Learning, Cleaning and Painting..And traveling: oh my!

Well, here it is already August. Hard to believe that time can go by so quickly sometimes. The past few weeks have been filled with many things:

LEARNING: Since the missionaries that I work with were preparing to go to America for a year of Furlough and fundraising, I've spent the last 3 months learning what I could to be able to take their places this fall and spring for FireChoir. Thankfully, I am not alone in this- I am working with a Dutch guy who will be directing the choir- my main functions will be administration: aka, making sure everything keeps running! We work well together, so I'm looking forward to this season. We've also formed a leadership team to help out as well, so this season is looking great already!

CLEANING AND PAINTING: By the time my Mom and I arrived in Netherlands, my Dad had found a place for us to live in, and moved a lot of their things into it. However, one thing that is unique about moving in and out of places here is that when someone leaves the place they were living in: when they move out, they take all the light fixtures and carpet and anything else that they put into the place.. It can come across as wasteful, but the idea is that everyone has a choice in making their home "theirs" without having to remove other things in the mean time. Simply a different way of thinking :)

So, we've been doing a lot of cleaning and painting. Some flooring is in and most of the painting is done. We would have probably been done by now, except for a change in plans. Just before I left the end of April, my maternal Grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer. What a shock to find out 4 days before leaving. Thankfully my Mom's sister and husband were available to come stay with her for awhile, and we left April 27th. I never for one moment thought that I would not see her again.

But God often has other things lined up that we cannot see. On July 21st, my last Grandmother went to be with Jesus at 6:25 in the morning. My Mom had gotten back to see her just 12 hours before, and was with her as she took her last breath. What a blessing that God orchestrated that timing. :)

We were all back for the funeral, and I was able to see several friends and enjoy some time with them, in spite of why I was around. This was an unexpected blessing as well :)

And now, here I am in Netherlands once again, getting over JetLag! I'm not a fan.. haha. If you ever wonder what it's like: it's similar to taking cold medicine that is meant to make you sleepy, and then deciding to stay awake.. yikes! :)

And now, it's time to do some grocery shopping.. Thankfully the store is only a 5 minute walk from my house, so I can get there without a car or bus! :)

Blessings all... :)

~A