Bags, Bags, Bags -- Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

John and Lucy arrived at de Burg Friday morning at 10:00 to find Marijke and Yvonne waiting inside with coffee perked and ribbons cut. As we set up an assembly area on the kitchen table, pastor Kris and his wife, Hermien, and kids Hannah and Jonathan arrived as well. The group got busy putting cookies into small sacks and those small sacks into the decorated bags that came from America with the printed notes Kris had made. The bags were then closed with curly ribbon. Jonathan did a great job of counting the cookies for us and keeping the workers working. He would have 20 in a box and say "I need five more. OK, four. Now, three. . . . "

The look is very festive. The locals thought the bags were wonderful and commented that you could not find such here in Belgium -- we responded "not yet". So much of what is American makes it's way into Belgian culture -- some good and some not so. Madonna has just had a big concert here. The Eagles and Jonas Brothers are coming. We are here hoping to see faith and real relationships with God return to Belgium. God is here working and waiting. We've joined Him to increase awareness.

When all the cookies were packaged, knowing our goal was 500 sacks for the bus and tram drivers for Monday, we counted 496!! Yeah. The Lord always gives us those little thorns to keep us humble said Paul. We had cookies and brownies baked by Americans, cookies baked by Belgians, cookies from Gent and Drongen and Brussels and Gentbrugge and I'm just not sure where else!

Megan and Justin arrived and helped us transport all the bags back to the apartment. Hermien had her car with her and gladly loaded cookies, Lucy and Megan in and took them back to the apartment. John and Justin came via foot and tram arriving at the apartment just after the last of the cookies were safely settled in.

From the apartment, we headed to the train station to meet the rest of the North Florida team. We dropped luggage off at the hotel for Gary and Susan and went to lunch. The streets are already crowded with some of the 1.5 million people expected to visit. After lunch, as we headed back to our apartment, walking amidst the crowd of people, Lucy fell. Such a scene slipping off the sidewalk, sitting hard on the sidewalk, feet in the street, right leg and knee a little bit scraped up in the process. Lucy loves the excitement of the Festivals and if there isn't enough, she can create her own!! :)

Let the fun begin.