Love is in the air

Before you get confused: I am talking about the love of God, for everyone. EveryONE including me. Now you could think: is this the first time you learn this? Well, defenitely not, I’ve learned it many times before and even knew it in my heart. I thought that was still the case, but found out I was wrong. God loves me more then I can imagine, I am his child

So the last few weeks we’ve been bonding as a group, with both the worship and outdoor focusses, a good mix of men and women on both sides and even the same amount in each group! We’ve been to Switzerland in a cottage in the mountains and with the outdoor group we’ve explored a bit of the black forest. We could even see the Swiss alps in the distance! It is great to see how big the creation is, and yet with soo many details

I love how the worship just overflows, God is speaking and healing the students. We may not be perfect (yet), but be we are blameless already. I find it interesting how full the weeks can be and you can still be wanting more, it awakened a hunger in me

I haven’t forgotten about you, my family, friends and partners. The time here is short and I just want to get the most out of it 😉

Love and blessings!

Behouden reis

Die heb ik gehad! Zoveel mensen langs de weg met pech, maar mijn auto bleef lekker rijden. Wat een zegen 🙂

Voorafgaand aan de reis nog allemaal leuke mensen die me kwamen uitzwaaien (en helpen de laatste dingen opruimen, omdat ik nog niet klaar was :P) wat een fijne verrassing! Dat maakte het vertrekken leuker maar ook moeilijker. Wat fijn om goede vrienden te hebben die zo met je meeleven 🙂 -pinkt een traantje weg-

Meteen maar even een duik genomen in het plaatselijke meer met een groepje. Heerlijk zo na een dagje zitten 😀

Is this really… ?

… You God? … happening? … safe?

As some of you may know: the title of the YWAM-book is ‘Is this really You God?’ It tells the story of Lorne Cunningham as he learns to understand God and the vision he received from God. A vision with waves of young people spreading across the earth, spreading the gospel and helping those in need. I want to partake in this vision and would love to get one of my own. I want to hear God’s voice, be close to His loving heart and see the beauty He created, through any scar or filth that might try to hide it

After three tries and a long wait it finally seems to be happening! I’ve received the official OK to go towards Freiburg and am now preparing to go there. It is weird to leave it all behind, friends, family, colleagues. I’m going to miss you people (with a small tear in the corner of my eye). I may sometimes seem distant, but my heart truly goes out to you

In the eyes of the world joining a school may not be safe, as well as travelling internationally. The thing is: this about God! And as that is the case, even I can’t imagine a risk that is big enough to stop me (and you know I see risks everywhere and prefer to deal with it before moving on). It’s becoming clearer that there are multiple types of safety: physical, mental and spiritual. They all have a different protection, unless you find the one who is able to protect them all: Jesus! Things can happen in His presence, but as long as the heart is safe with Him, does it even matter?

Lessons from the apple tree

As you can see: a broken apple tree

I came into my garden, on first glance the tree seemed to be doing great! Lots of apples on all of the branches. A few with a worm or pecked by a bird, but growing fast

Then I saw it: the top branch was broken. It just hung there, the apples slowly dropping of. What happened? How could this disaster strike?

It hit me: an apple tree’s job is to produce apples. Being great at its job, she produced many many apples. While nurturing all of the fresh delicousness, it couldn’t nurture itself enough. It couldn’t let go of its job, dropping a premature apple was out of the question.. so the branch bend and bend until it broke off

As you may know I like to prevent risks, look ahead in time and smoothen the life and comfort of others. In doing that I may loose sight of my own needs, the other is more important at this point. So, me is a bit like an apple tree?

Okay, the tree didn’t complain or groan under the weight, and I might do that 😉 But still, the tree broke because it didn’t receive the care it needed. Someone who removed the surplus of weight, before it was too late

In my opinion we all need someone to look after us. A friend, a spouse, a sibbling, a child or parent. We aren’t made to be alone, but to strengthen and support eachother.

Others can look into our lives and spot a ballast, calling us out on it. But sometimes we hide it, so we won’t be called on it or just to shield others.

If you feel like you hide it or have too much on your plate: don’t be like the apple tree. Speak up about it and work together in order to balance your load. People are resilient, but we too can break.

So for now: I removed apples from the other branches, so it won’t break down on all sides. In my own life some of the weight is dropping. Hopefully in time for the next wave of fruitfulness

Eerste / shotgun!

So this is it.. my first blog! Om maar vast te wennen aan het schrijvende leven begin ik al voordat er een reis gaat starten. Hopelijk is het in september zover: een reis met God en mensen.

Hoe ziet dat eruit? Wist ik het maar! Of nouja, eigenlijk ook wel fijn om het niet te weten, hoe minder ik weet, hoe meer ruimte God krijgt om te werken. I’ll try to follow his lead, where ever it may be.

As you may have noticed I switch between English and Dutch, this is kind of how my mind works: What language is the easiest for this phrase? Use that one! In order to keep it easier for you to use translation tools I’ll try to keep the next posts in one language. I’m thinking of alternating the posts between English and Dutch. En voor de Hollanders: de komende posts gaan hopelijk in ÊÊn taal, waarbij ik per blog kijk wat mij het beste uitkomt.

Qua praktische invulling: ik denk dat er ongeveer 1 post per week komt, maar of dat haalbaar is of misschien veel te weinig gaan we nog meemaken

So that leaves me with: welcome to my blog!