am currently looking for apartments with Joëlle and Adaline and it has been quite an adventure. There have been good places, and, well...not-so-good places. But, there is one apartment that we have all fallen head over heels for! It answers each one of my previous prayer points and it's more beautiful than I could have imagined! Here are two pictures of it, oh--admire it with me, it's that gorgeous?! And on the positive side, the price, location, and area are also perfect!

Here's the thing, I need prayer for this apartment. The landlord just told me that he is no longer sure if the renter is going to move out and so he will know and then notify us by Dec. 1st. So my prayer is that the current renter will find something better for themselves, closer to their work, less expensive, and more beautiful (if that is possible to find something more beautiful) and that I will be one of the first people the landlord calls to see the apartment. Please join me in prayer for this apartment. My prayer is that if it is indeed not for us, that God will make that clear while we are visiting it, but if it is for us, then I'll have my signing pen ready. ;) Thank you for your prayers, I'll keep you updated!!