Routine

It's been a couple of weeks since I posted, so I'll try to hit the high points.  I suppose we're back in somewhat of a routine, at least for a couple of weeks.  I'm not exactly sure if that's even possible at the moment.

I've started teaching a cooking class for guys who can't cook with one of the members of the chapel service I attend.  Keith knows far more than I do about cooking, but it's really not the point of the class.  We're hoping to get a few more of the soldiers in our barracks to simply build relationships with one another.  Preparing and sharing a meal seems like as good of a way as any other.  Tomorrow is week two.

We're getting ready for a Strong Bonds event.  For those who aren't in the military, this is a weekend retreat that focuses on building strong relationships in military families.  This particualr retreat is a family event. The logistics for this particular event have been a massive difficulty.  My assistants have done a great job, but getting people to understand that Belgium doesn't work like Germany is amazingly difficult.

Friday, I took a group of 14 soldiers to visit a Waterloo battlefield and the ruins of an 8th century circtercian abbey.  It's always interesting what comparisons they draw from these events. 

I think that sums the last couple of weeks up.

Normandy & Keukenhof

My parents came for a visit last weekend, so we've done a little traveling with them.  When we were stationed in Belgium, my father told me he wanted to see Normandy Beach and Keukenhof.  OK, he actually said he wanted to see the Tulip Festival in Holland. 
On this trip, we've done both.  The Keukenhof trip was a day trip last weekend.  The tulips were a couple of weeks from being completely in bloom, but the gardens have every conceivable flower that grows in Holland, so it was still beautiful.  The bottom picture is in front of a tulip field near the park.  You can make out several different colors of tulip in the fields.

The Normandy trip turned out to be better than I honestly expected.  We visited Omaha Beach and the American Cemetary there.  The picture on the beach was taken there.  We visited the German Cemetary nearby.  Seeing both gives you perspective on the masses of people killed there on both sides.  I think I may have enjoyed Point du Hoc more than Omaha Beach (Dad disagrees).  The craters left from the naval bombardment are huge sixty years after the fact.  The fact that they successfully climbed that cliff confirms most of my suspicions about the general sanity of most Rangers.

We also made a quick trip over to see Mont St Michel.  The abbey was pretty, but I've seen abbeys.  The mount is an amazing view.  The actual visit out to the island was nice, but didn't add much.  We were there for about half a day.  This picture doesn't show that it is a tidal island.  The sun really came out and hit the island as we were driving off, so we stopped for one last picture.

Going...

Going.....

 ....Going.....

....Gone.




It was unintentional, but oh so funny.  The fact that she immediately got back into the wagon (while still crying) doesn't bode well for her future judgment.

Family Time

This weekend, we had absolutely nothing required of us.  On Friday, Em & I went on a date.  We tried a Greek restaurant some friends had recommended.  It was amazing.

On Saturday, Mons had its annual Chocolate Festival.  Chocolatiers set up on one of the shopping streets in Mons.  We tried a few things.  The better part of the day is just that the weather was amazing.  The kids both played in the fountain on the Grand Place in Mons.  On Sunday, we had an Easter Egg Hunt with our FRG. 

A Protestant Pilgrimage...sort of

This is the room in Wartburg Castle where Martin Luther
spent ten months working on his translation of the New
Testament.

Since Em & I got to Europe I've talked about doing a tour of of Martin Luther's life.  Somewhere along the way, the plan shifted to a personal retreat weekend for me.  (I think Emily realized I was going to bore her to death talking about Reformation history and theology).  Anyway, I spent the last three days in Wittenberg, Erfurt, and Eisenoch hitting some of the high points of Luther's life.

I learned a few things about planning a personal retreat as well.  I've tried to do this several times since I first read Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster 13 years ago.  The first is having more of a plan.  Previously, my plan was just to pray, journal, and read scripture.  This time, I focused on the book of Romans and a biography of Luther.  Surprisingly, I spent less time thinking about humanities' depravity and more time thinking about God's love and ecclesiology.  Luther got sloppy with his theology of Church polity and I noticed how much of Romans is dedicated to addressing divisions between Jewish and Gentile Christians in the church of Rome.

I probably had too much windshield time, but I used the drives to listen to a sermon series on Romans from Andy Davis, my pastor when I lived in Texas.  The weekend was a great opportunity to rest mentally, physically, and spiritually.  I would have backed out of going last week, but Emily insisted that I go.  I'm greatful that she pushed me into keeping my plans.