Belgium on a public holiday: photo session

Here are a few photos, as promised!

We took the metro to town on Day 1...

 There was a whole fair being held at the park grounds to celebrate the public holiday. All sorts of stands were there including an entire dog show. Here are some adorable dogs I managed to capture on lens..

And watched the military parade for national day!!

The horses made a mess on the beautifully clean streets and right after them came, who would have guessed, a cleaning crew!!

I found myself wondering if we could ship one of these trucks to Kenya :)

As always with these military parades, there was a marching band.

I just love their feathered hats!

 I love how the incorporated the lion into the military uniform. Its an important symbol in Belgium which appears on their coat of arms as started by King Leopold II and putting it on the top of the flag poles is a stroke of genius. 

The architecture is also something out of this world. Here is a building in the city centre (Brussels)

I hope now you have a bit more of an idea as to what Belgium looks like in my eyes. More photos should be coming up as soon as possible!!

MY Summer in Belgium: DAY 2

So from the title you already know that I'm in Belgium!! This is the first time I've been in Europe so there's cause for lots of excitement on my part. When people say good friends are a treasure, they truly are. It's because of a good friend of mine that I'm here and I conquered everything that the embassy threw at me. Because of her and God working through people, I'm enjoying experiencing a whole new culture.

Naturally, most accounts should start with 'Day 1' but I'm going to mix it up a little. ;) It may also have something to do with the fact that I'm beginning this account on the second day...maybe just a little bit.

So today being a Sunday, I went with my friend and her family to church. They go to IBC which happens to be the same branch of church that my family used to go to when we lived in Dar-es-Salaam. I was so glad to hear that IBC was in Brussels too! The service was great and for the first time in my life, I was eager to stand up and introduce myself to the congregation, as is custom for visitors in most churches. I was eager to represent Kenya :) turns out though that I didn't need to do it for Kenya, just for myself because the moment I said I was from Kenya, the pastor remarked pleasantly ,"It looks like Kenyans are going to overtake us!" (or something to that effect)

Later, we went for pizza from 'Pizza Hut' and I got to see coupons in use for the first time with my own two eyes! That is definitely something we need to think introducing in Kenya...it can cut your purchase cost almost in half!

Being summer, the days are unusually long (unusual for me) so after playing sports games on Nintendo 'Wii', my friend, her siblings and I went to the nearest park in the neighbour hood. We played the traditional 3 sticks and had a great time chatting with a 6 year-old girl in a mixture of Dutch and French. (Thank you Alliance Francaise de Mombasa!!)

My day yesterday was more eventful what with it being a national holiday when there's a parade in the capital city. I know Kenya has its own parades but I'd never actually been to one until yesterday. Oh, the waiting was definitely tiring and seemed almost futile but it paid off. More so for the activities the military had organised than anything else. There was rock-climbing on an artificial rocks, lots of food stands and other things related to the military like looking for land mines and camouflaging...awesome experience for little boys. You know how boys get with military-related things...

And I got on a metro for the first time in my life! For those of you who don't know what a metro is, its pretty much like the American subway. You buy a ticket which gets you through the gate of the station, then you check to see what time your train's coming and wait for it to arrive. The metro has automatic doors and the driver's in a cabin by himself. Absolutely zero contact between the driver and the passengers. SO different from Kenya. Even the buses here have no conductors. You just get on the bus and slot in your bus card and take your seat. Easy peasy!!

Being in Europe is definitely an experience I'm going to cherish for the rest of my life. I can't wait to make more memories tomorrow!!! :) Photos will be coming soon.
Till then, a bientot!

Supernatural

There's a song done by a Christian rock band called 'Flyleaf'. The first time I heard this song, I was speechless. And right now, with all I'm going through, it's so appropriate it seems heaven-sent. Here are the lyrics:

 Her headaches
Constant
Increasing in pain with each passing day
She can't even manage to stand on her own
It's gotten so bad

Now you think of saying
There's no use in praying
Still she bows her head so she can say,
"Thank you for just one more day."

Supernatural patience
Graces her face
And her voice never raises
All because of a love
Never let go of
Never let go of

He has every reason to throw up his fists
In the face of his God who let his mother die
Through all the prayer and tears
She still passed in pain anyway

Now you think of saying
There's no use in praying
Still he bows head so he can say,
"Thank you for ending her pain."

Supernatural patience
Graces his face
And his voice never raises
It's all because of a love
Never let go of
Never let go of

He is teaching me
What love really means

Supernatural patience
Graces his face
And his voice never raises
It's all because of a love
Never let go of

Yes it's supernatural patience
Graces his face
And his voice never raises
All because of a love
Never let go of
Never let go of

He is teaching me
What love truly means 

Being sick is never pleasant. And it gets worse when the sickness is prolonged. The people who inspire me to be determined and work through it are a number. We begin of course, ultimately, with God. He' s the one who gives me the strength to move on everyday. He had also blessed me with the rest I'm about to list.

My family...in their own way, they help me push for more and not sit and settle down in self-pity.

My boyfriend and his cousin...by being in even bigger shoes, my boyfriend's cousin encourages me via the best gift I've gotten in a person of late, a.k.a, my boyfriend. If his cousin can fit in size 11 shoes, then my size 6 should be more than manageable. That last statement is figurative. :)

My ever-closest  friend... H.A.A, you may baby me a bit too much, but the fact that you do means a lot. You've taken care of me in more ways than I can count. Thank you for increasing my reasons to live.

Then there's other friends and random people like Phillip Phillips who won the last season of American Idol. He was sick a lot during the competition and had to perform amidst pain on many occasions but you would not have known, had they not mentioned it. So seeing someone as musically talented as him who overcame his sickness just encourages me even more. I love music. That should say everything.

Basically, I'm just counting my blessings. We used to sing a song in Sunday school, "Count your blessings name them one by one, count your blessings see what God has done, count your blessings, name them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done."

1 Thess. 5:18 says, " give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 

So, whether you know Christ or not, whether you're born-again or not, whether you think God does not exist or you know He does, try it. Think of all the good things you have in your life. See how you feel after. And don't say you have nothing to be grateful for...everyone does. You just have to look beyond what you see!