Do good and Communicate

In love...

2011-07-21T12:23:00.000+02:00

...with our little man Ezra David.

What amazes me is that there are still people that check this blog... so this picture is for those of you faithful checkers.

My blog has continued... just not on the web, but in my prayer notebook as I believe more and more that all my thoughts, worries, cares, dreams, joys, hopes, fears and so on should be turned into prayers. I've also been keeping journals for both of my kids. I'd want them to read about what things were like when they were little and about how much we love them and love God. They are both such a blessing to me. We didn't know we were going to have a little guy this time, and I must say that it has been so wonderful having him in our family. I LOVE HIM!!!!!! (there it's out)

I hope you are also doing well... I hope you too have much to give thanks for... we all do actually but sometimes it is not very easy to see because sometimes we just can't see those blessings. I thank the Lord more and more for those things I don't see that I know are happening around me. For the prayers that others lift for me and my family that I don't hear. I thank God because there is still sooooo much to learn, to perfect, to achieve, and He is willing to help us through it... in His typical loving and gentle way. How wonderful it is to have the perfect Father.

I would also like to encourage you just like I encourage myself to stop complaining. It is the opposite of giving thanks and it doesn't do us any good. I don't know how many times I have read people say that they use their blogs to vent... venting is also complaining and what we are really saying is that God is not fair... and that's a lie. God is just and we do Him no honour by complaining. If there is something you are not happy about, tell Him about it, lay it at His feet... run to Him for direction and support.

God is good.

Well... my little man just woke up so I better get going.

Peace and Love in the One and only :)

Changed by love

2010-10-19T17:23:00.000+02:00

We just got back from a great spiritual retreat with church friends. It was wonderful because we got to spend time with not only friends, but people that feel like family... real family. I love to see how my daughter and the other children feel safe and loved. I love to see how there are people ready to fill in where there is a need. Whether it is to clean up, or hug someone, or pray for someone, or cry with someone. I feel so blessed to be part of this wonderful family I have found in the Lord. We are also blessed to be living in such a beautiful region were we can constantly be reminded of God's beauty through the mountains, streams, lakes and vegetation that surround us.

There was also another part of it that is just as important. I know that one of the reasons for doing retreats like this is to spend time with God. To seek Him, and delight in Him. I was challenged and encouraged as He kept reminding me that He does not want to leave me as I am. Our teachings were from the first epistle of John, and there was so much in just the first couple of verses to keep me busy and meditating on it all for a long time.

"He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." - I John 2:6

I recently heard a pastor say that the reason we don't do great things like Jesus did is because we don't walk like Jesus did. And well... I have no idea if raising the dead, or walking on water can become part of my repertoire, but... what if I did more walking like Jesus waked? What would that change in my life? I dare say and think that there would be big differences that I am willing and ready to see in my life. I'm so happy that God leads us gently and practically, and that He shows us the things that He would like us to do differently, or the things that He would like us to get rid of.

"This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."- I John 1:5

Another reminder/warning I got was that if I say that I love God but I hate my brother, I am a liar... and I got this right after telling someone that sometimes I just wished fire would come down from heaven and consume some folks. I know, way to show some love... Mind you I was telling her that I felt kind of troubled by such thoughts. But then John says...

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." I John 1:7

and

"He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." - I John 2:10-11

I have wondered why on earth I would wish fire to come down on people and the truth is that, it is not only a lack of love, but it is also my fear of them. The feeling that they are much bigger than me, that I cannot do any good in their midst... on the contrary they would consume me! So, it is much easier to not have them around. But then again I am so happy for these next verses...

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." I John 4:18-19

Perfect love casteth out fear; I find that really encouraging, because there are a lot of things that I fear in life from time to time. The older I get it seems the more fears I come across... but that's ok if I can remember that perfect love casteth out fear.

Now, here is a really nice thing about all this as well... when I read books in the Bible I don't really think much about the authors in general. As I flipped through I John I just thought about how John was warning the people with so much love and gentleness and how he kept stressing the importance of love and loving each other... but then as I flipped a bit further and got to Revelation, which is also written by John, I read a little note I had scribbled next to the title. "John the one who asked Jesus to call down fire from heaven. Love changed him."

"And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. - Luke 9:54-55

The Apostle John, who along with his brother were surnamed sons of thunder by Jesus, were full of zeal, but it wasn't always directed toward love. I'm happy to have an example of someone that was changed by love, because that encourages me to let the love of God change me as well. I know it's easier said than done... but all things are possible in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." - I John 4:9-11

This is not a resent picture, but it was taken during a picnic with church friends by a river. This is a my daughter with one of her favourite friends. As you can tell she was feeling just fine and happy... but right now little miss Sunshine is in trouble for tearing a piece of mommy's Bible cover and chewing on it. But let's walk in the light as He is in the light...

Back

2010-10-06T22:58:00.006+02:00

Back again... or so I say...

I will have to change a few things on this blog as time has changed not only me, my life, and our life as a family, but just everything else it seems...including this blog. I just don't think starting a new blog is the answer. Since my last post I have moved to another city, Sunchi has died, our daughter was born and is now a year and a half, I started a small business, and I'm pregnant again. These are only the big changes that I can think of... but there is one thing that still remains the same... and NEVER changes... and that is the wonderful God I know, love and serve. I still need to change more, for my daughter's sake, for the sake of my marriage, for the sake of my relationships with family and friends...and to continue to grow in Faith. I know I still have a long long way to go, but it is good to know that God is there to gently lead us and encourage us as we run this race.

I want to write again because I have seen it bear fruit... I thank you all that keep checking for an update and those that have sent me messages asking how things were going, or to tell me that one of my posts touched them. THANK YOU, I never replied but your messages humbled me and still do.,

I probably won't have time to double check my writing and spelling and what not... I'll try to put up pictures I take along the way. And most of all I want to share about how the Lord works in my still very hard heart as I let Him.

Now, I'm off to bed to thank my husband again for the lasagna and ice-cream he had to get me because I just had to have it. Thank you Lord for a husband that doesn't question my cravings!

God bless...

"He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young."

- Isa.40:11

25 Random things

2009-02-04T14:08:00.003+01:00

I was tagged by Karen on Facebook... but I thought I would answer here as I'm having a hard time blogging again...

Let's see if I can come up with 25 things...

1. I've probably done something like this before...

2. ...in this very blog!

3. I live on top of a pharmacy.

4. I'm expecting my first child!

5. I love the smell of coffee, but I don't drink coffee.

6. My dog has lived in three different countries. (I know that's not really about me)

7. I like to pray

8. I'm actually trying to not repeat anything I have said before in one of these tags... I will compare my answers when I'm done here.

9. I've never been to Australia

10. I still keep in touch with some friends I made in India about 11 years ago...

11. I love Cinnamon gum, but they don't sell any in France. In fact, I don't think the French like Cinnamon all that much.

12. I love it when my husband plays Jewish music on his Clarinet.

13. I used to not like cooked tomatoes or onions before I got married.

14. I've recently learned that some of our digital photos look wonderful once they have been printed and hang on the wall.

15. I think I'm getting better at this.

16. I used to wake up in a very bad mood each morning since I was little until I gave it up to the Lord.

17. I honestly see most women in my church like my real sisters.

18. I'm not competitive... so I always feel a little bit bad when I play a game with a competitive person, and beat them... just a little bit bad.

19. On our Bookshelves we have books in Spanish, English, French, Dutch, Papiamentu, Hebrew, Polish, Russian, and I'm sure I have an Italian book somewhere.

20. I can only read 5 of these languages... maybe 6

21. I have a hard time getting compliments and knowing what to do with them.

22. I love to watch my husband make bread.

23. I have never broken a bone, although by looking at me you would think they could easily break.

24. I'm thinking that maybe I should sit down and tag my blog posts...

25. I've always thought that it would be cool to organize a package exchange with my blog friends. There are some lovely things here in France that would be nice to share with other ladies, (and you Doug) and some of you live in places where I'm sure you have lovely unique things to share as well. An international exchange!

I made it! Let me see if I can find this other tagging post I'm sure I did before...

My Belly

2009-01-17T00:04:00.003+01:00

Today is the first day since about three months that I am able to sit at my computer and have internet access on it! In the last three months we have moved to a new town, a bigger home... we have celebrated my 31st Birthday, Thanksgiving, spent Christmas in Paris, and New Year's Eve in Nice. I don't have a lot of pictures of all this because during our move I couldn't locate my camera... but I do have a Belly picture, or like someone delicately put it, a fat picture!

I hope everyone reading this has had a good Christmas time and has started a wonderful new year in the Lord. He has such wonderful things for us, and I hope that with time we can all learn to take bigger steps of faith as we grow in His knowledge and love.

I won't say much else as it is bed time over here... but I have missed blogging and wanted to thank all who left me so many lovely comments wishing us all the best with this pregnancy. I have kept you all in my prayers and hope to be able to get to posting as before.

God bless and here is the pic!

BTW, if anybody is interested in receiving our Newsletter, please let me know and I'll send it to you!

Peace <><

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart..."

2008-09-04T18:08:00.006+02:00

I cannot let this day go by without posting about our day. I have just had one of the most amazing days of my life. This morning, bright and early, Raphael and I walked down to the Radiologist to get an ultrasound... for me, not him. And the first thing the doctor said about 2 second after she started the ultrasound was, "There's the baby!" or... "Et voilà le bébé" to be more precise. WOW!

We just found out last Thursday that I was pregnant, but we didn't know how long it had been... and to be honest, I wasn't 100% sure of my pregnancy. My body works in such an unusual and funny way that it was really hard to calculate or be sure, so it wasn't until today that we got to know how pregnant I really am. Funnily enough I think it was Sunchi who found out before any of us because of the way she has been acting towards me lately. She just wants to sit on my lap (she has never been a lap dog) and curl up next to my belly.

I could say a lot about what this pregnancy means to me after almost a year and a half of marriage... about what the Lord has shown me in His word about children... I have learned many important things that have changed the way I see it all, but today I want to write about something else.

My dad pointed out to me that the baby's heart was made before his brain and how important that is... and that really made me think. See... when I was looking at the screen, I could kind of make out the head and the little spine as the doctor pointed them out to us... but there was one little thing that I didn't miss and couldn't miss... the heart, and hearing the heart beat of His/our/my baby! :) It's a miracle...

"Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." - Deuteronomy 6:3-7

This little baby doesn't look like much yet, but he/she has a heart... I believe he/she has a soul, and I think he/she is strong as I see how this baby has grown so far and how he/she is going to grow each day as the Lord wills... I pray that this little person will love the Lord with that little beating heart, with her/his soul, and with the little powerful strength she/he has... I was so humbled to see that this little being has that which the Lord asks of us. Our heart, our soul... our strength, and from each according to that which he or she can give.

I have felt unworthy of such a precious gift as I see my lack of love, mercy and grace unto others... and I ask myself how I could possibly bring up a child in the Lord... but thank God it is not about me or Raphael. It's about Him, and I know that all things are possible in Him, and that this baby is here with us because it is the Lord's good pleasure... and he/she is His to start with! That's what it comes down to when you live by faith.

I have a few photos to share... I won't post them right now, but they are coming!

I hope and pray that you have all been well and encourage you to continue in your walk with the Lord.

"Blessed be the name of the Lord!"

"They that sow in tears..."

2008-07-17T12:26:00.021+02:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about harvest time, bearing fruit and blessings... I guess because it's Summer time and the market place is coloured with beautiful Summer fruits and flowers. I have never lived on a farm or had any fruits trees or vegetables to grow, but I can very well imagine how satisfying it must be to see the fruits of your labour and God's blessings. I also think much about it because I realize how much the Lord has blessed me and feel like we are bearing fruit ourselves, in a spiritual way. But I know that many around me are not feeling blessed or like they are bearing any fruit. Raphael and I can both see how the Lord is blessing us here in our home, our little village, church and family... but for some odd reason it seems like we are surrounded by many people, either near or far, that are going through very tough situations. It is one thing to have to deal with a mild headaches, a bad grade, missing a friend, criticism, a bad hair day or bird-poo on your head... all of these can be discouraging, but when you see others having to deal with deep depressions, murder of a family member, sexual abuse, chronic illness at a time when you think "Lord this is not a good time", having your dad thrown in jail while it is clear he is innocent, or no place to live, you know you have to take out your praying umbrella and cover your friends with it, and encourage your friends in your time of harvest...while they sow in tears.

Sunchi and I :)

We visited a friend near Aix-en-Province a few weeks ago and got to drive by some lavender fields that were just beautiful. While driving we noticed that there were some men collecting lavender with their reaping machine. I immediately thought of the verse about not reaping the corners of the fields so the poor and strangers could glean at the corners... and I figured that "hey, I'm a stranger...no?" So I asked my husband very nicely if he thought we could glean there. He was sure we could, but he also asked very nicely and the guys said we could take from what was left over...

I know my colours don't match, but you know, I just didn't care that day; the sky was too blue...don't you just love Sunchi's smile

And when ye reap the harvest of your land, thou shalt not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shalt thou gather any gleaning of thy harvest: thou shalt leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger: I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 23:22

Raphael ready to go swim in the lake...hehe

It was wonderful to glean on the fields; the smell was heavenly, and working on the field made me feel so useful, blessed, like I was in the book of Ruth... like I was collecting the Lavender I planted myself! It was wonderful, and we all enjoyed it. I was able to collect so much that I gave quite a big bunch to some of my neighbors, and have left over for my mother-in-law. It makes me happy to think that their homes are filled with the fresh scent of Lavender. I think our encouragements can also have the same pleasing effect on our friends. It doesn't change the circumstances, it is just a smell of something, but it smells like hope and that can make a big difference. I know I'd love some lavender if I was going through winter. But God has a wonderful promise for anyone going through hard times, big or small; His Word says that

"They that sow in tears...
...shall reap in joy."
Psalm 126:5

That's a great promise and the encouraging verse I've been using lately. If you are going through a time of plenty, don't clean the corners of your field, leave some fruit for those around you that are going through hard times or famine. If you are going through difficult times, be of good cheer, the Lord will see you through and He promises that soon, after the winter you will reap in JOY! And we'll be right there rejoicing with you, if not begging for a bite... but it's all good!

This is when I felt like Ruth or so...

There is another famous Bible verse about sowing..."Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap Galatians 6:7... you know? But that's a whole different story.

God Bless.... :)

In the Beginning was the Word....

2008-07-11T13:44:00.001+02:00

Sunchi's Checklist

2008-07-02T16:46:00.018+02:00

Traveled by plane in South America, the Caribbean and Europe.
Lived on a little Caribbean island for 13 years.
Chased Donkey's away.
Did a road-trip across Europe.
Been to Paris.
Stayed at a hotel.
Was kissed by two complete strangers in the streets of Aubusson.
Been stuck in traffic for hours.
Been to two weddings... and one still to come.
Been faithful all my life.
Retired to the French Riviera where a whole new life will start.

Well, we are back, and we are not alone. We brought back my little dog Sunchi from Bonaire. I have had her since I was 17 so it's a great joy to have her here in France. Maybe one day I can write about the day I got Sunchi, while I was in a hospital for TM. To me she is a reminder of where I have been and what the Lord has done in my life. Raphael and I were in Bonaire with family, then Holland for a friend's wedding, then Paris for work, then the middle of France for another wedding so we are happy to be back home. I have missed my blog friends and posting about our happenings.

The Lord is good, I just want to encourage people with this truth. It may not always look that way, or feel that way, but He is... and I can tell you that with a big smile on my face.

Well, that's it for now...I want to thank everyone for their sweet comments while I was gone, and leave you with a few pictures of our little traveler.

God bless~

Wedding in Holland...

Looking for mushrooms in the forest with Mamie...

Giving Raphael his B-day gift...

Looking at the fish...

Taking a nap after lunch...

Paris...

Making new friends...

"Sunchi besame mucho!"

Using facilities in our hotel room...

Resting after a long day...

"Are you coming?"

Traffic Jam

Took hours...

New home sweet home...

(In case anyone is wondering, no she doesn't sleep in bed, but on our last day at the hotel she was allowed to sleep in the bed while we packed our things.)

Jimena is...

2008-05-17T21:33:00.001+02:00

... in BONAIRE

Loooooooooong walk

2008-05-02T14:36:00.015+02:00

I just wanted to post a few pictures Raphael took on his mobile from our walk yesterday. He had a day off so we went for a nice walk in nature. Before going we had a very nice study in I Samuel 1. I was really touched to learn about how God answers our prayers. It was just a great way to start the day.... so off we went on this walk. The weather was great, and my walking was quite good as well. Raphael showed me how to use two hiking sticks to see if that would help and it helped so well that on our way up he didn't even have to make an effort to slow down his walking, so that was very encouraging for me... So, we walked, and walked, and talked about heaven, and I kept asking him things that require a lot of imagination like... "If God gave you a country... would you like it to be an island or somewhere in a continent? What kind of vegetation would you put in it? What kind of animals?" and so on.... I know he doesn't like these kinds of questions very much because... they are so irrelevant, but he still answers as best as he can to satisfy me, and then I talk and talk and talk about what I would do if it were my case... all this while I'm still walking pretty well. I know he would much rather have me ask him how the internet works, for example... anyway. We walked and walked, and then after about 2 hours he pointed to where he wanted to take me... on top of a mountain, and I thought he must be kidding because how on earth would I get up there? But I just followed him... then after more walking I started to feel really tired and wanted to give up but he told me he wanted to take me just a little bit further up... so after walking and climbing a bit... he lead me to the very top and WOW, the view was amazing. then he pointed down to were we had parked the car and how much we had walked and WOW.... I just had to cry a little to think that just by taking little steps at a time you can get very far... He shared with me how it made him so happy to be sharing this walk with me. See.... my husband is a hiker... he loves to hike and climb... and how funny is it that the Lord gave him a wife that walks with so much difficulty. And yet... isn't that just like God?

Then we found a place to sit and we went through out prayer requests and those the Lord had answered already, and other blessings that we hadn't even prayed for but the Lord had done... and we prayed and just spent such a nice time on top of that mountain....

Then we had to go down... there were several ways to go back to the car, I asked for the shortest way because I was already kind of really tired. So we saw a path and chose to go on that one... there had been a warning sign hiding in the bushes but Raphael looked at his map and according to the map the path would lead us to the car. This path was smaller, going down, and had a lot of stones on it which made it very difficult for me... and after 30 minutes we hit a fence that prevented us from continuing and had no other choice but to turn back... The sun was already starting to set, we knew that we still had about two hours to go... and we had just lost 45 minutes going down and up this trail... my legs were getting heavier and heavier... and not only that but I was VERY discouraged. I knew it wasn't Raphael's fault, he was following the map, but still... walking up was easier, but much more tiring, and I knew once we were up we still had to go down the other way. Raphael felt really bad and I could tell he was a bit concerned about time. He put up the warning sign again (which said that it was a dangerous path) I just had to keep praying for the Lord to give me patience and a happy heart... Raphael also stopped after a while to pray for me because he could tell that I was having a hard time... I just kept thinking that all that was happening was like a perfect situation to discourage us after such a great moment of prayer. I knew that it was just the kind of thing that would make us forget how Good the Lord really is and it could have even gotten me mad at Raphael when it wasn't really his fault, so I tried to keep that in mind and just continue praying...

Raphael then decided that he was going to take me down on his back and that I should just enjoy the view... so that's more or less how we made it down.... and it was fun, it was good exercise for him he said, and it kept our spirits up. He carried me down all the way to the foot of the mountain and then when it was flat I was able to walk back quite ok. We left for our walk at about 14:30 and got back to the car at about 20:30... that was a loooong walk. On our way home we stopped to get some excellent pizza, and once at home my he prepared a foot bath for me. :)

I'm still kind of tired today, but... I'm just happy of the day we had.

On our way up... unawares of what awaits me... see those rocks up there?

View from the rocks i just showed you?

I loved that we could see the snowy alps... those are my favourite mountains around here...

Raphael took pictures all around with his mobile...

Super cool!

Too bad he didn't take a picture from where we parked... and too bad I can't load those pictures from my mobile for some reason...

Our first trip down the wrong path... again unawares...

This is where Raphael took me down... at the bridge

Picture of where we were! I can hardly believe it!

Raphael... always happy, and me thinking "Take me home!"... but happy too :)

God+1Year+1day+Raphael=Happy Me :)

2008-04-29T18:51:00.016+02:00

On the 28th of April 2007 Raphael and I got married in a beautiful little church, on a beautiful Sunny day in Holland (!!!). It's been a year and a day since that day and it has been such a blessed year for me and Raphael. On our wedding day we received an album from one of my colleagues and her boyfriend with some photos of "my children" at the school where I worked... a souvenir to always remember them... and they also added some pictures of our engagement. At the end they put... "to be continued" - So I thought a year after I could offer it to Raphael again with some pictures of what this year has meant to me. So... a friend and I went to the beach in Cannes... she brought her cool pink camera and I brought a bag full of things to see if I could somehow make pictures of what love was for me...

All the pictures were taken by Tuuli, a friend from church... I thought she did a great job at taking them and going ahead with all my little crazy ideas. I would just set up things and she would snap away... it was great because often times I would like to take a picture of my hands or so, and I would need a third arm to take it.. so it was great to have Tuuli there. She admited she had never taken such pictures, but I think they turned out great. Thank you Tuuli!

I did edit the photos some to add text or colour...and make them a bit like what I saw in my head... didn't quite work as well because I'm not very good with photo editing programs at all... and I just had a short time to work on them, but it did get me interested in learning more about photo editing...

Anyway here are some pictures :)

The idea was to make a little album of what love meant to me in our marriage. So on one side of the album I put a "love is.." picture and on the other side I put a picture of what it was...

Because of my disability I find that love... or how Raphael shows his love to me is by being patient. Tuuli later commented on how the love I felt was coming from him was love from God, and she was right on!

"Love is..." "...Marriage"... to me ;)

Well... in this case I put what it was in the same picture... :)

Les Petits Nounours :)

I love the way my simple kitchen matches look in this picture. Had no idea they were so photogenic!

Tuuli wasn't sure love was really forever as it kept being blown away... but I assured her it was...as God is eternal.

I have many more pictures that I used for the album but just wanted to share a few here...

In the morning we exchanged our old vows again and put on our rings for fun... Raphael gave me a huge bouquet with beautiful flowers and took me to a lovely restaurant in the evening close to our house. We just walked there and later walked back home in the cool of the night. We also got some phone calls that made our day! It was a lovely day to remember our wedding and the verses we used... :)

"My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away."
Song of Solomon 2:10-13

To any young lady reading this that would love to get married one day I will say this..."I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till he please." Song of Solomon 2:7

It's not easy to hear to "wait", to "not look for" or "find" but it is so worth it when we do wait on the Lord... trust me, but most of all trust the Lord who loves us more than we can ever imagine. :)

God bless ~

Net Hoy... o_0

2008-04-19T20:52:00.004+02:00

Today is my little borther's Bithday, but I can't get in touch with him because his phone broke and there is no other way to get in touch with him... so I think this is the first year I will not speak to him on his Birthday... and that's sad... for me :(

So, I thought I would post a picture of him... and oh why not, I'll put my other brother in there too.. and wish him a Happy Birthday on my blog.

I won't say much about him because I don't want to embarrass him, but I will say that this little brother of mine does inspire me because of his maturity, his sensitivity to others, his really funny laugh, and how he can encourage his much older sister to be strong in the Lord, trusting always, only looking back to remember how God has been present in my life.

I didn't write a post for my other brother on his Birthday (which was last month) because I talked to him... but all I can say about him right now is that I have not seen him in way too long! He lives in Spain where he seems to love it, but God willing we will be able to see each other next month. I love both my brothers, I miss them, I wish I could see them more often, I think they are great guys and I just pray that they will both learn to put their trust in the Lord for all things. I've always been very happy with having brothers :)

Feliz Cumpleaños Carlos David!
днем рождения

What I've gotten myself into...

2008-04-18T20:51:00.020+02:00

Raphael and I just returned from a short trip to Paris... we got to see family and share some good time with them. We even got to see a very old wedding album from his grandmother's sister... great-aunt I guess. That was fun! I don't have any pictures of the Eiffel tower, but maybe next time... we'll be going back soon God willing...

As I've mentioned before, Raphael and I have started a Bible study at home... it has been our prayer to have a study at home and now that we have one we are praying for those the Lord might want to send our way.... like our neighbors? We live on a very cute little street, and lately we have gotten to know our neighbors a little bit better and I have also started to go to an association on our street where they have activities for children and adults. The lady in charge would like to form activities that would allow people to share their knowledge with others in town. I thought it would be a good way to get to know people around so I have been going to get French lessons and have recently started going to their cooking courses.... well, Wednesday was my first class... we had a Tunisian lady over who taught us how to make "King's ears"... which is a Tunisian specialty... it was a very small group of ladies, but it was fun... and of course they asked us if we knew how to make any nice typical dishes or whatever... I don't know why, maybe I felt some pressure, but I actually said that I could make something (arepas I think)... so now they are all excited and the lady called me to ask if I could teach them how to cook something in two weeks... I don't recall saying that I knew how to make anything well... I told her I would think about it, I think I should make something because I do want to get to know these ladies and share with them... but I have no idea what I could teach... I was thinking maybe pancakes... they don't have pancakes for breakfast in France so maybe I can make some... it's not typical at all from where I come from, but it's the only thing I can think of that I'm quite good at, and I can make from scratch... the lady that was teaching us told us that she always has her hands in dough... she makes her own pasta and all! If anybody has any easy good ideas out there... they are more than welcome!

Ephrussi de Rothschild Villa

View from the villa with 7 gardens....

Today I went to Cannes with a friend. It might sound really fancy to some people... or not, but we just walked around, looked at nice shops, had lunch, talked a lot, walked by the beach, had a nice cup of hot chocolate, and played Scrabble at a coffee bar/restaurant... how cool is that! The Cannes Film Festival is in a few weeks so there is a lot of work going on. I took some fun pictures of Joanna on the "Red" carpet... with her camera. It was nice to have a girly day out, and Joanna is a lot of fun. :)

On train trip from Paris to home :)

As soon as we see the sea, we know we are almost home!

Today Raphael and I went to Menton, it's on the border with Italy. In the morning we taught some children in Nice and then we drove down to Menton. It was a beautiful day and I really do enjoy going out with Raphael... he's great, funny and he loves chicken! I don't have any pictures of Cannes or Menton, but I do have some other nice pictures... and I've noticed that people like pictures... so I will quit writing and post some pics...

Lady teaching us how to make King's ears...

Our street... :)

Et Voila!

Thank God for nice funny friends to hang out with, a super cool husband, King's ears and happy birthday to my brother!

The End -
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- Not the End-

Raphael just mentioned that I couldn't put pictures of a pink villa without talking about what it was... I guess in case anyone thinks we live there. Well, we went there two weeks ago on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I told him I wanted to visit a garden and he took me to a pink villa with 7 gardens. It was a beautiful place in St. Jean Cap Ferrat. There is a link to the website under the picture... I also saw many beautiful houses/castles/villas today, and I think "Wow, that's amazing!" but what's even more amazing is that I'm sure no matter how impressive they are, they are nothing compared to what the Lord is preparing for us :)... can't wait :)

Trains, horses and taking Jesus to Nice

2008-03-30T20:36:00.035+02:00

I hope everybody has had a good and blessed weekend. I've had quite an eventful one that I will not forget soon. I was finally able to do something I hadn't done since I moved to France. I took the train to Nice.... alone! I have to go to Nice to get some paper work done at the Dutch embassy. I had hoped that Raphael would be able to go with me to take the train for the first time, as I was really clueless as how to do this, but he works and the embassy is only open in the mornings. Besides that he was sure I would be able to take the train with no problem. I was used to taking trains in Holland and according to him it's the same thing. Well... I wasn't so sure about that... and knowing I had to do this had me feeling very anxious for a long long time. So Friday he reminded me that I had to get this done and how there was nothing to worry about... how it was really quite simple... but somehow his comforting words did not comfort me at all. For some odd reason I had fear that was beyond my understanding. It was unreasonable because why should I be scared? What was I so afraid of?... I couldn't come up with a good reason. My feelings of fear were so strong though that it was even making me cry... then out of the blue a friend calls to say something about the Bible study we are having at home, and in asking me how things were I shared about how I was planning to make this solo trip and it scared me, and what bothered me was that I didn't know why I was so scared... then my friend told me that I actually had good reason to be afraid... in fact, I had three things against me! This was a surprise to me, three things? What could they be? Well... my friend went on to share that first of all: I didn't speak the language well, and even for someone (my friend) that had been living in France before and spoke the language well (translator) it was still difficult. Secondly, France is completely different from Holland. I still cannot situate myself very well anywhere on the coast, things just appear much more complicated when you don't know where you are, things can even be complicated to those who have been living here longer than myself. Thirdly... I have a walking disability. It is not easy to get around, especially when I constantly have to look down to not trip over anything, and that as I have a neurological problem, my legs are very very sensitive to my emotions/feelings. If I'm nervous, my legs also get nervous and they either tremble or just appear to be loosing strength, which makes me even more nervous, which then goes back to my legs... and so on. So, according to my friend I did have good reason to feel as I did, it wouldn't be normal to feel otherwise.... and you know, that made me feel so much better. Why?... well simply because I know Someone who is very very good at handling difficult situations. See, if I have to depend on my own strength to do things, I know I will faint, I will go weary, I will age a hundred years... BUT... you know how I mentioned Deuteronomy 20 before? The chapter I said I like to read with a Scottish accent? Let me just share two verses with you.

¨When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." Deuteronomy 20:1

When you go out to battle and you see that your enemy is greater than you... don't turn around and run away... no, the LORD your GOD is with you! Do I believe God is with me... yes I do! Why? I believe in Him. I used to have a quote, by Lewis, on a folder back in high-school that said... "I believe in God like I believe the sun has risen. Not because I see it, but because by it I see it all." I believe the Lord has opened my eyes to His truths, and I want to keep tasting and seeing more of Him. See... the world can say to me: "Depend on no-one but yourself. Believe in yourself! Be your own god! If you are nervous, take action! take a pill!" I could have indeed done that... but you see... I believe in this incredible God who has done extraordinary things... I chose to depend on the Lord, because I know that by doing so, He can do extraordinary things... that I could never manage to do in my own strength. Does it make me lose my identity, do I become a no-one... no, not at all... I'm unique, and my story is mine... that's what I also find so beautiful... when I meet other Christians I love to ask them about what the Lord has been doing in their lives, because they have such a unique story! Back to Deuteronomy....

"...Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." Deut 20:3-4

I don't have to tremble, or faint, or be terrified... because God goes with me and He will fight for me... to save me. Speaking of pills... I don't have anything against some medications... in my case I know that for my anxiety I could have been given some because it was almost unbearable, but... taking them would go against my own personal belief that the Lord IS my strength and I do not have to fear. Please understand that this is the way I chose to walk with the Lord... To win a battle you had to have chariots and horses and weapons... the more the better of course. Even in these days of war it's clear that the bigger and more equipped your army is, the more of a chance you have to win the war. But Psalms 20 says... " Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." Psalm 20:7

There is nothing wrong with horses... with strength. There is nothing wrong with good health, or good foreign language skills... these can be good things to fight a battle with, if you will, but don't depend on them to be your strength, don't think that unless you have them you can win a battle... if you don't have them, like me, it's ok. God is with us :)

So, ok Jimena, that's all nice and all... but how did it go? Well... after praying with my friend, I also shared a bit with my youngest brother, who reminded me of this poem he likes, "Footsteps in the sand"... the one where during the difficult parts there is only one pair of footsteps walking... If you don't know the poem please go here :), if you do know it... then you can understand that I knew it was time to take Jesus on a walk. If I wouldn't be able to walk, He would. And off I went... feeling much better. :)

Bus I took to the train station in Cannes

Waiting in line to get my ticket...

My ticket!

At one of the stops...

Some people waiting for a train...

People walking by ... I like the reflection of the guy in the corner

At Nice! Seeing my train continue to Italy...

"Nice Ville" Station

Outside...

Not sure what this was about, but the man was playing lovely French music :)

There was a free photo exhibition about women right next to the station.

Walking around looking for the embassy...

I ever found a Christian Bookstore.

walking, walking...

Pretty pink building...

Le Mozart...

YAY!!!

Green...

Going back home... on the train :)

"We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God..." Psalm 20:5

"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"

2008-03-24T09:42:00.007+01:00

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

Psalm 22

1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?
2 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.
3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
8 He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly.
11 Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
12 Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
13 They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
16 For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns.
22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.
25 My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him.
26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.
27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations.
29 All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul.
30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.
31 They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Not weird, just different....

2008-03-17T19:13:00.007+01:00

As I have been tagged three times to say 7 weird things about myself I suppose I should post about it. Problem is I'm having a hard time finding 7 weird things about myself.... I'll do my best though...

1. When I eat I calculate my bites in such a way that my last bite has a little bit of everything... (perfectly acceptable).

2. I like children's books... I borrow some from our public Media-library and then have my husband read them to me at night... (nothing wrong with that... after all, it's a good way to learn a new language)

3. I've been told that my house looks like a museum because of all the artsy stuff around. (a compliment)

4. Ok, I'll admit this is a bit weird... I like to watch my clothes tumble in the washing machine... it's relaxing, no?

5. I can make a satisfactory chicken sound.

6. I like to read passages like Deuteronomy 20 with a Scottish accent... (it somehow helps me live the passage... let me know if you tried it yourself)

7. I... and my husband invited everybody and anybody to our wedding... I met a lot of new people this way... like our school's lunch-lady's husband... he was very happy to have been "invited". Why did we do that?... the Lord invites everybody to His Banquet... He's an everybody kind of Person, His love reaches out to all... knowing this we too wanted to invite everybody to our church service and our reception... this caused some stress to our parents but we felt in our hearts that this was what we should do. We could afford a good meal for 75 people... but over 200 people showed up and all were invited to have a good meal and there were even left-overs! Besides family how could we judge some to be more worthy of an invitation than others? I was sorry not all my friends were able to make it because through the years I had lost track of them and couldn't reach them, but they too would have been invited if I would have been able to reach them... it was a fun day with people from over 27 nationalities who seemed to be happy to be there and share with us... even if I didn't know them all.

Well, those are my 7.... I don't really think any of these is really weird except maybe the washing machine one... call it, different if you will... ;)

Oh my...

2008-03-16T18:59:00.007+01:00

I know I have been gone for a long time, and I see that people still stop by and I'm sorry if you have stopped by hoping to see pictures and getting some news from me... I have been busy. In the last few weeks I (or we in some cases) have gotten x-rays, been on a Church Retreat, picked up my brother from Marseille, started a Bible study at home, have been trying to get a bit involved in our little community, finished my French course, watched my plants grow, seen prayers answered, was tagged three times, had people over for dinner or a night, was offered a free French lesson just ten steps away from home (5 steps if you are tall) and another French lesson by phone from my mother-in-law, saw my husband open a facebook account, started giving an English course by phone to a young Polish girl living in Paris, mastered yummy fluffy pancakes for breakfast, got three Wedding invitations, said good-bye to my brother ... and more! For this week besides home-work I have to ready myself to host one of our favourite guests, our youngest and sometimes more demanding guest, but I WILL be ready. I know what to expect now. Even though it has been busy I'm happy with what the Lord is doing in our lives and around us... and if I'm not happy... too bad for me, God is good and I have to learn to trust Him in all things knowing that He works for the best of those who love Him.

My blog has also been awarded twice by two sweet young ladies and this also slows me down a bit, because it really humbles me. One award was a "Blogging with a Purpose" award, and the other one was an "Excellent blog" award, and the reason it's humbling is because before I got these awards I never really thought about what the purpose of this blog was. I think one of my first posts was about a cat that had jumped in my backyard... and another one about having dinner with my mom and brother, and another one about all the chairs in my apartment. But well... after giving it a bit of though I believe this blog is hopefully about bringing glory to the Lord, and I hope that through my posts about my little life people can get a taste of how good and faithful the Lord is to me, that there is no sweeter thing than walking in peace with the Lord, through rain, storms, burning heat or in green pastures under a beautiful rainbow... and about being excellent? Well, if this blog is about Him, then sure... there is nothing more excellent than Him indeed! I want to thank sweet Kaysie and the lovely Courtney for these humbling awards... I think I have to pass them on to others? Hmmm... I think what would be fun is if all those that are linked on this blog could write a post about what the purpose of their blog is (if they haven't done so yet)... not just for me, but for all those who read their blogs. And then about being excellent... they are all excellent because that's why I link to them in the first place... but let me just say something about Kaysie. If you ever find yourself having one of those difficult dry days when all you really want and need is a nice cold glass of water, I would recommend drinking one of her posts... they are so refreshing! Every time I read one of her posts I feel so blessed and encouraged in the Lord. I am very happy to know Kaysie through her blog. She knows it is all about Him and reminds us to turn to Him for all things. Courtney on the other hand is more for those cold days that leave our muscles all tensed! Her blog invites us into a warm cosy home, where they honour God for all their blessings. I love seeing pictures of her family and it blessed me so much to just read about her life, her lovely family and... Christopher!!!! From the time that I have "known" her she has stood strong in her faith and in the last 2 years now I can see how the Lord has blessed her for her faithfulness. It's been a blessing to know these two ladies through their blogs, and it really humbles me that they would consider this blog worthy of a reward.

Well... I'll go see if I can post some pictures of any of the above mentioned activities that have kept me busy for the last couple of weeks. I pray that as you read this post the Lord will touch and comfort your heart.

Blessings...

Mimosa Parade

2008-02-26T16:17:00.014+01:00

When I first heard about "Mimosa" I thought it was some kind of food... South African for some reason... then I realized one of my French Soaps was called Mimosa and once I opened it and used it the fragrance was....WOW, nothing like I expected Mimosa to smell like. I couldn't believe a little soap could fill an entire room like that... our bathroom is rather small, but I was just really impressed. Since the end of January I have seen the beautiful Mimosa trees blooming their little yellow suns all over the coast. Everywhere I go I see the bright yellow colour on the fields, in backyards, on the hills... it makes me feel so happy even though yellow has never been one of my favourite colours. I knew people were having Mimosa parades everywhere, but I didn't know they were going to have one right here in our little village. I took a few pictures :)

People waiting at the Plaza

Cool Pink-Red Polka-dotted Horse

I thought this little girl was so cute. Too bad the picture turned was blurry.

Here comes the Turtle! (Picture by Raphaël l)

I liked the Turtle!

Picture Raphael took with his mobile...

Little Princesses and Prince

A lady gave me a little bouquet of Mimosas as she danced by...

Could you spot where there was Mimosa in the pictures?

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever. Isaiah 40:8

"Thank you Mothers!"

2008-02-19T12:28:00.010+01:00

I know it's not Mother's day but I have to write a "Thank You" to all the dedicated mothers that read here. Thank you for taking care of your little ones! (including the not so little ones too) And if you have any 2 to 3-year-olds you will be considered heroes in this post.

My husband and I had the privilege of hosting a little three year old for three days last week. His mother is a single working mother and she asked if we could have him for the weekend as schools would be closed. We have had him before, but it was the first time I had him all day while Raphael worked. Let me tell you... I thought I was quite experienced as I have taught for three years in Holland working with 2.5 to 5 year olds... but this was totally different. First off, I wake up to the sound of a little voice telling me that "It's day! It's day!" Then I feel little hands and feet crawling up to our bed and stepping all over us with joy. So ok, he's right, it's day... and yes, we should be glad. Raphael gets ready for work, I sit and have breakfast with our guest and run him through our daily program. We are going to town, then we will be baking a cake because it's Valentine's day and it's a surprise for Raphael, then we are going to take the bus to the Media Library, then we will wait for Raphael who will pick us up to go back home. Sounded like a good clear plan to me, but first of all we'd have to wash up... Now this is where my questions of admiration for all you mothers (and some fathers too!) come in. These are either things I was wondering or arguing with him about.

1. How do you get a child to take a bath to start with?
3. How do you get him out?
2. How long should playing in the shower last?
4. Who should be dried off first? The child or the toys?
0.5 Who should take a bath first, you or the child?
5. Do you take a bath in the morning?
6. If you take a bath do you have time to think about what you will wear and comb your hair?
7. What does the child do while you take a bath, and is it safe?

I'm guessing that it was just kind of harder for me because I don't have children and I don't know him very well... my French is not perfect either, but I'm guessing that even if it is your child and you know him quite well you will still have struggles, right?

Our cake turned out quite well. He got to put in the yogurt, the baking powder, the salt, the raspberries... I think he really enjoyed it, and he was good enough to wait until after dinner to try it. Our bus trip was another adventure. After 5 minutes in the bus he fell asleep; we were all the way in the back of the bus. I picked him up to hold him... he looked so cute....BUT, when we were close to our stop I couldn't get him to wake up. I moved him about, called his name, shook his head a little bit and nothing. I was a bit anxious because I didn't know how I would get him and our things down if he was asleep. Then for a moment he opened his eyes and I asked him if he was ok, and he said "yes" and fell asleep again! We did manage to get down safely and soon enough he was wide awake! We read books at the Media Library until Raphael came over to pick us up. He ran up to Raphael and first thing he said was "We made a cake for you!"

The next day we just stayed home and played. He loves going to church and singing, so we played church and he was so cute. We pretended that our worship leader was sick so he had to go up and lead us in worship. He took a "make believe" guitar (don't remember what it was) and started to sing and from time to time he would stop to pray. :)

Then on Saturday we went to the mountains to play with some snow :)

I think the greatest blessing though was to be able to read to him at night from his little Bible for children and look at examples of "good listening"... something we had to work on. We talked about Peter letting down his net when Jesus told him to (Luke 5:4), (he did good listening), about the storm quieting down because it obeyed Jesus (Luke 8:24), and how the little children came to Jesus and listened to Him... they looked like they were listening from the picture. It really blessed me that we were able to share about the Lord, and I think it blessed him too.

So, well again a THANK YOU to all you mothers who are working hard day after day to bring up your children as best as you can and in the Lord. If there are any single mothers or fathers at your church or anywhere else that you know, be sure to keep them in your prayers and see how you can bless them. I was blessed with a great mother whom I thought a lot about as I was taking care of Yann. My mother is such a great example of love and dedication to me. She is a hard worker and I just hope that if one day the Lord blesses us with a child/ren, I would be a good mother too.

And what did I get for Valentine's Day?

Home-made bread by Raphael with our initials in the heart!

Mmmmm, it was very good!

Valberg

2008-02-10T19:16:00.000+01:00

"For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth..." Job 37:6

Here are some pictures from Valberg!

This is where we stayed.

This was the view from our balcony. The main ski station (on the picture) was just accros, so that was a blessing!

Here I am with the instructor on day 2. Raphael stayed with us to take pictures and to learn how he could also teach me to ski.

Practicing the "chasse-neige" on day 4.

Later he would stand at a distance and I had to make my way to him and stop in front of him.

On day 5 I was so good I was even able to go up hill very fast :P - Actually I think the photographer was about the fall.
That's it folks!

"Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail" Job 38:22

Snow: Yes - Break: No broken bones!

2008-02-07T00:07:00.000+01:00

We're back again... and as I mentioned in a comment, my break was not what I expected it would be. You know how sometimes we like to predict what is going to happen? That's kind of what I did before leaving. I predicted that I would have a quiet little retreat because everybody I would go with would be busy skiing or doing some snow sport. Because of TM I have very weak legs and just walking is difficult. I also don't have good balance... I just thought I would have a lot of time to be alone and read and pray and just enjoy nature which I love to do.... I also asked my husband if he could get me one of those little sleighs so I could go up and down the hill... just looked like a lot of fun. But... it seems the Lord had other plans for me. On our first day there my husband, in-laws and I went down to one of the ski villages to rent some skis. I went in the store with them and the lady assumed I was going to ski too so she got me some shoes and skis. My husband told her I had never skiied before so she adviced him on what kind of skis would be good for me, and where to ski... right. I just stood there and thought I would go with the flow... even if it's just to pose for a picture. Then we left and went to the place she suggested... I put my very heavy shoes on, walked a little bit (felt like a Transformer) and when I got on the snow they put on my skis and that was the end and the beginning of it. My mother-in-law, who is very optimistic and kind, stayed with me and taught me how to stand on them; move a little bit to the front and side to side... the rest of the day she spent picking me off the floor. There was almost no one around until this group of militaries came to practise a bit. It was really exhausting for me but after a little lunch break they suggested I try the platter pull which is used to pull you up hill. I'm not very good at saying no, and even when I do say no I'm not very effective somehow, so off I went to the "tire-fesses". It was all planned. My father-in-law went up ahead to wait for me at the top of the hill, my husband would take the one after me to make sure I get there... and my mother in law superviced the operation... So I hold on to this thing and when it pulled me I was succesful for, oh about... 3m!!! I fell, was still hooked to this thing that just kept dragging me, and dragging me. I looked back and both my husband and mother-in-law yelled something... either "Let go!" or "Don't let go!".... So I keep dragging for another while and look back again at them, and again they yell something with the military guys now stretching their necks from behind to not miss the action, and I thought "I don't know what they are saying, but I'm going to try to get this thing off". So after much pulling I got hooked off and my husband took one of the pull things to get to me and help me up. I think the first thing he said was "Wow, you did great for the first 10 meters!" Ofcourse I had been dragged for about 100 meter, but ok. Then he went to get my father-in-law who was still waiting for me. I was so tired and still in shock and I told my mother-in-law that I was tired and that I didn't think it was a sport for disabled people. It was something for normal people and I just cried in frustration... but she looked me straight in the eyes and told me that I was not right, that it was difficult for everybody, and that I was doing very well for my first day. We then went to the car and we talked and she comforted me and told me that they still had to get to know me better and I had to teach them all about how I feel and what I can or cannot do. I was really down and tired and I started to miss my family. When we got back home I went straight to bed and just felt sorry for myself and I missed my family because they know me so well. They were with me every step when I got sick and my dad would have known how to help me, my brother would have known how to encourage me.... but then I thought... "No, you must give thanks and praise God. Look where you are!" And then thoughts of being paralyzed ran through my mind, being told I would not ever walk again, remembering what a miracle it was the day I could move my toes and feet just a little bit, and I got up raised my hands and praised God. Thanks to Him I can walk again; never mind the disabilities, I was on SKIS! Thanks to Him I have a loving family that saw me through my illness; thanks to God I have a great new family that also loves me and they all want to learn all about me. May all I do and all that happens to me be to the glory of God.

Since we had to leave kind of early that morning I didn't have a chance to read all my Bible chapters for the day, so afterwards I took the time to finish reading. The Gospel chapter I was to read for that day was about Jesus walking on the water. Then Peter too wanted to walk to Jesus and he walked on the water until he saw the wind and was afraid... and started to sink... but Jesus reached out his hand and caught him! I thought... I too was kind of walking on water... frozen water, and I got all scared when I was being dragged, but the point is that Jesus is there to reach out to us when we fear... we can always remember that. Even when we are sinking or sliding in my case, there is hope.

That was my first day of this quiet peacefull retreat I thought I was going to have... I skiied every single day after that and thanks to my in-laws, husband and two nice teachers that taught me for two days I got better and better at it... and really enjoyed it, praise God.

I took a few pictures and my husband also took some pictures. I will try to post some soon as I'm not home right now. I don't know if sharing any of this can be an encouragement to anyone. All I know is that I can tell you that I once was indeed paralyzed, I could not move or feel my legs, I could not control my back and all that comes with being paralyzed. I was told I would never walk again but today Thanks to God I can plan to share some pictures with you of me on skis. Glory be to Him who makes all things possible.

My husband told me that he couldn't wait to read my next post, to which I said "But I'm here, you can just talk to me!" But no, he wants to read a post. So let me take the opportunity to thank him too because he was SUPER!

Thank you for your patience, love, hugs and kindness... for wanting to help me ski, encouraging me, believing in me when I didn't believe it was possible, for pushing me but not really pushing me... your big smiles, your bêtises... you are the sweetest man I know.

There is no better remedy to a broken spirit than lifting your hands and praising the Lord for all that He has given us.

Pictures to come!

Snow break

2008-01-26T23:22:00.000+01:00

I love snow, I like the way it makes everything look so forgiven. Tomorrow we are planning to go the mountains. They are all covered with snow... today Raphael's family came and we had a pick-nick at the beach where we had a great view of the mountains... :) All this to say that I will be gone for a little time, and to let you know that I will be praying for you as I also plan to do a little spiritual retreat. If there is something I really enjoy doing is spending time in prayer for friends, family, just anyone that comes to mind. I hope you have a blessed weekend/week and I hope to share some new pictures soon.

Blessings

Images de France

2008-01-21T01:04:00.000+01:00

I haven't been posting any pictures lately so I thought I would share a few pictures I took last year during a trip to Paris. We took our time (2 days) and enjoyed the good weather and so many beautiful places. To me it's a blessing to live in such a beautiful country. Hope you enjoy them!

Sisteron

Castellanne (Notice the building on top of the rock!)

A bit before Grenoble

St.Pierre-de-Chartreuse

Vercors

Vaise de Loup

Champs de Lavande en Provence

"...for, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." I Cor 11:26

"Just one more night with the frogs"

2008-01-13T18:51:00.000+01:00

Last night Raphael and I were going through Exodus 8... which is when the second plague was just about to befall Egypt. Perhaps you have seen the movie/cartoon "Prince of Egypt". It's a nice cartoon, I have seen it quite a few times, but it's not really really accurate as far as the story goes... at least you have Moses, Pharaoh, the magicians who, by the way, had very impressive dance moves in the movie... the children of Israel, the plagues and the parting and crossing of the red sea. Anyway... so I just wanted to share a bit about something that I was reminded of as he was reading the verses...

Let's go to the part where God is telling Moses what to say to Pharaoh...

"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt." Exodus 8:2-7

...wait a minute... back up... what was that? "And the magicians did so with their enchantments"..??? o_0 The frog plague was the second one of the plagues... the first one was about turning water into blood... which Pharaoh's magicians also did with their enchantments... the idea I suppose is to say that their gods could do the same as Moses' God, and as long as they could do the same thing Pharaoh was not going to listen to them... but isn't it actually a foolish thing to do. It's like someone giving you a black eye, and you say "Oh yea? Well, I can do that too!" and you punch yourself in the eye! Sorry for the not so lady like example...I hang out with a guy every day. So, there are frogs everywhere, in the river, on the streets, in your house, in your bed, in your food, and if you accidentally open your mouth while sleeping they would probably jump in too...if that isn't bad enough Pharaoh's magicians go and make even more frogs. Way to go guys. Anyway, that was just a little dumb magician moment, but this is the sad part.

"Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? And he said, To morrow..." Exodus 8:8-10

(Photo by: John Byford... it's a British one, not an Egyptian frog)

Frogs were one of the animal-gods the Egyptians had. I don't know much about this god, I'm sure you can find out more about it... but it kind of makes me think of one of my last posts about stolen gods... gods that can be anything we put before the Lord, and sometimes these gods can be more of a curse to us. What I find sad is how when Moses comes and asks Pharaoh "Great, when do you want to get rid of these frogs, I can ask the Lord and He will destroy them!" And Pharao says "Tomorrow"... We were wondering about why he says this... it could have been his pride... I don't think it was procrastination in this case as I'm sure the frogs were driving everyone crazy... but no, Pharaoh spoke, and he decided that tomorrow would be the day. I have heard teachers in the past explain that the frogs could be seen as sins in our lives... and how many times don't we say Tomorrow to God. "Tomorrow I will stop doing drugs.", "Tomorrow I will stop seeing this person I shouldn't be with.", "Tomorrow I will stop beating my wife.", "Tomorrow I will stop lying.", "Tomorrow I will think about God.", "Tomorrow I will be a better sister.", "Tomorrow I will change my ways.", "Tomorrow my friend could be too late...."

Unfortunately I know people and I myself have been in situations when I have preferred spending one more night with the frogs instead of coming to God. Sometimes because I wanted to maybe gain time and figure another way to have it my way... Sometimes it can be as simple as knowing that you have to forgive that person that hurt you, but no, not today, not tonight... tonight you want to sink in the mud with the frogs croaking about all the bad things this person has done to you, or whatever the issue is.

What's kind of interesting, and this is just my observation so I could be wrong, but it seems to me that God also played Pharaoh's game... the other plagues that followed were announced to happen "Tomorrow" ... as in each time Moses would tell Pharaoh that unless he let the people go a plague would come "Tomorrow".

"People say, eat and drink for tomorrow we die"...but what else does the Bible say about tomorrow?

"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain.Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." James 4:13-15

People plan what they will do today, and tomorrow and in a month and in a year... some have very impressive agendas. It's not bad to plan, but know that our lives are really like vapour, we apprear for a little time and then vanish. Not long ago we lost a dear brother at the church. A young student who had his whole life in front of him... A cousin of mine was in a car accident not long ago and as a result two young girls lost their lives. Even some old person could tell you that life goes by much faster than you really think. So, what's the point? Live your lives to the fullest, but live it unto God... honour Him with your life, give it to Him and He will bless you eternally. When should you do that? ;)...

"For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." Exodus 32:29

Today is the day...

Moses was willing to make things right between Pharaoh and God... my husband pointed out to me last night that today we have Jesus to intercede for us. Sin, the frogs in our lives are what are keeping us from walking in purity with the Lord. Jesus, if you will, is here to make things right, He will wash us from all the sin in our lives. Confess your sins to the Lord, let's come clean... We can come to Him.... when? ;) Glad you asked!

"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." II Cor 6:2

Let's not be stuborn like Pharaoh... I know I can not sleep in peace when I have frogs in my head... my peace comes from coming to God and asking Him to take them away... Today.

I really say all this from my heart, and with love... I know dear people to me that struggle with drugs/false gods or other frogs that don't let them sleep... and yet they cry, "Just one more night, just one more day." We can't do it alone... but God is here, He can break the chains now, this day...

Peace

Three things... it's a long one, I warn you...

2008-01-11T10:23:00.000+01:00

"Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another man's conscience? For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."
- I Corinthians 10:29-33

I love this chapter, I don't fully understand it all, but I have been going through it and I have been listening to some studies on it and it's been a great blessing. There are three things here that have stood out to me as I have been studying and listening to studies. It's the parts that I have bolded out, I hope that doesn't offend anyone. (Is bolded a word?)

"For if I by grace be a partaker, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?"

Good question... but what jumps out to me is the "for which I give thanks"... do I give thanks for all things? We give thanks before we eat... but can I watch a movie tonight and sit there all nice and cosy and say "Thank you Lord for this movie! I'm so happy to be watching this now!" Can I listen to my music and say "Thank you Lord for this music, it's a blessing!"? If I can't give thanks and praise the Lord for a movie... then I probably shouldn't be watching it. When my husband and I were colouring some days ago, I was so happy I would pray and thank the Lord in my heart. We weren't doing anything religious... or spiritual, but I could thank the Lord for it. Now... there are things that we cannot thank God for very easily, things we have to deal with that are not a choice. How do you thank God for a coworker that really gets on your nerves everyday, or... a little beat up car that never wants to start, or you are living in a city, country that you really don't like... you can pray that the Lord would change your heart about it, start thanking the Lord for that person you can't stand and you will see that as you pray for them your heart will begin to change towards them.... maybe not right away, but it will in time, through prayer ;) Thank the Lord for the little beat up car or the almost junk computer you have... at least you have one, and if it's better to get rid of it, then thank the Lord that you can do without... haha. But thank him, it will bless you. Now... what about illness, what if somebody you trusted really did you wrong, what about the death of a dear one... if you believe that God is love, that He is just, that He is all knowing, you can thank Him too... because by faith you can believe in this loving God, just and all knowing that keeps His promises. And when He promises that He will hold you up, that He will work whatever it is for the best of those who love Him... He will do it! Just like Jacob you could be crying "All these things are against me", but be of good cheer, the Lord will see you through. Ask people to pray for you, with you, seek the Lord in all things. When Jacob cried this he didn't know that what would come would be so much more, so much better than he had ever imagined. If you are thinking "Who's Jacob?" I'm talking about the Jacob in the book of Genesis... in the Bible... worth a read. I give thanks to God as I type this post.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God"

When you wash your dishes tonight, do it to the glory of God... why glorify God while washing dishes? I guess because that might be what He will call you to do tonight, which then must be very important, and we are told to do all to the glory of God. Not to get into home-keeping... but God is organized... In creation you see that things are done in an orderly way. The sun comes up, the sun goes down... winter, spring, summer, autumn...always the same, year after year. Is it boring?... no, it's beautiful. Even the cloth that was used on Jesus at his burial, was found folded at the tomb after his resurrection. Pretty cool eh? (john 20:7) But again, do all to the glory God, all that you do. I used to think that I could only glorify God at church, or while I was doing "good" things... but now I know that I can glorify God by doing that which I should do each day... I know He cares for the little details in my life, and in yours too... so now I can mop for Him if you will, and I'm sure it pleases Him because I chose to bring glory to Him in doing so... yes, it takes faith ;) I hope to bring glory to Him as I type this post.

"Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."

I think this is also very important. I know what it's like to be around people that always want to have things their way, and it can be very tiring to try to please them, but "that they may be saved." is the part I try to remember. Within the body of Christ there are Christians that drink wine (I have never seen any of them ever get drunk), and there are those who believe that drinking any kind of alcohol is sinful... if you are a Christian that drinks wine, don't offer it to one that considers it a sin. You can offend them by it, or even worse, they might take it to not offend you and if they get drunk because they are not used to drinking then you will really be in trouble because you have caused them to sin. I haven't been in such a situation before, but I'm just saying. - If you are invited to a church where you know that women cover their heads, and only wear long skirts or dresses, don't go with shorts... or pants... not you Doug. "Oh, but I am free to do as I want in Christ... and if they don't like it, it's their problem..." I don't think that this is the attitude we should have. In love, I think we should try to not offend but please especially those whom we call our family in Christ. Yes we have freedom, freedom to judge for ourselves as to what would be a better choice, more pleasing to the Lord. A slave does that which the master commands, but a free-slave who loves his master can chose to follow his masters commandments. Now, if we have certain convictions that we believe are better, more noble, of higher standards than others... may the Lord keep us from judging those others, because only God knows their hearts, and perhaps that which we find lamentable is something that they are thankful and praise God for. Maybe you believe women should stay at home and not work outside the home... and you see a sister coming out of her office job... she has kids too... how easy it can be for some to comment, even out loud, on what a bad mother she must be... you see her, you wave at her with a smile, she smiles back, goes home, and maybe you have just judged her on something she by grace gives thanks to God for. Is she right? Is she doing the right thing.... maybe not, and if you believe she is not, then love her. Show her the way through your love... and not your condemnations. Encourage them to seek the Lord in all things, and read His Word. Trust that God loves them just as much as He loves you, and that He will lead them. I have at times changed the way I do things because of others... not because they have told me to be like them, but because I see their love, their families and I think... "hey, I would like that too!" I hope I offended none with my post, but do let me know if I did so I know I did...

These are just my thoughts now as I have gone through these verses. I know I don't know everything and I don't do things right many many times, so don't take my word for it, find out for yourselves... I have put some links on the side of teachers or places that I think can be helpful in case you want to know more. I also have some blog friends that are great examples to me. If you have a Bible I encourage you to read it... I know it can be scary, it's a big book, maybe you think it's confusing, or boring, maybe you have heard it is a book you should keep away from, or there is this "je ne sais quoi" that just keeps you from reading it... but it is a treasure, I promise you that. The best way to find out is by reading it.

Oh... and before I go... just the cutest of pictures... maybe you have seen it already... it makes me think of a good Shepherd I know. He knows what to do when little lambs like this one get lost.

Lambo

God bless...

Psalm 1

2008-01-01T19:57:00.000+01:00

Psalm 1

1Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

....thought is was a great psalm to start the year =)

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T03:18:00.000+01:00

Just felt like I should write something short today. I would like to wish everyone that happens to stop here a Happy New Year. In the past I always had New Years Resolutions... one year I decided not to eat chocolate for the whole year and I almost did! I only had chocolate twice that year, once because someone offered me an ice-cream in the theater... if was dark and I couldn't tell that there were chocolate sprinkles on my vanilla ice-cream... and the second time was when I was visiting a nice old lady that offered me a piece of a chocolate cake she had just baked... I have this rule that I eat whatever is offered to me, especially when it's offered by nice old ladies... and must add very thankfully that since in France no one has offered 'frog legs' or escargot (fancy name for snails) to me yet. It wasn't easy to not eat chocolates as I LOVE chocolates, but I was committed to follow through and I did. I was proud to be good at not eating chocolate simply because I decided that I was not going to...(I know I shouldn't be proud but I admit I was quite impressed with myself...sorry)

I wish I could say, "This New Year, I will rejoice everyday for the Lord is good, I will not bow down to strange gods, I will stand firm in my faith, I will share the gospel with boldness, I will not make the same mistakes I tend to make, I will keep my mind from thinking bad thoughts, and my tongue from saying hurtful things." I say I 'wish' I could say that because just by thinking it I know I have failed already. Yet, I know the Lord doesn't give up on us, He is still encouraging us to finish this race we stated. When I fall, He's right there to help me up and keep walking. I don't have a New Years Resolution, but I do have two things that I would like to keep in mind...

First, I have been following the Lord for some time now but kind of like a fly can follow a cow. I have been there, I have seen Him do things and heard His voice, my life has been changed because of Him, but now I want more... I want to walk like him... use my hands like He used His hands, see people the way He saw people, love the way He showed us how to love... I almost have this picture of a child not only following his dad, but also trying on His shoes. As I picture Jesus walking on water... I can see myself following Him on a little boat, but I am now in a place where I want to get out of the boat and walk with Him. I want to say, Lord if it's You ask me to come to you.

Second thing... as I study and meet many people I realize that things can get a bit confusing and messy at times. A lot of people like to own the truth and wave it like a flag, and when you see many flags of truth waving you can get confused and may not know where to turn... but there is good news. As a friend said the other day... God knew people could get confused trying to figure out what truth was, so He came Himself and said "I am the way, the truth, and the life". That's good news. :) If you want to know the way... follow Him, if you want to know the truth... listen to Him, if you want to have life... give your life to Him... the little life that we try to grasp and hold on to could be gone just like that... it's so much better to put it all in God's loving hands, He loves us more than we can even imagine. So, I want to remember this whenever I get to a point where I don't know where to turn... I'll remember Jesus words and will know to follow Him, and I'll be in His truth, on the way and have a life.

These are my two thoughts as I start this new year... but I know that I could keep them for years to come. I'm so thankful for all He has done in my life this last year, I can only look forward to knowing Him more and more, and longing for His return.

"And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus." - Matthew 14:26-29

Gods that can be stolen...

2007-12-28T20:20:00.000+01:00

"And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?" Genesis 31:30

Raphael and I have been going through the book of Genesis, and we are reading about Jacob, his wives, sons, uncle/father-in-law... and stolen gods! If you don't know the story you can go here. It's an interesting story about twin brothers, sisters, love, lies, children, God and much more. Where we are right now in our reading we see in chapter 31 that Jacob left the place where he was living, took his wives, children, animals and... something else. Laban, his uncle/father-in-law/boss, didn't know he had left, so when he realized that Jacob was gone, had taken everyone and everything with him, and that his gods were missing, he was furious and pursued Jacob. When he finally met up with Jacob he told him how angry he was that Jacob had left like this, and in the above verse tells him that even though he knows Jacob wanted to return to his father's house, why would he steal his gods? Jacob didn't steal the gods, it was his wife Rachel... but that's not where I want to go. Isn't it a funny thought that Laban's gods could be stolen? As I was listening to a message this morning the pastor chuckled a bit as he mentions that Labans gods were stolen...but I have been thinking about it all day.

Can you if imagine if someone would tell you that God was stolen? That He was nowhere to be found? What kind of a god is it that it would let itself be stolen? That just implies that the one who stole the god is greater than the god. No? To some of you the concept of bowing to a little statue is foreign and a bit crazy... but to many people this is still a reality. They worship gods that were made by men, gods that don't see or hear and can be stolen. Others may not worship little statues, but they worship Mammon... money...glitter and gold. Or people... singing idols, movie starts. It's easy for me to look at people sometimes and judge them... and when it's easy to do so I know I have to examine my heart because I'm probably doing the same thing. Our jobs, our houses, a boyfriend or girlfriend, our bank account, our little electric gadgets could be our gods... I just had to picture how I would feel if the things/people I treasure were stolen or taken from me... would I feel like I had lost my gods? Would I feel hopeless? Would I pursue them without rest?

I'm happy to say that I too chuckled with the pastor because I know the God I serve can not be moved... but I have to make sure I keep Him as my only God. I can be thankful for the many blessings He has given me... but they are not my gods, they won't save me. Let's remember who holds our lives in His hands.

"...and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:" Daniel 5:23

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before...

2007-12-25T12:34:00.000+01:00

“It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes or bags! And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before! ‘Maybe Christmas,’ he thought, ‘doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more!’

"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." -Isaiah 7:14

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." —Isaiah 9:6

"Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." - Matthew 1:22-24

"Maybe Christmas . . . perhaps . . . means a little bit more!

Fun with Colours and Red Hat

2007-12-17T21:25:00.000+01:00

Just for fun!

I thought I would share what my husband and I have been doing these last two days. He usually asks me what I want to do in the afternoons, so I told him I wanted to draw and colour with him. He said he wasn't very good at it at all... but he would do it anyway. I'm not very very good at it either, but I still love to play with colours and draw and pretend that I'm good. So I told him that our first exercise would be to share a big sheet of paper and start drawing whatever comes to mind. We could draw anywhere on the paper, and even change each others drawings. It was funny because the first line he drew was pointy and mine was curvy. At the end he told me that he tends to draw the same things he drew as a child, and that even though he really enjoyed it as a child he got much negative criticism from his teachers, because they didn't think he was good... so he just stopped drawing. I told him I wasn't going to criticize his art and that it was just fun to do something with him, and to allow him to use "my space" on the page, and even change what I did. It's not something that is always easy.

The next day he asked if I wanted to draw something with him... :D... I said yes of course. This time I told him that he should draw something that he had never drawn before. He thought for a long while. I sensed it was kind of a hard thing to do, so I gave him another option. I told him to just pick up a pencil and start scribbling a line on the page without lifting the pencil until he had finished. He scribbled for a while, and then we were to draw what we saw in the shapes the line made. So we looked at them for a while and soon enough he saw a head, I saw a hat, and a building and hair. He saw flowers and mountains and a sun...and it was just a lot of fun again. Here are some pictures we took. It was so nice for me to see that he was into it and having fun and using colours with me. I was very thankful afterwards for the fun time we had doing this. What a blessing marriages can be when we see that we are to be a gift to our spouse...and when they see you as a gift as well.

Saturday: First drawing we made

Sunday: Me colouring the red hat...

Raphael very concentrated...

Voila!
The black lines on her face are some funky glasses that Raphael gave her...
I'm still not too sure about that, but ok.

How do they know?

2007-12-11T15:30:00.000+01:00

There are about four posts that I have written for my blog in my head, but as I haven't taken the time to "post" them they will probably never get posted, but I thought I would take the time today to write a post... I have been quite busy in a physical, mental and spiritual way the last two weeks... I turned 30 about two weeks ago, and it has somehow slowed me down and is causing me to think about what it means to be 30, and if it really even matters. I don't feel old... I don't think I look old, but the problem is (and by the way, I am not saying at all that 30 year olds and above are old), but the problem is that I don't feel like I grow up. Just early this morning I was prancing about the house, collecting laundry in my new Dora bathrobe! And then I thought, "Wait a minute, you're 30 and you're wearing an electric blue Dora bathrobe with a pink belt? The one you just got last night! When you were already 30?! Why?"

Well, for one it fits me (kind of), and it's hard to find things that fit me, two, ... it was in a pile of good usable things for sale, and I wanted a bathrobe, and I love turquoise... and the pink belt that didn't originally go with it looks super cool. But wearing this doesn't make me look my age... not that I would go out like that, but "What would people think?" ..........

....

"Who cares?" you might think, but I do... I care about what people think, simply because they are thinking, and what people think shapes them... makes them who they are, and if people are going to think about us, then I want to give them something good to think about. Let's forget about the turquoise bathrobe with pink belt... who cares... and bear with me, I've been gone for two weeks and I'm 30 now!

A long time ago when I was 18 years old I went to India. I was not there by choice. Because of my illness, being paralyzed, learning to walk again, and not being fully recovered, my dad decided that we should go to India to see a famous guru that did miracles, and perhaps he could heal me. I was already a Christian and believed that there was only one God, one Savior, and that I was not to bow down before any god... so seeing the guru and being healed by him was not something I wanted to do even if it meant living the rest of my life as a handicap, but on the other hand there was my dad... a medical doctor that could not heal his own daughter because of this weird illness and was looking for any other way to bringing her back to how she was. That doesn't really matter, but I still felt like I had to obey him as he was my father and go with him. So I did, not easily but I did.

My dad and I stayed in a little village-like place where thousands of people from all over the world were coming daily to be near/see/talk to this guru. This guru had his own little airport, the place where we were staying had bakeries, shops, restaurants... it was alive. My eyes were wide open.Their logo... the five religious symbols in one... in other words, all religions are the same. As a 18 year old, and pretty much a young Christian I was determined to share with all about my faith and to let them know that I was not like them, and my God was not this guru. So I would go out looking for people to talk to, and tell them who and what I was, and guess what I heard? "You are a Christian? Oh, me too!" (big smile) The first time I heard this I thought "Really? Are you also here on an undercover mission like moi?" - but see... this is what I heard each time. We are all one and the same thing, serving One and the same God in different forms. There were times when my stomach just wanted to cry out (I feel in my stomach first, then my heart)... "no you are not, if you were you wouldn't be here serving this god." So, I had a dilemma, everywhere I went, I was just like everyone else and saying that I was a Christians made no difference, they were all "Christians" too. I had to wear the same kind of clothes as they did when I was there, and even if I walked around with my Bible I knew I wasn't standing out, so I cried out to God and said "Lord, if you are the one and only true God, and if those who trust in You are your followers, there must be a difference between your followers and those who don't follow you! Doing good, is not it, because all these people are trying to be good people. Eternal salvation is the difference but when you share and you hear that we are all Christians, and they all believe they will go to heaven... what is it that makes the difference?" Thinking that I was right and they were wrong was not good either. I didn't get an answer that night...

I wasn't really into Indian food because it was a bit too spicy for me, so everyday I would go out and eat at a hotel where they served fried rice with mushrooms. It goes like this... you go to a restaurant and you find a seat. It doesn't matter if there are three people you don't know at the table... if you found a seat sit down. So one day I went and found a seat at a table where there was an old lady. She was probably around 58 but I was 18 so that made her old to me back then. She was eating so I quietly sat across from her, and said "Enjoy you meal." She said "Thank you". When she got up to leave I got my fried rice and she said "Enjoy your meal too." and I said "Thank you." I ate, paid and left. The next day I went back to the restaurant with my dad. We were talking when this same lady came up to us and asked if she could sit with us. She told us her name, that she was Australian and that she spent all night thinking about me. She said there was something that made her think about me and she was trying to figure out what it was. When it hit her that it was love. She said that she knew I loved God and that I had love. I was shocked... I hadn't shared many words with her the day before, and she was telling us this. I told her that she was right, that I loved God. I didn't know much, I didn't do things right all the time, I wasn't perfect, but I did love God. We told her why we were there, that I wasn't a follower of this guru, and we shared about the struggles that we were having because of this. She was a guru follower. After our meal I left back to our room and my heart felt like it was 4 times bigger and faster. Somebody saw a difference, my prayer was answered. I jumped on my bed and opened my NIV Bible that I had at the time. I didn't know my Bible very well so I was going through the gospels, when I came upon this verses for the first time.

" A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

I read it over and over, seeing the word love and remembering what this lady said, and again feeling like the Lord was near... with me.

I spent a whole month in India, met many people, had many great experiences, and left being in love with the place and people. On the day I left India there was a prayer that the Lord had not yet answered. Before going to India and while I was there, I was praying for the Lord to show me a real Christian in India. I wanted to meet a Christian while I was there. On our way to the airport, as I looked out the window and saw all the people, the shops, the dresses for sale, the elephants on the road, we slowed down a bit and passed a market where there were table after table covered with little Hindu gods... and in the middle of this line of tables I saw a man, walking with a wooden board on his shoulder and a white T-shirt that said, "Jesus is the way"... I just rested back on the seat having seen enough, and believing by faith that God had just answered my last prayer once again.

What does all this have to with a turquoise Dora bathrobe? I guess that even if we do our best to dress nicely for God's glory, try to look, walk, talk, and live in a good way... which is all good mind you... it's our heart that matters. People will judge us by our words, actions, physical appearance... and we can all try to control these areas, but God looks at our hearts, and there is something that people both young and old are sensitive to... it is "love"... real love, the kind that I believe can only come from above...

If you don't know Jesus... let me tell you that His life is the best love story ever told, an eternal one that involves you and your story too... As Christmas approaches remember how Jesus came in a humble way as a child, so we could all approach Him and not be ashamed... The rich and poor, the well educated and the not so well educated, young and old, the sick and the healthy, found their answers in Him... He is the way, come and see...

(P.S.) You can pat yourself in the back if you got this far ;)

7 weird things?

2007-12-02T18:37:00.000+01:00

Well, Jessica just tagged me and as she is the first person to ever tag me I thought I would go ahead and do it. I have to write 7 random or weird things about me... I guess it's a good way of getting to know people a bit better. I can't think of weird things about myself, but I'm sure if I were to ask my brothers they would have plenty to say. Maybe even my husband.... hmmmm

Ok here we go:

1. My husband thinks it's weird I can't find anything weird about myself....okay

2. When I was 19 years old I was learning to fly a Cessna plane and tower control.

3. At 17 years of age, after being paralyzed due to TM, I had to learn to walk all over again.

4. I've been to Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, St. Martin, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Monaco, Luxembourg, Austria, India... I've lived in 6 of these countries.

5. I love to travel, and would love to go to New Zealand, Australia, Israel, Brazil, Chile, Ireland, Norway, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Burundi... and many many more places.

6. I can read my husband's mind.

7. I wrote a story called "The One-eyed Princess" after dreaming it up.

Now, that I started I could probably go on as so many random and weird things are coming to mind... but I think that one of the weirdest things about myself... in the eyes of many people I have met and family even, is my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Yes, I believe that He is THE way, the truth and the life... weird?... maybe to some... but I don't want to live any other way.

Thank you Jessica for tagging me... that was a first for me. I have to tag 7 other people, but the ones I would tag have already been tagged or would not like to be tagged so that just leaves you Doug ;) .... hehe

Blessings to all...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T13:44:00.000+01:00

Just wanted to wish all my U.S. friends a Happy Thanksgiving. I'm not from the U.S. but I love the idea of getting together with family, friends or church family to share a meal and give thanks for all His blessings. I read a great article this morning by a man I had never heard of before, but it really blessed me and I thought I would share it. I found it as I was reading Kristina's blog. It's a long read but worth it in my opinion. It's called:

"Thanksgiving, Praise & Joy"

There is much to be thankful for that if we were to take the time to list our blessings, we would see how richly blessed we are. I'm thankful that through my blog I have been able to meet and keep in touch with many wonderful people that have been a great blessing to me. Thank you!

How Beautiful....

2007-11-22T13:04:00.000+01:00

My husband is good at updating my computer with cool open-source programs. Although it takes me quite some time (hours) to figure them out sometimes it's great when I can finally use them and have fun with them. A lot of times when I take pictures a verse comes to mind... I am so blessed by the beauty of nature that I can't help but think of the One who created it all. I just found a way of adding verses to my pictures so I think I will use it to post verses in the future...

God bless...

Thank You!

2007-11-20T23:07:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to thank all of you who have prayed for my cousin. I don't have any news on how they are doing, but I believe that we can thank God for what He is doing through your prayers. I have been really touched by you all and so has my family.

Well, that's it for now... I've been kind of busy as I have recently started going to school to learn French and haven't found a lot of time to post, but I will see if I can take some time to post some more pictures and thoughts soon. Hope you enjoy the little Lavender field picture I took in the summer...

Blessings -

Praying for Francisco...

2007-11-15T21:15:00.000+01:00

Dear Friend,
Just a request in case you might read this post. I have a cousin in Colombia who was in a terrible car accident. 5 were in the car; three young men and two girls. The girls passed away. One young man is in a comma, the other one seems to be well except for injuries to his legs, my cousin is conscious, slowly remembering people and things, and needs to be operated because of his injuries. Just as they and their families need prayer, so too many more people I know and you know need prayer.

I know that sometimes we don't want to pray because we don't know what to say, or we think God is angry with us, or we think He doesn't listen, or we don't feel like it, or we don't think we are worthy, or maybe you don't even believe in God... let's put ourselves, our feelings, our fears, thoughts and or anger aside... let's not think about ourselves for a moment, but remember people we know that need prayer. It could be your mom, or dad... your children, your friends... Let's be loving and bring them before the Lord... it is not only good for them, but it is also bringing us before the Lord and touching our hearts.

Could you please pray for my cousin if you feel led to? Or could you please pray for those you know are in need of prayer? Could you please just take some time alone with the Lord, on your knees and bring it all before the Lord? Could you please let me know if you need prayer too?

1/2 Year!

2007-10-30T15:04:00.000+01:00

I can't believe I have been married half a year already. Time does go by really fast. My mother-in-law gave us a few pictures from our wedding days that I hadn't seen before so I thought I would show some. We had two wedding days because if you want to be married at a church you have to have a civil wedding first, according to Dutch law. So we did. We didn't invite anyone really except the three witnesses (our siblings and a friend of mine). My mom came, my aunt and uncle and a lady that worked with my mom because her husband works at the town hall and he told her I was getting married that day. So ok, fine.... One brother and my dad didn't make it unfortunately, but it's ok because we didn't really care so much about the civil wedding. It was kind of a funny day. I knew I was getting married on that day but I wasn't really really sure about the time, so I had to call them to ask again... then I wasn't sure if I had given the "right time" to my friend (the witness) and after calling her I had indeed given her the wrong time... an hour later! So the poor dear had to rush to get the train as she lived in another city. Oops. :( I knew what dress I was going to wear that day but I spent the morning looking through my mom's closet to see what I could put over it, and then as we headed out I broke a flower off of my mom's kitchen bouquet and put it in my hair. Raphael and my brother had to rush to the train station and pick up my friend, and then my uncle drove the rest of us to the town hall. My mom's friend and her husband were already at the town hall and as we were late she called to make sure we were still coming. We all got there at the same time... just a bit late, and parked in front of a supermarket close to the town hall. When we arrived we were about to enter the town hall the wrong way, until a funny man came out and told us we were supposed to enter through the "nice" stairs on the other side of the building. He mentioned he had been waiting for us so he could open the door for the bride. Most town halls in Holland have nice stairs where they usually take beautiful wedding pictures, so it must have been funny to him to see this group of people walking to the town hall, bride and all.

Once inside I was very happy, and it was just kind of cool. The lady that married us asked if she could speak in Dutch or if she had to do it in English for Raphael. Dutch was ok with Raphael... I jut had to tell him when to say "Ja!" After all was said and signed she took her hammer and with a "Bam" she pronounced us man and wife in the law, and congratulated us. So I think I hugged Raphael, and then we looked at her again...and she had a bit of a stunned look, and said "You can congratulate each other."... which I had just done, but ok... once more. I said "Congratulations!" and shook Raphael's hand...haha, the lady must have thought we were idiots. Oh well... it was a fun experience :) We should have invited her to the real wedding.

Both Bride and Groom were late... :( but happy :)

Our marriage lady, congratulating us ;)

I actually wore this dress before on my first wedding. See I got married some years before while a Senior in High School. For our Senior year we did a play called "The Taming of the Shrew" by Shakespeare and I was the Shrew! I got married in the play and wore this dress, and I thought..."If I ever get married for real, I will wear this dress again." That was years ago.

I just love the expressions on this pictures :)

I love you Amor!
You are truly a great blessing to me, and I'm so happy to be your wife... I'm definitely the one that "Married up" ;)
May God bless you always!

Two men went up...

2007-10-28T20:22:00.000+01:00

Parable by Jesus

LOCATION:

Temple

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Pharisee: played by Himself
Publican: played by Himself(a collaborator of the Roman Empire known best for collecting taxes)
Narrator: Jesus

ACT I

NARRATOR:
"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican." [Enter Pharisee and Publican] "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself..."

PHARISEE
[standing and looking up] "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, [pointing at Publican] or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess."

NARRATOR
"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying..."

PUBLICAN
[Looking down and beating his breast] "God be merciful to me a sinner."

NARRATOR
"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

- EXEUNT

Ref: Luke 18:9-18

Abased = lowered, humbled

Dear Doug...

2007-10-26T12:40:00.000+02:00

Dear Doug,

Last week my husband and I spent some days in the mountains and as he loves to hike we went for a hike. I told him I was tired and didn't want to go for a long hike. So, after a light lunch in Valberg, a ski town, we went up to the mountains. These are not the really high mountains of the Alps... I was tired and the man at the gîte were we stayed saw that I had walking difficulties, so he suggested we go on a hike that was "flat", easy for my walking and not too tiring. When we got there we took a little "flat" path along the hill. It was so peaceful and beautiful. We walked for about 20-25 minutes and then we arrived at a lake were we sat down for a while. The weather was cool but sunny, so it felt just great. I told Raphael that if he wanted to go on and reach the top he could go and I would just stay there by the lake and have a nap. I hadn't slept well the night before, and we had been traveling quite a bit. So, he agreed to go on to the top without me and I stayed and had a lovely little nap next to the lake, in the sun, in the breeze... just in nature with no one around.

When Raphael got back I felt much better and we decided to go back to the car. I thought we would just take the same path back but he asked if I wanted to go another way. He took out the map and showed me how we could go back to the car another way. Not following a path, but just going down the mountain and then following the river. I didn't like that there was no path, and I kept asking him if he was sure about it, and at the same time I wanted to trust him and just let myself be led by him. I reminded him that I was a bit tired, but he assured me that it would be ok, that if I got tired we could just go up to one of the houses around and I could wait there while he went for the car. So off we went, down the mountain towards the river. It was very difficult to walk in some parts; I almost fell a few times, but I had a walking stick and Raphael was there to give me a hand when needed. At times I wasn't sure if he really knew where he was going, but I wanted to trust and follow him.

I thought about you and made sure to take pictures to show you. It won't look like much of a difficult hike to most people, but I'm sure you and I can appreciate that it does take a lot to go on such a walk. When we finished our hike and I looked back at all I had walked I thought that if Raphael had shown me beforehand how much we would walk I wouldn't have done it. I would have said "No way, I can't do it, I'm too tired for this!" And in the same way, just as for you I imagine, if God had shown me beforehand what I was to go through with TM, I would have said "No way! Not me, I can't... chose another or go alone!" It's a good thing He didn't show us right? I know it's not always a fun hike, sometimes you can fall, sometimes you are too tired to move, sometimes you think you are alone. Funny how sometimes life can be like a nice little flat path, and then after a little nap all of a sudden it's difficult to go on, it's not at all the same anymore... But isn't it great that He has brought us to a place where we depend on Him to go on... His helping hand, His guidance, His love, His company, His strength. I'm telling you to encourage you in your walk and show that even if we don't know where we are going but only have Him to guide us, He can lead us to really great places. When Raphael got home and shared with me that faith begins where we know we have reached our limits. It's when we know that we can't do it ourselves, like Sara laughing upon hearing that she would be a mother at her age! Anyway, just wanted to share this little "BIG" walk with you.

"Nice little flat path"

Lake where I took a nap :)

There I am!

Time to go back to the car!

Going down hill

Looking back at where we came from... up where the pine trees are.

Following Raphael

Moi! when we got down...

Then we saw some nice horses.

Coming to check Raphael out.

After following the river we started going up again

Nice grass :)

Looking back at where the horses were... they are somewhere behind the little lake

Up some more

And back on the nice flat path!

Fresh water to clean our faces and hands and drink some.

You can't see it but i had a big smile... :D

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.
- II Corinthians 2:14

So what do you do all day?

2007-10-25T14:34:00.000+02:00

This is by far the most popular question I have gotten since I got married. "What do you do all day?" Second one... anyone wants to guess? "When are you going to get a job?" I'm not working for a "paycheck" so if I stay home "all day" what do I do? Hmmmm, I can just imagine what might go through some people's minds...

1. She sleeps in every day.
2. Watches tv while having brunch.
3. Puts music on loudly and dances wildly in her pajamas and socks.
4. Jumps on her unmade bed till she's hungry again.
5. Eats some more of what was put out for brunch.
6. Watches some more tv.
7. Looks out the window to see how many cars, dogs and crying babies go by.
8. Plays Solitaire on the computer.
9. Talks on the phone for hours.
10. Does her nails all afternoon.
11. Sings opera while taking long hot showers.
12. Pretends she's a goldfish in front of the mirror.
13. Looks all happy and pretty when husband gets back home.

I can laugh about it now, but it was kind of hard in the beginning when we were just married because even though I felt like I was doing as much as I could at home (cleaning, washing, scrubbing, ironing, decorating, and so on...) it was as if I wasn't doing anything really important as long as I was just a wife, just somebody that stays home all day. Learning to be a wife didn't come so easy either because once I was here with no one to manage and no boss to tell me how to do things, I didn't always know if I was doing things right, and it was very frustrating at times. But well... good news is that I'm extremely happy at home, I love learning all about the art of home keeping, and reading cook books, and I'm having fun trying to see how I can decorate the house, and getting some excellent advice from some sisters in Christ. My mom also came for a short visit which was a big help, and my Mother-in-law has also been very encouraging. I love getting to know my husband and searching my heart to see how I could be a better wife to him, and most importantly as my husband pointed out to me, I can make time to spend with God, to pray, to read His word, to listen to His guidance and believe it or not, sometimes I'm so busy at home I even miss to take time on this...which is not good really because He is my strength.

I guess the reason I'm writing about all this is because I have so many things on my mind lately. I'm learning so many new things and it's all related to my new role as a wife and manager of this house. And it's very important to me because I believe God has brought me here for a purpose, and if He has given me this home to take care of it is to bring glory to Him somehow... and I like that. So, if this is my purpose now, I want to do my best at it, just as I did when I was a teacher, and therapist, for the same purpose of glorifying Him. I want to be used by God, and right now my tools are not toys and paper, playdoh and markers, and scissors, but a mop, an apron, an old toothbrush, plastic gloves, a washing machine...can I do great things with these tools? Probably not, haha, but I just might if I offer them to God and let Him use them. Most definitely in fact. I mean, remember what He did with Moses' shepherding staff? He turned it into a snake in front of Pharaoh... and wasn't Moses used to shepherd His people out of Egypt, and...didn't Aaron's staff bloom now that I think of it? Now that would be cool, if my mop started to bloom, haha. But all joking aside, I know God wants to use me, and you, and no matter what we are doing right now, whether it's cleaning toilets or being the president of a company He CAN do great things if we let Him. Well.... that's enough for now... I think I will go back to jumping on my unmade bed...err, I mean scrapping the floor! \o/ Yay!

Home Sweet Home

2007-10-21T21:54:00.000+02:00

After being away for two weeks it was good to come back home and to go to church this morning. Raphael had to work in Paris for a week, and after his mission we were able to spend a couple of days in the mountains. It was a very good time with family and each other, but it's good to be in our sweet little home. I am so blessed to be able to stay home and try to make our house a home... and trust me, I wasn't singing this tune some time ago when I didn't even know where to start. But well... it's time for bed now, but just wanted to post a few pictures I took this morning after church. We had lunch on the beach with some friends. It was a beautiful sunny cold day in Nice, and little Yann had tons of fun playing with Raphael. Yann is a lovely little boy, but he cannot stand pictures and makes it very clear that he doesn't like Paparazzi, or Mamarazzis either! :)

On Raphael's shoulders...

...in Raphael's arms...

...pushing Raphael...

...and running away with a big smile and a stone, after leaving Raphael exhausted on the beach...kids are great!

"et dit: Je vous le dis en vérité, si vous ne vous convertissez et si vous ne devenez comme les petits enfants, vous n'entrerez pas dans le royaume des cieux." - Matthieu 18:3

Mom's Visit

2007-10-03T18:43:00.000+02:00

My mom was visiting me a week ago. I was very happy to show her were I live and what my life in France is like. During the weekend we stayed a night up in the Alps and then the next day my sweet husband gave us a 6 hour trip through the mountains back to the coast. I have over 100 pictures of this day. It wasn't snowing yet in the Alps, but two days after my mom left it started to snow and it is so beautiful when it snows. Maybe I'll get to go up there sometime soon again. The older I get, the more relationships I have, the longer old relationships last, the more I see of the world, the more in awe I am of God's love for us. A love comparable to the love between a loving husband and his wife, a father and a son, a mother and an unborn child, a potter and his craft, a shepherd and his flock, two good friends, sisters... how deep His love is and how present it is in all the good that surrounds us.

This is a waterfall in St.Martin-Vesubie. Sorry it's not very clear.

One of the many little village up on the mountains.

My mom fell in love with these mountains because they were redish/purplish/auberginish.

Mommy! I love my mom.

We wished we had our swimming suits to just jump in. Maybe next time.

Puget-Thenier

Raphael and I

Greoliers

Candy Shop in Gourdon

Gourdon

And there are still many more pictures to come... but not tonight.

Peace

...as a tree

2007-10-02T19:05:00.000+02:00

"For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."
<<Jeremiah 17:8>>

Who was I again?

2007-10-02T16:26:00.000+02:00

I have been trying for months now to get back to blogging. First because some people have asked me for an update, and secondly because I do love to write and share about my life and my walk with Christ in hopes that it could bless someone else, but where to start? I really don't know as I kind of forgot who this single girl in Holland that started this blog was, after 5 months of marriage and living in France. It's kind of hard to continue when the character (me) has changed so much. I'm in a new country, I have a permanent house mate now, I don't work as a teacher anymore... but on the other hand I'm still the same person, I still love children, I still struggle with TM from time to time, and above all, I still long and desire to know God more and more each day.

I could write about so many things right now, about France, about my husband and being a wife, about my church, new friends, house-keeping (ehem), so many new things but the most important thing is that God is good, He is here and He is blessing me beyond anything I ever imagined.

I know people love pictures so I will let them do the talking and show you the places and things I see in France. I have tons of pictures so I will put them in groups and post a group each time.

Nice. as in Nice, France.... but also nice of course ;)

Nice is packed with tourists during the Summer... I wonder how busy it is the rest of the year.

A good friend of mine was visiting us in August. She took this picture of us.

It was very cloudy on this day, which is not normal here. This is the Promenade des Anglais.

Coast, old Nice, and balcony on the Château.

Old Nice

Russian Cathedral in Nice. This church building has beautiful colours.

Just a quick hi and thank you to Sis. Julie who has been such a great blessing to me, even from a distance. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And to anyone else that is reading, "Hello and thanks for stopping by" :)

God blesses...

Oh dear...

2007-05-25T21:25:00.001+02:00

Ok... I didn't know people were actually checking in to see updates to my blog. I am now married... back from the honeymoon and living in La Belle France with my husband. The Wedding went well, the Honeymoon was lovely, and France is beautiful, but I do have to get used to being here and feeling my way around. I won't say much right now, but just wanted to leave a link to pictures of everything. God bless!

Sigh...

2007-03-23T23:36:00.000+01:00

... I'm going to miss my kids... :(

Happy Wedding Planner

2007-03-11T18:45:00.000+01:00

Well.... I thought I would write a post because I haven't written anything in a long time. I'm engaged for those who didn't know that yet, and have been happily seeing how my wedding is being put together and understanding that... I'm going to be somebody's "wife"!!!!

So, yes I have been engaged for about three months and 10 days and so far so good... our wedding will be next month on the 28th... a Saturday. I'm not really sure what is going to happen on my wedding day... I don't know what I will wear, what we will eat, if there will be dancing, what my cake will look like, what shoes I will wear, where we are going on a honeymoon... But so far the only thing that I really care to know is the man I will marry, the day we will get married on, and that my guests will be blessed. So, I have been quite calm and peaceful, believing that the Lord is in control, but not everybody is of course...

Many people have voiced their concern about how we are doing things or not doing things, and I understand where they are coming from. Most people must do everything themselves, and to do things yourself it takes time, it takes energy, it takes planning and so forth, especially when it comes to a wedding... I understand this, but even during these busy days I believe that all Raphael and I "have" to do is what Jesus said to do...

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" Matthew 6:33

I really believe that all we must do is to just keep our eyes on the Lord and seek Him... He will take care of the rest.

But... how can I apply this to a wedding. How could I possibly think that God will take care of everything for me? I don't know, but I do... I think He knows what napkins we will use and where to get them, and what my dress should look like, and I'm not kidding... really.

Here are some "coincidences" as some might put them. There is a gourmet baker who goes to my church who has volunteered to make our wedding cake. There is also another baker in Paris who has also volunteered to make us a traditional French wedding cake. A man in my church owns a catering service and he has said that he can help us with the food... The New Pastor at our church is an amazing person, who is Dutch, speaks English fluently, and also happened to study and preach in France, so he speaks French as well... which is wonderful because Raphael's family is French, so they will be able to understand what will be said. Didn't have to go looking for a Dutch pastor that speaks English and French. My mother works at the biggest flower exporter in Europe and her boss has agreed to provide for flowers and he can even make me a bouquet... Another colleague of mine who is also a Christian told me that her husband used to take pictures at weddings so he could take my pictures too...The little girls in my class want to be flower-girls and their parents have agreed to let them be my flower-girls. My aunt in Curacao has told me that she can make my dress in 7 days. 0_o - The funny thing is that I attend a very small church, so it's funny for me to see that I have the right people all in the same small church, and that there are others around us that are so happy to help with whatever we need. I'm sure Raphael can think of other details like this, but this will give you a good idea of why I am not worried... the Lord is sending the right people our way; it's a great blessing and I know He's got us covered. All I have to do is just continue to seek Him, walk with Him... and enjoy, because this is a very special time indeed.

Many people have told me that this is "MY" special day and it should be the way "I" want it to be... but I think differently. I have given the baker, my aunt who is making my dress, and the people who want to decorate only a bit of an idea of what I like, thus giving them the opportunity to be creative and do as they think fit... why? Well, because I don't want my wedding to be perfect because I made it perfect... I want all honour to go to God, I want people to have the opportunity to be used by Him...I believe that there is no better wedding planner than Him. I thank the Lord already because I think that if we leave it in His hands it will be great and people will be blessed, and both Raphael and I will have a good time as well. Let's walk in faith at all times and in all circumstances. Let us give the Lord the opportunity to show us what He can do in our lives, and through His people if we let Him.

I'm excited!

By the way, everybody is invited to our wedding so if you think you would love to come and see what the Lord will do on this day, then come! ...right Raphael?

Finally!..... as in I'm posting again of course ;)

2007-01-17T21:42:00.000+01:00

"I am 28 going on 29, I know that I'm naive..."

2006-11-26T19:32:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure what to call this post. I'm still in the desert and it's not really getting any easier. But that's ok... I mean... I feel like I can use this time to strengthen my faith muscles...no matter how often I feel like I'm just really alone. I'm not sure why my heart feels so heavy still but it has made me pray a lot for many people that I know are going through "real" hard times. I just heard a song on the radio that really touched my heart, and as I knelt down to pray I heard Psalm 40. I didn't really know this Psalm so I looked it up and it was so cool. Psalm 40

I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart. I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation. Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me. For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil. Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha. Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

Today is my last day as a 28 year old. I must say that I think it's the first time in some years that I'm actually looking forwards to the next year... 29 in this case. I know I'm getting older and older and what not... but I'm just so excited about God's plans and all that He would like to do in my life and in the lives of those around me. Getting older for me just means more years to walk with Him and the thought of that makes me very happy. I don't know what the Lord has in mind, but whatever it is I know it's going to be great in Him and I just hope that with the years how many they may be... that I will just grow more and more in Him and be wiser each time.... please Jimena!!!! The Lord is good and I do rejoice in Him. He has indeed "put a new song in my mouth" which has been a blessing to sing and play... it's amazing how it just lifts our spirit to just sing to God. I know He has heard my cry, I have had the opportunity to share His good deeds with others lately, and at the same time reminding myself of the great things He has done in my life. My heart is heavy because of my iniquities, but "behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment." And then the Pharisee who saw this thought, "Ha, if Jesus was a real prophet he would know what kind of a woman this is... for she is a sinner!" Remember? And then Jesus said :"There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed 500 pence, and the other 50. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?" The Pharisee answered correctly by saying that he whom he forgave the 500. Then Jesus said :"Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little."
So in a way I could say that because of my many iniquities I have the ability to love much, for much has been forgiven. Well... I don't know why I'm writing so much... I should go enjoy the last hours of 28-hood.

Ha... I just got a pre-B-day call from somebody that wanted to wish the Purple Princess a Happy B-day!!!! Cool... Thank you so much! =)It's the first pre-Birthday call I have ever gotten in my life! The Princess is happy!

God bless to anyone that made it all the way to the bottom of this post! God bless!

Desert Lessons

2006-11-23T16:16:00.000+01:00

Dear Friends,

We have finally made it... that's right. I write you from the burning desert where all you hear is the wind blowing, the lifting of sand, where the sky is clear and the sun just never seems to get tired of doing it's job and where there is absolutely nothing in view... at least not where I am. What am I doing here? Well, a lot of things so far, but mostly just learning to turn my heart to God, to quiet my soul and hear Him speak. I wasn't really planning on such a trip... when He suggested we go I said...

"Great! Let me get..."
"He's not coming."
"Oh, then let me tell..."
"She's not coming."
"Then... we surely must take..."
"Nothing...just come :)"
"0_o..... hmmm, I think I have to gooo"

What am I really saying? Just that the Lord loves us so much, He knows what we need and when we need it too. If our prayer is to be closer to Him... to have more of Him... but if we are already full of ourselves, then how can this happen? God takes prayer seriously, He takes us seriously and if we say "Oh Lord I want more of you in my life"... then He'll probably have to take something out of you, to put more of Him. No? In a way I think that what we sometimes mean by this is really, Lord bless me with more things that are good for me. Give me, give me, give me. This morning when I woke up, still a bit dizzy from the whole trip I said. "Lord, what do we do? Where do I go from here?" First off, the basics... love, forgive, give thanks, and something I seldom do, lay it all out before God and man if necesary. Why? because if I carry things around when I'm trying to focus on Him... I can't really, because I'll still feel the burden of my load... so that's got to go... "Ok cool...what next?" And here comes my first Desert Lesson.

1. When we pray, "More of You", that actually means, less of me... and that's how our prayer will be answered. Then when we say... "Lord, why do I feel so empty?" He will lovingly remind us that we do indeed seem to have a new hole, a new emptiness, but that He's here to fill it and He will...we just have to follow Him and trust that He is good and all good things come from Him.

I think I will learn a lot of things in the desert. God did many miracles right there... Jesus spent a lot of time there too. If I want to follow Him with all my heart I'll have to understand what the desert is, as it seems to be a very important place for God. I'm getting excited about this. I've managed to bring my Bible, my guitar, a pen... a study.... some chocolates (shhhhh) Everything else He will provide. Speaking of which, Happy Thanksgiving to anyone reading this today. Even here in the desert the Lord is going to provide a meal for me that I won't even prepare. The guys (just two really) from our Bible study are coming and one of them will cook. :) And we hadn't even planned to have a Thanksgiving Dinner... infact, I'll have to tell them that that's what we are having. :)

Cheers and God bless you where ever you are.

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Isaiah 26:3

A Thankful Heart

2006-11-22T17:59:00.000+01:00

Some days ago I was reading an article and in it there was a prayer by a young woman. She had recently gotten married and was praising the Lord for how good He had been to her. He gave her a great husband, a home, a good family, a great job... many great things. This is good ofcoure and she does well in praising and thanking God for all this. But then I thought about it a little bit more and I wondered about thanking and praising God when all things seem against you. How about when you are weak and poor and ill and heartbroken, can we then praise God? I think we can, I think we should... I think I could. Tomorrow many people will be celebrating Thanksgiving. I have always loved Thanksgiving because it brings good memories of my childhood, and it has on some occasions fallen right on my Birthday. I remember going to church as a child and seeing family after family bringing in meals, desserts and drinks to share with everyone. I wasn't there with my family and I never got to take anything to give, but I enjoyed so much to see the love and joy in sharing... then in the middle of the meal, someone would stand up and say something he or she was thankful for... this went on for minutes, everybody just getting up to thank God for something... once I was even encouraged to stand up and you can imagine this little skinny girl getting up and saying "I'm thankful for my family". I am still that same little girl, and still this day I am thankful for my family... but as an adult woman my needs and desires are different from a child's. When my heart is broken my valley dark, no flower in vision... can I still give thanks?

There was a moment in my day when I just had to put my head down, and rest as I had no strength for anything else... too tired to cry anymore, no strength to call on the Lord, and then I heard a song. A new song. I am not a musician nor do I consider myself musically gifted. I love music and always have music in my heart... but this was a new song and this is what it said:

When I am weak I'll search you Lord
When I am weak you're strong
When I am weak you heal me Lord
When I am weak I sing

Oh Lord I come to you this day
And sing your praises high
Oh Lord your mercies and your truth
They shine a light in my heart

Cause you are my Strength
You are my Hope
You are my Strength
You are my Hope

II Corinthians 12:9 says:

"And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

So even if I'm not that young woman that is being so blessed by all the Lord is giving her I can still rejoice in the desert because that's where God's strength is made perfect. I can be thankful for the heat, for the dryness, the pain because this is what is making me seek the Lord with all I have. Can this really be true? I think it is... I could keep you posted ;)

On a happier note, I got this great encouragment from a wonderful person, who said "You are a precious child to God. When you are brokenhearted, does He stand stoically by without His heart aching? No. That's why in the midst of our pain He asks us to "cast our cares upon Him, for he cares for Jimena."(That's word for word from my Bible! :)"
..... Hehe... I have to get me that Bible... THANK YOU!!! =)

Blessed are...

2006-10-23T22:08:00.000+02:00

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying...

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Matthew 5:1-9

Hot Wheels!!!

2006-10-18T20:37:00.000+02:00

For those who are interested. Two weeks ago my mom, brother and I went to the south of Holland, Limburg, to get a bike for me. Most people in Holland ride a bike to school, work, the stores, the park... everywhere. I used to bike well when I was a child, but after TM I more or less chickened out of it, afraid I would fall. But last year a good friend of mine really encouraged me to go bike, and I went with my dad to the forest and after a little while I realized that I could still bike quite ok. I never tired it in the city because my legs are not strong enough to stop a normal bicycle in a normal way... don't know how else to word it... you'd have to see me to get it. But... I found a Three-wheeler online (I refuse to call it a tricycle), for a good price and decided to go for it! My lovely family is and has always been so supportive of me and both my mom and brother went all the way down there with me, and my little brother managed to get the bike on 3 trains, a bus, and then he biked home with me on the back! =) Now let me tell you... it might look easy and simple to ride... but I assure you it is neither. It is not at all like riding a normal bike. You should come try it just for fun. When I first tried I almost ran right into a car, and then a tree trying to avoid the car... my brother... he did worse. But, now I feel a bit more comfortable with it and once I'm really good at it I would like to bike to work. It is getting kind of cold over here... but we'll see.

Here it is! This was at the airport where we were waiting for a bus. Please excuse the model; he's lovely and I do love him and all but he gets all adolescent and cranky/cool when it comes to pictures. Kids...

It's not a big bike so it's just perfect for me! As you can see, you can also sit on it while it's still and... NOT fall!!! (btw) C.D. I hope you don't mind I posted some pictures of you without asking you first... :s

I feel like this is truly a great blessing for me, and I'm also very thankful to God for the kind of family I have and all my caring friends that are always trying to find a way to encourage me and see me do well. THANK YOU!

Another good-bye

2006-10-17T21:44:00.000+02:00

Well,
I have moved to another place once again... Two years ago at a costume party I dressed up as a Pirate but everybody thought I was a Gypsy for some reason... That's kind of what I've become in a way. In the last two years I have lived in 5 different places and I just keep moving from one place to another for different reasons. But I do long for that one place (in the near future I hope) I will be able to call my "real home". The kind where you can draw on your own walls and it would be ok because you are the boss. For now... I must say good-bye to my old place up in an attic. I will miss...

Dinners with Ben...

...my work spot...

...early morning views from my little window =)... (you can even see one of my old colleagues getting to work!)

...the way I had set up my things...

...my wonderful... well, you can see...

... and walking by this beautiful canal each day.

But, no worries. I am now living in a pink building on the 19th floor, so that should also be interesting.

God bless.... =)

Biiible?

2006-09-22T23:19:00.000+02:00

Here is something that made me Smiiile :)

Enjoy if you are like me!

Apenheul

2006-09-22T17:05:00.000+02:00

I went to a Monkey Zoo with my mom a few weeks ago... it was a very nice day and the weather was great. Just wanted to share a few photos!

I don't know what these were, but they didn't look like monkeys to me.

They can look so tame...

... or a bit scary.

Way up high!

Family. :D

Whee!!!

Relaxing by the water.

Holding babies.

And last but not least... and definitely not a monkey, the lovely Mrs. Cervantes.

Update... on old news...

2006-09-05T20:01:00.000+02:00

I don't know why it's getting harder to post... I guess because I have just been thinking too much lately so, I still have to process all my thoughts. But here is an update on some way old news... my trip to Peru.

Well, My desire was to post some pictures on some 'online photo-album' thing, but I sort of chickened out at the last minute. So... I'll just post a few here.

I would like to say that I highly recommend Peru. I had a blast, and I absolutely loved the people. Honestly, they were the best part of Peru in my opinion. My friend Mariel was an excellent tour guide in Lima, Limon... and she is just "super cool". Gracias Mariel!!! Then Machupicchu was magnificent... I couldn't get enough of all the mountains and the air, the smells, the mates de coca and the kids... there were kids all over the place... cute ones.

I'll just let the pictures do the talking. I won't post pictures of Lima this time or Mariel for that matter because I didn't ask her if I could... but if she gives the 'ok' then I'll put a picture of her, especially as she loves being in as many pictures as possible.

MachuPicchu in all it's glory.

My dad in all his... glory.
note: I went with my dad on this trip and I must admit that I had a very good time with him, although it was sort of a challenge at times... for example, he wouldn't always let me eat pizza when I wanted to, or he still sort of looks after me as if I was a 3 year old... you know like... making sure I could find my way back to the hotel which was about... oh, 0.5 blocks away from where I was.... little (BIG) things like that. Besides that he too can sometimes have his "super cool" moments... really.

I don't know ya'll, but I think I look as cute as a button in this picture, if I may say so myself.... ah, a true adventurer... well, at least I know how to stand like one. NOTE to Myself: make sure your next post is about humility and about the women in the O.T. that gave away their mirrors for God's glory.

This was a great parrot I saw. He or she was great because, when I went to say hi, she/he came right away to where I was to say hi too I suppose, and when I wasn't really sure about her/his intentions I put my finger really close to his/her beak and he/she didn't bite me. So that was cool.... the super kind.

Now, this was just one of the many beautiful kids I saw there. She was so amazing. I took some really nice pictures of her, but this one shows some of the background as well.

Amazing eh?... oh sorry Mariel, that's your hand!!!!

Now, of all the things that I saw, this was the one thing that impressed me the most. It's a sacrificial table. you can see the three little steps on the one side, and the little hole on the other side was to tie the sacrificial animals. The reason I was really impressed is because of this. See.... when I was in school I learned quite a lot about the Incas and the Mayas and Aztecs and so forth... and I never really understood the whole sacrificial deal. The killing of people so appease the gods or, for whatever reason. I always thought of them as cruel people and that's it. But I had been a few days in Peru and I had been reading a bit about the Incas and I was really impressed by their constructions and their knowledge of astronomy and agriculture... their language, art... noem maar op. But here was not just one sacrificial table but, there were many in fact... I remember seeing at least three and I didn't even see the whole place. There was a neat one in the shape of an eagle, and you could see where the blood was supposed to run though. But when I saw them I was in awe because, they looked like very important places, were very important things happened. As I thought about it more and more, I wondered "How can such advanced people make such sacrificial ceremonies involving animals, people.... children!!! How come?" But then it hit me.... there is no other way! See.... these people knew exactly what it was about... the blood. To most of us blood means death and pain and horror movies. But I think that blood can also mean the opposite, which is life. We need blood to live. I tell you these were very intelligent and wealthy people, but in all that glory and knowledge, they knew that they weren't the greatest. There had to be a God, the Sun god for them and that the only thing that was pure enough to offer to him was blood... everything else they could make or do would fall short in God's sight. Why... because God is pure and powerful, and someone to respect. And why care about God? Because they believed that all they had came from God. All their wealth, all the wonders in the sky... in their knowledge they knew that God had to be the answer and if all these things where from someone so big, they better be on His good side. To them the only really pure thing they could offer really, was blood, especially children's blood. They needed blood to celebrate, to give thanks, to be forgiven, to ask for help... All this sound horrible? Here comes the good news... or well, first a little bit of more bad news... this whole thing still applies today, and to each of us. If we want to come and be close to God, and be on His team... or on His good side at least, we'll need blood. Mind you, God only has a good side. He doesn't want all your money and riches, He doesn't want your super cool Ferrari... if you are a good singer, great! But He's got angels singing to His glory, and I bet that's more impressive. You think you are a pretty good guy or gal... ? That's a lot of good,... but how much good do you reckon is enough to please God? I could go on, but let's get to the good news. The good news is that, because God loves us and wants us all to come to Him, He sent His Son Jesus, who offered His life so we wouldn't have to pay the price...not even try to. He sent his Son (who was perfect, pure, good, without any blemish) so that through Him we could be called sons and daughters of God. As I stood there looking at this stone... and imagining a sacrifice I imagined someone running up to where the priest, the crying mother, the amazed onlookers, the brave or scared sacrifice were, and yelling... "Stop... we don't need to do this anymore... ever again! Stop... the Son of God has died, so we could have life....forever."

"What wondrous love is this?"

"Animal sacrifices accompanied many important Inca occasions. Each day witnessed many sacrifices to celebrate the sun's appearance. Human sacrifice occurred in times of natural disaster, other great times of distress, and important occasions; children were often sacrificed. In order for a child to be sacrificed, the child had to be perfect, and be free of any blemishes. Usually the finest young children were taken from each village to Cuzco to meet the emperor, and were then taken to the highest mountains and were then sacrificed, most often with a blow to the head. The children were elaborately adorned with fine clothing, and jewelry. This process left many mummies ."

Summer Break... or the return thereof

2006-08-14T02:11:00.000+02:00

I'm back from my Summer Holiday!... It's funny but when you haven't posted for a long time you sort of don't even know how or where to start anymore... I'm feeling kind of shy here and this is my own blog! Well, I guess most of you know that I've been to Bonaire and Peru these last weeks. I had an almost perfect Summer... almost prefect because it just wasn't long enough. But I'm glad to be back... (I'm sure I'll be glad if I keep telling myself that over and over again.)

No, but.. seriously, The Lord is good. The verse I had in my heart through my trips was this.

"Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." - Jeremiah 33:3

Call to me says the Lord, and I will answer you... so, I called to Him, where ever I was... and I did indeed see great things... and mighty things which I knew not. The greatest thing I saw was Machu Picchu, and well... my desire was to see the Lord in all that I saw, and He answered me. I'll write more about Machu Picchu and Bonaire and all that, but right now I'm working on adjusting to time again... so it's way past my bed time.

But here is a little preview of what I saw during my Summer Holiday :D.. Yay!

{right to left.... I'm learning Hebrew now}

1) One of the many cute kids I saw in Peru
2) Sunchi, my little bundle of JOY and a few fleas here and there!
3) Little stones and sand in Bonaire
4) A Lama and I
5) My dad :)
6) Moi in Machu Picchu
7) Machu Picchu
8) Cusco
9) Mate Coca

God bless!

Still here...

2006-07-08T01:15:00.000+02:00

Ok, well... as some of you may or may not have noticed I have not been posting for a long time. It's because of several reasons. ONE, I didn't have internet for a very long time, TWO, it was taking forever to download, THREE, I've been busy with work, FOUR, there is this whole World Cup going on, FIVE, I like to watch Football, SIX, I didn't have internet for a long time, SEVEN, I felt like nobody was reading my posts anyway, EIGHT, well, I knew some people do read my posts, but you know how you like people to tell you to do something that they enjoy from you, but you sort of have to hear it first before you do it, but then nobody lets you know that they actually do want you to do it?, NINE, my favourite number, TEN, I didn't have internet for a long time, ELEVEN, it hit me last night that perhaps the reason it takes a long time to download is because of some HTML errors, TWELVE, I had also been a bit ill for sometime, FOURTEEN, I was actually really sick actually, but I'm feeling better now, THIRTEEN, I didn't have internet for a month or so.

What have you been missing out on? A lot, there is the World Cup thing going on (which isn't much of a "World" Cup right now), and France is about to win the whole thing just like that. Holland is still using ORANGE as their representative colour and I couldn't eat Tangerines for a long time... But they are out now, because of the Portuguese who are also out now because of the French, who are about to win the whole thing if the Italians don't stop them. I can't think of the Brazilians, who are also out because of the French, without feeling sad, but as I'm a good sport I have to admit that the French played better, and that the Brazilians played, as my uncle said, as if they were playing against their mothers. Then the poor Germans were kicked out of their own party by the Italians. I wouldn't invite any of those countries again if I were Germany. Anyway... I haven't just been watching football the whole time though. Today was my last day of work. The kids have a long 6 week break and some will go to other schools, while others will stay for another year. I'm also on vacation now, but I think I'll do a bit of work on Monday and Tuesday before I go away on vacation!!!! Anyway... a lot of things have sort of changed, but I'm happy to say that God doesn't change and that's why we can alwasy trust where He said He would be, what He said He would do, and who He said He is. Tomorrow I will be moving out of my rooms for the Summer.

A Happy Summer Holiday to anyone going away on vacation. God bless...

Jimena's Thinks A-Z

2006-05-28T16:48:00.000+02:00

Apple animals ball beautiful believe better Bible big blue Bonaire brothers children Christ church come communicate complete content crepes dad days dinner down eat faith family father Flamingo flowers forget France french friend garden girl God good guy happy heart heaven Holland help home hope house interesting Jesus jimena keys Lekker life like little live Love mean mom morning mother music nice notify objectionable old one paint paragraph Paris peace peacock people person pretty pictures pleased Pray prayer present previous profile ¿Que? quiet read remember right room sad sand school seemed share sing sister song sun talk text think thought three time tree trip Turquoise two uncle vicky wallaby walk work Ximena yes year you young Zebra

Some words taken from my posts so far. snapshirts will also do it for you, but I thought I'd type mine ;)

Crepes, Taize and thoughts on Love: day 6

2006-05-25T18:56:00.000+02:00

Ok, I'm really almost done with my Paris posts, but there are still 1.5 days to go. I was happy that there wasn't really anything planned for day 6, at least not until later in the evening. I spent the morning reading, and not doing much else. Delphine suggested we have crepes for dinner and Raphael thought it was a good idea so off he went to the kitchen. I can't really generalize but I think most French people enjoy cooking. I'm not sure, but I do know that French cuisine is famous world wide and that this family loves to cook. They enjoy cooking together and love to sit around the table to eat and talk, laugh and drink. I think it's one of the reasons they are such a close family. Delphine was busy with school-work so Raphael made the crepes. I was supposed to help but I was more interested in observing and taking pictures. I love crepes. My favourite kind are spinach with cheese crepes. Lekker! There is a very nice restaurant in Paris where you can get a whole menu for 8 euros. You get a dinner crepe, a dessert crepe and a jug of apple cider. Anyway.. here are some pictures I took.

He made two kinds of crepes. Salty crepes for dinner, and sweet dessert crepes. Each type is made with a different kind of flour.

This texture looks so playful and innocent. Oh, if dreams were but only made of things as these. I find it fasinating to see how things transform.

This was my only contrubution... apart from eating of course.

He didn't actually mix the ingredients but put them in the blender. Might be a guy thing though.

Oops, maybe he did mix after all. I think I was too busy taking pictures that I can't remember why he first blended and then mixed... never mind.

It was put in the fridge for a few hours. A few hours because we left to go to a Taize prayer meeting before dinner.

In the evening we all (except Delphine) went to a church where they were having a Taize meeting. A Taize prayer meeting is basically a meeting where people come together to sing songs from Taize, and silent prayer. I went to Taize some years ago, and found it all very interesting. There were a lot of young people and I liked the music. The songs are a line or two taken from Scripture and they are sung in different languages. After singing they have a quiet time when you can pray. The first time I was there the prayer time was a bit difficult, because it seemed like a very long time and it wasn't easy for me to sit so quietly, but by the end of my stay there (5 days) I realized that I could actually pray about a lot of things during this time and it didn't seem that long anymore. I was enjoying the quiet time to just talk with God. There weren't a lot of people at the church, but there were both Catholics and Protestants there. We all sat down and sang a few of the songs. Some people read Bible verses and some prayed out loud. I had been feeling quite well. My trip to France really was a great blessing and I was very thankful for it all and these were my thoughts that evening. Then we had the prayer. I started my usual prayer... "Thank you Lord for this day... bless so and so, and so and so, thank you for this and that..." and then all of a sudden I felt like I was being stopped. I had my eyes closed but in my mind I was remembering acts of love... I was remembering times when people had been kind to me. There was one person sticking out in particular; he was sitting right behind me, playing the flute and clarinet that evening. I could see his hands helping me when I needed help, or a shoulder I could cry on if I was sad, or encouraging words to lift me up, and it was as if I was hearing the Lord say, "Why do you push me? Don't you know all good things come from me? I can't describe it but I was crying like a silent baby. See... how many times does this happen? Sometimes I take love for granted, or feel indifferent about it because I'm too busy with my own thoughts and my own life. When somebody cares for you and wants to give you a hand to help you or comfort you in Christ, isn't rejecting it or not being thankful for it, like pushing Christ away? I was really sad because in my heart I was saying... "No, I wouldn't push You away, I do love You." But, if we love God, we are also to love our brothers and sisters in Christ as well. Being with Him is an intimate relationship, but... even though some of us see and intimate relationship as being a "just the two of us" kind of relationship... as soon as you are getting all comfortable God says... "be right back" and in come a hundred people, because God loves His people and we are to love them too, and rejecting them, or pushing them away is like pushing Him as well... I don't know if this makes sense, and I didn't really understand all that was going on inside me that night, but it did make me realize that we are here to build each other up in Christ, and this means that we must do so even when those people are not present. We are always to speak words of kindness about them, and not joke about them in any way that is meant to make me look good, or strong, or put them down or so. It's about standing up for each other like a close family would. It's about seeing them just as Christ sees them, in His light. It really is about loving them. Anyway, the prayer time didn't last very long, or maybe all this was happening too fast, but I know my heart was touched that night. At the house we had the crepes, and later on when all was quiet I was able to ponder all this in my heart.

"The Pursuit of God"

2006-05-20T15:02:00.000+02:00

I think I think a lot. And this morning I was thinking about God. I have been a bit sick for the last two days, so today I'm going to take it easy. As I was going down to have breakfast, I grabbed one of my favourite books, "The Pursuit of God" by A.W. Tozer. It's really a great book in my opinion. Anyway, I went on to read the preface, which I tend to skip in some books, but I really like this preface, and as English is not my first language I seem to understand some things better or discover something else each time I read it. I read something that I hadn't understood before, and needed to hear. These couple of last days I have been sort of fighting with my Spirit. I've been discouraged by a few things, I have felt weak in my faith, and I have experienced how rebellious my heart can feel towards God for no reason! I had also been discussing religion some weeks ago, and this isn't always very uplifting. Many things were discussed and I learned some things, but God, and the things of God were missing in all that theology. I could just feel it in my heart. I decided on purpose to not get into a Bible quoting argument, because I wasn't trying to prove anything, I just wanted to understand where this person was coming from, which maybe isn't a good thing to want after all. I don't know my Bible very well, but I know that I feel confident in my walk with God. My confidence is not in me as I know how weak I can be, but in God's love towards me. It's about trusting the Holy Spirit guides us in our walk, and in being able to discern what is and what is not of God. So, I was reading the preface and this is what he says:

"Current evangelicalism has (to change the figure) laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seems satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty Carmel. But God be thanked that there are a few who care. They are those who, while they love the altar and delight in the sacrifice, are yet unable to reconcile themselves to the continued absence of fire. They desire God above all. They are athirst to taste for themselves the "piercing sweetness" of the love of Christ about Whom all the holy prophets did write and the psalmists did sing."

I think I can apply this to my life. There is this "program", this "order" that I can come up with or get from someone that will make me a better Christian, and I could stick to it and feel "safe", within my well structured and healthy program. And, well... it may or may not be safe, it's better than being indifferent, but will it really really feed me? Will it satisfy me? Will it make me grow?

"For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts."

To me it means that knowing God is not all about going through the motions, but about a personal experience, an intimate relationship, and just as any relationship we may have it can grow, improve, be lost, suffer, and so on. I like this, because it's about an interactive God. About a living God. I've always known that He was this way, but I have not always known or understood that it can also concern me, and these times. After going through this little short desert in the last days, I realize that when my soul is quiet and rests in Him, there is no better place to be, even if there is sand blowing in your face, and that we must be careful of all the mirages we may encounter in a desert. The only real oasis is in Him. The book is also online in case you want to read it. It really is a good one. "The Pursuit of God"

"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." - 2 Corinthians 3:17

Still on day 5 :(

2006-05-19T17:56:00.000+02:00

I was thinking that I should hurry up this mini France trip as I've been back for two weeks now, and a lot of other things are happening right here. So, ok... on day 5, which was on a Sunday, Raphaël and I went to church in the morning. I mentioned before that I was understanding French better so I was able to understand the message quite ok. I don't remember the name of the church. I figured I was going to go to a quiet church, where you sat quietly, sang quiet songs and listened quietly. The preacher that morning was a pastor from another church. I don't know where he was from as he didn't look French to me, but he spoke with a clear deep voice, his eyes twinkled as he shared and everytime he asked people to sit down he would put his palms up, smile and bow his head. He shared about Jesus' resurrection. I know there were two points he wanted to share but I don't know if I understood completely. I think the first point was about how Jesus rose not for himself, as in, not to prove something, but he rose for us. Actually, now that I think of it, I don't know if I have this right... but it was something along these lines, and the second point was about how Scripture supports this...?... I hope he doesn't read this blog. :( I don't really remember well as I couldn't really understand everything, but I was very blessed to be there. This church was indeed a very quiet church, but it was very active as well, and they even clapped their hands when somebody stood up to thank the preacher for sharing with them. Somebody else also stood up and mentioned how it doesn't commonly happen that they clap their hands but that he was (touched?) by the message... It's funny because before going to church I was hoping deep inside that I would get a chance to clap my hands in church. Anyway, these people were just standing up and sharing prayer requests, commenting on the message, reminding each other of the weeks activities, and it was all good. I was happy to be there.
After church we had some lunch and then went to meet Raphaël's parents and his grandmother at the grandmother's country house. When we had dinner with her some days before she had invited me to see her country house. The house is 150 years old, and it has every good thing you would want to find in an old house. A fireplace, a well, old books, wooden beams, old trees and much more. Here are some pictures.

The entrance.

Front of the house.

Mrs. Pinson working in the garden.

A well!!! A well!!!...

The back of the garden. I thought the little flowers looked so pretty on the ground.

The garden has several fruit trees.

In the grandfather's studio I saw some very old books! This history book is from M.DCC.XLVIII. (1748) To think that this is already a history book.

Then I saw the cutest little house. This is the house where Raphaël, Delphine and their cousins used to play as children. It was actually a place to keep rabbits but they made it into a play house. It's been years since any children have actually played in it, but when I walked in and heard the stories I could just see it all before me.

You might have to close your eyes to picture this, but this little room used to be a restaurant. Yes, the chairs and table were used to seat and serve the costumers. You can see the kitchen in the back the menu on the counter. A busy waiter answering the telephone, making more reservations. But other times, this was a perfume factory, filled with flowers, liquids and little containers. I can see little hands smashing delicate petals to make yet another great French perfume. Of course not all perfumes could be just as good, so judges had to decide the winner! I can hear laughter, fights, songs, see tears, smiles, more yelling but most of all "fun" noises.

After the tour I helped Mrs. Pinson in the garden. She was telling me about birds and had me hear all the different sounds they make. It was funny because when I was busy planting I didn't hear anything, but as soon as she pointed it out, I could hear them all around us. The name "Pinson" is actually also the name of one of the birds they have there. I think the English name is Finch or maybe Sparrow, but I'm not sure as the bird doesn't really look like either to me. So, you would think it wasn't either either... right? That's the translation I get. Anyway, while I was working I was enjoying not only the sound of the birds, but there were worms in the ground as well. I was digging with my fingers and there were pink worms wiggling around. I had never experienced that before. I didn't take a picture because my hands were dirty, but then I took pictures of some mushrooms I found.

I had to press the grass down to be able to take these pictures. They look so cute hiding there.

When I was a child I only saw mushrooms in books, so I like to look at them.

When Delphine saw this picture she started to blow on the screen. You should try it.

That evening Raphaël was invited to go to a birthday party, so he invited me to go as well. I didn't take any pictures of the party but there are some things I do want to write about. See, I have been to France a few times and the scariest thing about the French to me was that they seemed to be so unpredictable. I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something soooo very... strange. But well, now I know that there was nothing wrong really. I just didn't know much about them, and now I've concluded that they are just peculiar. Back to the party.

When going to a French Birthday party (at least in Paris) know this:

1. You will be kissed by everyone. People that know you, know your friends and people that have no idea who you are. You will be kissed, twice usually, thrice if they know you come from Holland, and four times if they really like you or your friends. By the fifth time, if you are still standing there, they have either lost count, or there is something else going on. Most of us would offer a hand, but here it can be seen as being rude. Yes, I've been rude in France. But please note that if it is a business meeting you should not kiss the people you are meeting. This is not correct.

2. When you enter the house and are greeted by the B-day girl/boy, do not, do not give them the Birthday present you brought for them! What? Yes, it's true, infact... hide it as best as possible. Under the coats, under the table, under the couch, in the oven if it's not being used, or sit on it. If you are thinking, "Oh, they like to play 'hide-and-seek the presents' games"... no. It's just so that giving the present right away is not fitting. So you sort of walk in with a present in your hand, you 'kiss' and wish the person a happy B-day, and then continue to walk in as if you never intended to give the present. So when do you give the present?

3. Nobody seems to know exactly when is the right time to give the presents, so just keep your eyes open for the "right" moment. When in Rome do as the Romans do, or the Parisians in this case. In this party they turned off the lights and came with the B-day cake all lit up and sang a Birthday song. Then when the candles were blown out, the lights came on, and you could see the first gift concealer going back to his hiding place and soon everybody else followed. Coats flying all over the place, paper bags opening, tables being turned over... ok, maybe not the last part.

{4}. I don' t know if this is normal, but there was no music at this party. All you could hear was people talking and laughing and that was pretty much it. Little groups were formed and some people kept walking form one group to the other. But really, no music. I put this one in brackets as I don't really think this is a norm.

5. This one is for sure. If you happen to be the French person getting the present, you do not kiss the person that just gave you the present. At least not until you have opened it first. Which in my opinion is not really good for two reasons. First, it shows that you don't kiss because you got a present, but because you liked it, which you always must appear to have, as you have to kiss the person anyway! Which brings me to the second reason. Isn't it easier to kiss a person before you know what they got you, rather than after you've opened the present and you don't really like it? Oh, the complications of our cultural social behaviors.

6. The part I really liked was that most people brought something to eat to the party. I liked this idea of sharing very much. However, I don't know if people were asked to bring something to share, or if people just bring things without being told to.

I found everybody at the party to be really friendly and even met a few people who also spoke Spanish. This was one of the longest days I had in my trip. I woke up early and went to bed quite late, but it was a day full of good experiences that I was thankful for.

Do good and Communicate

In love...

Changed by love

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25 Random things

My Belly

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart..."

"They that sow in tears..."

In the Beginning was the Word....

Sunchi's Checklist

Jimena is...

Loooooooooong walk

God+1Year+1day+Raphael=Happy Me :)

Net Hoy... o_0

What I've gotten myself into...

Trains, horses and taking Jesus to Nice

"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?"

"And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46

Psalm 22

Not weird, just different....

Oh my...

Mimosa Parade

"Thank you Mothers!"

Valberg

Snow: Yes - Break: No broken bones!

Snow break

Images de France

"Just one more night with the frogs"

Three things... it's a long one, I warn you...

Psalm 1

Psalm 1

Happy New Year!

Gods that can be stolen...

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before...

Fun with Colours and Red Hat

How do they know?

7 weird things?

Happy Thanksgiving!

How Beautiful....

Thank You!

Praying for Francisco...

1/2 Year!

Two men went up...

Dear Doug...

So what do you do all day?

Home Sweet Home

Mom's Visit

...as a tree

Who was I again?

Oh dear...

Sigh...

Happy Wedding Planner

Finally!..... as in I'm posting again of course ;)

"I am 28 going on 29, I know that I'm naive..."

Desert Lessons

Sponsored Links

A Thankful Heart

Blessed are...

Hot Wheels!!!

Another good-bye

Biiible?

Apenheul

Update... on old news...

Summer Break... or the return thereof

Still here...

Jimena's Thinks A-Z

Crepes, Taize and thoughts on Love: day 6

"The Pursuit of God"

Still on day 5 :(