In Bed

Can't say I'm too happy about being in bed.
I have a nasty chest cold and cough which really hurts. I keep thinking I'll feel better "tomorrow" but I can safely say it's been the same amount of misery since Saturday evening.
It's Tuesday morning...
I'm drinking lots of fluids, staying warm, laying low, taking extra vitamins, etc. It just seems to have gotten hold of my body. Maybe I'm more run-down than I thot? Where's my resistance?!
Well, please pray for this bed-ridden missionary... Honey is getting pretty bored, too.

Sharing my photos

Lake Superior Nov 2007

Good News!

GOOD NEWS!
Two pieces of good news to share here:

1) I don't have and haven't ever had malaria!
My doctor here did a thorough test and apparently what I'm suffering from (and had last May as well) is a heavy duty intestinal infection. The symptoms are so similar to malaria and yet to me, it's the difference of night and day to know I don't have a little parasite hanging out in my liver just waiting to pounce on me when I get a little tired. I'm currently on antibiotics and feeling much better.

2) A few days ago I picked up my renewed ID card for the Netherlands. This card was supposed to be picked up last May but I'd already had to leave for the USA. The card stayed at one office until July and then was sent back to headquarters. As soon as I arrived I contacted them and they re-issued the card.
This is no small thing in these post 9-11 days... visas are hard to come by for any country, so it was a concern to me.

So, I'm a very thankful and recuperating missionary. Hopefully I'll actually be able to be at the mission base here this coming week. We have a mega-DTS running here with around 50+ students that we're doing together with the YWAM Amsterdam base. I'm looking forward to seeing all their new faces.
Blessings, Belinda

Transition

Home now for more than a week... it takes time to transition between the responsibilities I carried at home and being back in my own home in Holland.
I started to unpack not only my bags but the things I stored in my shed, visited some friends, and went to church last Sunday.
Then Sunday afternoon I started to feel sick and chilled and a nasty headache. It felt exactly like the malaria attack I'd had last May so I called a friend to stay with me that night. Good thing I did because I collapsed from fever onto the bathroom floor. My temp soared to 39,5 C (103F), after I'd been shaking with the chills most the day.
To make a long story short I now have some antibiotics from the doc and am starting to heal up.
Wow, what a way to start 2008! Please pray that I'll get well soon. Thanks.

Lost and Found

When I boarded the plane last week in Minneapolis, everything was going according to plan. Honey was trusted into the hands of the Priority Pet people of Northwest Airlines, and I was settled into my seat in the plane. Usually about 15-30 minutes prior to take-off, I am given a slip of paper from one of the PriorityPet handlers together with an update of how my dog is, but that wasn't happening and the clock was ticking.

I contacted the headpurser and she got involved right away and assured me that "we will NOT take off without your dog on board". Come to find out,Honey was not on the plane at all! I was invited into the cockpit by the captain who was making all sorts of calls to track him down. I had my paperwork with me and we found out that his paper tag had come loose from his crate and they had to find it before they brought him out to the plane.

I so appreciate the NWA staff who delayed the flight almost 45 minutes inorder to find my dog and make sure he had the proper tags and paperwork, as well as stowing him in a nice pre-warmed cargo hold. However, it was stressful nonetheless because I couldn'tactually "see" what was going on, just the communication. I was in the cockpit for almost 20 minutes to help sort out the details,chatting with the pilots about their dogs and showing them all a photo of Honey. Then the hatch was opened again and his papers handed through to verify that it was my dog on board.

Whew! Such kind staff who were determined to care for my Honey Boy, who couldn't be blessed?!

Then, to top it all off, the head purser apologized for the mixup and offered me a seat in first class! It was then that I melted into a puddle of tears - whatwith the horrifying thot of my dog being lost at a cold airport, leaving my elderly mom after caring for her for 8 months,not to mention the stress of packing and travelling - it was all too much for me and I soaked my handerkerchief with tears of relief! And I put that 1st class chair to good use as my bed for the rest of the 8 hour flight.

When I arrived in Holland I was nearly the first one off the plane, my baggage was quick and they brought Honey up to me with no muss or fuss of paperwork of any kind.

We're home!