Our New Church

Wow. We are really getting settled in over here. We have our house picked out (moving in May 23); we put a deposit down on Adam's going-to-work car (an old Nissan Primera to be picked up next weekend); and today we found our new church, which we love!

Originally, I wanted us to attend a local church ministered in Dutch to almost force us to learn some of the language. Adam didn't really want to do that, and now I'm glad he didn't.

The nearest English-speaking Catholic mass for us is located at Joint Force Command (JFC) Brunssum, about 45 minutes away in the Netherlands (near the NATO Air Base in Geilenkirchen, Germany). Getting to JFC Brunssum was awful. Nearly every road leading to it off of the motor way was closed due to construction. When we finally go on the installation, we were thoroughly perplexed because of all of the one-way roads, especially since we didn't have an exact address to give Jill so she could tell us where to go. It was a mess. But, we did finally find the chapel and make our way in.

We were truly spoiled in Utah. We had been going to a brand-new, million dollar Catholic church about 2 miles away from our house. It was gorgeous and plush and fancy. The church at Brunssum is nothing like St. Mary's in Roy, Utah; but it still had everything you'd expect: chairs with kneelers, an alter, a crucifix hanging at the front, an Easter candle, a music section, and more - everything you need to run a church. We walked in and found our seats.

Now, we had built into our schedule plenty of time to get to Brunssum and find our way to the chapel. We were about 20 minutes early. There were not a whole lot of people in the church. The bulletin we were handed walking in noted that the attendance for last week's mass was 83 people. With such a small community, any newcomers would stand out; and we did. A wonderful lady came up to us, introduced herself as Cathleen, and asked if we were new (Yes.) She started telling us about the church and its programs and I just fell in love. They have a women's group, children's education classes, and a book study!!!!! (I think she saw my face light up when she told me that =) Before church had even started, I had plans to be back at Brunssum on Wednesday and had already been introduced to several members of the women's group.

During mass, well, the first half of it anyways, the musicians were playing and singing traditional music like Grandma and Grandpa and the rest play back home at St. Anthony's parish in Greencreek, Idaho. Cathleen came up to me after mass and was delighted that we knew the 'new' music and were singing it because they didn't know it yet! =) This week the Catholic mass was supposed to be clearing out of the church ASAP as the Polish community would from now on be celebrating their own masses about a half hour after ours. Well, that didn't really happen for us today as another member of the church behind us began asking Adam about his job and Cathleen introduced me to more important people in the parish.

We walked to the car after mass feeling elated and filled with such a positive energy. We have found our new spiritual home, and we already feel so very welcome in this new church. What a wonderful feeling! I can't wait to get involved in all the groups and really start connecting with other people. God has given us such a wonderful opportunity, and we are grateful to have a place where we can continue to worship and be a part of such a close community. Thank you, God! And, God bless you!