Pilgrimmage back “home”

Okay, so here’s the deal:  when you travel and move as many times as we have, you begin to discover that you have an identity crisis related to where you call “home”.   For the record, no, we don’t count our moves, though at times I am sorely tempted to do so!  Yet  I have discovered over the years that focusing on the hard work that it is to pack up and store ones’ life and move to another place for a short time only to move back and unpack ones’ life can be a life sucking experience.  So rather than write about things that suck life’s energy right out of you, I’m going to call home the place where I am now….with the one that God has given to me to establish home with….that would be with Steven Paul Swanson.

Setting up home these past few months ~ we love IKEA!

But because living in Antwerp, Belgium was our newlywed home for almost twelve years, we recognized after a recent visit that it still is a place that we lovingly call “home”.  It was our vacation, well deserved, I might add, since we had just finished another intensive Swedish class here at the Folksuniversitet in Malmö.  We were ready to go!  Too bad it snowed in Brussels on December 11^th, which then meant our vacation started a day late.  There isn’t much one can do when the capital city of the small country that you’re trying to get to closes down its’ international airport because of snow.  Better to spend an extra 24 hours in Copenhagen (our departure airport).  We were pleasantly surprised when the airlines offered us a place to sleep and meal vouchers when it wasn’t exactly their fault that it had snowed in Brussels.  Yet we were thankful when we finally did arrive, albeit 24 hours later than what we had anticipated.

We were so done with school....though we did enjoy our Svenska lektion and our teacher

Bored at the Copenhagen Airport ~ we found all kinds of interesting spaces that we'd never seen before!

Sure felt good when we could take this picture and text it to friends who were waiting to hear if we had arrived or not....what a difference 24 hours can make.  There wasn't much snow on the ground!

And oh the joy!

You know how it is when you’re reunited with “family” (read that as your closest friends who aren’t your biological family but when you are talking about the family in the church, you get a lot of brothers and sisters!)…..you’re so excited to see each other.  Add to this equation:  we got to meet babies that were born after we left Antwerp and the Antwerp International Protestant Church in June 2016.  So there was F and D, and K, and T, and wow, look how big M has gotten.  Many sweet times of reunion were had during our 6 days together. 

Yup, it was cold!

We got a good laugh out of this one....The Swedish big crossword puzzle book....in Flemish!

Ekeren District house ~ local government offices located in a castle....in a castle!!!

Wish I could put up all the family portraits, but because some of our friends are still needing to be protected, we’re including loads of photos of the food and experiences that we had together.  It was a full week.  Lots of laughter, some tears, great joy as we met the new pastor and so many new faces at our church.  And always, always that feeling of being home.

Our friends sure know how to make the best rice in the world!

Iran-ian cuisine ~ the best!

This was pure sweetness....a Covenant Point Bible Camp cinnamon roll recipe baked by a young man from South Africa and shared with all of us in Antwerp, Belgium....go figure!

Homemade saffron ice cream with pistachios....sweet!

When all was said and done, and 18 December came, it was time to get back on a plane and head north to Copenhagen, Denmark, so that we could hop on the train that takes us one stop into Sweden and then we’re home again.  Malmö.  For this time in life!  Feeling pretty thankful!

Getting the chance to pray with and bless the shipping company that helped us ship our belongings up to Malmö.  So thankful for this team!

Our Finnish and Belgian friend were speaking Swedish at the church in Antwerp.  Somehow, we just can't seem to get away from this language!  Which, I think, is a good thing!