We Made it to Belgium!

After a long, tiring series of flights we made it to Belgium!  Finn was a trooper, but he did not sleep hardly at all on planes.  Fortunately he did get a little shut-eye in is tent while we were at various airports for lay-overs.

Since getting here we've been struggling to catch up on sleep, and Finn is still pretty jet-lagged (we are 7 hours ahead of Birmingham time) and struggling with sleep the first half of the night, so that's something that we'd appreciate prayer for!  Today Derek and I are feeling more alert than we have in several days, so we are thankful for that!

We've enjoyed spending time with the other 10 or so families who are here training with us, as well as the staff members - who are current or veteran missionaries in various fields.  Also the training we've had on how to have a healthy, effective team, the importance of tending your relationship with God daily, and how to fail successfully (among other topics) have been really great.

We've learned that we will be connecting with a Persian church in Brussels during our time here, and we already met with Amir, one of the church's leaders to hear his story and a little bit more about the church.  Amir was a refugee from Iran when he came to Brussels 12 years ago, and hearing his story and journey to faith here was fascinating.

Yesterday we journeyed into Brussels (we are staying in a little village called Zaventem on the outskirts of Brussels) via the train and bus systems, and it is neat to learn about how to use those.  I'm hoping we get a little more practice doing it with guidance before we have to do it on our own!

Fortunately it seems like the majority of people here speak at least some English.  In Zaventem, the official language is Flemmish though.

I wish I had pictures to post, but we just haven't gotten around to taking any yet!  I hope to remedy that soon. 

Our Christmas Visit with Family

We've just arrived back in Birmingham for a couple days in between our Christmas visit with my family in North Carolina and our upcoming trip to Belgium for missions training.  We've been busy doing laundry, shopping for last minute supplies needed for the trip, and assembling our luggage, but I wanted to quickly post a few pictures from our fun vacation this past week and a half!

Finn had lots of fun getting to know my family, most of whom he hasn't seen since he was 4 months old (at Kelly's wedding in June).

 Jamming with Uncle David.

 Learning piano from his talented Aunt Kelly!

 Reading a new book with Aunt Christy on Christmas morning (also wearing a new hat!)

We went to a nature center one day, and Finn's favorite parts were seeing the otters and the petting zoo!

 

Aunt Lydia helped with bath time each night.

Finn was super excited to spend time with his Granna!

Going for a walk at the Greenway.  Finn spent the outing trying his best to houdini out of the stroller.

Derek and I left Finn with the family and went to Gatlinburg for a couple days.  Here Derek is enjoying the shopping there!

On our trip back we got to see some beautiful snowy scenery in the Smoky Mountain National Park.

 It was so so cold up there!

 The kind of cold that stings your face!

Finn wearing the hat we brought back for him.

Here we are stopping for a quick break during the long drive back to Birmingham.  Finn enjoyed crawling around the back seat with me finding spare cheerios while dad was off getting us some lunch.

The next pictures we post will be of us on an airplane and in Europe!  Pray for us that the trip goes smoothly!  (And in particular, that Finn will sleep on the plane!)