Whensday: Flying high?

Today KLM was in the news. KLM is the Royal Dutch Airlines and has generally been known throughout its existence as one of the better airlines. Many people recognize the light blue planes and the logo. Today they lost quite a bit of money because of a strike by the ground personnel. More than 100 flights had top be canceled. This is the reality of flying today. You might have done your very best to plan your holiday, getting the right flights to where you need to go, finding the best price for you and whomever is traveling with you - but it doesn’t mean a thing if some piece of the puzzle is suddenly missing. 

Back in 1908 the problems were different. In September of that year a Wright Flyer - one of the first airplanes - came down in a crash killing the passenger and wounding pilot Orville Wright. This was the first airplane crash I history. Of course there have been many more since then. And still, flying is basically safer than driving a car. There are fewer airplane crashes than car crashes. Car accidents are one of the biggest causes of death in the world. 

I have always loved flying. We flew from a young age since my father was military. We flew to Europe when I was still barely school age. We flew back to the US when I was just finishing elementary school. Every time I get on a plane, I can feel the excitement of traveling. I love looking out at the clouds. I love comparing landings that I have experienced. Although I don’t enjoy the waiting, I do enjoy the watching that can be done in the various airports of the world we have visited. 

Next year we hope to make our next trip back to the US for our Home Assignment. We will fly at least 7 times during the trip - two international flights and at least 5 continental flights. I don’t worry about any crashes happening, but I do hope that everything will go well with the ticketing and flights themselves. There is not much we can do about what might be happening in the world at that time. As always with flying, we will take our chances. 

Family Day at Camp

I come from a family of 8: my parents and 6 kids. When we were growing up, that was not that remarkable. There were larger families. When I first came to the Netherlands, a family that large was quickly becoming the exception to the rule. As a matter of fact, I remember people remarking to some friends of ours with a large family, “Don’t they know how babies are made?” This was meant to shame them and point out that they were creating too many children. It was a time when people were talking about how the world population was causing problems for the world, including climate and poverty. 

These days it is remarkable to see a family with more than 2 kids and some young people are even saying that they do not want to bring a child Ito the world (either because of cost or environment or that the world is such a bad place). And yet the beauty and blessing of family remains constant (along with some of the troubles and struggles). But family can be more than just your parents and brothers and sisters. 

I know some families that, when they have a family reunion must decide which part of the family is invited and where to organize the event. There can be hundreds that come. There are families with 17 children - and if they all have children and grandchildren, then the list of invitees gets quite large quite quickly. And even then, family can be more than blood relatives.

This past weekend we were blessed to head down to camp again for Family Day. This is organized each year by a different congregation, usually in Belgium. Maastricht organized it last year and this year the church in Eindhoven organized the day for the first time. They have organized the Spring get together in The Hague before, but had not yet organized the Family Day at camp. 

This was an amazing day of family in Christ. There were more than 80 present for the day, pushing the limits of what our camp hall can accommodate and making for some amazing singing. There were people present from at least 8 different congregations and visitors as well. We sang in two different languages and I heard people speaking in at least 4 languages. 

This is a time to see people from other congregations who we don’t often get to see. We had a group of about 15 from Maastricht. There was a group of about 10-12 Ukrainians present as well (including “our” 3 from Maastricht). Once the wet weather had lifted and the sun began to shine - just in time for the lunch - everyone headed outside, kids running around with a ball or chasing two of the dogs who also came along, parents standing around in groups talking and laughing. We even had a challenge getting a camera drop down from a tree where it had become stuck (in the end a good prayer brought a favorable wind and the drone fell to the ground). 

This whole day reminded me that there are so many in the world who do not know this blessing of family in God. Blood relatives either aren’t present or for some reason keep their distance. We know so many people who are left alone. And then we are thankful that we know that we are still family. And we want this family for everyone we know. They say blood is thicker than water, but Jesus’ blood is thicker than any blood from family. Proverbs 27:10 talks about a close friend and faraway relatives. Jesus states it even better: “Greater love has no man than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) And He willingly lay down His life for us (John 10:14-18).

We are so thankful for the family we have in the Lord, not only here in Belgium and the Netherlands, but around the world. Are you looking for family? Look to God's family. 

(The photo is when we were trying to retrieve the drone. You can find more pictures by clicking on the photo)

Whatsit Wednesday: Keurig and Douwe Egberts coffee

At the end of August Keurig Dr. Pepper, an American company that sounds Dutch, acquired JDE Peet which owns the ultimate Dutch coffee brand, Douwe Egberts. 

I remember during one of our recent Home Assignments when we spend a summer traveling in the US, visiting our supporting congregations and family that many people had a Keurig machine in their kitchen. This was a way of making single cup coffees. I was surprised, because the name “Keurig” sounds Dutch. As a matter of fact it translates to things like: neat, elegant, excellent, choice, gentlemanly (or ladylike). And yet it is not Dutch. 

The Keurig brand - as I mentioned in a previous post (see here) - was created by two Americans in the 1990’s. It is now part of the conglomerate of Keurig Dr.Pepper which makes the Keurig machines and various beverages. Anyone from Texas knows about Dr Pepper. It surprised me to find it in connection with coffee. 

But now this beverage company has acquired the Dutch coffee brand, Douwe Egberts. When Phillips first invented the Senseo machine (another single serve coffee machine which is more prevalent in Europe), they partnered with coffee brand Douwe Egberts, wanting to give the new machines and its coffee a caché, a bit of elegance. Unfortunately for the coffee brand, they only had a contract with the coffee machine makers for a few years. When the contract expired, every supermarket in the country could make the coffee pads that work in the machine, removing Douwe Egberts profit while increasing Phillips profit. 

Now the coffee brand will be able to take over the United States via a different coffee machine that sounds completely Dutch, unless you know about that Dr Pepper stuff. How do you make your coffee?