Where we hang our hats and welcome our friends:

Where we Hang our hats and Welcome our friends:
8011 Plaxco Drive
Chattanooga, TN 37421

Sunday, July 26, 2015

So much to see...so little time to see it...

       We have been in class every morning for the last 4 weeks.  I am working on a special blog about just what we have learning to share with you, but during our free Saturday's we go exploring Belgium. Howard and I tried to do the North, South, East, West thing, but only managed the North, Southest, and South. What follows are a few of the things we saw while wearing out Howard's tennis shoes. I longed for a soak in a tub after some of our long days and took my dose of ibuprofen every Saturday night.
        It has been a special gift to be able to explore more of God's creation and learn about people in another country from many different cultures.

     Enjoy and ask questions if you have any!
Visited the Atomium one afternoon.

Selfie in the cool mirrored outdoor art near the Atomium.

Me and Heather and Samantha riding the subway.

View of World Fair park from top of the Atomium.

Howard and I heading out on another hot day to visit Bastogne,
 the site of the WW2 Battle of the Bulge.

It was a 3 hour 2 trains and a bus ride out into the countryside.
The land looked just like eastern Tennessee...home.

We had headphone sets with English interpretations to walk through
the Bastogne War Museum. They had 4 languages available - it was an awesome place,
we spent 3 hours walking through the museum and the outdoor memorial. 

There were many artifacts with holes small and large through them.

As a thank you to American soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Bulge a huge star-shaped
memorial was built in the late 1940's. It has the names of all the states on it.

My Amani Ya Juu purse and I in front of the memorial.
(Your fact of the day - more American soldiers lost their lives during the Battle of the Bulge
than during the invasion at Normandy.)

The grand Square in downtown Brussels - a photo does not do it justice.

We went out for dinner one Sunday evening with the Pastor and his wife
from the church we have attended here this month. They showed us around town.

Our photo in front of Case de Manuel.

The church which was damaged during WW2 and didn't have funds to rebuild,
so the people of the town built their homes up against the Cathedral
to help cut down on costs - they go all the way around.

One evening most of the ladies has a de-stressing time of nail painting. 
At the Citadel of Namur - a view of a well inside the Citadel.

Our tour guide after she took us through the underground passages
and storage areas of this citadel which was used from the 1300's to the 1800's. 

Selfie with the city of Namur in the background - think Lookout Point.

The fancy hotel/restaurant at the citadel - used to be the home of the Generals of the Citadel.

Beautiful view of the city of Namur where two major rivers join together. 

View down one of the rivers from a flower covered bridge.

Always look up because there are cool things to see everywhere.

In front of the Opera House in Brussels - the church we attended sponsored
an outdoor concert by a Christian group called Chesterfield and we went to
hear them on a Friday afternoon. 

Howard with the pastor's sons, Christiaan and Daniel and another church member, Bart watching the concert.

Heather and I went to check out the H & M for a bit during a concert break.
First time we had ever been there.

We will put up more photos when we return, or when I have time.
Thanks so much for following along.



Sunday, July 12, 2015

Learning through doing

A copy of this week and next weeks schedule.
Nancy our language skills teacher.


Howard playing with 3 of the older children here this month.

Our praise team (sorry for grainy photo, no flash)
Learning how to work together.

Each morning we have a different person who leads us in a 10 minute devotion
 as we begin the day with songs, and prayer.

Our team won this gift for doing a great job on our presentation
of what we learned about the city of Brussels.

Some of the props we made to learn some language.

We kind-of learned a bit of French.

Our guest, Robert, helped us learn a bit.
(say Robert without the T on the end, "Robair")

Howard and Heather showing off their French skills.
Learning how as a child of God my Faith should
affect all of my other interactions.

Jay Eastman came and led us in a time of reflection of how
 our Faith should color how we view the world. Here is showing
how we need to let go and let God hold on to us - trust!
We had to make "Egg" bridges. 



Thursday, July 9, 2015

Doors

Revelation 3:8 ESV
“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name"
   
Matthew 7:7 ESV
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.


Revelation 3:20 ESV
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Psalm 24:7 ESV
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.

John 10:1-42 ESV
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ...

2 Chronicles 29:3 ESV
 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.

Psalm 141:3 ESV

Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips!

Matthew 6:6 ESV
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Proverbs 8:34 ESV
Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors.

1 Corinthians 16:8-9 ESV
But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

1 Corinthians 16:9 ESV
For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

John 10:9 ESV
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

Revelation 4:1 ESVAfter this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”