And so it begins.

March 16 11:30 pm

Engis, Belgium

Whew. Ok, guys. I am having a moment, here. Snuggled into our hideaway bed in our room nestled under the roof of this precious Belgian house, thinking about all the ways God smiled on us in the last 24 hours. How dark and non-dimensional life must be without a God who walks with you. I sit here overwhelmed.

So we got up EARLY to leave the Rohrers (was that really just this morning??!) and took a taxi to Gatwick to catch our flight to Brussels. We had specifically booked with British Airways because of their lower charges for excess baggage (which we just happen to be experts in- so many bags!), but when we checked in, we were told that it was a shared flight with Brussels Air, and thus fell under their bag limit/weight rules. There was a little bit of internal panic at this point- we could be talking a lot of money here. We were allowed 40 kilos but had almost 160 kilos! At 15 Euro/kilo, well, you do the math. I am standing back and praying at this point. God is more than capable of anything, but even I was already making peace with spending almost $2000 to get our bags on the plane.

Do you know what happened?! I am started to not be surprised when God does the unbelievable (a good idea, yes?).

The guy does some quick math on his cell phone and asks Clay, "Could you pay for 40 kilos?" To which Clay responds with an astonished "Yes, and can I kiss your sweet British feet?" (not his exact words) So, bottom line, we ended up paying less than we would have with the original British Airways rates. We literally floated to the gate. We have a God who cares about the most mundane parts of our lives. And he often makes them spectacular just by showing up himself.

The flight was short- not even enough time for 2 Seinfelds. We landed, recovered all of our bags (thanks for the prayers on that), and met Daniel (our Belgian director), who took us to his house for lunch. The whole team was there, and it was soooo good to finally be in a room with all of them. We had some good laughs and planned out the rest of the week. On a side note, we joined Daniel's wife on a trip to the store and were very pleased with everything. I can't wait to get in my own kitchen and cook!

After lunch, Daniel took us to Blanca and Michael's house, where we will be staying until we find an apartment (a process that could take 3 weeks give or take). They are the sweetest little family. They have a little 17 month old named Sophia that completely melts us. Blanca is from Colombia and Michael is from around here. That's right. We are communicating in a mix of Spanish and French. It is a blast! I was just thinking about our dinner conversation, and was struck by the fact that in my memory, it all makes sense (well most of it anyways J ), yet none of it was in English (I mean Ingles… I mean Anglais… Ok, now I am just being annoying.) It really is cool, and we are so thankful to God again for his perfect planning in providing a family for us that we can actually communicate with.

Tomorrow we are going into Huy to find Belgian cell phones and perhaps do some apartment hunting. Amy, our team leader, will be guiding us. I am looking forward to entering Huy. After waiting for something so long, it will feel surreal to actually be there!

That was long, but there is just so much to say! God is really showing himself to us these days. It encourages me to give him the opportunities to.

PS I am so thankful for my great-aunties who got me these warm polka-dotted pjs. I think of you every time I wear them. It means a lot to me that you are keeping me warm from afar.