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Sunday in a snowy Amsterdam.

Friday I woke up to snow. A thick layer of white snow covered the city and it snowed pretty heavily throughout the day. And the snow is still there, although a lot of it has turned into grey slush where it’s been salted. The photo is the view from my living room window.

It was nice to walk outside today. I love the feeling of compacted snow beneath my feet and I love that everything looks so clean when covered in snow.

I am slowly getting settled. I think I came wanting to be fully settled in from day one, and I am realising that these things do take time and that I need to allow the time to get to that place. This week started off super-busy, but I think in time I’ll find a good pace.

Yesterday evening I went to a Brazilian church and it was so lovely to be somewhere where I understood everything that was said. It was so nice to hear Portuguese spoken and to get a little “taste” of something familiar, reminding me of one of my “homes”. I can’t wait till I get a grasp of Dutch. I had forgotten how mentally tiring it is to not understand, yet still I understand bits and pieces, which in some ways make it even more confusing. But again, I keep reminding myself that I can’t expect to learn everything within the first week. There is so much grace. And I need to have that grace with myself. I don’t want my “not-yet-learnt-or-knowing” to take away the joy of the journey of learning and discovering.

As I was walking around today I was remembering Psalm 37. About trusting in God, doing good, dwelling in the land, and befriending faithfulness. And also that He is a God of desire; a God who loves to fulfil the desires of our heart and a God who loves it when we delight in Him. He is so committed to our hearts, and He wants to fulfil the dreams I carry in my heart. And He also wants to fulfil the desire in the heart of every woman who is “trapped” behind a window right here in my neighbourhood.

So there you go. A few ponderings from a cold Sunday evening in Amsterdam.

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