Return Rejoicing

We had another quick 4 day adventure and returned to Belgium late Saturday night, not quite a week ago. As we returned, we were so excited about the ministries God has going for us on the horizon. We have been blessed by several of our relationships at the children's school and in our little French speaking community. Through this we have been given by God a group of moms that continue to amaze us by wanting to meet. This past week (although it was a holiday from school)the moms wanted to meet. So we met at our home and walked to a nearby park, which by God's perfect design truly ended up being the ONLY day this week that would have worked for being at a park. In typical Belgian fashion it rained every other day, but, of course, the Lord took care of that, and held back the rain while we were together for over 2.5 hours. We had three moms come with there children. It was a fantastic time. The children played and got to know one another, because they are all in different grades at school. While the moms had a neat chance to talk. Heather was able to share more of "God's story" than ever before with these moms. It was just such an encouraging time. One lady in particular seems quite interested to know what it is that makes Heather such a mom of "peace and joy." She wasn't afraid to ask her either, and Heather couldn't wait to tell her. It isn't from anything inside her, but a gift from God. So be praying for this mommy. She is a mother of four young children though her second died shortly afterbirth due to a abnormal developement. Pray that this relationship will continue and that there will be more and more opportunities to share Christ with her, so she can know true healing and true joy and peace.
She has already set a date for Heather to be able to come to her home for an all day visit. She let Heather know on Wednesday that she is hoping that her husband will want to be more open to a new relationship, so our two families can could get together. In the past, we have invited her family over for dinner and games and she has very graciously declined. On Wednesday, she let Heather know that she is hoping that her husband will be less tired from work and will be more open to a new relationship so our families can get together. This too is answer to prayer, she has never opened up this much before.
Tomorrow night we will be meeting with another family from the kid's school. They are having us over for dinner. The kids will be going and spending time with their three kids. This is all possible in God's sovereign hand. He has allowed us use of a van three days a month. Neither of these couples live near public transit or near our home, so we are able to use the gift of this vehicle to have outreach into the homes of these two families. We are praying that as we enter their homes we can see more of their lives and they will be more comfortable and open to conversations about our Savior. This is one of the moms from our mom's group and we have had them in our home for dinner. We are really looking forward to spending time with them tomorrow. Pray that our time will be blessed!
We love you so much and are so thankful that you have been on this journey with us. Just knowing that you are out there lifting us up has brought through the tough days. Probably when you didn't even know they were tough days. Thank you so much. Maybe someday you might know just how much your prayers and encouragement have meant to us, all of us.