Where oh Where Wednesday: Christmas markets

When we lived in the US one of the things we experienced were “Christmas in July” sales. Mind you, the real Christmas sales would not start until after Thanksgiving (on Black Friday, of course). Buut I knew plenty of people who started playing their Christmas music in July. 

In the Netherlands and surrounding countries (Belgium, Germany and France) what we see sprouting at a certain time are Christmas markets. Every self-respecting city fills their market squares with little wooden huts bursting with what someone somewhere decided were things people want to purchase around Christmas time. This includes hats and mittens and socks and little beautiful things to put on a shelf somewhere or hang in your Christmas tree. 

There are multiple wooden huts selling mulled wine and hot chocolate, as well as beer (depending on which country you are in). There are huts with pancakes or “oliebollen (deep-fried pancake batter in the shape of balls), wieners or pea soup. The smell of supposedly handmade chocolates (especially in Belgium) or candies waft along the walkways, pulling hungry noses into the sale. 

There is of course music playing everywhere. Most of it will be the known secular Christmas tunes, but sometimes, especially now, there might simply be an AI generated beat and sound that sounds “Christmassy”. But there are plenty of people to walk between the huts, smelling and listening and enjoying. 

The market in Maastricht has a giant wheel looking over the market and the ice-skating rink. I recently took part in a choir singing what is considered the oldest Christmas song - “Transeamus”. Together with many others from the city and surrounding villages, I joined the Mastreechter Staar - a famous men’s choir. But I usually do not frequent the market in Maastricht. 

On Shirley’s birthday we visited Antwerp, Belgium, where we first lived when we moved here. As in Maastricht, they had a large wheel, but this one was at the train station and purported to give a view of the whole city. The Christmas market was downtown by the cathedral and city hall. The state of Brabo (throwing the giant’s hand) looked down at all of the commotion below him. 

In past years we have visited Sean in Brussels and walked along the market there. This one is unique - not in what it sells, but in how it is set up. Brussels has several market areas in the center of the city which they connect into one larger Christmas market. So while the humongous Christmas tree is on the “Grand Place”, most of the market is elsewhere in the city. 

We have also visited the market in Aken, Germany in years past, which confirmed what we had already come to know - these markets seem to be made up of the same people traveling from city to city. This of course is not possible, since they are all stationed in these cities at the same time. Still, everything looks quite familiar. We have not yet visited the market in Cologne, Germany or in York, England, but something tells me we would recognize it. 

What is nice to experience are the smiles on some of the peoples’ faces who are walking around the markets. Many are stressed, trying to get those last gifts or trying to have fun while dragging from one wooden hut to the next. But some people’s eyes simply light up. Some are simply looking into one another’s eyes and smiling. They are using this places to be together. And that is very nice to see. We have usually enjoyed our times at these markets because we are together, sharing time with one another. 

What are the things you enjoy the most about the places you go during the holidays? 

(You can see some of our pictures from our walks in Mechelen and Antwerp this year here.)

Taking care of family

The end of the year is often a time for family and caring for family. The holidays take many off traveling until the new year. We always find it to be a time to share family with those around us. Of course as we have lived overseas most of our family is far away. This simply means that we find other ways of getting together or seeing one another. We look forward to being able to speak to the boys around Christmas via video-calling. 

But there are plenty of people around us who also ar not able to travel to family oir be with family at this time. So we want to make sure that we can all share that together as family. This year we will welcome several from the congregation in Maastricht to our house on Christmas for a Christmas dinner. A couple from Ghana will bring some special dishes to share and our airman will bring a friend who also is without family while stationed overseas. 

We are looking forward to some game time, amazing food and wonderful conversation. This will be the second Christmas for our granddaughter and we are excited to see how much of the time she experiences. She is becoming quite a character. After our afternoon with our guests we will look forward to video’s with family. 

We are thankful for the family we are part of all over the world. Yesterday we were all together as a church family and enjoyed good food, conversation and “white elephants”. We pray that you, too, have the opportunity to share what you have with those around you. 

Whensday: December 21, 1984

I can still see her walking down the aisle. Her dark hair was free. She had decided not to have a veil. Her smile was resplendent. I couldn’t see my face, but I imagine it was somewhere between nervous and silly happy. I was wearing a rented tuxedo, cummerbund and all, and stood next to my best man and his father who was performing the ceremony. 

Shirley and I had both worked through many of the things that were “normal” or supposed to be part of this day. Were we going to have an arch with flowers? Were we going to do a unity candle? How many cakes were there going to be and who was going to make them?

Neither one of us had any money - and that didn’t really bother us. Our rings were bought at a pawn shop. Her dress was on sale from a bridal shop going out of business and a lovely lady from the bakery made our cakes for a friendly price. In the meantime a mechanic had fixed the car we had been gifted and my mother had bought four new tires. 

In the end we had wonderful songs sung by amazing friends, we gave our lives to one another and then we loaded up our car and drove off. The car gassed us all the way to Abilene, Texas where we were moving after Shirley’s graduation from Harding. I would be attending ACU. 

We never did find the pictures of our wedding day. We had had to take the film rolls undeveloped with us (do you remember film rolls) and it was months later - after two moves - that we went looking for them and couldn’t find them. So our memories are what is left - and they are amazing. 

This Saturday those memories will be 40 years old and we have made so many new memories together. Most of the time we are not able to celebrate our anniversary on the day itself. This year we will at least spend some time on the day to remember and share together. We will look at a different time to celebrate more extensively. 

December itself is a month of memories. We spent a day in Antwerp on the 11th to celebrate Shirley’s birthday. The church has its Christmas get-together potluck this Sunday. And of course the two days of Christmas and then the New Year are on their way. But this Saturday is for remembering that smile of hers coming down the aisle. 

(Thanks to my mom for the few pictures we have!)

On the Family Side

The end of the year is family time: Thanksgiving and Christmas are all chances to catch up on what is going on and to share time together. We are thankful that we live in a time where technology makes much of that possible. When we were young, being way for the holidays meant not seeing family at all. We have the luxury of being able to connect with family through technology. 

Since we got to visit our granddaughter in the summer, we have looked forward to every single moment we can share with her (and with Stephan and Natalie). Stephan has changed up his time to video call so that this has become even better. In the past, Stephan would call at his lunch time, which was out dinner time. It worked out perfect as we could share a meal and a conversation together. When Sophia arrived, she was usually sleeping at lunch. And who wants to wake a sleeping infant? Certainly not a new parent. 

Now, Stephan calls us in his morning, our afternoon, when he is sitting with Sophia getting ready for the day. She babbles with us, shows us her toys and we get to share time with both her and Stephan. If we sing one of her songs, she lights right up, recognizing the song. We have been sending some video’s off songs with new items - in Dutch. That way she also learns that she can speak that language. 

We also enjoyed following both Stephan and Natalie running a Turkey trot on Thanksgiving. We get a link to their route and can see how they are doing (even their heart rate). At the end we were sent a picture of everyone together. It is amazing to be able to share in these kinds of moments - live and in the moment. We are so thankful for the technology that is now available. 

Over in New York Sean and Jill are also thankful for technology, but in a different way. We have enjoyed seeing pictures and videos of their new apartment which they were able to move into at just the right moment. Sean tore his ACL back in September and was able to have it operated on this past week. So he needs to be taking great care of his leg. Their previous apartment was on the 5th floor, without an elevator. Now they live on the first floor. 

We look forward to being able to say hello, even if it is briefly, to both Stephan and Natalie (and Sophia) and Sean and Jill on Christmas. As it suits young families and couples, they will be busy with their own plans on that day (as will we), but being able to jump on a call together will keep us bound together. We pray that you, too, are able to enjoy your time with family in these days - either because of the wonder of technology, or because you are able to get together. Savor each moment. 

Whatsit Wednesday: Shawl

A shawl is not inherently Belgian or Dutch. We know that people around the world wear them, except in the warmer climes of the world. But it is here that I first saw how important this piece of outwear is, for both men and women. Belgian and Dutch weather has a whole season for shawls - and not just one shawl. There is a whole fashion culture built up around this clothing accessory. 

When we first moved here, I knew that a nice “pashmina” would be a good birthday gift for Shirley. Today is her birthday and I still think about a good shawl. Shirley likes shawls. They can be used in so may different ways. There are silk versions, wool version and of course all sorts of blends. They can be one color, multicolored and patterned in every way. And each one can have a different purpose or time of year. 

You see, the light shawl is first brought out in the Fall as the weather starts to turn. One needs something around the neck to keep the sharper winds out, but the winter coat has not yet been dug out of the deepest closet. So every one is still wearing light coats, suit coats or windbreakers. But to add just that bit of extra protection and fashion sense, a colorful shawl is draped around the neck, sometimes tucked into the coat or suit coat. 

That was one of the things that struck me when I first came - shawls are worn in many different ways. You can see students wrapping a long, thick shawl around their neck, tossing it over their shoulders as they climb aboard their bicycles to race off to class somewhere in the city. On the shopping streets you will see posh gentlemen with a somewhat thinner shawl tucked around their neck and into their coat. Some men will even wear a light shawl around their neck, trailing down their back, in the cooler of the summer months. 

Women, as Shirley shows well, have all sorts of ways to accessorize their clothing in any season. Shirley drapes a silk shawl on one side to accentuate a color. Or she can use a thicker one to serve almost as a sort of poncho, adding some warmth which can be easily and quickly removed if needed. 

Shirley loves finding a beautiful shawl and adding it to her collection. So that remains a good choice for a birthday present. Which reminds me… I need to get to the store. 

Sport and fellowship

This past weekend was full of fun and fellowship. Saturday was a sport day organized by August. August is barely 10 years old, but he knows that it is good to get together with friends. So he had asked his mother last Fall if he could organize a sport day. I like getting to pay sports recreationally and getting to know the young people that I see at camp better. Plus I wanted to encourage August, so I went last year and had a great time. 

This past Saturday August held the 2nd version and the 3rd one is already planned for the Spring. We had about 20 people there to play basketball and a little bit of soccer. We took time to stop and sing together and thank God for the time together. There was plenty of time to sweat, talk, laugh and enjoy. I am already looking forward to the one in the Spring and getting some of the young people from our side of the country to go as well. 

The evening before all the sweating at the sport day we were home for our monthly singing. Every first Friday of the month is singing. We used to do this at the building, but it has become easier for now to do it at our house. This month we had some guests from the church in Eindhoven and we all enjoyed singing some Christmas songs and paying attention to the real reason for the season. I love singing, but the time afterwards, filled with conversation, is just as encouraging. 

On Sunday, since it was the 2nd Sunday of the month, we had some members stay afterwards to play games. We had had 3 visitors for services and were also able to welcome several members back who had not been in quite some time. Praise God for grace and compassion and hearts that long to be with God. We are so very thankful for the opportunities that God gives us to fellowship, to have fun and to encourage one another. 

Whodunit Wednesday: Thierry Neuville

There are plenty of young kids who dream of driving their cars over every sort of terrain, sliding through curves, jumping over hills and speeding on to win the race. But there are a few who actually do this - ij the dirt and dust, in the snow, in the mud. They are called rally drivers. I remember as a kid being amazed at the pictures and video’s of these cars flying through the air. 

Rally car driving is quite popular in Belgium, just as is riding bikes through mud and dirt and anything else that can get in the way. Belgians like seeing sport people get muddy, I guess. But there has never been a rally world champion from Belgium, until now. Thierry Neuville just won the world championship this year. So at the moment, Belgium and the Netherlands are top of the world as far as motorsport goes, since Dutchman Max Verstappen has been crowned Formula 1 world champ this year - his 4th time. 

Thierry Neuville comes from the German-speaking area of Belgium, in St. Vith. Belgium has 3 official languages and areas: Flemish (which is basically the same as Dutch), Walloon (which is basically French) and German. The German-speaking area is a small little sliver over in the East of the country, bordering on Germany, of course. It is just East and south of where we hold our Bible camp weeks every year. 

Neuville has been racing for quite some time, even though he is still fairly young (only 36 years old). He looks like a mild-mannered Clark Kent, with glasses and a little smile playing across his face. But he and his navigator know how to tear up the course in a rally car. These cars look somewhat like normal cars, except for all the stickers and the built out bumpers. Subaru’s, Peugeot’s, Citroën’s, Toyota’s and many more are all competitors in these type of race. Neuville has been racing for Hyundai. 

It is intriguing that we have so many sorts of racing so very close to where we live and work. One of these days we may get a chance to stand along the side of the road as the rally cars go roaring past, tossing up mud and dust as they race to victory. For this year, in any case, that victor is Belgian Thierry Neuville. 

God is good, all the time

This past weekend was Thanksgiving in the US. The Canadians already shared thanksgiving a month earlier. Here we tend to plan a day between Thanksgiving and Christmas when a group of expats can get together on a Saturday and share the time eating good food and having good conversations. We call it Thanksmas. This year Thanksmas was this past Saturday, just two days after the actual Thanksgiving day. 

I love Thanksgiving. I like the idea that all sorts of people, many without even knowing it, are doing what God has told us is so good for us - being thankful. “This is the will of God in Christ for you” is what the text in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says. And although it is a challenge, it is good to try to be thankful in all things. There are days when things are hard. There a times when we can be challenged to find something to be thankful for. But it is worth taking the challenge. 

This past year we have had some wonderful moments and some challenging times. Shirley’s only sister passed away, leaving a void that Shirley especially feels when the topics she and her sister would share come up during the day. Politics, jewelry or family were some of the things they shared every day, writing emails back and forth to one another. Just the other day Shirley took out a jewelry-cleaning machine that we had purchased. When she was done using it, she realized that she couldn’t share the results with Mary. Many of you understand the struggle and the challenge to be thankful for all the moments that they had together. 

We also heard fro two of our supporting congregations that things were changing. Our first congregation as a married couple (literally the very first Sunday after we were married) was at S. 11th and Willis in Abilene, Texas. Last month “Willis” held their last service as a congregation. The members have moved to other congregations in the city or joined the congregation with which Willis merged. This also means that our support from this congregation changed. 

Although it is a challenge to think that this congregation will not be there the next time we drive through, we are so very thankful for all that they have meant for us in the past. They are the congregation that showed us what it looks like to be a missions church and they have supported us almost from the beginning of our time here in Europe. And we know that God continues to work through the people who met at that location, no matter where they are. 

On the other side, we have very much enjoyed the times that we have been able to meet and speak with our granddaughter. We were there for her first birthday and were able to share this with Stephan and Natalie as well as Sean and Jill. After we came back home we have tried to find ways to keep connected so that she knows who we are. We send her video’s about things we have in our life. Stephan has adapted our video-call time so that she can be there as well (they call in their morning now - our afternoon). 

New life is always exciting and that is something that we have been thankful for in Maastricht as well. The congregation has seen two new members in the year - one who has come as a student and one who has given her life to Christ and joined the family. In addition to these new sisters, we have seen others return to their life in Christ after challenging times and we have seen several visitors coming regularly. It is good to see how God works in so many daily things. 

There are some days that are very difficult. But God is good in those moments, giving us strength and direction - even when we are not sure of the direction immediately. We know we can walk with Him and we will get to where we need to be. And there are times of joy and happiness where it is easy to praise His name. We thank God for all of you who continue to pray for us and the people we are working with here. We are so very thankful that we have been blessed with knowing you and have seen how God continues to bless us through you.