Wild Wonderful Wednesday

Well, a wild, wonderful Wednesday is always interesting. This one fell on New Year’s Eve and was truly wild. Our plans were set to travel to our sister in Christ for a New Year’s Eve party with others from the church. We would pick up our young Ukrainian couple in Tongeren and drive on to Hasselt. Our other sister would drive in to Hasselt from just outside of Sittard, The Netherlands, bringing her son who was visiting from France. People from all over meeting to ring in the new year. 

Everything seems ready and prepared. The weather was not that bad. A slight bit of misty rain and cold hung in the air, but that is to be expected. We all were ready with snacks, games and a good mood to join together. Although fireworks are usual for The Netherlands, we didn’t really expect anything in Hasselt (Belgium). Our little village has plenty on New Year’s Eve, but that is because of how close we are to The Netherlands and how many Dutch people live here. 

We picked up our couple in Tongeren and headed out to Hasselt, talking about the differences in cultures and things we have experienced. But the car decided to make this outing a bit more wild and wonderful. Cars these days tell the driver what they should dop. There is a computer which determines what you can and cannot do. My car began warning me that I had to have the car looked at. At the same time power began decreasing. 

I pulled over and called the auto service. Thankfully there are people who work on days like these. It would still be an hour before he would arrive, however. So we called ahead and asked if someone could come and get Shirley and the couple from our car. Thankfully we were not really that far from our destination (about 20-309 minutes). Our brother in Christ, Jef, drove out and took everyone to the party while I stayed with the car, waiting on the auto service. 

When the tow truck arrived, he hooked up to the car’s computer and saw that there was an air intake problem. But he was able to remove the computer disturbance and the motor seemed to be running just fine. All seemed well and I would soon join the party. But all was not fine - it was a wild, wonderful Wednesday. 

Within a few miles, the car told me once again that something was wrong and started losing some power. Thankfully I was not really that far from home, so I took the car home, ready to go to the garage when it is open after the holidays. I called Shirley and let her know that we would be celebrating separately. 

Thankfully, they all had a good evening and the sister from Sittard could drop Shirley off while Jef could take the Ukrainians back to Tongeren. In the meantime I also had enough snacks at home to take me through the evening, waiting for Shirley’s return. I got to experience the fireworks near us (a good hour long), while they enjoyed desserts, games and conversation together. Tomorrow I will try to get the car to the garage and walk back home along the winter streets of our villages on the way to complete this Wild Wonderful Wednesday Walk.