Still Alive

This is a brief post, mainly because I wrote a very long post and had it deleted by my computer. I just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive, though right now I'm extremely frustrated. My computer problems is the major contributer right now, but I also have a headache and am really tired from another day visiting downtown Brussels. I'll try to post on that tomorrow. Also, Mr. and Mrs. S. left yesterday, so it's just me and Truman. He's been acting antsy since they left. So I'm going to bed, and I'll try to post tomorrow something real.

Good night.

Holland!!!

Finally, the long awaited pictures from the Netherlands! I was in Holland for 4 1/2 days and stayed with the family of a lady I met in Scotland last spring break. I did not realize until I was there that her husband is actually a pastor for mentally challenged individuals. They were extremely nice and showed me around Amsterdam, Armede (their area that was drained and built in 1975), and many other places in Holland. I saw everything from windmills to dikes. In Holland, there is very little countryside because it has been mostly urbanized. Almost every inch of the country is planned so as to make the most out of their space. Below are different pictures of different aspects of the country.

This is a place that used to be an island before the area was drained. You can see the fortifications against the sea off to the right.

Yes, they do have some old-fashioned windmills left in Holland. This one is actually a house now. The people in front are Ronald and Tineka, my amazing hosts!

A thatched roof on a Dutch farmhouse.

A canal in downtown Amsterdam. The canals basically run in squared tic-tac-toe mazes throughout the entire city.

No, this isn't an optical illusion. The building really is leaning forward. There were two explanations given me: Taxing was based on ground usage, or the building was so old the foundations have shifted.

Two canals separated by a dike. You can see that the two canals are several meters different in depth.

Typical Dutch architecture from the 1600s.

So that's Holland for you. I'll have another post on Corrie ten Boom's house soon.

Wedding Dress

I know I should be posting about Brussels, my job, or something else having to do with my time in Europe, but I'm going to take a break from that (I know, I haven't done too much anyway). I went to the Royal Park today for lunch (it's right across the street from the Mission) and read a few pages of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Psalms: Prayerbook of the Bible". So far an excellent read. It's always so strange to me how God continually brings up the same things. Last semester in Christian Worship, I learned the importance of understanding that worship and prayers are not mine, but I am permited to join in Jesus' worship and prayers. Bonhoeffer echoed that sentiment, adding that anything less (or more) than joining in Jesus' work is neither worship nor prayer. A proper prayer, the prayer that Jesus prays for and with me, will always be modeled after the Lord's Prayer. Even the Psalms, according to Bonhoeffer, follow that pattern.

And I realized how, once again, I had made my Christianity, my faith and prayers and worship, an act of myself over the last few weeks. It's been fairly easy. But the odd thing is that when I get to thinking how great I've got my prayers and Christian work, that's when I can no longer control my sin. I realize now that I have to step back and really let Jesus be my holiness, my worship, and my prayers for me. How easily, and how quickly, I forget that.

The following song is by Derek Webb and is written specifically about the Church but can also apply to individuals. It was played at our Ash Wednesday service earlier in the year, and it cuts me to my heart everytime I hear it because it's so true. It's very easy for me to claim Christ when things are easy, but that is normally in name only. I'm terribly easy to satisfy. I easily get bored with Christianity. It's hard to say, but I really am a whore. So without further ado, Wedding Dress by Derek Webb.

If You cold love me as a wife
And for my wedding gift, Your life
Should that be all I’ll ever need
Or is there more I’m looking for
And should I read between the lines
And look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise
Is that really what You want?

I am a whore, I do confess
I put You on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
I put You on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle to You

So could You love this bastard child
Though I don’t trust You to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
And with the other in Your side
I am so easily satisfied
By the call of lovers so less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over Your very Flesh and Blood

I am a whore I do confess
I put You on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
I put You on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle to You

‘Cause money cannot buy
A Husband’s jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived His wife

I am a whore, I do confess
I put You on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle
I’m a prodigal with no way home
I put You on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle
Run down the aisle to You

Brussels and Sunshine

I'm in Brussels. Actually, I've been here for 5 days already. My silly wireless card has decided to be temperamental, so I haven't been able to get online here at the apartment, and I'm not allowed to get on blogs while at work. My hosts (Mr. and Mrs. S.) have kindly fixed me up with a guest account on their desktop computer. This will work great later on, but for now I feel like I'm inconveniencing them every time I need to use it. Therefore my blogging has been non-existent since my arrival.

I do have pictures from Holland, which I fully intend to share. They will have to come perhaps tonight or tomorrow. I have to download them from my camera onto my computer, then put them on my flash drive, then bring them to the S.'s computer, and finally post them to my blog. It's really not as much work as it sounds, but I'm feeling lazy. Actually, I'm supposed to be leaving right now for downtown Brussels.

To get you briefly up to speed, I arrived in Brussels last Monday and started work on Tuesday. The weather has been amazing (it rained a lot in the Netherlands). This is such a beautiful country, and the people are so nice. I'm getting to practice my French a little, but not as much as I would like because everyone else wants to practice their English. I made a deal with our local-hire secretary at work who is from Brussels that she should speak French to me and she can practice her English whenever I don't understand her French. Another local hire is Flemish and won't speak French with me, and another is Croatian and also refuses to speak French with me. We have one from France who I never get to see and another from French-speaking Belgium who is coming to America later this year and wants to practice his English.

I do need to go for now, so I'll write more later. Hope life is going well for all of you.

And We're Back

Wow, more than a month since my last post. I did warn everyone that I was bad at these types of things. Anyway, I think we're back on the air. I'll just explain my absence for this entry.

First was spring break. Yes, spring break started on Good Friday. I did not get to go home for either Easter of the break, as I instead went to St. Louis on a missions trip. It wasn't like any other missions trip I've been on. It was sponsored by InterVarsity, and it was very much a Social Justice type organization and mission. We worked with students from three other schools, which was great fun. My group painted a local widow's windows and then finished the carpeting at a church. It always strikes me as strange how fun those types of "chores" can be when done in company of friends. We had a lot of fun chatting and sharing with each other about our own lives, but we also finished both before the week was up.

The highlight of spring break was going to an English/French church there in St. Louis for Easter service. St. Louis is the 2nd biggest refugee city in the United States (behind some city in California, I think). Many of the refugees begin to form communities throughout the city, and we worked very close to the French speaking community. Before someone asks, I should clarify that these French-speaking people are mostly from west Africa. There really aren't a lot of refugees from France or Quebec. :)

I fully intended to post on my excursion when I returned, but I woke up the morning after our return (Saturday) with a sore throat and headache. Yes, the flu. I slept a lot that weekend and tried to get over it. Monday I felt a lot better, but that soon changed. Monday evening I got to experience the worst sore throat in my entire life. I couldn't sleep because every time I swallowed if felt like someone was slitting my throat. Not that I actually know how it feels to have a slit throat; it felt like I imagine a slit throat must feel like. After a whole long hoopdela (about 2 weeks) with our campus clinic in which they insisted that I simply had the flu and most definitely did not have a bacterial infection (even though my tonsils were about twice the size of normal), I finally went to a real medical facility where they told me that, indeed, I DID have a bacterial infection. They put me on antibiotics, and I started feeling better within a day. It was a good lesson on why socialized medicine is evil. I clearly had tonsillitis, but they simply assumed I was taking advantage of free health care and so offered me little.

After recovering from that, I had 2 weeks of class that I had missed. I ran for crazy for another week and a half trying to line everything out. My teachers were all very considerate and helpful. I did finally finish everything in time.

Next week is the last week of classes. I'm super excited about that. I like some of my classes, but I'm ready to move on. So after next week (or I suppose it is this week) comes finals. Graduation is on Sunday, and I'm going to try to go because many of my friends are graduating. I've never been before. Then I have to get out of my room before 12:00 Sunday night/Monday morning. Which is fine because I'm heading home where I'll be for whatever is left of Sunday and leave for Texas on Monday to visit grandparents. My grandmother had a storm at her house and there's a lot of clean-up for all of us to do.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to help out more than a day and a half because I fly out of Dallas/Ft. Worth on that Wednesday (May 14th) for Amsterdam. If you're keeping track, you'll understand that this means I'll have to be basically backed for this trip before I leave school. That's going to be fun. Anyway, I'm going to be visiting a family there in Amsterdam. I met the mother of this family last year when I was in Scotland for a week at our Chr-stian retreat. Before we all went our separate way, she invited me to her home whenever I next came to Europe. Well, this is my next trip to Europe, and I'm really looking forward to it. She's promised to show me around Amsterdam and give me a taste of the "Dutch life". I guess that means I get to pay for everything myself. :)

After a lovely weekend in Amsterdam, I head to Brussels for my 10 week internship. Yes, in case anyone was wondering, I am super excited about this. G-d has been so faithful to bring everything together even when I couldn't because of sickness, business, or just lack of motivation. One of my biggest worries was housing while I'm there, but He has provided a house-sitting/dog-sitting job that will allow me to stay in Brussels for free. Yes, free. He is certainly good, isn't He?

This is long enough by now, and I'm quite sure you are getting bored of reading with no pictures. I'll post more (hopefully) later this week.