This is a simple story about this past weekend. On Thursday, my wife and I rented a car from the Charleroi-South Brussels airport and headed to Switzerland. It wasn’t a spontaneous, up-and-hit-the-road-trip, as we were going to celebrate the wedding of one of my wife’s friends. But still, we were headed across western Europe, and therefore, a six hour drive seemed not bother at all.

So it was into our Ford Focus and on the road. Obviously, our first part of the road trip was heading south through Belgium, but we then went through the small country of Luxembourg (a quick hour’s drive), then onto a drive through the east side of France, south through Germany, and then onto our final destination of Switzerland. The only thing that would have made it better would have been cruise control, but that is of little consequence. And what an experience to be in five different countries in the same day, not to mention driving through them all and taking in the stunning scenery.

But, of course, the cherry on top was our actual time in Switzerland. From the Swiss cuisine of their cheese (I had it in melted fashion over potatoes and assorted vegetables) to the pure milk chocolates to a specialty dish in a Zurich restaurant, my taste buds definitely left enlightened. Even more, there was the special treat of having eyes laid on the beautiful and spacious countryside to the forest-covered mountains to the history in the city of Zurich. Granted, it rained all day on Friday, but that mattered little to soaking up the culture and life of another country.

For some, a trip to Switzerland will seem of little significance. But when you know that I am an American who usually had to travel some ten or twelve hours to get to another country, then you understand how this was a pure delight. To simply relax in a foreign land and gaze at what God had created in Switzerland was worth it all. Oh, and by the way, it was a perfect day on Saturday at the wedding. Not one rain drop, and only a few white clouds.

I do not want this to just be another country I can put on my list of places I have visited, but I want it to be part of truly experiencing the goodness of God. Amazing to think that the same God created all nations, yet all of them having their own distinctives.

I only wonder now what new land will be next in my discovery of the grace of God.