2 Years in Belgium

Today marks two years since we landed in Belgium and started life here. This past year has been very different from our first year here (in my opinion). We have adjusted much more to life in Belgium and though there are still challenges, we have come to appreciate much about life here. Of course we still struggle with missing things about home and friends and family, but I feel like we have eased into a way of life that works for us...and we are happy here. We have continued to choose to make Gent our home and not constantly compare or wish we were somewhere else. Although there are tough days from time to time, we are happy.

One of the biggest things I've observed over the past year is that Belgium really does feel like home, or more normal. You might recall a couple of posts I wrote a while ago about the differences between here and the U.S. With the exception of my Belgian birthing experience (which I still need to write about), I feel like I would have to think really hard about it to write another substantive post like the ones above. Instead, I am starting to feel like I could write those posts when we go back to the U.S. It's weird, but things sometimes feel strange when we go home...and it can be frustrating. This is not to put down where we are from in any way because we do love it there. But it's hard to go back and be so different. We have changed and grown a lot these past two years and are not the same people who stepped off that plane two years ago. Our outlook on life, our exposure to so many nationalities and personalities, our willingness to challenge ourselves and step out of our comfort zone...these things have changed us. At the same time, things have moved on back home. This is not the first time I have talked about this, but it's hard to go and try to fit back into our lives in the U.S. Life moves on and we can feel a drifting apart. It's more of a struggle to see how we fit into the life that we once had. This revelation is both exciting and sad; Exciting because I think we are becoming more open to the things in life that God may have for us, but sad because we also see the life we had and loved fading away.

Because we are feeling more at home here, the loneliness and some of the other struggles (hello grocery shopping) that I had the first year are also fading away. Instead, I can see the enormous ways that God has blessed us this year from the experiences we've had, to the people we've met, to the places we've traveled, to the opportunities we've had to grow and serve, to the beautiful addition to our family. I am in awe of the things that our children are getting to experience at such a young age! I still have moments of panic when trying to plan for the future, just as I did before we came and all throughout the first year, but I think those moments are more few and far between these days then a year ago.

I am extremely thankful for this opportunity to grow, see the world, and stretch ourselves as a family. It's been a great year full of many of blessings. We thank God for surrounding us with such a wonderful community who have supported us and walked with us on this journey. I have no doubt that they will continue to walk beside us as we move into year three in Belgium! We look forward to many more fun adventures in Gent and beyond!  

A post from me would not complete without some pictures...so here are some highlights from the year!

Our family at the beginning of 2014

Cologne, Germany

Tenerife, Spain

Our family now...

Visit to Walraversijde and the Atlantic Wall

A few weeks ago we had the opportunity to spend the day in Oostende with some friends. We visited Walraversijde and the Atlantic Wall. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time exploring with great friends! 

Walraversijde: 

Walraversijde is a little fishing village situated by the North Sea.  It was was built at the beginning of the 15th century, but destroyed several times by flooding and fire. The information below is taken from http://www.west-vlaanderen.be.

The missing fishermen's village is one of the most important archaeological sites in Flanders and one of the best studied medieval fishing communities in Europe. In the four reconstructed fishing houses you get to know the inhabitants of the medieval village. The buildings were rebuilt with original medieval bricks, which were unearthed during archaeological investigation of the site. In the archaeological museum you will see the basis of numerous and well preserved medieval objects as well as more about life in the village and archaeological research.

Reconstructed houses

Foundation of a house that was unearthed during reconstruction of the village

Watching videos about 15th century weaponry

After walking around Walraversijde, we ate a picnic lunch outside.

Atlantic Wall: (info below taken from http://www.visitoostende.be)

This open-air museum is a unique historical site of modern fortification. The around sixty German constructions from both World Wars – underground trenches, bunkers and remains of the German coastal batteries of Aachen (built in 1915) and Saltzwedel neu (from 1941), observation points and gun sites are among the best preserved along the Atlantic coast and are the showpiece of the museum. Some of the bunkers have been reconstructed in their original state and furnished with authentic objects. The atmosphere is definitely that of ‘The Longest Day’.

The Atlantic Wall originally stretched from Norway to the French-Spanish border and had a length of 5,300 km.

The boys loved running through the trenches and tunnels!

Walking to the Atlantic Wall

Torpedo

Great friends!

Hanging out in an escape tunnel

High-fiving a guard on our way out!

After walking through the Atlantic Wall, we decided to walk over to the North Sea to sit and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Beautiful day!

Geoffrey telling me how to get to England

 Of course the boys were exhausted from running around all day. They passed out about five minutes after we got in the car.

We had such a nice time exploring and learning more about the history of Belgium. It was a long day with a lot of walking, but it was great to spend time with awesome friends!