Book review: I, Saul by Jerry B. Jenkins

What an amazingly riveting book! From the first page you are drawn into the story of a seminary professor who receives a troubled text from a good friend, who was a tour guide on the professor's father's tours of the holy land. It was perplexing and set the scene for what was to come which we learn little by little as we move from present day to A.D. 67 in a Roman dungeon with the Apostle Paul. Normally, I get frustrated and don't enjoy reading these types of stories that flip back and forth. This time I was transfixed from the beginning and kept reading and reading each chapter to see what would happen next in each time period.

Jerry Jenkins has a gift for telling a story which is a well known fact. In this novel, he achieves his mission in teaching us about Paul's early life as a boy and growing into a man and learning to be a rabbi. He shocks us with the developments in Saul's life and shows us how easily one can little by little be drawn into a way of thinking that is so opposite that which God wishes for us. When I read the chapters about Dr. Augie Knox, I almost felt like I was in his shoes as he traveled from Texas to Rome and met his dear friend and saw how troubled he was by the recent events which brought about the need for Augie to come to his aid. I sat in wonder as they described places where I had recently visited while living in Rome and the thoughts that I could have been there on the Spanish Steps when Augie was there...

The information shared about antiquities and the way they are discovered and then traded for great sums of money was very interesting. Adding the human interest of a love story together with strong family ties that created stress in their relationship kept me reading to see if love would win in the end.

Over all, I thought this book was one of the best that I have read in a long time and I look forward to the next in this series -- I, Paul.  Read this, your understanding of Paul's letters in the Bible will be enriched by doing so!

Five Minute Friday: Together

Together brings to mind family. It also makes me think about when things are going well that I have everything "together"... Our ladies of the chapel meet for Bible study every Wed. morning and we fellowship together. Everything feels better when you are doing something together.

When I found InRL and they had a new worldwide retreat which was promoting community - we all came together and viewed the videos online and spent time fellowshipping together in our own communities. It was very good.

Now, I found this wonderful blog by Lisa Jo and this new way to look at things by having a prompt and then writing for only 5 minutes and not worrying about the mechanics of it all. It's like blogging through a stream of consciousness! Of course, then you'll realize that perhaps you are suffering from ADHD as you ramble along for 5 minutes...

The best together for me of all is when our family is all back together when our daughter at Penn State comes home for vacations and we are 4 family instead of 3 family... When she goes back to school, getting out 3 plates seems a very lonely thing. Something is off. Someone is missing. Soon it will be time for Christmas vacation and we will celebrate and spend all of our free time TOGETHER!

Five Minute Friday - Laundry

I missed last week's prompt so here I am jumping back in with both tired feet! Laundry! It makes you think of missing socks, wash baskets full of clothes not put away and maybe never put away. It makes me think of that wonderful warm feeling of towels newly removed from the dryer and taken to little ones who will use them straight out of the bathtub. Comfort, softness and warmth! It makes me think of never being caught up because we wear these clothes each and every day and will never be finished washing and drying them over and over. But it also makes me remember to be thankful that we have clothes to cover our body, to keep us warm to make us feel happy or attractive or just plain comfortable. So many do not have the luxury of washing their few clothes like we do in our fancy machines and being able to choose from so many different combinations. We are blessed. We have so much and so many have so little. I'll take time to pray for those who are in positions where they have little and that God will bless them with sufficient clothes and ways to care for them that are more pleasant than what they currently have. With every sock I pick up to match to its mate and every fitted sheet I struggle to fold, I will pray for those people of the world who don't have socks or sheets and be glad that I can struggle and search for those socks that never seem to surface... God is good - all the time. Thank you for mundane tasks that bring us comfort!

Blessings in Disguise

Good morning Sunday!

I've been enjoying a beautiful, quiet Sunday here by myself in the Ardennes. It is extremely quiet here as there are no visitors since our gates remain closed each day during the government shutdown. So many question why this has to be and people here in Europe shake their heads at our country's political issues. The saddest part is when families travel to visit loved ones buried here and cannot enter. What's wrong with that picture - everything in my book!

The carillon is chiming Noon and the peacefulness of this place stretches undisturbed.

I came across a business card I received during my trip to the States in April. It is "New Hope School" Reaching the girls in the middle. I had the pleasure of meeting a husband and wife team who were returning from Ghana from a visit to their school there. I met them during the long 4 hour delay from Brussels to the States and maybe wouldn't have had this chance, if the flight was on time!

It is a school because it teaches life skills and needed educational subjects to aid the girl/women in being successful in supporting themselves. It cannot register as a school due to all of the many strict regulations that the government there imposes. However, it is filling a very important need in that area that the regulated schools do not. I'm going to send a message to Sandy to see what, if anything, we can do to help them in this very important mission. Helping others become self-sufficient and able to stand on their own two feet is way more important than sending billions of dollars to countries where governments use the aid any way they wish.

Praying for these girls and women and the Beckers today as they continue their hard work!

Five Minute Friday - Really written at 7:30 am Friday

I can do it! There's a part of me that has been wondering if I could be a writer... professionally... to fill the need for a little extra income and to feel like I'm contributing. Now I find this great 5 minute practice time where I can share about anything and only for 5 minutes. Anyone can sit and write for 5 minutes, right?

I realized that my involvement in PWOC has given me such a wonderful opportunity to share things that I have read and find moving or things that tug at my soul's heart letting me know that I have so much more room to grow in my walk of faith. Leading ladies is one way of looking at it or maybe walking alongside the ladies is a better way to describe it. God is good. All the time.

The ladies asked if I could help plan our monthly program evenings. At first, there was a part of me that said - Oh that won't work with us living so far away. Then God nudged me and said "You can do this, if you just ask." So many beautiful offers of help have come forward. This is just like we hear over and over, God will provide. He provided a way for me to not have to drive home late at night one night a month. He provided dear ladies to come alongside me to help with the programs. He provided me with ideas and has nudged me to look in unusual places for ideas to share and thoughts to share and scripture to share. God is good. All the time.

So now, I'm sitting here early this rainy Friday morning drinking my coffee with the whole day ahead of me. No driving. No rushing. Just a day with so many possibilities. Five Minute Fridays have been added to my "To do" list and I'm glad.

God is good. All the time! (Now maybe he'll point me in the direction of fixing my time setting here so it really reflects the actual date and time...)

A Sunny Sunday Morning and the Carrilon is Chiming

It's a beautiful day here in Belgium and I'm sure it looks much like this from above today!

It feels wonderful being back here in Belgium, the same country in which we started this adventure in 2001. It feels as close to home as Europe can since it is very much like Pennsylvania in climate and terrain. Fall is here and the temperatures are much more to our liking than the hotter temperatures of just last week. The golf team has been working hard at preparing for their competitions as have all of the other sports teams at our school. It is our first school experience with being sports parents!

PWOC is off and running with great Bible studies and I feel so blessed to be able to take part in the group again. There was a void in my life while living in Italy and it was the gap left from my time spent in fellowship and study with my PWOC sisters.

I'm back substitute teaching at the school and that is a real blessing. It gives me a chance to work and also to participate in helping students learn which is a real passion of mine. I have to say that (for me) it is so much easier working with students that don't share my genes than it was to homeschool. I continue to lift up my friends in prayer that are walking the path of homeschooling. It is a challenge that requires determination and resolve to follow the plan and maintain the structure needed despite operating around your daily home tasks and needs. My drive time and quality conversations with Michael are priceless these days. The route is very picturesque for the most part which helps a lot!

Happy Sunday all!

Apartment living a/k/a Too much noise and Not enough space!

At the end of March, we moved from Italy to Belgium. This sounds really exciting, right? For us, it's a lot like moving from Florida to Ohio -- the biggest difference being the language changed from Italian to French.

I'd like to say that this is the reason I haven't added any posts in a long time but it isn't. The big push to finish school at home was the most important reason of all. The rest would be I didn't feel creative after doing school with Michael or we had to walk the dogs (again and again), etc.

For the second time in our lives, we've had to live in a temporary "home" while the home on the grounds was either rebuilt from the ground up or renovations finished. The first temporary home was truly a home and we lived there for over a year. This time, we're squished and squashed into a two bedroom 2nd floor apartment with 4 adult sized people, 3 medium/large dogs and a very quiet unassuming kitty. Kristen arrived at the beginning of May and has been sleeping on the couch since there is nowhere else for her to sleep! This results in her being awakened early every morning by rowdy dogs being taken out for their morning constitutionals. I'm pretty sure this is not how she envisioned her Summer mornings at home!

Meanwhile, we listen to the traffic zoom by on the Route du Condroz which runs right in front of our building. We hear it well because we have to have the windows open for cross ventilation otherwise it gets too warm inside. In addition to the traffic, we get to hear all of the comings and goings from the Belgian equivalent of a 7-Eleven which is right underneath our kitchen. This makes the dogs bark because it sounds like someone is ready to come into our home. Last night I went to sleep to the sound of a young woman loudly singing "Frere Jacques" for some reason. As I lay there in my bed, I thought "how in the world will I ever fall asleep?" which, of course, was the last thought I had since I did, in fact, fall right to sleep.

Our home will be finished this week. Final painting is being done, the kitchen cabinets are being installed and cleaning will complete the big project. Now the fun of planning where all of our furniture and boxes and stuff will go has begun. The 15th "move" in less than 30 years. You'd think we'd have a system down pat by now -- well, not so much...  Each home/space we have lived in has been differently arranged so that some pieces of furniture are placed in traditional locations in some homes while they are re-purposed in less than traditional locations in other homes. I'm sure I'll come up with some ideas that will be really unique (meaning ugly/ridiculous) before I'm done! This weekend we will be able to move things to the kitchen and other things to other rooms so that, when the packers/movers come on Monday, there is less for them to do so that the move will go quickly. Then, on Thursday, they will bring the rest of our things from Antwerp and that's when the "fun" will begin -- where oh where will all of the stuff go! I always feel like each move gives me another chance to get it "just right."

Life will finally seem to settle down with us living exactly where we are meant to be. Then, in just two weeks, we'll fly back to the States for a month of "home" leave. Two days after we return from home leave, Michael will start 10th grade and our new normal of driving from Belgium to the Netherlands each day will begin. Kristen will move to her new apartment and begin her final year at Penn State.

Beginnings and endings -- life!