Vacation ~ Thursday

As I climbed the stairs to join Mom and Dad upstairs where they were reading their Bibles, I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I felt so sore. My shoulders and arms were weak and aching. If somebody took a baseball bat to me, that’s how I imagine I would feel. Ugh! Also, my sore throat hadn’t gone away but gotten worse. On top of that, my hand looked disgusting. The wounds were red and oozing, and my middle finger was bruised and had turned a slightly blackish green color. I felt miserable and very sorry for myself. (The picture doesn’t do it justice!)

I cross-stitched for a while as Lydia and Josiah ate breakfast. Then Mom offered to wash my hair again. Everyone got cleaned up for the day, we ate a little something (it’s always sorta the scrounge scene towards the end of these trips), and then we left the house. Since the guys got to do what they wanted on Wednesday, Dad said the three of us girls could choose what to do on Thursday.

We went to several stores--Delhaize and Carrefour--to buy sugar-free apple sauce and cookies that we liked and couldn’t get in Holland. Then we stopped at a burger place in Marche (I think) called Quick. We ended up eating our food (Lyd and I split chicken sticks and I got potato fries) in the van because the music in the restaurant was so bad. It sounded like a song some hopeless teenager would have written...something about looking around and seeing that something is wrong with the world and who could save him from it? Mom looked at us and answered the song, saying, “Jesus can, if you let Him!!!” It was very sad to hear!

We sat in the van and enjoyed our food with the breeze blowing in through the open door. We watched as people poured out of the restaurant, most of them smoking. For some reason the verse “I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12) came to my mind. I will not be brought under the power of anything that could become an addiction--smoking, alcohol, Internet, even food! I will not be brought under the power of any!!!

We drove into Durbuy. If I’m correct, Durbuy is the smallest city in the world. It’s a cute, quaint, crowded little place with small stores and houses lining the narrow streets. The place brings back many fond memories. We once rented a house right on the edge of town called the Poppenhuis, or the Doll House. We stayed there with Oma, who is now in Heaven, for a midweek. Once we found a parking spot we piled out of the van and walked along the pathway that leads along the river. We were hoping to go kayaking, but with the way I was feeling and the way the sky kept threatening to rain, we didn’t think it was a good idea.

Lydia and I kept stopping to take pictures of flowers and the beautiful surroundings--the gently flowing river, the tree-covered hills, the old castle. I kept having to run to keep up with everyone. Ever since I got my camera I’ve come to appreciate God’s beautiful creation even more--each detail of every flower, red berries, and various shapes and sizes of leaves. It’s almost like I see the world with different eyes. Dad and Josiah had some fun throwing rocks across the river. They always have to outdo each other--typical males. (chuckle) You can see them behind Lydia.

Pretty soon we headed back to the van because it looked like it was going to rain. Mom wanted a cup of coffee, so she and Dad went to a little café across the way, and the three of us sat in the car and messed around.

We got home and the guys began chopping wood. Lydia was on the swing out back swinging. Mom and I walked around under the tall trees behind the house, as the warm rays of evening sunlight seeped through the dense pine boughs. I love being outdoors. I could spend hours enjoying the beauty of nature--the strokes of the Great Painters brush.

We ate a late dinner because we had lunch so late. I caught up on my journal and uploaded pictures, while Mom cooked up a large egg, bacon, and tomato omelet, and hash browns. Yum! The meal was good. Then we started getting things ready for our departure tomorrow. We were all saying over dinner that we could have easily stayed longer. As Mom and I packed, I made an offhand comment about not wanting to go home and deal with the responsibilities of everything quite so soon, to which Mom replied that hearing me say that proved to her how much I have made myself a part of our ministry. Truly, I feel the same burdens my parents do. We share in the joys and the sorrows. I have made our ministry my own!!! And that’s the way it should be! Any young person who would shy away from serving God with his/her parents needs to do a heart check and make sure everything is okay between them and the Lord.

Lydia came down then and began packing. Together we sang “Come on Home/How beautiful Heaven Must Be.” I love that song. Surprisingly Lydia suggested that we should sing it sometime in church. I agree!!!

Over dinner Dad had suggested that we listen to Alexander Scourby read the Book of Esther. After packing as much as possible, we gathered in the living room, sat by the fire, and listened. What a neat book of the Bible! It’s amazing that the name of God isn’t mentioned one time, and yet you can see His hand all throughout the book as Esther rises from being a simple Jewish girl--and a foreigner at that--to the Queen of Persia, and eventually is used of God to save the Jews from total annihilation. In Mordecai’s words: “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Nothing happens by chance! God is the Divine Planner, and He works everything--even that which may seem like something bad--together for good to those who love Him. I’m glad to be God’s child!!!