Questions for God

One of the things that we as a congregation want to do this year is some evangelization in public. Most of our outreach as a congregation is along family and friend lines. We talk to the people in our lives whom God brings us. But we know that there are people struggling with questions about God who may not have anyone to speak to. So we want to be ready for some of these questions. 

During our Wednesday evening study - each first Wednesday of the month - we will look at questions and what God gives us as answers. We are collecting some of these questions, some of which you also may have struggled with or heard. Why does God allow so much suffering in the world? (Or How can God exist if there is suffering in the world? Or Why do I have to experience this suffering in my life since I am walking with God?)

How can an intelligent person believe in God and the Bible when it is clear that the Bible is an old book written long ago by people who didn’t really know what we know now? And it is full of mistakes and contradictions. How can anyone trust such a book? 

We (people in Europe) have been there and done that. We already know that it doesn’t work. Why stick to an old way of thinking about the world and people? 

Who made God? How old is the earth? So do you believe in dinosaurs? What do you think about politics? I have some questions for God because I am angry with him. 

Last night we were invited to a neighbor’s house for a New Year’s reception with some other of her friends and acquaintances. It was a nice time to meet some new people and get to know our neighbors better. We had several of these conversations throughout the evening. It is always clear that we are Americans, which brings up why we are here. That always leads to some conversations and questions. 

We are looking forward to having these conversations as a congregation in the Spring in Maastricht. We would love your prayers for these moments. We would also like to hear what your questions for God are (or questions you have heard or discussed). 

Whatsit Wednesday: Orange carrots

Well, of course orange carrots. This is after all a blog about things Belgian and Dutch. And we all know the Dutch like the color orange. So that must be where orange carrots came from, right? Actually … yes. 

Historically carrots could have been all sorts of colors. There were black carrots, purple carrots and red or yellow carrots. Carrots were not one specific color. The word for this tuber (root vegetable) comes into English in the 16th century  and is originally derived from the Latin carota. Originally carrots were grown for their seeds and such and were not distinguished from a parsnip (which is still used widely in Belgium)

But it was the Dutch growers in Hoorn in the 16th century. There is pictorial evidence that an orange carrot existed under the Romas in the 6th century, but generally carrots were purple or white. The Dutch cultivated the “Long Orange”, which some say was cultivated because of the love of the Dutch for the Dutch flag or for Willem of Orange (the royal family). Others claim that the orange carrot was preferred because the purple ones made soups and such brown. 

These days we can still find purple carrots (which are orange on the inside) and parsnips still exist, but in general all carrots are considered orange. Think of Bugs Bunny - “What’s up, doc?” Carrot soup, carrot bread or cake, carotine that helps your eyes (or does it?) and much more. How do you like your carrots? 

Cars, cars, cars

As you may have read in our last post, we had a bit of an exciting New Year’s Eve when our car decided to tell us something was wrong. Cars these days. In the past you might have gotten some kind of hiccup, or smoke or some strange sound. These days the car simply tells you that something is wrong. Our car is from 2016, but it is still young enough to have this sort of computer in it. “Engine trouble” is what we were greeted with when the car didn’t seem to be moving as well as usual. 

Since New Year’s day fell on a Thursday, our garage wasn’t open until today (Monday), which meant that we spent the weekend without a car. Not really a problem in these days, except for Sunday morning. Thankfully we have plenty of brothers and sisters who were willing to pick us up if needed (and bring us back home). So we enjoyed a wonderful Sunday morning worship time and also had some good conversation with our sister Gaiane while she picked ups up and dropped us back home. 

Today I took the car in to the garage. It drives just well enough to get it to the garage, about a 10 minute drive away. Of course I would have to leave it there until they could look at it and let me know what was wrong. That meant a good 50 minute walk home in the snow, but that brings its own charms. When the garage called back, they let us know that the fix would be far too expensive for this car with more than 260,000 kilometers. Thankfully they also told us, after I walked back in the snow, that the car would still work for small distances - city driving. 

So now we have spent a good bit of the day looking at second-hand cars and wondering what we are actually looking for. We enjoyed our Citroën, but are pretty sure we will not be able to find another like it for the price we want to pay. You know how it goes - you make up a list of all the requirements that said car must meet in order to be picked. 

Are there any brands you absolutely would not choose? (Renault, Mercedes or BMW) Does the type of fuel matter? (We want a diesel because it fist our needs) Are there other requirements? (Must be Euro 5 designated exhaust in order to get into cities, preferably a bit taller so we can step in easily, and if possible with a trailer hitch for our trailer) We don’t worry about color, at this point, even if we may have preferences. We pay most attention to how many kilometers, how old, and what the price is. 

We hope soon to be able to find something and be completely mobile again. In the meantime we will enjoy the snow which is slowing everyone else down on the roads.

(Photo is of our previous Citroën back in 2018, stuck in the mud at Bible camp)