Mid Winter Thoughts (2)

Winter is waxing and waning. We live in the “Heartland” and as such have moderately severe winters. But we are south of Minnesota and that really makes a difference. It seems like most of the big storms missed our neck of the woods, at least partially. We have been spared the large amounts of snow. Fortunately, nothing like last year; when we had snow falling in foot amounts.
The news informs us that a lot of areas south of us are worse of with snowfall than we are.
So much for going south, this winter! We did stay in during the last blizzard, which came through here Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Got a lot of pictures edited and made collages of our trip-to-Holland pictures. Some of these pictures have been posted in the blogs of this fall. We are going to a midwinter tropical event tonight. The central Iowa wineries have a “Heart of Iowa Wine trail Event.” This event takes place in the warm environment of the Des Moines Botanical Center.

(I included a picture from last year.) An evening of fun and faux tropical environment in the middle of the winter in the middle of the country.

Mid Winter Thoughts

It is now the middle of January, where has the time gone?
After the rush of the holidays, the New Year’s eve party and the great family gathering on the first day of this year we decided that we needed some time to ourselves. We were still involved with the “service project” at our children’s rental unit, with clean up duties and some residual restorative work. The week after Christmas our children form Missouri decided to help their siblings with restoring the apartment which was “thrashed” by the previous renter. An effort which took time, hard work, and money; but was so satisfying in the end.

A quote from the psalms come to mind: (133:1 How wonderful, how beautiful, when brothers and sisters get along! The Message.) How blessed are the parents who can experience this!

We did get the opportunity to enjoy our time together in relaxation. A gentle but abundant snow kept us snuggled in bed. Our daughter’s 10th anniversary of her 29th birthday brought us together for a great dinner experience. Some renovation in our own home helps justify the expense of new tools. We work well together. We also rest well together. Early in our retirement we needed to learn to limit our daily activities to just that: daily activities. To not let these activities carry over into the evening hours, just to get it done. There is always another day, there are always more projects, but the time you spend with your loved one(s) comes around only once. You use it or lose it! If you lose that time you might actually lose the loved one or lose “love.”




Let me try to explain this a little more: People have asked, when we retired so young, “Why did you give up medicine? Medicine is such a benevolent profession, you could help so many people, in so many places during your travels.” I “gave up” the practice of medicine, because we wanted to do things as a couple.

When we were young and maybe even innocent, we wanted to be together, all the time. Then came the babies, the job, the schools, the moves, the children growing up, and so on, and on, and on. After a time the children left. We were left alone, again, just the two of us. Sure, there is a career and there are many great opportunities for involvement in a variety of activities. Most of these are individual activities, geared to the availability of the worker. I, however; had a great desire to do things together as a couple. Because our life’s situation and direction we had traveled down the path of life, we were able to “retire” from gainful employment at this time. We redirected our focus. We started another
“career.” My third one.






We thought it would be great to “travel for the Lord,” work for food, and support those involved in Christian mission work. Our first mission’s support trip was 10 years ago and we have visited many exiting places in the past decade.



We made many friends, we were influenced by great teachers and many other Kingdom workers. But we did it together, as a couple, a unit if you will. United in marriage by “eternal” vows. We truly have been blessed. This reminds me of a favorite text in Ecclesiastics, (chapter 5:18-20.) We are not wealthy as this world defines this, but our benefits are out of this world.

‘T is the day after Christmas, or second Christmas Day in many parts of the world. We have a gentle light snow to beautify the view from our window. After enjoying a magnificent cantata last week Sunday, (Dec 18-19) we had a great Christmas evening service. My bride and our local children were participants, I “merely” enjoyed it in the audience. Yet, as one of our dear friends once explained: It really is GOD who is the audience; we, the congregation, are the “performers;” and the praise team, choir, or other “actors” up front, are in reality “prompters, - souffleurs in the language of the stage. Those who (softly) remind the performers of their lines. So, is it all right to applaud in church? The real question is, are we praising God, the audience, as we are prompted, or are we praising the perceived performer? It makes me think before I join in the applause for a great prompting job.

Thanksgiving, a traditional American holiday, was spend with our grandchildren and their parents. We had a blast of winter up in Minnesota, but we really enjoyed our time together. The traditional turkey meal with all the trimmings, was prepared and consumed in the Spirit of Thanks. We also made a quick trip to Missouri, to visit with our children there. We celebrated birthdays and great family time. Then we needed to be home for practices and preparation for all the events of December. We avoided most of the x-mas-rush but continued to focus on the Advent and the commemoration of the birth of the Savior, while we continue to wait for His return. Of course the house needed to be decorated for the winter rituals and the planned family gatherings.

VISITING HOLLAND (4)

During our last full week in the Netherlands we went on an excursion to Twente. This is a region in the north-east central part of this beautiful land. Located in the province Overijssel, this region has retained much of it’s former charm; quiet and laid back.
Small farms and beautiful villas dot the landscape. There are bike trails, walking paths, wooded areas and small cafes to stop at and have some coffee with pastry. We spend a glorious four days together with two siblings in this area. The hotel provided a full breakfast buffet, you could even fry your own eggs if you so desired. Also included in the price were three full dinners, although the wine was extra! All guests had access to nice new bicycles to ride in the countryside, all without additional charges. Although the fall weather prdominated, we were able to go for some bike rides and also took a long

morning walk one of the days we were there. We enjoyed the (small) swimming pool and spend some leisure time in the bar - lounge. There were many comfortable chairs and reading material was provided as well. Daily newspapers and a plethora of periodicals were available to all the guests. Coffee or tea with a small cookie was readily available at reasonable cost, as was a well-stocked bar.


On our way home we took a detour to Harderwijk, to visit the “dolfinarium” there. Although it was a cool and windy day, to see these animals really warmed our hearts. There were a variety of presentations and we were able to attend three major performances of varied sea mammals. The dolphin show was inside a large dome so we able to enjoy their antics in relative comfort.

The seals and the pirates show was of great delight to both young and old. We could enjoy it from inclosed and protected bleachers, although the show was on an open stage.
A few days later we boarded the train to go to the airport, so we could fly back to our home in the U.S., where we arrived safely after an uneventful trip.

VISITING HOLLAND (3)

The city crest depicts a Pelican feeding her young with her own blood

Although we are back in the U.S. at this time, we fondly remember our visit to our home town, Appingedam. This very old city is located in the esat center fo the province of Groningen; which is the northern-most province in the Netherlands. We had the privilege to stay in a house which was built in 1631.


My cousin had very graciously agreed to open her home to us. We were free to come and go as we pleased and really enjoyed this freedom without “expectations.”
As a side note, I must share that it is uncommon in the Netherlands for relatives to spend any overnights with each other. The country is small and compact. A one hour automobile ride from the center fo the country will get you to any of the borders. So, even from Amsterdam it is only about two hours to Groningen. This affords most people to travel to and from home for just about any visit. Because of this, many relatives may not share intimate conversations with each other. Once you have left the nest, you’re on your own and are expected to stay on your own. Most people make new friends later in life and usually are very close to those friends, often at the cost of close relationships with siblings.



Therefor we were really blessed by the ability to have an extended visit to the area where we grew up, from toddlers until emigration in early adulthood. My parents are buried there and we were able to refresh the silk flowers on their grave as we reflected on their lifes and the impact it still has on ours. We roamed the streets of the inner city reflecting on the experiences of our youth. We did some shopping and talked with old acquaintances. We drove around the area with my cousin, visiting relatives and revisiting old sites, sharing lunch and memories. We also made new friends and hope these friendships will grow over time in spite of the distance.

Visiting Holland (2)

In the north...

In my last blog, I mentioned Utrecht as one of the places we visited. I posted a few pictures of Haarlem, but we did spend a whole day in the old bishop town of Utrecht on October 1, under the knowledgeable guidance of my cousin. She has a vast knowledge of the history as well as the architecture of this ancient city. Needless to say, we walked quite a few miles. The weather was glorious and the sights were breathtaking. Listening to the carillon as we walked through the old city, we enjoyed visiting some of the many churches, all of which have a rich history.

After we went north again, we rented a car for about 10 days. This gave us the opportunity to do some local travel. We visited the hamlet of Moddergat (Mud-hole in English), one of many small fishing villages that are found along the northern coast of Friesland and Groningen. This was of interest to me, because I had read a story about this little town describing a great storm, which all but wiped out the entire local fishing fleet. This took place in the 1880s. The story was about a survivor, who was imprisoned under an overturned boat on the beach. I got the book when I was in second grade; it really made an impression on me at that time. I was glad to have the opportunity to visit the memorial of this devastating event on the dike near the village. There is also a museum here, with a small coffee shop, which we enjoyed for refreshments and small talk.

We spend most of the following weekend with my brother and his family in Veendam. Again, we enjoyed gorgeous warm weather. On Sunday we visited a nice wooded heather. There were many others enjoying the great summerlike fall weather also. Then we went to visit our niece and her family in Emmeloord, with a side trip to the fishing village Urk located on a previous Zuiderzee island.

This place has a long history of suffering also, as it was a small fishing island. Things have changed when the Afsluitdijk was completed and the island became part of the new land. It was really nice to

have the ability to get around independently.

After a visit to the capital, Groningen (and another picture of the great tower there) we went on to spend leisure week in our hometown of Appingedam. One of my cousins lives here and she graciously opened her house for an extended visit – but that come in the next installment.

Vacationing in Holland

My lovely bride and I celebrated 45 years of married bliss in the Netherlands. We are visiting with family and are seeing the sights. As this was our home-land for many years, we get around pretty well. We celebrated our anniversary with Joh's sister and her son in a nice restaurant in Zoutkamp.

The following weekend we met with the entire family in Emmen for a day at the zoo, with dinner following. All the kids had a wonderful time; do I need to say that we are all kids at heart?

evening in Amsterdam

Visiting Amsterdam we stayed at "De Poort," the old "seamen's home," which is part of the YWAM base in Amsterdam. We enjoyed revisiting many sights and people we knew form our previous visits and work activities here. We also had opportunity to visit Utrecht and Haarlem. Both very significant places in Dutch history.

St Bavo Church, Haarlem