Weekend-away Bristol: july 20th-23rd


Friday morning my mom and I went to the airport to check in for our flight to Bristol. The flight to Bristol from Amsterdam is a short flight so we figured we should be at the airport 2 hours in advance. Unfortunately we guessed wrong because it was the last day of school that day and everybody was going away! So there were lines and lines and lines and I got stressed out a bit because we would for sure miss our flight. Luckily there was this nice flight attendant who helped us and got us through right on time! When we arrived in Bristol I noticed someone familiar: David Ruis. He’s a worship leader and he led worship at Soul Survivor Holland a couple of times. I basically ran into him. He recognized me too because I interviewed him last year. We talked a bit and he told me he was on his way to Soul Survivor UK. Arrived in Bristol we took the shuttle bus from the airport to the city centre. We arrived too early to check in so we left our bags at the hotel and went shopping.

Wedding
Saturday was the day of the wedding!! But it was also the day that the new Harry Potter book came out and I love reading those books! So Saturday morning I made sure I bought a copy of the new book. At around noon the uncle and cousin of Andy (the groom) picked us up and together with them we drove to the wedding, which was in Weston Super Mare (about a 30 min. ride) The wedding started at 1.30 pm that day and we were a bit early so we decided to hang out in the park and just get a cup of tea. Then when it was nearly time we walked up to the church. At the church I bumped into Andy and his parents. It was great to see him again and to meet his parents. When we finally sat down in the church Andy’s best man walked up to me and said that I was one of the witnesses and that I was supposed to sign the register at the end. That was a big surprise for me because Hannah didn’t tell me, I was very excited!! The church service was amazing! It was very beautiful, full of God, full of love. They sang a couple of amazing hymns, Beautiful one by Tim Hughes and How great is our God by Chris Tomlin.After the vicar blessed Hannah and Andy it was time to sign the register. During the signing Hannah’s friend Pippa sang this amazing Lex Buckley song: Heaven Rejoices. I love that song because if I go through hard times I always listen to that song. After service we met some relatives of Hannah and Andy and talked a bit. It is amazing to meet people that you only know from stories. The wedding reception was at a beautiful hotel in the country. Pictures were taken and we met one of Andy’s cousins who had lived in The Netherlands. He was great. Funny guy and he had enough time to practice his Dutch on my mom. My mom kept on talking to him, poor guy! After the reception there was this big dinner. Which was amazing! I love food so everything with food involved is just amazing. After dinner there was cake and coffee! Also there was the opportunity to dance! Andy & Hannah hired a band and at some point I even found myself dancing on the music and doing the ‘Boston Tea Party’ with other guests. You all know I can’t dance, so hopefully there aren’t any pictures taken! The wedding was amazing and I really had a great time!


Sunday & monday
On Sunday my mom and I visited some churches in Bristol, went shopping again and sat for quite some time in a nearby park. I wanted to visit Bath, but the weather was horrible and so we decided to just stay in Bristol. I also had the opportunity to start to read in my Harry Potter book! (it caused me some nightmares that night!! LOL) On Monday we packed and took the shuttle bus to the airport at the airport we hit the Starbucks again and went again shopping. I seriously don’t need or want to see any shops in the next two weeks! I had a great weekend-away. Hopefully will be going back again soon to see Andy & Hannah.

Ps 1:Hannah and I know each other since birth, our moms were both dealing with difficult pregnancies and they met each other in the hospital. I lost contact when Hannah moved back to England but found her through the internet about 2,5 years ago! The amazing thing is that she became a Christian about 4/5 years ago and around that time I made my own choice to follow Jesus. Being in touch again is amazing, we truly believe that God has made this all happen!
Ps 2: It seems like I have an American accent…At least 5 people asked me if I was American and when I replied that I’m Dutch they looked at me and said: are you sure? Haha…

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Heej girl,
You are traveling a lot again! Don't forget to take your rest and think about yourself :)
Nice to read your stories :D It seems that you have enjoyed it all :) Good :D
Nice picture of the wedding :)
God bless you and have fun on Flevo and in Paris!
Blessing and we call soon!

Big hug Els