Taste of Home

That's right.

The Lord has been SO good to me this month. Ok, He is ALWAYS good to me, but I'm definitely recognizing it more. There’s a reason to it as well, but that will come later.

So, Kate, why don’t you explain to us WHY!?

Ok!

The beginning of January was quite the American experience for me. The Schaefer family came to Belgium, and I got to spend so much time with them! As my second family, you can bet that I was SO excited to see them! Let me tell you, quality time, with people who understand you, is something that is almost unbeatable. With Ellen, Mary, Emily, Mr. and Mrs. Schaefer, and Audrey LaPorte, I visited Antwerpen, Gent, Brugge, and Luxemburg. Granted, it might have been literally raining on our little parade around Belgium, but it didn’t matter. There could have been hurricanes and hailstorms (well, it did hail for a bit in Luxemburg, so that’s partly true) and I would have still thought the same of being with them. I haven’t felt so loved in quite a long time. I’m definitely thankful that they were able to come over and visit. I was unaware just how much I needed a little taste of home. 

Taste of America #2 came in the form of a friend, Sarah Hale. She and I attended Huntington University at the same time. She’s definitely got the travel bug, and when she suggested visiting me, I said, “OMG. ADKFJSFHDGJKHSDFKJHGSFDGD. PUHLEAAAAAAAAASE!” Don’t worry. I actually went back to check my Facebook to see exactly what I wrote. So, she came one day after the Schaefer family left Belgium. While she was here, I remembered just how fortunate I was to have made the friends I did at HU. One of the things we made sure to do was Skype our two best friends at Huntington. I can tell you that I hadn’t laughed quite that hard, loud, and long in a conversation for quite some time. Even though I didn’t feel like I could do much with her since I was working during her stay, it was nice to just share my life with someone back home. I won’t even hold it against her that she suggested going to a horse milking farm…

Volgende, ik geslaagd mijn examen! Op de  zestiende, zeventiende, en negentiende van januari, ik had geweest mijn examen van Nederlands. Ik was heel veel blij!  (Google translate will do an ok job at helping you with this…)

After my exam, I ended up in London. This time, Sam, our fearless leader, drove us four Gappers to France, where we got on a boat. Our voyage was two hours, and then we drove two more hours to a place called Buckden Towers. Ok, so it was more towards Cambridge rather than London, but whatever. There, we participated in Koinonia’s (the London college outreach like Pharos) Joy Weekend. There we really learned that joy is a decision. You look for it. It stems from trust and hope. Needless to say, it has really impacted me. I can even see a difference in my thinking in less than a week. I hope that it stays this way! Immediately following this retreat, there was a Gapper retreat. All 13 of us Gapper from around Europe were here and received some more intense Gapper training.

HOLD UP.
I’ve forgotten like the most important thing about these retreats.
BUCKDEN TOWERS IS A CASTLE.


I WENT TO TWO RETREATS IN A CASTLE IN ENGLAND.
SO SPECTACULAR!


Anyway, there’s an interesting fact about the Gappers in Europe this year. There are 13 Gappers. Of these, there are 8 people from Michigan. So, for me, it was kind of like a hometown reunion! All of these people natively spoke my language. Not only that, most of them knew people I knew. Not only that, a few of them have become really good friends to me since our time over here. Not only that, one of them was also at the great Christmas I had this year and one of my best friends of my life in general. Being able to spend so much time with all of them was so invigorating. I know it’s weird to say, but I almost feel that the longer I’m gone, the closer I hold my American identity. Being separated has shown me how others view America, but I’m also seeing so many more benefits as well…. And my national pride speech is over. Sorry about that. Hahaha. Either way, it was life giving to spend time with these people, especially people willing to sing, “Joy is a Flag Flown High from the Castle of my Heart” about 50 more times than necessary. This was taste of America #3.

In Leuven, we’re nearing the end of exam period. For me, this has meant that most of my service has been atypical this month. Why? During January, Belgian university students have a month off of school. Sounds great, right? WRONG. During this month, they are expected to study the whole time for their exams which probably count for almost their entire grade for the class. Because of this immense amount of pressure, students lock themselves away in order to study. This makes our job as student missionaries a bit difficult. So, instead of doing outreach for the university students, I was asked to do more work as a mother’s helper. So, for this month, I have gone and helped a few young mothers a couple times a week. What I call it is Mom practice. Hahaha. I’ve cooked, cleaned, watched kids, folded laundry, and done other motherly duties. For me, I found it all therapeutic to do something that not only impacted someone very openly, but also to do something that was not our regular service.

So, that’s that. Next month, Pharos begins its regular outreach work again. I’m reenergized and reinvigorated. I know the Lord will do great things here during this time.

[For those who, for some odd reason, know that Taste of Home is an American cooking publication and noticed the tie in of my mother’s helper work as well as my quality time with fellow Americans, I applaud you.]