Whoa.
That's right. One year ago, my time on the other side of the world was rapidly coming to an end. I've been back stateside for over 10 months now. And what of it? What's happened?
Well, I went back to college. I got a job. I lived at home again. I participated as an active member of UCO. WOW, MY LIFE IS SO DIFFERENT THAN BEFORE MY GAP YEAR.
But really, somehow it is.
Recently, I've been feeling stuck. Stuck, if not reverting back to my old self. What does that even mean? I've noticed that my habits and speech have, instead of maturing, slowly slid back to how I now imagine myself as a high school student. Suffice it to say, I hate it. And, that is how my life is so different from before my Gap year. While Gap years are intensive years of formation, whether Christian formation or just growing up in general, I think the real fruit isn't fully visible until a year or even years later.
Before I had left for that year of service, I did not really see or understand how inherently childish my actions were. Now, I am dissatisfied with my actions reverting back to how they had been before.
Before my time away, I never understood homesickness, the longing for familiarity of life. Now, I long for home, understanding that home is not just where you have been born and raised.
Before, I hardly considered the lifelong consequences of seemingly little life decisions. Now, I look ahead, anticipating what kind of differences I can make in my life by choosing for the Lord in my daily life, instead of just doing what I want.
Before my Gap year, I assumed that my life was difficult because it had to be that way. Now, I understand that I make my life more difficult, mostly due to the fact that being an active Christian is much more challenging than giving in to live the easy life this world has to offer.
Kate, really though, what does ANY of that have to do with feeling stuck?
Before my Gap year, I wasn't ok with settling. However, what I didn't realize is that I settled constantly. I never challenged myself, only others and other institutions. Now, I challenge myself as well. I still have yet to figure out an appropriate level of challenge and acceptance, but I think that one is a long time coming. Nonetheless, the challenger in me has recognized the settled spirit I've come accustomed to having been back in Lansing all year.
Simply put, I want change.
Have you ever felt like change is coming? It's almost like a storm. You can start to see the clouds forming. There's a staleness in the air before the storm winds come. The calm before the storm. Except, the difference here is that I'm inviting the storm. I'm inviting the storm to whip around me, challenging me to hang on to my roots, my beliefs, my faith.
Within the next 7 weeks or so, my life will be consumed with activity. I am helping to lead a high school girls' mission trip to Detroit, helping to lead a service team of high school girls at a summer camp, attending 2 weddings, participating as a Maid of Honor in another wedding, preparing to move into a house with some friends for next school year, getting ready to transfer to MSU for university next fall, all while maintaining a part time job.
I know the Lord is going to work during that time. I am excited to see how.
Saturday, June 29
Wednesday, July 11
Flight of the Bumblebee
At the beginning of my year in Europe, it was a joke between us that the theme of our year was moving. This was because we had moved around the Pharos office, the Girls' Household twice, and Sam within about 2 weeks of our arrival. The moving slowed a bit throughout the year, but for me, that wasn't the end.
Why bring up moving?
Well, pretty much, that's what I'm doing this summer. I moved to Scotland in the middle of May. I stayed with a woman for 3 weeks. Then, I moved in with a family for a week. After that, I moved into household with 3 other girls for about 2 days before I traveled to Belgium. There, I spent 10 days, 2 of which were spent on a camping trip. I traversed back to Scotland and I stayed in household for 2 and a half weeks before I went to help at the Sentry Holiday for 4 days. 4 more days came and went and I found myself at the start of my first Kairos summer program: Summer Mission Households 2012.
You'd think that'd be enough moving, right? Well, don't forget, I've still got more insanity to go! This summer program ends on the 22nd. I'm around for a couple of days before I head back to Belgium. I'm there for a couple of days before I go to Kairos Summer Academy for 10 days. The day that ends is the day that I go to On Holiday 3 and stay in a Kairos cottage. After that, I come back to Scotland and back home.
By my calculations, that's close to 15 different living situations from May to August. Most people wouldn't find that too pleasurable, but as a creature of comfort and familiarity, I dislike it even more. But, there's something to it as well. One, I'm busy. So busy that I almost don't have time to focus on my dislike of this. Second, I'm doing it with some fantastic people. Who doesn't want to be around friends constantly? The answer: an introvert. I am definitely not one of those. Thirdly, I'm where I'm supposed to be, which just happens to be a lot of places in a short period of time.
I've spent a lot of time focusing on moving in this post. Let's switch topics from moving to moving.
That's right. You read it correctly.
Moving can mean transporting something or someone from one place to another. However, it can also mean that something can arouse deep feeling as well.
During all of this, I've had so much support and love from people wherever I've been in these past couple of months. I've been stepping out of my comfort zone time and time again, yet I've not worried like usual because I know that people are here for me and praying for me. The amount of love that's been showered upon me is something that has been transforming and healing. I've been wrestling with different thoughts recently, the most current one being love. How much do I get? How much do I need? How much do I deserve?
After pondering this for far too long, I realized that I was missing the key point. The common theme through these questions is "I." That's not what love's about at all. That's what I need to remember.
With all the moving I'm doing, I can only hope that I am a bumblebee. Hopefully, I'll be able to take the love that I receive in each one of the places I've been and transplant it and share it with those I'm around in my new environment.
*I know that's not exactly the kind of update you're probably wanting, but I'm short of time at the moment. I'm sure that in a month's time, I'll have SO much to share. So, hold on until then.*
Why bring up moving?
Well, pretty much, that's what I'm doing this summer. I moved to Scotland in the middle of May. I stayed with a woman for 3 weeks. Then, I moved in with a family for a week. After that, I moved into household with 3 other girls for about 2 days before I traveled to Belgium. There, I spent 10 days, 2 of which were spent on a camping trip. I traversed back to Scotland and I stayed in household for 2 and a half weeks before I went to help at the Sentry Holiday for 4 days. 4 more days came and went and I found myself at the start of my first Kairos summer program: Summer Mission Households 2012.
You'd think that'd be enough moving, right? Well, don't forget, I've still got more insanity to go! This summer program ends on the 22nd. I'm around for a couple of days before I head back to Belgium. I'm there for a couple of days before I go to Kairos Summer Academy for 10 days. The day that ends is the day that I go to On Holiday 3 and stay in a Kairos cottage. After that, I come back to Scotland and back home.
By my calculations, that's close to 15 different living situations from May to August. Most people wouldn't find that too pleasurable, but as a creature of comfort and familiarity, I dislike it even more. But, there's something to it as well. One, I'm busy. So busy that I almost don't have time to focus on my dislike of this. Second, I'm doing it with some fantastic people. Who doesn't want to be around friends constantly? The answer: an introvert. I am definitely not one of those. Thirdly, I'm where I'm supposed to be, which just happens to be a lot of places in a short period of time.
I've spent a lot of time focusing on moving in this post. Let's switch topics from moving to moving.
That's right. You read it correctly.
Moving can mean transporting something or someone from one place to another. However, it can also mean that something can arouse deep feeling as well.
During all of this, I've had so much support and love from people wherever I've been in these past couple of months. I've been stepping out of my comfort zone time and time again, yet I've not worried like usual because I know that people are here for me and praying for me. The amount of love that's been showered upon me is something that has been transforming and healing. I've been wrestling with different thoughts recently, the most current one being love. How much do I get? How much do I need? How much do I deserve?
After pondering this for far too long, I realized that I was missing the key point. The common theme through these questions is "I." That's not what love's about at all. That's what I need to remember.
With all the moving I'm doing, I can only hope that I am a bumblebee. Hopefully, I'll be able to take the love that I receive in each one of the places I've been and transplant it and share it with those I'm around in my new environment.
*I know that's not exactly the kind of update you're probably wanting, but I'm short of time at the moment. I'm sure that in a month's time, I'll have SO much to share. So, hold on until then.*
Tuesday, May 29
It's Glasgow...ing Splendidly
I've been waiting to use a horrible pun about Glasgow for awhile now. Just humor me and think it's clever as well. Haha.
By now, with either some posts via Facebook, or with the title of this post, I'm sure you're catching onto the fact that I've been in Glasgow. It's a bit more than just "being" in Glasgow. On the 9th of May, I officially moved from Leuven, Belgium to Scotland. Because of many circumstances matched with generous hospitality and a great opportunity, I shall be finishing up the majority of my year here. I don't think I can fully explain how delighted I am for this.
I've been here now for almost 3 weeks, and I have been so loved and cared for that it's crazy! So many families have opened up their arms to me, had me over for dinner, or invited me to join part of their family life. It's felt almost like a seamless transition. It feels like home. (I type this as I'm watching Space Jam with the kids of the family with which I'm currently staying. Even if I wasn't watching something so blatantly American, I'd say the same. But the movie sure isn't impeding the feeling. Hahah.)
So, my Gap year isn't over. That means I've got more service I'm doing! Here, I'm mainly helping out with young families. It's more mothers helper stuff like I did in January. Except, it's much easier to relate to children who speak the same language. I've even slipped up and spoken to a couple of children in Flemish as a first reaction! It's not a surprise that they don't respond well to "Kijk!" or "Dat moet je niet doen!"
Another part of my service is to help out with Sentry. Sentry is an outreach youth group that the Community of the Risen Christ puts on at the local parish. It's a Saturday morning program for kids from the age of 8 to around 13. It's run by people my age in CRC, and headed by a young couple in the community as well. It's impressive to me the amount of responsibility given to people my age, by giving them the opportunity to explain different aspects of faith to kids as well as keeping them engaged and entertained.
A third piece of service for me is now Summer Mission Households. This is one of the Kairos summer programs for which I signed up. Yesterday was our first official meeting with the team for the program, and I am PUMPED for what is to come through this program. I'll be working on more of an administrative side of the project as well as serving musically.
Lots of exciting things have happened this month, that's for certain. One of the most surprising things being the fact that I got a SUNBURN IN SCOTLAND! The weather this past week has been fantastic. I've heard that it's about one week of summer, so a few girls and I decided to make the most of the weather and went to the beach. I've been assured that I got to experience a very rare occasion of going to the beach with nice weather. That's where the burn occurred, but luckily for me, my burns turn to tan. Between 7 days of shorts and sunglasses, I've definitely been spoiled weather-wise here.
However, by far, the most exciting news is that my dad is going to visit me here in Scotland in July!
By that time, I'll have not seen anyone in my immediate family for 11 months. ELEVEN MONTHS. It'll be good, I'm positive.
So, that's me. That's just a rough picture of what's happened. These past three weeks have been so good, that I think I'm Glasglowing...
I'm done with bad puns for now. Promise.
By now, with either some posts via Facebook, or with the title of this post, I'm sure you're catching onto the fact that I've been in Glasgow. It's a bit more than just "being" in Glasgow. On the 9th of May, I officially moved from Leuven, Belgium to Scotland. Because of many circumstances matched with generous hospitality and a great opportunity, I shall be finishing up the majority of my year here. I don't think I can fully explain how delighted I am for this.
I've been here now for almost 3 weeks, and I have been so loved and cared for that it's crazy! So many families have opened up their arms to me, had me over for dinner, or invited me to join part of their family life. It's felt almost like a seamless transition. It feels like home. (I type this as I'm watching Space Jam with the kids of the family with which I'm currently staying. Even if I wasn't watching something so blatantly American, I'd say the same. But the movie sure isn't impeding the feeling. Hahah.)
So, my Gap year isn't over. That means I've got more service I'm doing! Here, I'm mainly helping out with young families. It's more mothers helper stuff like I did in January. Except, it's much easier to relate to children who speak the same language. I've even slipped up and spoken to a couple of children in Flemish as a first reaction! It's not a surprise that they don't respond well to "Kijk!" or "Dat moet je niet doen!"
Another part of my service is to help out with Sentry. Sentry is an outreach youth group that the Community of the Risen Christ puts on at the local parish. It's a Saturday morning program for kids from the age of 8 to around 13. It's run by people my age in CRC, and headed by a young couple in the community as well. It's impressive to me the amount of responsibility given to people my age, by giving them the opportunity to explain different aspects of faith to kids as well as keeping them engaged and entertained.
A third piece of service for me is now Summer Mission Households. This is one of the Kairos summer programs for which I signed up. Yesterday was our first official meeting with the team for the program, and I am PUMPED for what is to come through this program. I'll be working on more of an administrative side of the project as well as serving musically.
Lots of exciting things have happened this month, that's for certain. One of the most surprising things being the fact that I got a SUNBURN IN SCOTLAND! The weather this past week has been fantastic. I've heard that it's about one week of summer, so a few girls and I decided to make the most of the weather and went to the beach. I've been assured that I got to experience a very rare occasion of going to the beach with nice weather. That's where the burn occurred, but luckily for me, my burns turn to tan. Between 7 days of shorts and sunglasses, I've definitely been spoiled weather-wise here.
However, by far, the most exciting news is that my dad is going to visit me here in Scotland in July!
By that time, I'll have not seen anyone in my immediate family for 11 months. ELEVEN MONTHS. It'll be good, I'm positive.
So, that's me. That's just a rough picture of what's happened. These past three weeks have been so good, that I think I'm Glasglowing...
I'm done with bad puns for now. Promise.
Monday, April 30
Stop and Smell the Roses... or the Mutant Tulip.
So, I know what you're thinking.
"Kate, your life has been soooooooooooooooooooooo bland of late. I mean, really, I would describe your life as the typical life of a 20 year old American. I'm worried you don't have enough excitement in your life."
Well, rest those fears, dear reader. Let's see a little update about April. Hopefully, that will change your mind.
Alright. So, April began with Easter Break. For me, it wasn't so much of a break. I had some days off, but other days I put some serious work into a conference I was administrating. [Hold on for that information later.]
Because I am extremely lucky, I got to see my aunt and cousin over my break! Sure, it might have only been about 24 hours, but seeing Beth and Mary really brought a breath of fresh air. I realized when I with them that I hadn't seen any family members in real life in 7 months. That is a long time. Thanks to a friend of Beth's who lives in Brussels, I got to spend the night with them. The next day, we went to Antwerp. Really, it was just some shopping, talking, and waffle eating. However, to me it was rejuvenating.
Next was Easter. We celebrated Easter Mass together as a community on Saturday night. There's really nothing like an Easter vigil followed by a feast of Belgian chocolate. Easter Sunday, myself as well as a handful of others were all invited to the Vanderstuyfts for Easter dinner. It was lovely. A great dinner preceded with some trampoline antics and followed with playing cards made it feel like I was at home.
Home.
That was the first time in my entire stay here that I had felt that feeling. I missed it. It hurt. I didn't want to leave when it came time to do so. But, I found myself lucky to have felt that way.
The quiet, relaxed feeling that was the product was soon washed away in the swell of work that was to follow. Monday was technically a day off, but I began to go into overdrive. That weekend, the SWOT conference was being held in Leuven! I was the administrator. Essentially, this meant that I was the one to sort out all the practicals. Accommodation, Transportation, Food, Handouts you name it. Because of some different circumstances, I was under a lot of stress, even though I had planned and executed that plan well ahead of time. However, in the end, it all went off without a hitch.
The best part about SWOT, at least for me, has always been the friendships that are grown between these student outreach leaders. Since this was the third of these conferences, I have had ample time to become friends with the different Europeans who attend. Even though I felt swamped with work, being with some of my favorite people around the continent brought peace, and I think a bit a of sanity as well. It made the work I was doing seem so much more real. Putting it in the perspective of working so hard for my friends is what I'm sure made it bearable.
The day following the SWOT conference, I was in charge of what was called the Gappers' Day Out. Most of the Gappers around the region attend the SWOT conference, so it's easier to do something together as regional Gappers when we're already gathered for something else. I had planned on visiting Gent, my favorite Belgian city. But after talking to my fellow Gappers, I realized all we wanted was a day to relax with no big plan. This didn't break my heart too much since I had been so worn down from the conference. The results were a picnic in a park in Leuven. Plain, simple, and yet, a wonderful time. Sitting on a blanket in the rare Belgian sunshine, eating sandwiches, drinking juice, attempting to catch little ducklings, making jokes, and taking silly pictures, watching someone fall into the pond. Just what we all needed, I think.
Two days after this, Pharos held it's last Life in the Spirit Seminar session and a social event. The event: Clue (or Cluedo if you're European.) This was an idea that I had way back in February. I wanted to make Clue into a life-size, interactive, team board game. And that I did. I changed some of the pieces and messed with the strategy. The goal was the same: accuse correctly the person, weapon, and the place the crime was committed. After adjusting the board a little bit, I knew that I was going to have to make the game a bit harder so as to last longer. Everyone ended up placed into randomly selected teams. Each team was represented by one of the characters, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, etc. Each team would nominate one person to stand in as the character piece on the board. Easy enough, right? Here's the trick: The team and the person on the board were not allowed to communicate. How does that work, you ask? Well, this meant that the team had to plan ahead. They were allowed to meet with their board piece. The board piece was in charge of where to go, while the team made all of the suggestions and accusation. I relieved some of the added challenge by allowing the teams to switch who was on the board after a set amount of turns. I was concerned that this game wouldn't go over well. Two hours and two accusations later (one incorrect and one correct) everyone seemed to have a great time.
Next on the agenda: Household week.
The following week, our household and the guys' household open up our doors to fellow members of Pharos. The goal was to introduce these people to the idea of household, to give them a chance to live it out, and hopefully, to attract people to live in household next year. We hosted three Belgian girls for the week. A few things changed, but nothing major. Just morning prayer getting moved 2.5 hours earlier and adjusting cooking to twice the normal amount. All in all, I think it went well.
"Ok, Kate. This has nothing to do with your title."
Yeah, yeah, I know. But, let's put some perspective on this. All of this happened in one month. Add on to that fact that we had the rest of our Pharos events running at the same time. To say that I was busy is an understatement. This month has been one of the most difficult of my time here for one reason or another. I've been so stressed and busy that I haven't been able to even think half of the time, just do.
The other day, my household was given a bunch of tulips. It was a super sweet gesture. Of the flowers, one was deformed, and jokingly given the name the mutant tulip. One of the leaves was also one of the petals. I was really drawn to that flower. It wasn't the prettiest of the blooms. In fact, it never bloomed. But, I still found it fascinating and the most beautiful. As much as one could relate to a flower, I felt like that flower. Still a flower, but somehow, extremely different. In the end, that doesn't, or rather, shouldn't take a way the beauty of the flower. Who knows the actual purpose of that flower. Maybe it was to help me stop and reflect in my insanely busy life. All I know is that somehow it's given me some sort of respite, if only mental.
"Kate, your life has been soooooooooooooooooooooo bland of late. I mean, really, I would describe your life as the typical life of a 20 year old American. I'm worried you don't have enough excitement in your life."
Well, rest those fears, dear reader. Let's see a little update about April. Hopefully, that will change your mind.
Alright. So, April began with Easter Break. For me, it wasn't so much of a break. I had some days off, but other days I put some serious work into a conference I was administrating. [Hold on for that information later.]
Because I am extremely lucky, I got to see my aunt and cousin over my break! Sure, it might have only been about 24 hours, but seeing Beth and Mary really brought a breath of fresh air. I realized when I with them that I hadn't seen any family members in real life in 7 months. That is a long time. Thanks to a friend of Beth's who lives in Brussels, I got to spend the night with them. The next day, we went to Antwerp. Really, it was just some shopping, talking, and waffle eating. However, to me it was rejuvenating.
Next was Easter. We celebrated Easter Mass together as a community on Saturday night. There's really nothing like an Easter vigil followed by a feast of Belgian chocolate. Easter Sunday, myself as well as a handful of others were all invited to the Vanderstuyfts for Easter dinner. It was lovely. A great dinner preceded with some trampoline antics and followed with playing cards made it feel like I was at home.
Home.
That was the first time in my entire stay here that I had felt that feeling. I missed it. It hurt. I didn't want to leave when it came time to do so. But, I found myself lucky to have felt that way.
The quiet, relaxed feeling that was the product was soon washed away in the swell of work that was to follow. Monday was technically a day off, but I began to go into overdrive. That weekend, the SWOT conference was being held in Leuven! I was the administrator. Essentially, this meant that I was the one to sort out all the practicals. Accommodation, Transportation, Food, Handouts you name it. Because of some different circumstances, I was under a lot of stress, even though I had planned and executed that plan well ahead of time. However, in the end, it all went off without a hitch.
The best part about SWOT, at least for me, has always been the friendships that are grown between these student outreach leaders. Since this was the third of these conferences, I have had ample time to become friends with the different Europeans who attend. Even though I felt swamped with work, being with some of my favorite people around the continent brought peace, and I think a bit a of sanity as well. It made the work I was doing seem so much more real. Putting it in the perspective of working so hard for my friends is what I'm sure made it bearable.
The day following the SWOT conference, I was in charge of what was called the Gappers' Day Out. Most of the Gappers around the region attend the SWOT conference, so it's easier to do something together as regional Gappers when we're already gathered for something else. I had planned on visiting Gent, my favorite Belgian city. But after talking to my fellow Gappers, I realized all we wanted was a day to relax with no big plan. This didn't break my heart too much since I had been so worn down from the conference. The results were a picnic in a park in Leuven. Plain, simple, and yet, a wonderful time. Sitting on a blanket in the rare Belgian sunshine, eating sandwiches, drinking juice, attempting to catch little ducklings, making jokes, and taking silly pictures, watching someone fall into the pond. Just what we all needed, I think.
Two days after this, Pharos held it's last Life in the Spirit Seminar session and a social event. The event: Clue (or Cluedo if you're European.) This was an idea that I had way back in February. I wanted to make Clue into a life-size, interactive, team board game. And that I did. I changed some of the pieces and messed with the strategy. The goal was the same: accuse correctly the person, weapon, and the place the crime was committed. After adjusting the board a little bit, I knew that I was going to have to make the game a bit harder so as to last longer. Everyone ended up placed into randomly selected teams. Each team was represented by one of the characters, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, etc. Each team would nominate one person to stand in as the character piece on the board. Easy enough, right? Here's the trick: The team and the person on the board were not allowed to communicate. How does that work, you ask? Well, this meant that the team had to plan ahead. They were allowed to meet with their board piece. The board piece was in charge of where to go, while the team made all of the suggestions and accusation. I relieved some of the added challenge by allowing the teams to switch who was on the board after a set amount of turns. I was concerned that this game wouldn't go over well. Two hours and two accusations later (one incorrect and one correct) everyone seemed to have a great time.
Next on the agenda: Household week.
The following week, our household and the guys' household open up our doors to fellow members of Pharos. The goal was to introduce these people to the idea of household, to give them a chance to live it out, and hopefully, to attract people to live in household next year. We hosted three Belgian girls for the week. A few things changed, but nothing major. Just morning prayer getting moved 2.5 hours earlier and adjusting cooking to twice the normal amount. All in all, I think it went well.
"Ok, Kate. This has nothing to do with your title."
Yeah, yeah, I know. But, let's put some perspective on this. All of this happened in one month. Add on to that fact that we had the rest of our Pharos events running at the same time. To say that I was busy is an understatement. This month has been one of the most difficult of my time here for one reason or another. I've been so stressed and busy that I haven't been able to even think half of the time, just do.
The other day, my household was given a bunch of tulips. It was a super sweet gesture. Of the flowers, one was deformed, and jokingly given the name the mutant tulip. One of the leaves was also one of the petals. I was really drawn to that flower. It wasn't the prettiest of the blooms. In fact, it never bloomed. But, I still found it fascinating and the most beautiful. As much as one could relate to a flower, I felt like that flower. Still a flower, but somehow, extremely different. In the end, that doesn't, or rather, shouldn't take a way the beauty of the flower. Who knows the actual purpose of that flower. Maybe it was to help me stop and reflect in my insanely busy life. All I know is that somehow it's given me some sort of respite, if only mental.
Sunday, March 25
Parijs en Ijs (Paris and Ice Cream)
First, I just want to say God is good. He is fantastic and blows all of my expectations out of the water.
Now, let's hear why.
If love is measured in pounds, I feel about 454,767,876,646,436,439,872,398,439lbs. of love whenever I have someone who comes to visit! I was fortunate to feel this overwhelming feeling right at the beginning of this month! John Lee, a friend from Lansing came for a week! I only knew three weeks before he came that he would visit. It was definitely a welcomed "surprise." We toured Leuven, made sushi, and hung out with Pharos people. It was all around a great time. Here are two pictures that pretty much sum up the Belgian part of the experience!
One: Waffles and Chocolate
Two: The Sushi! The first I've ever made!
Probably the most exciting thing to happen while he was here was our trip to Paris! John, Lynn Van den Zegel, my best Belgian friend, and I left at 5am from the Leuven train station so that we could catch our 6am bus in Brussels. We got on the bus, and four hours later, we were in Paris! We took a quick stop at our hostel to check-in and then drop off our luggage. What followed was a lunch of baguettes, cheese, and wine in front of the Eiffel Tower! It was great! Afterwards, we climbed up the tower. Yes, we took the steps. None of this elevator crap. I might have been winded after, but I was quite conditioned since my room is on the 3rd floor my house. Comparable, right?
The rest of our trip included seeing the Arc de Triomphe, eating an authentic Korean meal, visiting the Eiffel tower again at night, going to Sacre Coeur, attending Mass at Notre Dame, and two failed attempts of going to the Louvre. It was wonderful.
The next experience worth mentioning is the community retreat. Every year, the Jerusalem community goes on retreat together. For the past 31 years, it's been at a retreat center in Bonheiden. Now, I hope you haven't been worrying too much about me. I know that you've probably been thinking that I should go on another retreat in a castle. I mean, I have only had the one experience in January. You may put your little heart to rest. Here are two pictures of where the retreat was held.
One:
Yep. So cool. Anyway, the theme of the retreat was Freedom - Vrijheid. It spoke very much to the heart of the community, and it was a great experience to see how Jerusalem was really seeking for healing and unity. Great moment #1: Singing Great and Wonderful at the Lord's Day Celebration. Great moment #2: Singing The King of Glory Comes also at the Lord's Day Celebration. The second song always brings this video to mind. It took all my energy to not laugh uncontrollably while imagining members of the Jerusalem community doing this:
This past semester, Pharos has put on the Life in the Spirit Seminar- a 7-week series that explores the fundamental truths of Christianity and offers participants an opportunity to choose (again) for Christ. Each week builds on the previous, and during the 5th week, there's a chance to receive prayer for Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This past Wednesday was our 5th installment. That day was just a horrible day, to be honest. I just felt like everything was wrong. The whole day I thought that there would be no way that I could lead music for that night since I was in such a terrible mood. The day progressed. My mood stayed the same. It was only 45 minutes before I was to begin leading that something happened. The week previous, I had jokingly said that a Pharos member owed me some ice cream for a bet that never really happened. Either way, that night, she came up to me with a voucher for free ice cream. It was completely unexpected, but it was exactly what I needed. I felt so loved it was crazy. It helped me free myself from whatever was holding me back, and I felt God's grace help me with leading the music for the night. It was easily the most moving prayer session that Pharos has had all year. Who knew that God would help me get through a horrible day with free ice cream!?
Well, that's March. It's been full of all kinds of excitement. I know there's more to come! There's about 11 more weeks of my Gap year. With that, there is also roughly 4.5 more months worth of Europe, friends, and God. Praise Him!
Now, let's hear why.
If love is measured in pounds, I feel about 454,767,876,646,436,439,872,398,439lbs. of love whenever I have someone who comes to visit! I was fortunate to feel this overwhelming feeling right at the beginning of this month! John Lee, a friend from Lansing came for a week! I only knew three weeks before he came that he would visit. It was definitely a welcomed "surprise." We toured Leuven, made sushi, and hung out with Pharos people. It was all around a great time. Here are two pictures that pretty much sum up the Belgian part of the experience!
One: Waffles and Chocolate
Two: The Sushi! The first I've ever made!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Probably the most exciting thing to happen while he was here was our trip to Paris! John, Lynn Van den Zegel, my best Belgian friend, and I left at 5am from the Leuven train station so that we could catch our 6am bus in Brussels. We got on the bus, and four hours later, we were in Paris! We took a quick stop at our hostel to check-in and then drop off our luggage. What followed was a lunch of baguettes, cheese, and wine in front of the Eiffel Tower! It was great! Afterwards, we climbed up the tower. Yes, we took the steps. None of this elevator crap. I might have been winded after, but I was quite conditioned since my room is on the 3rd floor my house. Comparable, right?
The rest of our trip included seeing the Arc de Triomphe, eating an authentic Korean meal, visiting the Eiffel tower again at night, going to Sacre Coeur, attending Mass at Notre Dame, and two failed attempts of going to the Louvre. It was wonderful.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next experience worth mentioning is the community retreat. Every year, the Jerusalem community goes on retreat together. For the past 31 years, it's been at a retreat center in Bonheiden. Now, I hope you haven't been worrying too much about me. I know that you've probably been thinking that I should go on another retreat in a castle. I mean, I have only had the one experience in January. You may put your little heart to rest. Here are two pictures of where the retreat was held.
One:
Two:
Yep. So cool. Anyway, the theme of the retreat was Freedom - Vrijheid. It spoke very much to the heart of the community, and it was a great experience to see how Jerusalem was really seeking for healing and unity. Great moment #1: Singing Great and Wonderful at the Lord's Day Celebration. Great moment #2: Singing The King of Glory Comes also at the Lord's Day Celebration. The second song always brings this video to mind. It took all my energy to not laugh uncontrollably while imagining members of the Jerusalem community doing this:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This past semester, Pharos has put on the Life in the Spirit Seminar- a 7-week series that explores the fundamental truths of Christianity and offers participants an opportunity to choose (again) for Christ. Each week builds on the previous, and during the 5th week, there's a chance to receive prayer for Baptism in the Holy Spirit. This past Wednesday was our 5th installment. That day was just a horrible day, to be honest. I just felt like everything was wrong. The whole day I thought that there would be no way that I could lead music for that night since I was in such a terrible mood. The day progressed. My mood stayed the same. It was only 45 minutes before I was to begin leading that something happened. The week previous, I had jokingly said that a Pharos member owed me some ice cream for a bet that never really happened. Either way, that night, she came up to me with a voucher for free ice cream. It was completely unexpected, but it was exactly what I needed. I felt so loved it was crazy. It helped me free myself from whatever was holding me back, and I felt God's grace help me with leading the music for the night. It was easily the most moving prayer session that Pharos has had all year. Who knew that God would help me get through a horrible day with free ice cream!?
Well, that's March. It's been full of all kinds of excitement. I know there's more to come! There's about 11 more weeks of my Gap year. With that, there is also roughly 4.5 more months worth of Europe, friends, and God. Praise Him!
Friday, March 9
Let's Stick to the Facts
Disclaimer:
Due to a lack of creativity, this blog post shall not have any intricate theme woven into the words. However, I'm aware that an update of my life is necessary. So, without further ado, The Life of Kate Stevenson, Gapper Extrodinaire, and her February escapades.
February 6th: Our "regular" Pharos schedule went into effect on this date. The week that followed was full of meetings and planning out the semester. It ended with Kairos Weekend 2012.
February 10th: Kairos Weekend 2012 was held in Dublin, Ireland. 140 university students came together from Beirut, Belfast, Bielsko, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Leuven, Munich, and Vitoria. The theme was Power from On High. I had the privilege of being a part of the music team, which has been one of the highlights of my Gap year. At the weekend, I made new friends, grew other budding friendships, and made some best friends.
February 15th: My baby brother turned 18. It felt weird to think about. Also, we had our first social event of the semester. Casino Night was full of cards, snacks, beer, and chatting. It provided a relaxed atmosphere where Sam gave our plug for the Life in the Spirit to begin the following week.
February 20th: Presidents Day. This day my household was invited to have dinner over to the guys' household. Javi's parents were visiting, and they made dinner. Unbeknownst to them, they made my favorite meal. I considered it a little birthday present from God, since my birthday was only 2 days later.
February 22nd: Ash Wednesday. I turned 20. I found much pleasure this day by making comments about how I woke up with more wrinkles and needed to start using a cane. Pharos put on its first Life in the Spirit Seminar night. In a room arranged to feel like a pub, we aimed to provide a comfortable environment for people to learn about God and the new life we can have in Him. We began with a dinner, moved on to a talk, and ended with discussion groups. We also had Coffee Stall and a prayer meeting, so the day was really busy. However, throughout the whole day, I felt extremely loved.
That's February.
In other news, the official ending date of my Gap year: June 12th. However, I am hoping to stay for the summer! I'll let you all know my returning date within the next 2 months.
Due to a lack of creativity, this blog post shall not have any intricate theme woven into the words. However, I'm aware that an update of my life is necessary. So, without further ado, The Life of Kate Stevenson, Gapper Extrodinaire, and her February escapades.
February 6th: Our "regular" Pharos schedule went into effect on this date. The week that followed was full of meetings and planning out the semester. It ended with Kairos Weekend 2012.
February 10th: Kairos Weekend 2012 was held in Dublin, Ireland. 140 university students came together from Beirut, Belfast, Bielsko, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Leuven, Munich, and Vitoria. The theme was Power from On High. I had the privilege of being a part of the music team, which has been one of the highlights of my Gap year. At the weekend, I made new friends, grew other budding friendships, and made some best friends.
February 15th: My baby brother turned 18. It felt weird to think about. Also, we had our first social event of the semester. Casino Night was full of cards, snacks, beer, and chatting. It provided a relaxed atmosphere where Sam gave our plug for the Life in the Spirit to begin the following week.
February 20th: Presidents Day. This day my household was invited to have dinner over to the guys' household. Javi's parents were visiting, and they made dinner. Unbeknownst to them, they made my favorite meal. I considered it a little birthday present from God, since my birthday was only 2 days later.
February 22nd: Ash Wednesday. I turned 20. I found much pleasure this day by making comments about how I woke up with more wrinkles and needed to start using a cane. Pharos put on its first Life in the Spirit Seminar night. In a room arranged to feel like a pub, we aimed to provide a comfortable environment for people to learn about God and the new life we can have in Him. We began with a dinner, moved on to a talk, and ended with discussion groups. We also had Coffee Stall and a prayer meeting, so the day was really busy. However, throughout the whole day, I felt extremely loved.
That's February.
In other news, the official ending date of my Gap year: June 12th. However, I am hoping to stay for the summer! I'll let you all know my returning date within the next 2 months.
Sunday, January 29
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!?
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.
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.
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.]
Friday, December 30
On to the Next One
Well, I’ve done it. I’ve completed the first semester. What’s that mean? I’ve been here for 121 days.
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE DAYS.
So, you know, just a third of a year. Surely I’ve had some exciting things occur since my last post.
YUP.
THANKSGIVING. Don’t you worry your little heart, dear reader. I, as a strong and patriotic American, made sure to have an American Thanksgiving celebration. I wanted this so badly that I arranged the first guys and girls household event together! So, it was myself, my two American housemates, Martha Gornik, another American, Javier, our brother American, two Belgians and a Lebanese for Thanksgiving. We had everything thing that a traditional Thanksgiving should have, for the most part. We had your turkey, your gravy (or in our case multiple kinds of gravy), your cranberry sauce, your mashed potatoes, your stuffing, your green bean casserole, and your pumpkin and apple pie. DELICIOUS. Also, since I wanted to be festive and authentic, I made some hand turkeys and hung those up on the wall. You know those outlines of your hand that you make when you’re roughly 5 years old? Yeah, those.
On Thanksgiving Day, I went to a conference in London. (We had to celebrate Thanksgiving two days early to make sure we could fit it in, but I KNEW that it would be worth it.) It was the second part of the SWOT conference… For those of you who have been following this fairly faithfully, you’ll know that this is the same type of conference that I attended at the beginning of my Gap year in Scotland. The emphasis of this conference was on teamwork. And so, as you can imagine, lots of teamwork topics and exercises were talked about and done during my time in London. It’s a bit of a shame that I was busy the entire length of my stay in London, but I figure it was worth it. Actually, I know so. I was able to stay at the women’s household in London with my friend, Camille. She’s fabulous. I’ve probably said this before, but I’ll say that roughly 2,598,347,596,846,945 more times as well. We had quite the time, and definitely grew in our friendship in ways I can safely say that she and I were not anticipating.
The next most exciting event was Pharos Weekend! WOO! Our outreach had a retreat at the beginning of December and the focus was on worship. Well, seeing as that was the emphasis, and I am the worship team leader, you can bet your bottom dollar that I had my work cut out for me. But, in the end, all worked out. We, the Pharos team, had been praying since the beginning of the semester for 20 people to be able to attend the retreat. The headcount: 21! It was really great. The Lord really worked in people throughout the retreat. We also had a little bit of fun as well. ;) My highlight was probably playing Sardines. For those who are not familiar with this, it’s essentially like hide-and-go-seek. However, one person hides. The rest search for the person hiding. Once you have found the person hiding, the goal is to hide with them and not be the last person to find the “hide-ee.” This late night activity, I’m pretty sure, helped to strengthen some of the friendships within Pharos. Another great event that has happened was our Pharos Bingo Night! As the head of the Social Events Team, I knew that I had a little bit of power in deciding what the next event was. At the time, I really just had the urge to dress up like an elderly person. So, I decided to combine these together. Thus, Pharos Bingo Night was created. I tried to figure out how to spice up the old age factor, and what instantly popped into my mind was the idea of a bingo hall in America. So, for the event, we played Christmas Bingo, and we asked all those who were to attend to dress as if they were 65 years or older. I was a bit cautious that the Belgian people wouldn’t quite be as thrilled for dressing up, but, fortunately, they were just as enthusiastic as I. Needless to say, it was quite a fun event.
The final Pharos event of the semester was a Joint Prayer Meeting. Pharos, along with two other Christian student groups, joined together to have one heck of a night. The event started off with a prayer meeting, mainly run by Pharos, where I participated as the music team leader. With the three groups, we were able to form a team of musicians, including a flute and a saxophone which gave a great feel to the music. After the prayer meeting, there was a dinner. It was essentially a potluck dinner where people from all the groups brought food to share. Following this, the event team had hired a folk dancing group to come and teach us folk dances. So, we danced the night away. The event was over 5 hours long, but it went very well.
I’ll end with this. I’m sure there will be plenty for me to write soon, seeing as my best friend from Lansing, Ellen Schaefer, and her family are currently here in Belgium. There have been many adventures in the past two days that they’ve been here, and I’m quite positive there will be more to come during their stay.
Oh, but quick check out a video we made in December too!
ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY ONE DAYS.
So, you know, just a third of a year. Surely I’ve had some exciting things occur since my last post.
YUP.
THANKSGIVING. Don’t you worry your little heart, dear reader. I, as a strong and patriotic American, made sure to have an American Thanksgiving celebration. I wanted this so badly that I arranged the first guys and girls household event together! So, it was myself, my two American housemates, Martha Gornik, another American, Javier, our brother American, two Belgians and a Lebanese for Thanksgiving. We had everything thing that a traditional Thanksgiving should have, for the most part. We had your turkey, your gravy (or in our case multiple kinds of gravy), your cranberry sauce, your mashed potatoes, your stuffing, your green bean casserole, and your pumpkin and apple pie. DELICIOUS. Also, since I wanted to be festive and authentic, I made some hand turkeys and hung those up on the wall. You know those outlines of your hand that you make when you’re roughly 5 years old? Yeah, those.
On Thanksgiving Day, I went to a conference in London. (We had to celebrate Thanksgiving two days early to make sure we could fit it in, but I KNEW that it would be worth it.) It was the second part of the SWOT conference… For those of you who have been following this fairly faithfully, you’ll know that this is the same type of conference that I attended at the beginning of my Gap year in Scotland. The emphasis of this conference was on teamwork. And so, as you can imagine, lots of teamwork topics and exercises were talked about and done during my time in London. It’s a bit of a shame that I was busy the entire length of my stay in London, but I figure it was worth it. Actually, I know so. I was able to stay at the women’s household in London with my friend, Camille. She’s fabulous. I’ve probably said this before, but I’ll say that roughly 2,598,347,596,846,945 more times as well. We had quite the time, and definitely grew in our friendship in ways I can safely say that she and I were not anticipating.
The next most exciting event was Pharos Weekend! WOO! Our outreach had a retreat at the beginning of December and the focus was on worship. Well, seeing as that was the emphasis, and I am the worship team leader, you can bet your bottom dollar that I had my work cut out for me. But, in the end, all worked out. We, the Pharos team, had been praying since the beginning of the semester for 20 people to be able to attend the retreat. The headcount: 21! It was really great. The Lord really worked in people throughout the retreat. We also had a little bit of fun as well. ;) My highlight was probably playing Sardines. For those who are not familiar with this, it’s essentially like hide-and-go-seek. However, one person hides. The rest search for the person hiding. Once you have found the person hiding, the goal is to hide with them and not be the last person to find the “hide-ee.” This late night activity, I’m pretty sure, helped to strengthen some of the friendships within Pharos. Another great event that has happened was our Pharos Bingo Night! As the head of the Social Events Team, I knew that I had a little bit of power in deciding what the next event was. At the time, I really just had the urge to dress up like an elderly person. So, I decided to combine these together. Thus, Pharos Bingo Night was created. I tried to figure out how to spice up the old age factor, and what instantly popped into my mind was the idea of a bingo hall in America. So, for the event, we played Christmas Bingo, and we asked all those who were to attend to dress as if they were 65 years or older. I was a bit cautious that the Belgian people wouldn’t quite be as thrilled for dressing up, but, fortunately, they were just as enthusiastic as I. Needless to say, it was quite a fun event.
The final Pharos event of the semester was a Joint Prayer Meeting. Pharos, along with two other Christian student groups, joined together to have one heck of a night. The event started off with a prayer meeting, mainly run by Pharos, where I participated as the music team leader. With the three groups, we were able to form a team of musicians, including a flute and a saxophone which gave a great feel to the music. After the prayer meeting, there was a dinner. It was essentially a potluck dinner where people from all the groups brought food to share. Following this, the event team had hired a folk dancing group to come and teach us folk dances. So, we danced the night away. The event was over 5 hours long, but it went very well.
I’ll end with this. I’m sure there will be plenty for me to write soon, seeing as my best friend from Lansing, Ellen Schaefer, and her family are currently here in Belgium. There have been many adventures in the past two days that they’ve been here, and I’m quite positive there will be more to come during their stay.
Oh, but quick check out a video we made in December too!
Thursday, November 17
Right Time, Right Place
Alright. What time is it?
There are two appropriate answers to this.
It's the right time (in reference to this post's title)
It's story time!
If you thought of one of these, then I give you credit for being a mind reader. Well, maybe just my mind reader.
1:
This is a story that was suggested to be put on my blog a fair while ago. But now, I'm just getting around to it. It all begins at the beginning of October. The weather was still quite warm and pleasant, sunny and just a bit of a breeze. So, I took the opportunity to do some work outside. For me, that work was selecting the songs for the prayer meeting that night. And so, I began to look through and play different songs for the prayer meeting that night. After about 3 songs, a guy I'd never seen before asked me if he could sit nearby and listen. He had heard me from his room since he had his window open. I said certainly. Really, I didn't think anything of it. I play music. The point of music is to be heard. So, I continued my work, singing and playing the guitar. After a while, I needed to go inside seeing as I had completed my task of selecting the songs. As I was packing up, this guy complimented me. I responded with a thank you. After that, he had said that he recognized one of the songs. And so, we conversed a little bit. During the chit chat, I mentioned that I was leading the music for the prayer meeting that night and I invited him to come. I doubt he would show up. Surprisingly, he came. But wait, there's more. That night, I made an announcement saying that I was assembling a music team and that I was looking for volunteers. This Sunny Afternoon Worship Song Listener came up and volunteered! He explained to me that he was looking for a Christian group to join here since he's from Italy. He also had played guitar for 10 years. He now is one of the most active participants of Pharos this year. Talk about God's timing and placement!
2:
As I have mentioned previously, the Pharos team does a bit of campus evangelism, and that we mainly do this through our Coffee Stall event. Needless to say, walking up to a random stranger, offering free coffee of a free waffle, knowing that your goal is to steer the conversation towards the topics of God and faith can seem daunting. Since we do it every week, it gets a bit easier. Having a point of similar interest helps to break the ice. One Wednesday, Marisa had walked up to a girl and offered her free coffee, and the stranger accepted. They began to talk, and the Coffee Drinker explained that one of her interests was Kdrama. For those of you who don't know, Kdrama, or Korean Drama, refers to televised dramas, in a miniseries format, produced in the Korean language. And also, for those of you who don't know, I love Kdrama. Either way, Marisa was aware of this and invited me into the conversation. the Coffee Drinker and I geeked out for quite awhile. Between the 3 of us, we talked for nearly 1.5 hours. For a conversation with someone you've never met before, that quite a long time. During that time, one of us Gappers invited her to the Pharos event that night which happened to be a women's event at the women's household. We figured it was a long shot that she would come since she had just met us that day. That night, that Coffee Drinker came! She ended up coming late after she was given bad directions and got lost for over 45 minutes, part of which was in a different city. However, that didn't deter her! We were majorly impressed. I can say that now, I definitely consider her a friend of mine, and I love watching Kdrama with her. Who knew that a step of faith at Coffee Stall would have provided me with not only an evangelistic opportunity, but also a friend with similar interests!
3:
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to serve the Jerusalem Community here by aiding in the Visitation. That is a check-up done by community leaders from different communities in the region that occurs roughly every 5 years. I had been asked to aid in the Lord's Day Celebration, which was quite a production. All in all, the evening, the socializing, and the meal went well. But what I want to mention was the actual celebration of the Lord's Day Prayer. During this time, all the leaders from the different communities were gathered together and I had the opportunity to join in as we all prayed and sang together. Paul Jordan, one of the community coordinators, led this time. In the middle, he urged us to give each other a sign of peace to one another. The way he explained it implied that it was not just an utterance of the words, but also a time to show physically what we meant. And so, everyone began to hug one another and declare "Peace be with you" to each other as well. Everyone did this to everyone. So, I received right around 20 hugs in a row. Now, this may not seem like a big deal. For me, however, it was. I had been having an extremely difficult week, most definitely the hardest week of my time here by far. I was an emotional wreck, and I had no idea where I was going to receive comfort. One thing that my mother has said in a conversation earlier in the week was that I was probably going through hug withdrawal. Why? Well, that's just how I greet all of my friends and family back home. Here, well, that's not how they do it. But so, after this awful week, God provided me with not just one really good hug, but 20 hugs.
4:
For now, this will be the last story. It has to do with what happened tonight. Not too long ago, Pharos was emailed with an opportunity. There was to be a big Adoration event in Sint-Pieterskerk (Saint Peter's church) right in the middle of Leuven.
Here's a picture of the church.
We were asked if we would take an hour and provide the music for the Adoration. And so, that's what we did. Tonight, I got to lead music in a HUGE 15th century Gothic style church for a city-wide all night Adoration event. It's very difficult for me to explain the feeling. In this gigantic, cold stone church, warmth was felt through the company of other's coming into the Lord's presence. The silence was only interrupted by songs that echoed through the building. I felt as if it was one of the coolest music opportunities that I've ever had.
Yep. This is my life. This is where God wants me. There's nothing like being in the right place at the right time.
There are two appropriate answers to this.
It's the right time (in reference to this post's title)
It's story time!
If you thought of one of these, then I give you credit for being a mind reader. Well, maybe just my mind reader.
1:
This is a story that was suggested to be put on my blog a fair while ago. But now, I'm just getting around to it. It all begins at the beginning of October. The weather was still quite warm and pleasant, sunny and just a bit of a breeze. So, I took the opportunity to do some work outside. For me, that work was selecting the songs for the prayer meeting that night. And so, I began to look through and play different songs for the prayer meeting that night. After about 3 songs, a guy I'd never seen before asked me if he could sit nearby and listen. He had heard me from his room since he had his window open. I said certainly. Really, I didn't think anything of it. I play music. The point of music is to be heard. So, I continued my work, singing and playing the guitar. After a while, I needed to go inside seeing as I had completed my task of selecting the songs. As I was packing up, this guy complimented me. I responded with a thank you. After that, he had said that he recognized one of the songs. And so, we conversed a little bit. During the chit chat, I mentioned that I was leading the music for the prayer meeting that night and I invited him to come. I doubt he would show up. Surprisingly, he came. But wait, there's more. That night, I made an announcement saying that I was assembling a music team and that I was looking for volunteers. This Sunny Afternoon Worship Song Listener came up and volunteered! He explained to me that he was looking for a Christian group to join here since he's from Italy. He also had played guitar for 10 years. He now is one of the most active participants of Pharos this year. Talk about God's timing and placement!
2:
As I have mentioned previously, the Pharos team does a bit of campus evangelism, and that we mainly do this through our Coffee Stall event. Needless to say, walking up to a random stranger, offering free coffee of a free waffle, knowing that your goal is to steer the conversation towards the topics of God and faith can seem daunting. Since we do it every week, it gets a bit easier. Having a point of similar interest helps to break the ice. One Wednesday, Marisa had walked up to a girl and offered her free coffee, and the stranger accepted. They began to talk, and the Coffee Drinker explained that one of her interests was Kdrama. For those of you who don't know, Kdrama, or Korean Drama, refers to televised dramas, in a miniseries format, produced in the Korean language. And also, for those of you who don't know, I love Kdrama. Either way, Marisa was aware of this and invited me into the conversation. the Coffee Drinker and I geeked out for quite awhile. Between the 3 of us, we talked for nearly 1.5 hours. For a conversation with someone you've never met before, that quite a long time. During that time, one of us Gappers invited her to the Pharos event that night which happened to be a women's event at the women's household. We figured it was a long shot that she would come since she had just met us that day. That night, that Coffee Drinker came! She ended up coming late after she was given bad directions and got lost for over 45 minutes, part of which was in a different city. However, that didn't deter her! We were majorly impressed. I can say that now, I definitely consider her a friend of mine, and I love watching Kdrama with her. Who knew that a step of faith at Coffee Stall would have provided me with not only an evangelistic opportunity, but also a friend with similar interests!
3:
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to serve the Jerusalem Community here by aiding in the Visitation. That is a check-up done by community leaders from different communities in the region that occurs roughly every 5 years. I had been asked to aid in the Lord's Day Celebration, which was quite a production. All in all, the evening, the socializing, and the meal went well. But what I want to mention was the actual celebration of the Lord's Day Prayer. During this time, all the leaders from the different communities were gathered together and I had the opportunity to join in as we all prayed and sang together. Paul Jordan, one of the community coordinators, led this time. In the middle, he urged us to give each other a sign of peace to one another. The way he explained it implied that it was not just an utterance of the words, but also a time to show physically what we meant. And so, everyone began to hug one another and declare "Peace be with you" to each other as well. Everyone did this to everyone. So, I received right around 20 hugs in a row. Now, this may not seem like a big deal. For me, however, it was. I had been having an extremely difficult week, most definitely the hardest week of my time here by far. I was an emotional wreck, and I had no idea where I was going to receive comfort. One thing that my mother has said in a conversation earlier in the week was that I was probably going through hug withdrawal. Why? Well, that's just how I greet all of my friends and family back home. Here, well, that's not how they do it. But so, after this awful week, God provided me with not just one really good hug, but 20 hugs.
4:
For now, this will be the last story. It has to do with what happened tonight. Not too long ago, Pharos was emailed with an opportunity. There was to be a big Adoration event in Sint-Pieterskerk (Saint Peter's church) right in the middle of Leuven.
Here's a picture of the church.
We were asked if we would take an hour and provide the music for the Adoration. And so, that's what we did. Tonight, I got to lead music in a HUGE 15th century Gothic style church for a city-wide all night Adoration event. It's very difficult for me to explain the feeling. In this gigantic, cold stone church, warmth was felt through the company of other's coming into the Lord's presence. The silence was only interrupted by songs that echoed through the building. I felt as if it was one of the coolest music opportunities that I've ever had.
Yep. This is my life. This is where God wants me. There's nothing like being in the right place at the right time.
Thursday, October 13
Babe of Beer River Road
Substance. Finally, some substance!
Most certainly, this post is long overdue. I believe this without a doubt! Hopefully, I'll be able to catch you all up significantly.
I'm choosing to begin at September 15th, 2011. Why? Well, I don't really think I need to expound upon anything earlier than this since I've already mentioned it. I can't say nothing happened between my trip to Scotland on the 2nd of September and the 15th. However, I'm sure many details need not to be said about being sick for roughly two weeks in a foreign country. Simply it was miserable. And that's that.
Now, to the good stuff! The 15th of September marked the beginning of my Gap Year! What happened? Well, we moved. The women's household from the previous year had a house until that day. You would think that moving wouldn't be that big of a deal. Well, that's not true. The catch was we didn't really have a place. The house for this year's household (where I'm living currently) wasn't available until October 1st. Generously, a family from the Jerusalem community here allowed us to keep all of our furniture and everything at their home. Truly, it was a blessing!
So, then, let me answer the question of where I stayed during this two week section where the women's household was minus a house. I guess that just made us a hold. Hahahah. ANYWAY, us three girls living in household were provided with different places to stay with members of the community here in Leuven. I mainly ended up staying with Martha, a lovely lady from Michigan. For those who don't know her, she's fantastic. For those who do know her, you know I'm not lying! She had just moved to Leuven from Spain only a week before I had arrived in Belgium. She selflessly opened up her flat for me to stay in for 2 weeks. Much fun was had, much laughter caused, and much Korean Television watched. All in all, it was grand. I suppose the only thing out of the ordinary was her landlord.
I'm trying to find the best way to say this. I'm feeling that this might just be a lost cause. However, I must attempt. Don't get me wrong, Martha's landlord, Wajih, has been decent at his job. There is, though, one slight issue: He jumps to conclusions. Because of this, I became her boyfriend. Then, I became her girlfriend. One of the mornings that I was in her flat, Wajih came to fix something with the heating. I wasn't really awake at the moment, so she had me move to her bed so I wouldn't be in the way on the floor. I quickly moved to her bed which was out of sight of her landlord. Whatever is was that required the adjustment was adjusted, and her landlord left. We thought we had averted a crisis. Wajih had previously voiced that he "didn't understand why she didn't have a boyfriend!" He had even thought this so much that he had told people that he needed stuff from Martha's apartment for, "a 26-year old woman who's about to be engaged!" He just really wanted her to be involved with someone. Unfortunately, I had become that someone in his mind! The next time she had contact with Wajih he apologized for interrupting her and her boyfriend. I HAD BEEN NOTICED. Martha thought about fighting against this, but ended up just rolling with the punches. Thus, I became the boyfriend. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for Martha, I ended up coming back to her flat the same time he was right outside her door. So, Wajih and I properly met. I was introduced as Martha's friend. Innocent? Yes, by American standards. In Belgium, friend means more than that. And so, Wajih made the assumption that I was her "friend." So, I at least became regarded in the correct gender. As for what it meant for the "relationship" between Martha and me, it was blown even more out of proportion. Honestly, I found the entire situation absolutely hilarious!
October 1st marks the date of my first night at "home." The moving process occurred again! The new women's household was moved into, rather easily. And so, I became a Babe of Beer River Road. I rather enjoy the title. It stems from the fact that we live on Bierbeekstraat. Translated you get beer river road/street. So, naturally, we, the babes, became the newest residents on the street. We live in Beer River Basilica. Or at least, that is what I want to call the house. That's still up for debate.
Ok, Kate. That's great. You've been a boyfriend, girlfriend, and a babe. What about this "Gap" business that you're supposed to be there for? What's going on in that realm?
I AM GLAD YOU ASKED.
Well, let's see. Let me tell you my roles as a Gapper.
I am on the leadership team for Campus Evangelism!
- Daniel and I are the team for this event. What we do is what we call Coffee Stall. We had out free coffee and waffles to students for a 2 hour period of time once a week. While doing so, our aim is to engage the students, steer our conversations towards faith and God, and hopefully get contact information so as to invite people to Pharos events. It's challenging. It's good. It really helps me to remember that we're called to evangelism at all times. As uncomfortable as it may be, the more you do it, the more experienced you get. The extrovert in me loves being able to meet so many different people a week!
I am also in charge of the leadership team for Social Events!
- You may call me the Master Party Person. I'm on the team with Javier and with Maarten, a native Belgian. Really, we get to plan the fun events for Pharos. Last night, we had a Photo-Scavenger Hunt. Roaming around Leuven at night searching for random parks, statues, and flags? Finding interesting door handles and taking pictures with a blind dog? Doing so without it raining? Yes, please!
Lastly, but certainly not least, actually my most favorite:
MUSICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC.
I am working music for Pharos. What does this mean? Well, I'm in charge of the music team. Oh wait, first, let me just say that I had no existing team with which to work. And then, God just threw one at me. It was so fantastic! In the matter of hours, the team went from just me to 4 guitarists, 2 pianists, 3 vocalists, and a drummer. Sure, some of that might overlap within a person, BUT STILL. Certainly a blessing! Now, I'm in the process of working on the song list. Also, I shall soon be starting to work with 3 to 4 people on guitar so that I can hopefully plug them into the music team as well! God is so good!
So, I think you're up to speed. Well, as up to speed as necessary at the moment. I wouldn't say any of the above post is typical. But, such is the life of a Gapper.
Tot ziens!
[goodbye in Dutch. I'm in Dutch class currently. I promise I know more than this. I'll just leave you with my favorite word and it's definition. Winkel = shop/store. HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE FUN SAYING THIS!? hahah.]
Most certainly, this post is long overdue. I believe this without a doubt! Hopefully, I'll be able to catch you all up significantly.
I'm choosing to begin at September 15th, 2011. Why? Well, I don't really think I need to expound upon anything earlier than this since I've already mentioned it. I can't say nothing happened between my trip to Scotland on the 2nd of September and the 15th. However, I'm sure many details need not to be said about being sick for roughly two weeks in a foreign country. Simply it was miserable. And that's that.
Now, to the good stuff! The 15th of September marked the beginning of my Gap Year! What happened? Well, we moved. The women's household from the previous year had a house until that day. You would think that moving wouldn't be that big of a deal. Well, that's not true. The catch was we didn't really have a place. The house for this year's household (where I'm living currently) wasn't available until October 1st. Generously, a family from the Jerusalem community here allowed us to keep all of our furniture and everything at their home. Truly, it was a blessing!
So, then, let me answer the question of where I stayed during this two week section where the women's household was minus a house. I guess that just made us a hold. Hahahah. ANYWAY, us three girls living in household were provided with different places to stay with members of the community here in Leuven. I mainly ended up staying with Martha, a lovely lady from Michigan. For those who don't know her, she's fantastic. For those who do know her, you know I'm not lying! She had just moved to Leuven from Spain only a week before I had arrived in Belgium. She selflessly opened up her flat for me to stay in for 2 weeks. Much fun was had, much laughter caused, and much Korean Television watched. All in all, it was grand. I suppose the only thing out of the ordinary was her landlord.
I'm trying to find the best way to say this. I'm feeling that this might just be a lost cause. However, I must attempt. Don't get me wrong, Martha's landlord, Wajih, has been decent at his job. There is, though, one slight issue: He jumps to conclusions. Because of this, I became her boyfriend. Then, I became her girlfriend. One of the mornings that I was in her flat, Wajih came to fix something with the heating. I wasn't really awake at the moment, so she had me move to her bed so I wouldn't be in the way on the floor. I quickly moved to her bed which was out of sight of her landlord. Whatever is was that required the adjustment was adjusted, and her landlord left. We thought we had averted a crisis. Wajih had previously voiced that he "didn't understand why she didn't have a boyfriend!" He had even thought this so much that he had told people that he needed stuff from Martha's apartment for, "a 26-year old woman who's about to be engaged!" He just really wanted her to be involved with someone. Unfortunately, I had become that someone in his mind! The next time she had contact with Wajih he apologized for interrupting her and her boyfriend. I HAD BEEN NOTICED. Martha thought about fighting against this, but ended up just rolling with the punches. Thus, I became the boyfriend. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for Martha, I ended up coming back to her flat the same time he was right outside her door. So, Wajih and I properly met. I was introduced as Martha's friend. Innocent? Yes, by American standards. In Belgium, friend means more than that. And so, Wajih made the assumption that I was her "friend." So, I at least became regarded in the correct gender. As for what it meant for the "relationship" between Martha and me, it was blown even more out of proportion. Honestly, I found the entire situation absolutely hilarious!
October 1st marks the date of my first night at "home." The moving process occurred again! The new women's household was moved into, rather easily. And so, I became a Babe of Beer River Road. I rather enjoy the title. It stems from the fact that we live on Bierbeekstraat. Translated you get beer river road/street. So, naturally, we, the babes, became the newest residents on the street. We live in Beer River Basilica. Or at least, that is what I want to call the house. That's still up for debate.
Ok, Kate. That's great. You've been a boyfriend, girlfriend, and a babe. What about this "Gap" business that you're supposed to be there for? What's going on in that realm?
I AM GLAD YOU ASKED.
Well, let's see. Let me tell you my roles as a Gapper.
I am on the leadership team for Campus Evangelism!
- Daniel and I are the team for this event. What we do is what we call Coffee Stall. We had out free coffee and waffles to students for a 2 hour period of time once a week. While doing so, our aim is to engage the students, steer our conversations towards faith and God, and hopefully get contact information so as to invite people to Pharos events. It's challenging. It's good. It really helps me to remember that we're called to evangelism at all times. As uncomfortable as it may be, the more you do it, the more experienced you get. The extrovert in me loves being able to meet so many different people a week!
I am also in charge of the leadership team for Social Events!
- You may call me the Master Party Person. I'm on the team with Javier and with Maarten, a native Belgian. Really, we get to plan the fun events for Pharos. Last night, we had a Photo-Scavenger Hunt. Roaming around Leuven at night searching for random parks, statues, and flags? Finding interesting door handles and taking pictures with a blind dog? Doing so without it raining? Yes, please!
Lastly, but certainly not least, actually my most favorite:
MUSICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC.
I am working music for Pharos. What does this mean? Well, I'm in charge of the music team. Oh wait, first, let me just say that I had no existing team with which to work. And then, God just threw one at me. It was so fantastic! In the matter of hours, the team went from just me to 4 guitarists, 2 pianists, 3 vocalists, and a drummer. Sure, some of that might overlap within a person, BUT STILL. Certainly a blessing! Now, I'm in the process of working on the song list. Also, I shall soon be starting to work with 3 to 4 people on guitar so that I can hopefully plug them into the music team as well! God is so good!
So, I think you're up to speed. Well, as up to speed as necessary at the moment. I wouldn't say any of the above post is typical. But, such is the life of a Gapper.
Tot ziens!
[goodbye in Dutch. I'm in Dutch class currently. I promise I know more than this. I'll just leave you with my favorite word and it's definition. Winkel = shop/store. HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE FUN SAYING THIS!? hahah.]
Friday, September 30
Let's Face It!
Alright. I know. It's LONG OVERDUE that I post again about my Gap Year. As for content about my time here thus far, this post shall be lacking. However, I hope to make up for that by posting some pictures! I know, I'm getting real high tech here.
As I was thinking about my blog the other day, I realized that I'll be throwing names all over the place. So, in order for less confusion for you, my dear reader, I have decided to put some names to faces. Those featured shall be appearing probably most often on my blog. Now, when you imagine my friendly foreign encounters, you will be able to picture my experiences more accurately! I know, I'm really so kind for doing this. Hahah.
Well, here I go.
Also, for those of you who share my love and enthusiasm for puns, please appreciate that I went this far without a comparison to FACEbook for this post. Thank you. :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Geleyn - Gap Director, Otherwise Known as Understanding Dictator ;)
Clare Darnell - Assistant Gap Leader, House Leader, Gap Leuven Survivor! (Goodness, I like the sound of the last title! Hahah.)
Risa Peine - Fellow Gapper, Housemate, Minnesotan, Coffee Enthusiast
Javier Sastre - Fellow Gapper, Fellow Michigander, Avid Longboarder
Daniel Kallassi - Fellow Gapper, Lebanese, Loves birds - at least, shooting them.
Javier to the left, Daniel to the right!
And there you have it. Leuven's Finest. I'll top it all off with a picture where it looks like we all might actually get along!
As I was thinking about my blog the other day, I realized that I'll be throwing names all over the place. So, in order for less confusion for you, my dear reader, I have decided to put some names to faces. Those featured shall be appearing probably most often on my blog. Now, when you imagine my friendly foreign encounters, you will be able to picture my experiences more accurately! I know, I'm really so kind for doing this. Hahah.
Well, here I go.
Also, for those of you who share my love and enthusiasm for puns, please appreciate that I went this far without a comparison to FACEbook for this post. Thank you. :)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sam Geleyn - Gap Director, Otherwise Known as Understanding Dictator ;)
Clare Darnell - Assistant Gap Leader, House Leader, Gap Leuven Survivor! (Goodness, I like the sound of the last title! Hahah.)
Risa Peine - Fellow Gapper, Housemate, Minnesotan, Coffee Enthusiast
Javier Sastre - Fellow Gapper, Fellow Michigander, Avid Longboarder
Daniel Kallassi - Fellow Gapper, Lebanese, Loves birds - at least, shooting them.
Javier to the left, Daniel to the right!
And there you have it. Leuven's Finest. I'll top it all off with a picture where it looks like we all might actually get along!
Thursday, September 8
First and Foremost
Well, I decided that I have a proper Intro to Europe post! A little less self reflection, and a little more environmental/situational description. And so, in the form, or perhaps the art of a "Myspace Quiz/Bulletin," I plan on explaining a few of my firsts in Belgium/Scotland.
First Use of Public Transportation: My train ride from the Brussels airport to Leuven.
- This is a big step for me! I never had to use this at home. I'm pretty certain that I'll have to get comfortable with the idea of trains/buses. This ties into the first thing I miss about home...
First Thing Missed about Home: Seatbelts!
- Yep, I'm different, I know. However, with all the travelling I've done so far on the public transportation, I've missed them! I sit down, and out of habit reach to buckle myself in my seat. Maybe I find them comfortable... or rather more of a comforting idea dealing with safety.
First Kairos Event: Student Workers Outreach Training! (SWOT)
- This conference was in Glasgow, Scotland. I left for the conference the day immediately following my arrival in Leuven. I certainly enjoyed meeting so many people with such a strong vision for their respective university outreaches! Many a friend was made, and many a good time had!
First Of Age Alcoholic Drink: Mango Medley (Super girly, yes. I'm fully aware)
- I pretty much felt crippled the first time we went to the pub in Scotland. Since I'm only nineteen, and a pretty decent law abiding citizen, my knowledge of what I like in regards to these types of beverages is extremely limited. It was decent, I guess. It'll take some getting used to, but it'll certainly happen since it's such a part of the culture here.
First Of Age Alcoholic Drink that I Liked: Koppaberg Cider Strawberry & Lime.
- Yum. That's all. Hahah.
First BELGIAN WAFFLE: Waffle eaten within 3 hours of my arrival!
- This definitely is NOT a curse about being in Leuven. They are really good, and totally not like what a Belgian Waffle is in the States! In looks, they are extremely similar, but the waffle I had here was much more of a dessert, much more sweet (by itself. I mean, the American version needs syrup or some variety of sweetener. This requires none.) Also, it's eaten cold... or at least, this one was.
First European Best Friend: Camille Chippewa.
- What? A fellow Michigander is my first best friend here? MOST CERTAINLY. For as much as we saw each other in the States, we never really had the opportunity to truly talk. Now, both as Gappers in Europe, we definitely are on a level of connection. She was such an extreme blessing to me over the SWOT conference. Also, she appreciates random things as I do, like roasted chicken crisps, teapots as bookends in a Women's household, or even rainbows & unicorns.
That's Seven Firsts. There will be plenty more to come!
First Use of Public Transportation: My train ride from the Brussels airport to Leuven.
- This is a big step for me! I never had to use this at home. I'm pretty certain that I'll have to get comfortable with the idea of trains/buses. This ties into the first thing I miss about home...
First Thing Missed about Home: Seatbelts!
- Yep, I'm different, I know. However, with all the travelling I've done so far on the public transportation, I've missed them! I sit down, and out of habit reach to buckle myself in my seat. Maybe I find them comfortable... or rather more of a comforting idea dealing with safety.
First Kairos Event: Student Workers Outreach Training! (SWOT)
- This conference was in Glasgow, Scotland. I left for the conference the day immediately following my arrival in Leuven. I certainly enjoyed meeting so many people with such a strong vision for their respective university outreaches! Many a friend was made, and many a good time had!
First Of Age Alcoholic Drink: Mango Medley (Super girly, yes. I'm fully aware)
- I pretty much felt crippled the first time we went to the pub in Scotland. Since I'm only nineteen, and a pretty decent law abiding citizen, my knowledge of what I like in regards to these types of beverages is extremely limited. It was decent, I guess. It'll take some getting used to, but it'll certainly happen since it's such a part of the culture here.
First Of Age Alcoholic Drink that I Liked: Koppaberg Cider Strawberry & Lime.
- Yum. That's all. Hahah.
First BELGIAN WAFFLE: Waffle eaten within 3 hours of my arrival!
- This definitely is NOT a curse about being in Leuven. They are really good, and totally not like what a Belgian Waffle is in the States! In looks, they are extremely similar, but the waffle I had here was much more of a dessert, much more sweet (by itself. I mean, the American version needs syrup or some variety of sweetener. This requires none.) Also, it's eaten cold... or at least, this one was.
First European Best Friend: Camille Chippewa.
- What? A fellow Michigander is my first best friend here? MOST CERTAINLY. For as much as we saw each other in the States, we never really had the opportunity to truly talk. Now, both as Gappers in Europe, we definitely are on a level of connection. She was such an extreme blessing to me over the SWOT conference. Also, she appreciates random things as I do, like roasted chicken crisps, teapots as bookends in a Women's household, or even rainbows & unicorns.
That's Seven Firsts. There will be plenty more to come!
Friday, September 2
Walking into Walt Disney World!
Well, I am here!
WHAT!?
It's actually happened. I've arrived. I'm in one piece and none of my luggage was lost! However, I was uncertain of that when my guitar was no where to be found in the Brussels airport. Luckily, it had been placed in an over sized baggage area. For the most part, my flights were uneventful. For that, I am thankful. After I had arrived in Brussels, I got the privilege of standing in the border patrol line for 1.5 hours. After 18 hours of travel, I can certainly tell you that it was close the last thing I wanted. Luckily, when my time came to go through, I had no problems. Clare Darnell greeted me at the airport and helped me with my luggage and surviving my first trip using any public transportation. I'm spoiled, I know.
Now, you're probably wondering why I've titled this post as I have. That's the first thought I had when I hopped off the train in Leuven. As Clare and I struggled to bring along my massive amount of bags, we walked out of the train station, and I got my first view of the city. Silence was all I could manage. My eyes darted back and forth, trying to comprehend all that surrounded me. Clare asked me what I thought. I gathered my scattered brain, and the first two words I thought of were "Disney World." Fortunately, I answered in a little more clarity than that. I then explained how I felt like I had walked into Epcot Center in Disney World. You know, that place where all the countries have their own little presentation, where they give "accurate" descriptions and representations of that particular land/culture.
For a second, I suppose that seems a decent enough thought to have when one has never been to Europe before in their lives. But as I reflected upon it, I came to the conclusion that I hope I lose the mindset quickly. As I am still in a sense of denial about my year here, I feel as if my thought was dangerous. Why? Well, to me, having the thought of walking into Walt Disney World, explains how I could view the year ahead of me. I could see it as this source of entertainment, a place of new and exciting adventures. All in all, that is not bad. What's bad is the idea that you can just "leave." When you go to Disney World, you arrive for a week or so, and then once you're decidedly done, you leave. You just walk away. That's not why I'm here. I'm not here for the change of scenery. I'm here to help Him change hearts, for Him to work through and change me for His glory.
As I am here, I believe I can finally say that I'm excited for my Gap year. Never giving a straight answer to the question, "Are you excited!?" was how I lived my last month in America. There's so much unknown about the year ahead,through which instead of worry, I'm excited to see God carry myself and the rest of the people here in Leuven. One of those situations comes in the form of being homeless in about 2 weeks. I know, it's a weird statement. Currently, when my Gap year starts, there isn't a house or apartment in which myself, the other female Gapper (Risa Piene), and Clare Darnell could live. I helped look at an apartment with Clare and Sam Geleyn (Gap Program Director in Leuven) last night. It was REALLY nice. I certainly hope we can get it. Either way, this is definitely the most important issue that needs to be worked out. God will provide.
I'm certain I could go on for awhile about the newness of it, but I must be off! It's time to pack for Scotland. That's right. I'm here for 24 hours, and I'm off gallivanting to another country! Yay! I'm getting quite the European tour already! I'll be attending a two day conference called Student Worker Outreach Training. I'm pumped! Catch you all later! God bless.
WHAT!?
It's actually happened. I've arrived. I'm in one piece and none of my luggage was lost! However, I was uncertain of that when my guitar was no where to be found in the Brussels airport. Luckily, it had been placed in an over sized baggage area. For the most part, my flights were uneventful. For that, I am thankful. After I had arrived in Brussels, I got the privilege of standing in the border patrol line for 1.5 hours. After 18 hours of travel, I can certainly tell you that it was close the last thing I wanted. Luckily, when my time came to go through, I had no problems. Clare Darnell greeted me at the airport and helped me with my luggage and surviving my first trip using any public transportation. I'm spoiled, I know.
Now, you're probably wondering why I've titled this post as I have. That's the first thought I had when I hopped off the train in Leuven. As Clare and I struggled to bring along my massive amount of bags, we walked out of the train station, and I got my first view of the city. Silence was all I could manage. My eyes darted back and forth, trying to comprehend all that surrounded me. Clare asked me what I thought. I gathered my scattered brain, and the first two words I thought of were "Disney World." Fortunately, I answered in a little more clarity than that. I then explained how I felt like I had walked into Epcot Center in Disney World. You know, that place where all the countries have their own little presentation, where they give "accurate" descriptions and representations of that particular land/culture.
For a second, I suppose that seems a decent enough thought to have when one has never been to Europe before in their lives. But as I reflected upon it, I came to the conclusion that I hope I lose the mindset quickly. As I am still in a sense of denial about my year here, I feel as if my thought was dangerous. Why? Well, to me, having the thought of walking into Walt Disney World, explains how I could view the year ahead of me. I could see it as this source of entertainment, a place of new and exciting adventures. All in all, that is not bad. What's bad is the idea that you can just "leave." When you go to Disney World, you arrive for a week or so, and then once you're decidedly done, you leave. You just walk away. That's not why I'm here. I'm not here for the change of scenery. I'm here to help Him change hearts, for Him to work through and change me for His glory.
As I am here, I believe I can finally say that I'm excited for my Gap year. Never giving a straight answer to the question, "Are you excited!?" was how I lived my last month in America. There's so much unknown about the year ahead,through which instead of worry, I'm excited to see God carry myself and the rest of the people here in Leuven. One of those situations comes in the form of being homeless in about 2 weeks. I know, it's a weird statement. Currently, when my Gap year starts, there isn't a house or apartment in which myself, the other female Gapper (Risa Piene), and Clare Darnell could live. I helped look at an apartment with Clare and Sam Geleyn (Gap Program Director in Leuven) last night. It was REALLY nice. I certainly hope we can get it. Either way, this is definitely the most important issue that needs to be worked out. God will provide.
I'm certain I could go on for awhile about the newness of it, but I must be off! It's time to pack for Scotland. That's right. I'm here for 24 hours, and I'm off gallivanting to another country! Yay! I'm getting quite the European tour already! I'll be attending a two day conference called Student Worker Outreach Training. I'm pumped! Catch you all later! God bless.
Tuesday, July 12
...And He Comes Through Yet Again!
The Lord is so good to me! That is probably the easiest way of putting it!
I can now officially say that my date of departure is August 31st, 2011. It feels so refreshing to be able to know exactly when I am leaving! For a while, it was up in the air. Only two days after purchasing my plane tickets for Leuven, I was informed that my Gap Program had been moved back two weeks. Finding this out caused me to worry. It was going to be a minimum of $200 to switch my flights, if I could find flights for the same price. I really hoped that I would be able to go over early, well rather, at the original time.
In order for this to happen, I would need to find a place to stay. My friend and Belgian brother, Alex Beirlant, had suggested that I might stay with his family so that I would not have to switch my flights. This was more of a back up plan than anything. However, I just received an email today from Clare Darnell, one of the people who'll be helping lead my Gap Year in Leuven. Instead of having to change my flight to a later date, a host family has been found for me to live with for the two weeks prior to my Gap Program beginning. Praise the Lord! Not only that, I'll be able to attend a conference called Student Worker Outreach Training in Glasgow, Scotland before my Gap Year even begins! I am so thrilled!
His Provision is better than I could have imagined!
I can now officially say that my date of departure is August 31st, 2011. It feels so refreshing to be able to know exactly when I am leaving! For a while, it was up in the air. Only two days after purchasing my plane tickets for Leuven, I was informed that my Gap Program had been moved back two weeks. Finding this out caused me to worry. It was going to be a minimum of $200 to switch my flights, if I could find flights for the same price. I really hoped that I would be able to go over early, well rather, at the original time.
In order for this to happen, I would need to find a place to stay. My friend and Belgian brother, Alex Beirlant, had suggested that I might stay with his family so that I would not have to switch my flights. This was more of a back up plan than anything. However, I just received an email today from Clare Darnell, one of the people who'll be helping lead my Gap Year in Leuven. Instead of having to change my flight to a later date, a host family has been found for me to live with for the two weeks prior to my Gap Program beginning. Praise the Lord! Not only that, I'll be able to attend a conference called Student Worker Outreach Training in Glasgow, Scotland before my Gap Year even begins! I am so thrilled!
His Provision is better than I could have imagined!
Wednesday, June 22
Another Step Taken Towards Leuven
As the day draws closer for my departure, the more excited I become for what is in store for me next year. Little "coincidences" occur, and it sets my heart more on fire for living in Leuven, for my service, for the transformation of myself that will happen while I'm away.
One "coincidence" that really got me going happened just last week. I was mailing out my fundraising letter (which will be at the end of this post) at the post office. I had just purchased my stamps and had affixed them to all the envelopes. I began to drop the envelopes down the mail slot. Unfortunately, it took awhile since I couldn't put all of them in the slot at the same time. Fortunately, it gave me an opportunity. For what? Well, as I was taking my sweet time, an older gentleman had walked in with his envelopes to mail. I quickly apologized for how long it was taking me to insert all of my envelopes in the slot. He sharply asked if I was travelling far away based on all of the mail I was sending. I was a little surprised that he would be able to tell, but I answered him with a confident yes. He ask where, and when I answered him with Belgium, he looked a little surprised. "Why there?" was his next response. I explained to him that it was because I felt called to go there. I told him I was going to do service and mission work for the next school year. I was not entirely sure that his response would be positive after I had said that to him.
I felt such a relief after a smile broke out on the old gentleman's face when he responded. He then explained to me that he works for a company here in Michigan (I wish I could remember the name now) that works closely with a Belgian company! He talked for a bit about his connections and friendships with the people there, and then proceeded to say that he was excited for me to go over to live in such a beautiful place as Belgium! It was fantastic.
Little moments like this have helped me to get geared up for the upcoming year. I know it will not be with out it's struggles, but through that, the fruits of the labor done there will be greater. Pruning is necessary for the most fruit to grow.
Now, my next challenge is fundraising. It is not cheap to just "go and serve" without any income for a year, in Belgium or anywhere! So, this is where I end this post with my fundraising letter. I hope that this will bring some clarity to the work to be done, but also that it may touch you, and that you will support me, whether financially and or through prayer as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friend,
Hello! I hope that this letter finds you well. I am excited to be able to share with you the powerful way that God has been and is working in my life. For my entire life, I have had the great opportunity to live within a Christian community and attend schools which have helped to deepen and strengthen my relationship with the Lord. Now is my time to implement all that I have learned during those past years, and apply that knowledge and understanding more radically within my daily life.
Over the past year, God has undeniably had His hand upon me, guiding me right where I belong, whether out of state or back home. Now, however, He is guiding me away from home again, all the way to Leuven, Belgium. At the beginning of this past year, I certainly did not have this in mind, but through much prayer and discernment, the Lord revealed that this truly was His plan for me. Definitely, I want to follow His will.
You might be asking yourself, “Why Belgium?” or, “What will she being doing there?” Both of these I can answer for you right now. Honestly, the reason I chose live in Belgium was because I felt the Lord calling me. As for what I will be doing, I will be participating in a program called the Standing in the Gap Program through an international Christian youth organization called Kairos. I’ll be on a GAP year, for short.
Now, again, you may be asking yourself, “What does this all entail?” and “What will she be doing while on this GAP year?” For the next year, September 2011 through June 2012, I will be living in Leuven, Belgium. While I am living there, my focus will be on student evangelism, reaching out to the students of Leuven and building Christian community, like that in which I had the opportunity to live. I shall also be a part of a team who will be leading and organizing events like street evangelism, prayer meetings, life in the spirit seminars, and service projects. I will also be involved helping to administrate international programs and conferences, helping out with the community youth program, and running school retreats. Honestly, I can tell you that I am truly excited for this opportunity placed before me in order to serve God more radically over this next year through these events.
The Standing in the Gap program will include all of my room and board for this year, training fees, and cost for conferences, as well as tuition for me to participate in a Dutch language class to help acclimatize myself to the Belgian culture. The fee for participation within this program is roughly $10,000 dollars. During my time there, I will not get a salary for my work. So in order to pay for this opportunity, I need to raise money.
Would you be in a position to be one of my sponsors for this work? If you are able to contribute, please make out a check to “Sword of the Spirit,” and send the check to me at my home address: 3101 E. State Rd. Lansing, MI 48906. Your donation will be tax deductable. Please attach a note to the check saying that the money goes for “Kate Stevenson – GAP Year.” Any amount of contribution would be appreciated. I also ask that your prayers be with me as well throughout this endeavor. If you are interested in following my journey, I shall be blogging while serving over in Leuven, Belgium at this web address: http://thesignofakingisthecrown.blogspot.com/
(You're already at my blog if you're reading this! Woo!)
I look forward to doing God's work in Belgium and letting you know all about how God has worked through me when I return.
God Bless,
Kate Stevenson
One "coincidence" that really got me going happened just last week. I was mailing out my fundraising letter (which will be at the end of this post) at the post office. I had just purchased my stamps and had affixed them to all the envelopes. I began to drop the envelopes down the mail slot. Unfortunately, it took awhile since I couldn't put all of them in the slot at the same time. Fortunately, it gave me an opportunity. For what? Well, as I was taking my sweet time, an older gentleman had walked in with his envelopes to mail. I quickly apologized for how long it was taking me to insert all of my envelopes in the slot. He sharply asked if I was travelling far away based on all of the mail I was sending. I was a little surprised that he would be able to tell, but I answered him with a confident yes. He ask where, and when I answered him with Belgium, he looked a little surprised. "Why there?" was his next response. I explained to him that it was because I felt called to go there. I told him I was going to do service and mission work for the next school year. I was not entirely sure that his response would be positive after I had said that to him.
I felt such a relief after a smile broke out on the old gentleman's face when he responded. He then explained to me that he works for a company here in Michigan (I wish I could remember the name now) that works closely with a Belgian company! He talked for a bit about his connections and friendships with the people there, and then proceeded to say that he was excited for me to go over to live in such a beautiful place as Belgium! It was fantastic.
Little moments like this have helped me to get geared up for the upcoming year. I know it will not be with out it's struggles, but through that, the fruits of the labor done there will be greater. Pruning is necessary for the most fruit to grow.
Now, my next challenge is fundraising. It is not cheap to just "go and serve" without any income for a year, in Belgium or anywhere! So, this is where I end this post with my fundraising letter. I hope that this will bring some clarity to the work to be done, but also that it may touch you, and that you will support me, whether financially and or through prayer as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear friend,
Hello! I hope that this letter finds you well. I am excited to be able to share with you the powerful way that God has been and is working in my life. For my entire life, I have had the great opportunity to live within a Christian community and attend schools which have helped to deepen and strengthen my relationship with the Lord. Now is my time to implement all that I have learned during those past years, and apply that knowledge and understanding more radically within my daily life.
Over the past year, God has undeniably had His hand upon me, guiding me right where I belong, whether out of state or back home. Now, however, He is guiding me away from home again, all the way to Leuven, Belgium. At the beginning of this past year, I certainly did not have this in mind, but through much prayer and discernment, the Lord revealed that this truly was His plan for me. Definitely, I want to follow His will.
You might be asking yourself, “Why Belgium?” or, “What will she being doing there?” Both of these I can answer for you right now. Honestly, the reason I chose live in Belgium was because I felt the Lord calling me. As for what I will be doing, I will be participating in a program called the Standing in the Gap Program through an international Christian youth organization called Kairos. I’ll be on a GAP year, for short.
Now, again, you may be asking yourself, “What does this all entail?” and “What will she be doing while on this GAP year?” For the next year, September 2011 through June 2012, I will be living in Leuven, Belgium. While I am living there, my focus will be on student evangelism, reaching out to the students of Leuven and building Christian community, like that in which I had the opportunity to live. I shall also be a part of a team who will be leading and organizing events like street evangelism, prayer meetings, life in the spirit seminars, and service projects. I will also be involved helping to administrate international programs and conferences, helping out with the community youth program, and running school retreats. Honestly, I can tell you that I am truly excited for this opportunity placed before me in order to serve God more radically over this next year through these events.
The Standing in the Gap program will include all of my room and board for this year, training fees, and cost for conferences, as well as tuition for me to participate in a Dutch language class to help acclimatize myself to the Belgian culture. The fee for participation within this program is roughly $10,000 dollars. During my time there, I will not get a salary for my work. So in order to pay for this opportunity, I need to raise money.
Would you be in a position to be one of my sponsors for this work? If you are able to contribute, please make out a check to “Sword of the Spirit,” and send the check to me at my home address: 3101 E. State Rd. Lansing, MI 48906. Your donation will be tax deductable. Please attach a note to the check saying that the money goes for “Kate Stevenson – GAP Year.” Any amount of contribution would be appreciated. I also ask that your prayers be with me as well throughout this endeavor. If you are interested in following my journey, I shall be blogging while serving over in Leuven, Belgium at this web address: http://thesignofakingisthecrown.blogspot.com/
(You're already at my blog if you're reading this! Woo!)
I look forward to doing God's work in Belgium and letting you know all about how God has worked through me when I return.
God Bless,
Kate Stevenson
Saturday, May 14
My Call: The Crown and Belgium
Although I am uncomfortable with the idea that "people" might "read" this, I know that this shall be the most practical way of keeping all of my friends up to date on my life. So much has happened in just a few short weeks, and I am absolutely certain this trend shall continue.
For clarity, I'll begin where it all began: the beginning.
Through the love and provision of God, I was able to graduate high school from New Covenant Christian School in 2010. Aside from the regular maturing that occurs during high school, I allowed and asked the Lord to work in my life. He called me to Kingship, a role which I cherish immensely. My Proof: My Crown Tattoo. Nothing can EVER take away this promise, nor my sovereign inheritance in Him.
To say that I wish I could live this promise out without faltering would be an understatement. However, it is just that, a wish. The summer after I graduated, poor decisions ruled who I was, and I forgot who I was, I forgot I was a King. The slope down which I was slipping was dangerous, and I now know that it took losing nearly all that was dear to me in order to pull myself together.
In the fall of 2010, I began attending Huntington University. Little did I know that my life would be radically changed here. Before I went, knowing that I was in a poor place in my life, I remember thinking, "Am I going to continue living out my poor decisions or am I going to shape up? If I've learned anything at this point in my life, it's that a life lived lukewarm leads no where exceptional, whether good or bad. What kind of exception will I be?"
Maybe it was just a habit for me picking the difficult way, but I did. Fortunately, it was the right way as well.
Throughout my one semester at Huntington, I learned who I really was, but rather, remembered who I was called to be. I lost my support, both good and bad, at least by distance. Honestly, I believe this allowed me to place myself willingly into good decisions, not just blindly following that which I believed was right. My "easy" way of describing what happened is that I had lost my personality. I had to regain it back. I was alone among many, and I quickly found my only reliance was the Lord. Then, He called me away.
Singlehandedly, following God's calling for me to move back to Lansing was the most difficult decision I have ever made. However, I did it, and God's grace fell upon me abundantly. If I had not moved back, I would not be living in Belgium next fall.
This brings me to my Gap Year!
During the break between semesters, I had the privilege of participating in Winter Conference 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. There, the Lord told me, "Do a Gap year in Belgium!" I ignored it. A Gap year wasn't in my plans. I wasn't one of "those" people.
For those of you who don't know, a Gap year is a year of service within a Christian organization. It's a year of mission work, with emphasis on outreach and evangelism. It is through an organization called Sword of the Spirit, a worldwide organization. Thus, Belgium is a viable option as a place to serve.
Now, back to my ignorance. I fought the Lord tooth and nail with His call for me to go to Leuven, Belgium and do a Gap year. That is, until within a week's time, 5 different conversation came up about doing or having done a Gap year. I surrendered. I finally decided, "Ok, God. I'll apply, but if you actually want me to do this, I'll know if I get accepted." As I reflect, I see this as an awful attitude. Needless to say, the Lord worked in my heart, and as the date of finding out the results crept up, the more excited I became!
Twelve days ago came the good news! I shall be living in Belgium next year. What service work shall I be doing? I am not certain yet, but I know it's what the Lord has in mind for me, and I am excited to do His Will! Between my departure and now, I'm in the process of a criminal background check, getting a long-term visa, and raising a rather large amount of funds for my journey, as well as attempting to learn a little Dutch along the way. I'm excited to see His work in and through me!
Any prayers you could offer for me would be greatly appreciated!
Also, if you have any questions about any of this, my obsession with crowns and how God work in me through New Covenant, Huntington, or now, Belgium, please let me know!
For clarity, I'll begin where it all began: the beginning.
Through the love and provision of God, I was able to graduate high school from New Covenant Christian School in 2010. Aside from the regular maturing that occurs during high school, I allowed and asked the Lord to work in my life. He called me to Kingship, a role which I cherish immensely. My Proof: My Crown Tattoo. Nothing can EVER take away this promise, nor my sovereign inheritance in Him.
To say that I wish I could live this promise out without faltering would be an understatement. However, it is just that, a wish. The summer after I graduated, poor decisions ruled who I was, and I forgot who I was, I forgot I was a King. The slope down which I was slipping was dangerous, and I now know that it took losing nearly all that was dear to me in order to pull myself together.
In the fall of 2010, I began attending Huntington University. Little did I know that my life would be radically changed here. Before I went, knowing that I was in a poor place in my life, I remember thinking, "Am I going to continue living out my poor decisions or am I going to shape up? If I've learned anything at this point in my life, it's that a life lived lukewarm leads no where exceptional, whether good or bad. What kind of exception will I be?"
Maybe it was just a habit for me picking the difficult way, but I did. Fortunately, it was the right way as well.
Throughout my one semester at Huntington, I learned who I really was, but rather, remembered who I was called to be. I lost my support, both good and bad, at least by distance. Honestly, I believe this allowed me to place myself willingly into good decisions, not just blindly following that which I believed was right. My "easy" way of describing what happened is that I had lost my personality. I had to regain it back. I was alone among many, and I quickly found my only reliance was the Lord. Then, He called me away.
Singlehandedly, following God's calling for me to move back to Lansing was the most difficult decision I have ever made. However, I did it, and God's grace fell upon me abundantly. If I had not moved back, I would not be living in Belgium next fall.
This brings me to my Gap Year!
During the break between semesters, I had the privilege of participating in Winter Conference 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. There, the Lord told me, "Do a Gap year in Belgium!" I ignored it. A Gap year wasn't in my plans. I wasn't one of "those" people.
For those of you who don't know, a Gap year is a year of service within a Christian organization. It's a year of mission work, with emphasis on outreach and evangelism. It is through an organization called Sword of the Spirit, a worldwide organization. Thus, Belgium is a viable option as a place to serve.
Now, back to my ignorance. I fought the Lord tooth and nail with His call for me to go to Leuven, Belgium and do a Gap year. That is, until within a week's time, 5 different conversation came up about doing or having done a Gap year. I surrendered. I finally decided, "Ok, God. I'll apply, but if you actually want me to do this, I'll know if I get accepted." As I reflect, I see this as an awful attitude. Needless to say, the Lord worked in my heart, and as the date of finding out the results crept up, the more excited I became!
Twelve days ago came the good news! I shall be living in Belgium next year. What service work shall I be doing? I am not certain yet, but I know it's what the Lord has in mind for me, and I am excited to do His Will! Between my departure and now, I'm in the process of a criminal background check, getting a long-term visa, and raising a rather large amount of funds for my journey, as well as attempting to learn a little Dutch along the way. I'm excited to see His work in and through me!
Any prayers you could offer for me would be greatly appreciated!
Also, if you have any questions about any of this, my obsession with crowns and how God work in me through New Covenant, Huntington, or now, Belgium, please let me know!
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