Whensday: Léopold II in 1865

On December 17, 1865 Léopold Lodewijk Filips Maria Victor van Saksen-Coburg en Gotha became Loepol II, king of Belgium. He was the second king of Belgium, following Leopold I, his father. He was 30 years old when he became king and reigned until his death in 1909 at the age of 55. He was king for exactly 44 years and remains the longest reigning king of Belgium. 

Leopold is best known for his ruthless deeds done I the Independent Congo Free State which he established. Many historians now look back on that time with disgust. Léopold II used Congo as a personal zoo en discovery ground. The Congo was his personal property, after all. 

Many of the best known places in Belgium were built during his reign and under his charge. The Jubel Park and Dudenpark in Brussels and the Central Station in Antwerp are examples of these. Besides these public buildings he also built various buildings for himself, including the Botanical Gardens in Laken, the Japanese tower and Chinese pavilion near the palace and even special houses in France. The Villefranche-sur-Mer on the French coast was considered one of the most expensive houses in the world in 2009. 

Congo was finally relinquished from Léopold II to the Belgian state in 1908. Belgium bought the area from the king (or he was forced to sell it). From 1908 until 1960 Belgian Congo was a colony of Belgium until it became the country of Congo. The true history of what Léopold II did in his private state of Congo only truly came to light decades later. 

Family of Léopold II were woven into the families and governments all over the world. His sister was empress of Mexico. Queen Victoria in the United Kingdom was a full niece. But in the end all of his ties died out. Today there is only a branch of the house of Bonaparte (his youngest daughter had married Napoleon Victor Bonaparte).

(Photo is of the Victory Arch in Jubelpark Brussels)

Fun

My best friend’s father always said that Christians know best how to have fun. God created fun, so those who know God know best what fun is. And if you knew Ron Carter or my best friend, Bret Carter, you would understand completely how true this is. And it is something I have found to be true throughout my life. We have fun at Bible camp. We have fun at sport days. We have fun playing games. We have fun telling jokes - even dad jokes. 

This past weekend was a weekend of fun. Shirley’s birthday was on Thursday and we enjoyed laughing together. I made dinner. Or at least, I warmed up the meat that I bought at the store. I also warmed up the potatoes and made a salad - all with Shirley’s help. But it was delicious and we enjoyed the time together. We have always been able to laugh together - even if a lot of it might be me laughing at my own jokes. Shirley has gotten pretty good at dad jokes as well (as have our sons - to their own chagrin). 

On Saturday the congregation organized a sport day to have some more fun. You have heard me talk about the soccer tournament that many go to. But there are plenty of us who actually like playing basketball as well (or we even prefer it). So we planned a sport day for those who wanted to play basketball and had a soccer ball along for the chance that it might be needed. 

Although this is exam time for plenty of young people, we still hoped that some would take the opportunity to take a break from studying and come sweat for a few hours. And we had a good small group to play some 3x3 (or half court) ball. I was happy just to be able to keep up with some of the younger ones who attended, but it was fun. Encouraging one another, experiencing some good ankle breakers and even getting in a lay-up here or there. 

Sunday was the birthday of another of our members in Maastricht, but its was also a 2nd Sunday. That means games in Maastricht. Our Ukrainian couple bring all sorts of games to play, we eat a meal beforehand and simply enjoy getting to know each other while laughing. This time we played a few hands of Uno Hearts. It takes a bit of learning and a good bit of humility. You never know when you might end up with too many cards of the wrong color. But it is all good fun. 

Next week we will hold our church Christmas Get-together. This year we chose for secret Santa’s (instead of a white elephant sort of game). We will enjoy a good potluck meal together and sharing gifts and encouraging Bible texts with one another. This too is part of having fun. When we can go home having laughed, feeling appreciated, knowing that others care about us - then it is a good day. 

On Christmas we will probably be welcoming some of our young couples to our house for a delicious meal (which they will also help make) and some fun games together. It is always good to share laughter and the love of family. God knows what fun is all about and it is good to share it with those who know Him. 

(Photo is our Christmas Get-together last year)

On the Family Side

(This was set to post last week, but somehow did not get posted). 

This past month we were very thankful for technology and that we were able to check in with our kids. We have a wonderful daughter-in-love who sends us pictures regularly of what she and Sean are doing in New York City and we got to check in with Sean and hear about his job and health. It has been a year since he damaged his ACL and was operated. Thankfully he is back to playing soccer every week with friends. 

His wife, Jill, is enjoying running her own antique store in Manhattan. You can even find her on Instagram (brocante_nyc) and if you are in the neighborhood drop in to her little boutique. Sean himself is enjoying his time as a 1st grade teacher. He is also working on a children’s book that he has written - a detective Jack Russel terrier solving a mystery in Brussels. So Jacques Russel from Brussel may be coming to your bookshelf soon. Sean is also working on a novel. Both Sean and Jill enjoy writing and being creative. 

Just after Thanksgiving we were also able to jump on a video call to Stephan, Natalie and our granddaughter. The little one is growing quickly and is intrigued by seeing us on the video, but she is also 2 years old and had just been through a few days of long trips and family visits. We were very thankful to be able to talk for a while with our daughter-in-love who we had not seen for quite some time. We were also thankful to have been able to talk to Stephan for his birthday (Halloween). 

Both Stephan and Natalie work hard and enjoy their time with family that is close by. Natalie’s sisters both live with their families in the neighborhood and both have kids, so our granddaughter gets to be with the cousins quite often. We are looking forward to being able to see everyone next year when we make our trip through the US. We will get to sing to our granddaughter in person and spend enough time with both families (in Indiana and in New York). 

Until then we are thankful for every possibility of contact - pictures, videos and video calling. Who knows, we may even send some actual cards at some point (does anyone still use real snail mail?). 

(Photo is of the last time we were all together in Indianapolis for a birthday in 2024. Lots has changed since then!)

Whodunit Wednesday: Tom Boon and Xan de Waard

Hockey - not ice hockey, but the real hockey. It is played on a field with a ball and sticks. Looks a bit like ice hockey - without the ice, without the huge padding and ice skates, without the fighting. Both Belgium and the Netherlands are world powers when it comes to field hockey and recently one name rose to the top. 

Tom Boon is an “old” player. Just like in so many sports, age is relative. Aaron Rodgers is still making waves in the NFL, albeit at Pittsburgh instead of Green Bay. For hockey players 35 years old is definitely not young. Tom Boon has been the vedette scorer for the Belgian national team for quite some time. The Belgian men won the World Cup (2018), the European Cup (2019) and the Olympics (2021).   

The World Cup of hockey is even played about an hour from here, just outside of Antwerp - in Boom. By the way, the Dutch (or Flemish) words with a double “o” in the middle are pronounced with the “o” sound. A Dutchman commented to me long ago, “I don’t understand you Americans. It is easy in Dutch. If one “o” is “o” then two “o’s” should be “ooo” (making a rounded “o” sound a bit longer). Where do you get this “ew” or “oo” when you say the word “book”?” So Tom Boon (whose name means Tom Bean) plays in Boom (which means tree). 

However one pronounces his name, Boon has just won the prestigious World Player of the Year 2025. On the women’s side, Dutchwoman Xan de Waard won for the second time. And the Dutch women are a definite force in the game. They have won 4 of the last 5 Olympics and 4 of the last World Cups. So the next time you are watching hockey, check out this hockey and know that either the Netherlands or Belgium, whether it is the men’s or women’s competition, will be in the running. 

(Photo of Tom Boon in white playing against Germany)