It is Sunday morning and Vivian and I have to catch the train to Der Haague for meeting. As breakfast went a bit long, we booked it to the station (walking very fast). Blessedly, Vivian is a gentleman and took my bag for me leaving me with my smaller bag and sleeping bag Hetty lent me. And though my leg is better now, it is still a very fast walk and my legs are aching from the exercise of the last week. Still, for twenty minutes we hurry along the canal with Vivian apologizing near the end, telling me he has been told he is a very fast walker. I reply, “Yes. You are. But we are in a hurry” and he agrees. I want to stop and God blessedly gives us a reason when Vivian shows me a blue herron from two yards away. " Thank you God for the little break!" I think to myself. After taking a train and then hurrying to a tram, we arrive at meeting a little late but are there in one piece. Afterward, Marielke and I take the two bikes to the supermarket then her flat while Fritz takes my big bag on the tram. After resting (thank you!), they ask if I would like to go the beach. YES!!! What they don’t tell me is that it is over five miles away. (I am sure this was a part of the phone calls in Dutch.) I have never biked that far before and haven’t been on a bike on a regular basis in ten years. I only tell them this later. Occasionally, Marielke or Fritz come along side me in pity and help push me up the hills. (Do not tell this to the other boot camp commanders.) In all, we bike 14.1 miles around Der Hague. Dinner never tasted so good.
Today I can’t even tell you how many miles I have walked between the power walk to the tram and then all around Dusseldorf. I have been learning to just keep putting one foot in front of another and that when they say, "around the corner," they mean several blocks down the street.
So now you too know why weight is such a rare problem here in Europe and why it feels like I’m in boot camp. But I have to give credit where credit is due. Though my friends came up with this fun game of pushing Sarah beyond what she thought she could do, they have been there every step of the way encouraging and pushing and looking behind to make sure I’m keeping up. If not for them, I would have missed trains, taken more breaks, not gone as far, and, truth be told, not had nearly as much fun. A challenge to be certain but one that has been entirely worth it. God has been using the community around me to bring me father than I thought I could go, to do more than I thought I could ever accomplish. It expands my belief in myself. It is helping me understand on a deeper level the value of community: they bring you to more than yourself, or help you know better the strength within yourself. Even the hard parts of ministry can be fun.So, yes, it’s boot camp but I can do it!
(Since each stage gets successively harder, if I don’t come back from Switzerland, please send someone in after me. I’ll be the one panting by the road in a heap, a large red backpack squishing me down.)Labels: Europe 2011