We received an extra special blessing from our church here that we wanted to share with you—this kind of thing doesn’t happen every day in the life of a missionary.  The other Sunday we were asked to be present at a meeting that our people wanted to hold.  We had no idea what this was about, but we were assured that it was to be positive.  One of our men stood up and began talking about our family—how much they appreciated us and the church.  He continued with many other comments and memories, and we began to get a feeling of what this was all about.  In the end, he said that they had all been planning and discussing and had taken up a collection for us to stay in an apartment near the coast and to have enough money to pay for food while we were away.  They even planned the date, because they knew we would probably wait awhile and let time pass before we would take the days.  We were shocked, and so touched.  Becky began crying and they all came up for a group hug.  It was a really special moment.

We’re not real “European travelers.”  We tend to only travel in Belgium when we have to, so this gift of a mandatory vacation was a bit of a challenge at the beginning.  The apartment had no phone, no internet, and the weather was cold and rainy—so the beach area was out of the question.  We ended up playing games with the girls, reading stories and singing—and it turned out to be a wonderful time!  The girls kept saying over and over that it was the best vacation they had ever had, and Becky and I knew that we had learned a valuable lesson.  The girls didn’t care what we didn’t have—all they cared about was that Mommy and Daddy had time just for them and they loved it!  The Lord knew exactly what we all needed.  In the end, the weather cleared up enough for us all to go and search for sea shells…though we didn’t stay out very long!  We came home refreshed.

Jay Bertrand, Belgium