Digging in the past

Family is important. Knowing where you come from, what your background is. Knowing doesn’t mean that you are fated to be a certain way, but it always helps to put things into perspective. 

Both Shirley and Scott come from relatively large families. Scott grew up with 4 brothers and a sister (he is in the middle). Shirley grew up in a family of 8 kids, where she is one of 3 sisters. Except that she never really knew her oldest sister, Elizabeth. 

As we have visited her family in past years, her sibling group has thinned out considerably. Starting out with 5 boys and 3 girls, it had gotten to only Shirley, her sister, Mary (who we visited in November for health reasons) and her two remaining brothers. This was not counting Elizabeth, since no one seemed to have any information about her. 

Elizabeth was the oldest of the children, but left the home early on. Shirley only met her once in her life. So it has always been a desire to find out what we could about this sister. As technology has gotten more robust and there are things like DNA tests, we have had some new tools. This past week we finally got the test results back from a DNA kit that Shirley had sent in. We were hoping to perhaps get some matches which would lead us to more information about Shirley’s sister. It might also give some interesting information about her ethnic background. 

As we sat with the information, we started digging deep into records and files online. We both enjoy reading and watching detective stories and this was right up our alley. All we had about Elizabeth was her name. We knew approximately when she was born, but not with certainty. We did not know where she was born or when, with any certainty. We didn’t know where she had lived since her 16th, when Shirley had met her. 

In the end we found out quite a lot of information. We found Shirley’s maternal grandparents (and even great-grandparents). This helped in finding Elizabeth. We had one place where Elizabeth was mentioned as “Elizabeth F. Walker”, but we had no idea what the “F” could stand for. Then we found that Shirley’s maternal grandmother was named “Faye”. Mystery solved and we could start searching further. A marriage certificate and some census information nailed down that Elizabeth must have been born in 1953. We found an Elizabeth Fay (born Walker) of about the right age and living in Missouri - not far from where we thought she might have gone to school. 

In the end we found an obituary and everything came together. Elizabeth had never gone far. She had lived for a bit with her maternal grandparents, had a child young and married the man she would stay with until his death in 2013. She passed away in 2020 in the small town in Missouri where she had lived for most of her life. She was 67 and died with emphysema (as did Shirley’s mother). 

It is disappointing to realize that we were too late. We do not think that we could have found her earlier without some of the tools we now have at our disposal. And we still do not know why there has never been contact with the family. That is the next step. 

Still, it is good to know a little bit about who she was: a mother with three children, lots of grandkids and even a few great-grandkids. And we have discovered that these tools may help to uncover some more about her father’s side of the family - another mystery. 

We are thankful that we can know a little bit about our families. We are even more grateful that we get to visit from time to time. Scott will get to meet his Aunt Betty after having seen her last when he was a teenager. We will both get to see our siblings and their children soon on our trip through the US. And we will of course get to see our own children. 

Family forms us in some important ways. We are especially thankful that we also will be blessed to see our Christian family across the US as we travel from congregation to congregation. This is our eternal family and has formed and is forming us still in the most important ways.

Where oh Where Wednesday: Eindhoven, city of light

The “city of lights” is a moniker most used for Paris in my experience. This is because of the romantic associations, I think. Paris in the spring (which means that you will get rained on), or Paris at any other time of the year can be quite beautiful in the night as the lights shine. The same can be said of Las Vegas, which during the day may look like a jumble of dusty oversized children’s toy sets, but at night transforms into a wonderland of beautiful, dancing lights. 

So it would not be strange if you had no idea that the ‘city of light’ in the Netherlands is considered Eindhoven. You see, Eindhoven is the hometown of Philips, the electronics giant. You may not know that Philips is from the Netherlands and certainly would be forgiven not knowing that it comes from a city called Eindhoven, but you know Philips products. 

From air fryers to blenders to coffee machines, Philips is in the kitchen. Bottle warmers, breast pumps, pacifiers and thermometers are offered by the company for mothers and babies. Headphones, televisions and media players fill rooms throughout the house. As a matter of fact, the compact cassette, the cd and dvd came originally from Philips (the cd was developed together with Sony). 

Years ago the radio and the shaver were the main seller of this company. More recently the company has focused on medical care and technology, producing cpap machines and the medical tomography machines used to show babies in the womb or help see anomalies in your body before a surgery. 

But even up to 2012 Philips was the largest manufacturer of lighting in the world. They started with carbon-filament lamps in 1892. It was this begin which gives the city of Eindhoven, where everything began, the name: city of lights. It was literally the city where the lightbulbs came from. 

These days we enjoy visiting the city every 3rd Wednesday for an evening of singing with the congregation there. The church began in Eindhoven with Let’s Start Talking campaigns conducted with a few faithful members who are still working with the church today. We are blessed to be able to encourage and be encouraged in singing every month and joining in various other combined congregational activities throughout the year. 

Informed or transformed?

This last week we have enjoyed a visit from Raymond Blasingame, one of the elders at S. 11th & Willis church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. This was our very first home congregation as a married couple. We married on a Friday, traveled on a Saturday (arriving from Arkansas in Texas) and attended Willis that Sunday morning. 

Raymond was on a world tour, stopping in to visit us before moving on to Kenya where he would meet with others supported by the congregation and finishing up in the Philippines where his father-in-law shared the gospel for 50 years. He would then move on around the globe back to Texas. 

We wanted to be able to share with Raymond what we do and were especially thankful that he could meet many of the members of the congregation we serve with. He joined us for various Bible studies in the week and spoke on Sunday morning. But we were also thankful for the other moments in the week we could share. 

We walked around Maastricht to show him the city where we live. Scott can do a pretty good tourist tour of the city and we saw quite a few of the things most visitors want to see: the medieval walls, Roman ruins, churches turned into all sorts of other things and the two main church buildings right downtown. In the evening we drove to Eindhoven for our monthly singing there where Raymond could also meet the members in that congregation. 

On Thursday we visited our Bible camp and enjoyed the beautiful ride down there through the countryside, before heading back to the city for another Bible study in the evening. On Friday Raymond was able to go golfing in Belgium and The Netherlands on the same day and same course. And then we finished the week with a visit walking around Brussels. All of these days were blessed with beautiful sunshine  - quite a treat for our part of Europe. 

On each of these days I was touched by how we were able to share information about the world and places, but were also able to see how important transformation in Jesus Christ truly is. There are so many places in Europe that are culturally Christian - meaning not Muslim or Hindu or Buddhist. But people who choose daily to live a life full of grace in Jesus Christ is truly amazing. 

On the Saturday in Brussels we were able to meet up with a former exchange student who spent some month with Raymond back in 2003. She has experienced all sorts of things in her life since then and is willing to think about what it really means to find Jesus. At a concert on Sunday, Raymond was able to talk with a man who was not really interested in religion - having lost the little bit of faith he had as a young man growing up. 

Choice is something that we all have in our lives. Time moves on, sometimes far more quickly than we even could have guessed until we stop and look. But if you can see the choice, you can still make it. And people do. Some consider information the pinnacle, the top of the mountain. 

But information only brings us to the choices we must and can make. Transformation is what comes from choosing to follow Christ, from allowing grace to actually touch your daily life. That was beautiful to see in the various encounters this past week with Raymond and the people we met. 

Are you informed? Or transformed? 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Proverbs 1:7

Whensday: Ides of March, taxes, and more

The middle of March could mean various things to various people. It is the ‘ides’ of March on March 15 and some will have heard the expression: ‘Beware the ides of March’. The ‘ides’ just means the middle of the month and was part a way of counting the days in a month. 

There are ides in other months as well. The ides of April will bring the tax man in the US. So many might say “Beware the ides of April.” Today in 2023 in The Netherlands a national election is being held which will lead to the choosing of the upper House of Parliament. 

It was Julius Caesar who made the ides of March so important. Marcus Brutus, along with others, assassinated Caesar on March 15, 44BC, effectively ending the Roman republic and eventually leading to the Roman Empire under Augustus. 

Skakespeare is the one who penned the infamous lines in his tragedy ‘Julius Caesar’. In the play a character warns Caesar ‘beware the ides of March’ since - as the soothsayer in the play knows - this is the day Caesar will be stabbed. In the play we also get the words: ‘Et tu, Brute?” “You too, Brutus?” 

At the time Caesar was dying and Augustus was building an empire, Maastricht was rising as a garrison and later as a city. Further south, in what is now Belgium, Tongeren was taking shape as a Roman city along an important road. These days both cities have remained important provincial capitals and important tourist locations, even in the middle of March. 

For us the day took on a larger significance in 2018 when our son, Sean, married Jill in Ternat, Belgium. For them, and for us, this is not a day of which to beware, but a day to look forward to.  

Whatsit Wednesday: Types of ships

It is no surprise that The Netherlands and Belgium have quite a history wrapped up with boats, ships and waters of all kinds. Most The Netherlands is below sea level and its golden age was a time of sea exploration, world discovery and amazing sea battles with the English. Belgium was parts of various sea-going countries before it became its own country in the 19th century. So it, too, shared in these watery exploits. 

But there are some unique styles of boats designed or specifically used in these two countries. The Fluyt (or ‘fluit” which means “flute”) was a Dutch merchant sailing ship in the 16th and 17th century. It was especially useful because it could haul quite a bit of cargo while only requiring a skeleton crew to operate. 

On the Zuiderzee - which was quite shallow - special flat-bottomed boats were designed. They are recognizable by what look like wings on either side. These are used instead of a keel. These boats were fishing vessels as were so many other types of sailing boats in the time. Much of sailing has remained the same throughout the centuries. 

Both the Dutch and the Belgians used canals for transport across the country. Even today these canals are used for bulk transport. A canal runs behind our house between two major canals. The Albert canal brings goods to Antwerp, while the Zuid Willemsvaart brings goods to Rotterdam - two of the busiest harbors in Europe. The Briegden-Neerharen canal (which runs behind our house) connects the two. We regularly watch barges pass by with all sorts of bulk goods. 

Even in our modern day, the Dutch and Belgians remain two of the most important countries when it comes to shipping. Belgium has become one of the premier countries for dredging, with highly technical ships designed to do the job. What is dredging good for? Think of Abu Dhabi or Dubai in the UAE where they have created land from the sea. Or mega harbors in China. This is accomplished with dredging activity often involving Belgian boats. 

Another modern twist has been the need for LNG containers. Liquified Natural Gas is a way of transporting natural gas from where it is mined to where it needs to be used. The Netherlands has a good bit of its own natural gas, but they have decided not to use it. This means that they have to buy gas from places like the US. This gas is then shipped to places like Rotterdam where huge ships become gas terminals. 

And on a funner note, we still can jump on a ferry from Oostende to Dover and enjoy a quick visit to the United Kingdom. A few years back when the boys were still at home, we took a family day-trip to Canterbury using such a ferry. Of course one could also just drive through the ‘Chunnel’, but that’s another story for another time. 

We hope to see you there!

Putting together our travel plans for May-June is quite a puzzle, but fun at the same time. We will be in quite a few places and look forward to seeing as many groups as we can, considering the time. We already know that we will not get to see all of our family (Scott’s dad and older brother), but we have also had some fun surprises. 

Back when Scott first moved to Colorado with his family, his dad needed to travel back to the East to finish hos military requirements and retire (at about 40 years-old). This was the last time that Scott saw any of his family, who mostly live on the east coast. But now that Scott and Shirley will be landing in New York and driving up to Rochester, they saw that Newburgh, New York was along the way. Scott got contacted information and it turns out that they will be able to visit his aunt who still lives in the same house Scott visited back when he was a teenager. 

If you are anywhere near where we will be, we hope that you will get in touch with us before we leave (April 26) so that we can plan some way of getting together. Maybe we can meet somewhere in the middle. Maybe we can call. Maybe you are in the same city and we don’t have your contact information any more. Drop us a comment here if you don’t have our contact information. 

We are also looking forward to meeting all sorts of new people in the congregations that support us. It has been a long 4 years since we last back and a lot can change in 4 years. It has here in Maastricht and certainly will have done where you live. So when we get to your city, your congregation - don’t be shy. We want to meet you. We may not be able to get to know you well, but we want to know who you are and thank you for your working together with us in God’s kingdom. 

Here again are the cities and states we will be visiting. We will begin in New York (and also visiting in Connecticut). We then move on to Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Woodbury congregation. They will help us on the next long leg of our trip to Omaha, Nebraska; Muscatine, Iowa; Indianapolis, Indiana and even making a quick stop in Chicago before returning to Minnesota. 

After the Midwest loop, we will fly down to Texas and drive out to Abilene, hoping to do some visiting along the way. From Texas we fly to Colorado where we will visit up and down the Front Range in Colorado Springs and Denver. By this time we will have hit our oldest son, Stephan and daughter-in-love Natalie (in Indianapolis), Shirley’s family (in Nebraska) and most of Scott’s family (in Indy and Colorado). 

We finish the trip by flying first out to California to visit our sponsoring church in Long Beach and to see some more of Scott’s family in San Diego. From LA we fly to NYC to finish up by visiting with son Sean and daughter-in-love Jill. After 8 weeks of traveling we will get back to Belgium before the end of June and just in time to have a church get-together down at Ardennen Bijbelkamp on the Saturday after our arrival. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Lurch from the Addams Family

Bubba-da-bump (tik-tik). Bubba-da-bump (tik-tik). Bubba-da-bump, Bubba-da-bump, Bubba-da-bump (tik-tik). 

The door creaks open and a VERY tall disturbing looking butler answers the door with an impossibly low voice: “You rang?”

I always enjoyed ‘Lurch” from the Addams Family series. He was meant to be a sort of Frankenstein monster that acted as the butler of the family. He looked a bit scary, but was actually a softy. This Lurch was played by actor Ted Cassidy, who was 6’9”. 

In the later film (1991) Lurch was played by a Dutch actor, Carel Struycken. He owed much of his succes in acting to his height. He was 2 meters 13 cm tall (in Dutch we would say he was that ‘long’). This equates to 7 feet tall. He was diagnosed with acromegaly when he was 20. This was about 10 years before he was discovered in Hollywood. 

He was born in 1948 in The Hague and moved to Curaçao with his family when he was 4. He returned to the Netherlands at 16 and started into film, taking him to California. It was here in 1978 that a woman leaped out of her car and chased him down to tell him that he was needed for a film. This film ended up being Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

In the Netherlands it is not at all unusual to feel like a pygmy in the land of giants while standing in the checkout line at the grocery store. Dutch men and women are among the tallest in the world. Carel Struycken is clearly just that little bit taller and was able to use that to step into people’s lives through film.