Patience

As many of you know, I have been trying to get a job here in Germany as an RN since I arrived last August. I finally got a job offer on labor and delivery in January... but I am still in-processing and awaiting my start date. This last year has probably taught me more about patience than my whole 25 years put together.

I've always been used to planning and organizing things to such an extent that if any unforeseen event occurred (ie. life) then it was like a tidal wave, hitting me full force. I was never one to "pencil" something in. Instead, I would use a chisel and etch it in stone. If any of you reading this are familiar with military life, you know that this is not how Uncle Sam allows his military families to live. It would be better to not even pick up the pencil and instead, just mark plans in the gathering dust on your agenda book. In fact, don' t even do that. Just get a cup of coffee and start your day. Plans change.

When we wrestle with those changes, we are really wrestling with what God is allowing to take place in our lives. He planned our days long before we came to be and here I come marching in with my rock and chisel, assuming I am in control! Think again Connie. God tells us " What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do" (Isaiah 46:11).

If I look back on this past year, I can see that in all His wisdom, God knew what He was doing. Imagine that! What I viewed as a barrier has actually been a blessing. Since I was such an idealist, I had imagined that I would be able to move away from my family, live in a new country, learn a new language, figure out how to be a wife, work as a team with my husband (marriage, finances, home, emotions, family, etc), work full-time, grow stronger spiritually, get involved in a new community, meet new friends, move again, have a spotless home and a warm dinner on the table every night and still have time for all my hobbies and relaxation. God must have had a good chuckle at that. He forced me to take it step by step, and as a result, I still have all my hair and I don't yet have a straight jacket with my name on it. Instead, it turned out pretty good! I've had the opportunity to volunteer as an RN for our wounded warriors, which leads me to another lesson I've learned. If you get up and want to go into work each day, even though you know you won't be paid or that you could be doing something else, that's when you know you're following your heart.

Not only have I learned patience and flexibility but in effect, I have also learned to trust God's timing and His control over my life. I am far from perfecting this... but I've come a long way from where I started. "Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." (Proverbs 19:21)

Brugge, Belgium

We took a little day trip to Belgium this past weekend and as we crossed the border, we noticed that we weren't seeing ANY gas stations. I was beginning to worry that Belgium was on solar power or maybe they figured out how to run cars on chocolate and beer since these items were in such abundance. After about 50 miles, we finally found a station and decided to fill up. Every pump except for two pumps off to the side (without any cars lined up at them), had signs for diesel. When we drove up to the what appeared to be an abandoned gasoline pump, the nozzle was about 6-8 inches in diameter. I went in and in my very best Canadian French, asked the cashier where the pump for gasoline was. My french must have been very poor because she told me (in English) that we were at the right pump and made me give her my passport in exchange for a couple of brass adaptors... none of which fit our car. Luckily, there was another American there who directed us to the correct pump. I have no idea what we "almost" put in our car had the nozzle fit... I'm glad we didn't find out the hard way.

Brugge is known as "The Venice of the North" and has waterways running all through the town. We took a boat ride and got to see many of the famous historical buildings and parks of the city.

Many of the older buildings looked like their roofs were caving in. It was actually a nice little, nostalgic, countryside feeling... as long as you were on the outside.

We went on a tour of the chocolate museum and learned the history behind chocolate in Mexico and Europe, cocoa bean cultivation, chocolate truffle and praline production and some of the more famous Belgian brands of chocolate. There were chocolate shops on every corner in Brugge, so we waited and purchased some truffles and the famous "Brugsch Swaentje" later in the day. It was delicious! It was also very expensive so we just did a little sample... it was well worth it though!

Another important export for Belgium is the diamond, so we also did the Diamond Museum tour. Uncle Eric, you would have enjoyed this! It featured exact replicas of some of the world's most famous diamonds, including the Hope Diamond that was featured in the Titanic (which is actually preserved at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington).

New Addition

For my birthday, Kurt bought me a Sherwood, acoustic guitar. It can be plugged into an amp (I'm sure there is guitar lingo to describe that... maybe I'll learn that next). I am proud to say, that after a week and a half, I am already forming my very own calluses on my left fingertips- very proud of that! I know 5 chords and I can play "smoke on the water" and "wild thing". I guess that doesn't exactly qualify me as a 'member of the band' but we're having fun. Now, if I could just get my teacher to learn some country music... ;)

"Do you know what's in YOUR beverage?"

Drew flew through the Frankfurt airport last week. He was on his way back to Denver after being in Italy for a week. We drove up to have lunch with him (which was very rushed because his connection was boarding sooner than we had planned...) and it was in the rush, that we made a haste decision. When we went to grab a drink, Kurt and I grabbed a "Bionade". We didn't know what it was but it looked like apple juice and since it ended in "-ade" so we assumed it was some kind of sports drink. Drew opted for a Sprite. Throughout lunch, we commented on our new found drink: "it tastes like ice tea", "yeah, only it's not sweet", "and it's carbonated", "hmmm...", "I guess it tastes more like healthy pop"..."that's true...". Drew took a swig of Kurt's and simply said "it's... interesting".

I took my empty bottle home and the next day, I sat down to translate the label. This is what it translated as: "Biological soft drink. Cabbage. Original recipe made by fermentation of natural raw materials".

Should have stuck with the Sprite...