Dix (10)
December 28, 2023
Christmas at a stranger’s house…
Christmas is a special time. We get together as families to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. This involves family, gifts, and lots of food. So, when we thought of how we could celebrate Jesus’s birth, the family part would have to be laid away for another time. It’s not an option when they are across the ocean…
We had visited a contact in Belgium, Bart and Annet Vanstraelen , 3 weeks ago and made friends with them. They had asked us what we were going to do for Noël (Christmas). We didn’t have a clue…Most of the options were limited… to being with ourselves. (which would have been fine). They ended up inviting us for the day! :)
As I was saying..Christmas at a stranger’s house. Except, very soon nobody was a stranger! We live around 2 hours away from Bart’s house in Belgium. We started out at around 8:45 am. After about 10 min of driving Bella asked, “Mom, where are the flowers!” (Lydia had bought a bouquet of flowers the night before for a Noel gift). So, we quickly turned around and headed back. This made things a little stressful as Bart’s Dad wanted to have lunch at around 12. It worked out well however, the roads were very clear of traffic and we got there right on time. As we sat down in the living room I wondered what kind of food we would be having. We had eaten last time..Beef Tartare (raw beef with many good seasonings!)…(It was tasty!).
As we waited for lunch they started in on the appetizers. And there was a bunch! I would say at least 12 different types of them in all shapes and sizes. From tortilla chips and guacamole to roasted duck on a scoop of berry jam in a little shell to Lamb kabobs! Very good! And this was all when we were still talking in the living room! It was all very good! After awhile we moved to the table to start lunch.
Lunch consisted of 4 different courses with the first one being Cod soup, second course consisting of fresh baby shrimp from the North Sea on a bed of Leek sprouts. 3rd course was roasted deer with a brown gravy, endives, and Brussels sprouts, (nothing like Brussels sprouts 1 hour from Brussels) as well as potato croquet’s. The deer was exceptional! After the main courses we relaxed in front of the fireplace in the livingroom.
Bart and his daughters would not let us lift a finger the whole day! Bart wouldn’t even let his wife help, he gave her the whole day off from cooking and cleaning! ((I felt a little behind the mark!!))
Dessert was soon ready with 2 different cake rolls, cupcakes as well as coffee ! Natalie had made a chocolate cake roll and white cake with cream and jam filling. She used lots of interesting details to decorate the cakes and cupcakes. She is a dentist and enjoys making the small details.
We ate lunch until around 4:30 and then Annet had a suggestion. “We would like to take you to Tongeren. This turned out to be very interesting from a historical perspective. Tongeren is the oldest city in Belgium. In a nutshell, the locals decided they didn’t want the Romans spending the night back in the year 54 B.C. That didn’t turn out well for them, obviously. However, it did give the leader of the rebellion a statue in the town square. The remains of the Roman wall are still in the city. It is hard to grasp how much the wall has seen in its time!! And it still stands.
Tongeren https://maps.app.goo.gl/S975v2GoMpaHPDyd6
We spent night in Bart’s apartment beside his house. They are a very hospitable couple, always wanting to make sure we had everything we needed and more! They spoke a lot of Lawrence and Bernice. And they had even been to Glenn to visit Les and Doris Amoth. I could hardly believe that! Les and Doris live 2 houses from where I had grown up and now we were across the ocean having Christmas together. They even remember getting a good deal on the nuts at Leonard Giesbrechts store…
The next morning we had a breakfast of Belgium waffles. This is my favorite breakfast so it was a real winner. They served them with fresh cream and a dish that is butter mixed with sugar. I ate too much!!! We then went to visit the 2 girls dentist office that they, Bart and Annet had built together. Here is a link to the website.
Natalie and Elisabethś Dental Office https://maps.app.goo.gl/t5mzNAGCkXSYHoJh8
We ended up leaving around 5pm headed back to France. We had plenty of snacks as Annet and Bart’s Mom had given us all manner of chocolates and cookies for the road. For those of you that have Loewen blood, we drove by the town of Leuven on the way home. I couldn’t resist exiting off and driving through the town square. I believe the Loewen name is from this town originally. It is located close to Antwerp and the area where the Anabaptists would have gathered. I can already hear the argument. We are German, Not Belgian !!! It was a beautiful town. Probably the prettiest we’ve saw so far in the time we’ve been here. It’s known for its architecture, schools, and beer.
Leuven, Belgium https://maps.app.goo.gl/8BxirpvycEyfPFfm8
All in all it was a Noël we will always remember! Trips still consist of siblings arguing and teasing, wrong turns, and ΅You Should Have Just Listened to Me the First Time!!¨ Don’t let anyone convince you that just because someone is in the mission that everything always goes smoothly. But, we learned this Christmas that strangers can turn into family as well…-Tyson-
ps. A little addition from me (Lydia)..:) We have been moving a lot of Christmas tracts this last little bit..We will leave them at a bus stop…at a laundromat that is not ran by attendants and we will come back in a short while and the tracts are gone. Bus stops seem to be nice places to leave them, as people sit for quite a while with nothing to do. The tract that jumps out at me every time I pack tracts is, “Peace of Mind in a Trouble World”…that is what we all are wanting!! Pray for the people of France..there are those who are searching for peace!!
P.s.s. We are still moving forward in our language studies.. we are steadily learning, and it helps to be with others that are learning as well..:) Just thought we would give an update on that!
