Singing, fellowship and flowers

This has been a week and a half of singing and fellowship. On April 10 we held our first Friday singing - on the 2nd Friday. This was because the first Friday was Easter weekend and most people could not be there. This made it possible for more people to come. And we were especially thankful that we finally saw our brothers and sisters from Liege again. It has been maybe 2 or 3 years since they have been able to attend this, although we saw them last year at camp for a day. 

The Wednesday after we were in Eindhoven for the 3rd Wednesday of the month and our singing with the church in Eindhoven. We had quite a group their meeting as well. It is always so encouraging to be able to share time singing together of God’s love and faithfulness. Our singings are always a balance of learning new things and singing songs to encourage one another. This time we even were able to find helpers for the camp we will be leading in the summer. 

On the Saturday (just past) we headed to Haarlem in the north to help them with their singing. We haven’t been able to be with them since February. This time we took the train up, which was restful. We ended up with a group of about 16 from all around the area. We were especially thankful that we were able to see a young man and his family that we grew up with and had not seen in perhaps 15 years. He now has three kids. We also saw a couple we love from the Den Haag area. 

Following the singing we spent some time with our Russian brother and sister and his visiting mother and went to look at flowers in the area. This is the tie of Keukenhof and the tulips and the flowers were amazing. It is beauty like this that makes you sing of the wondrous love of Jesus. But it is also the beauty that we see in our brothers and sisters at such times. We are so thankful that God gives us the opportunity to meet with so many congregations from around Belgium and the Netherlands. 

Soon we will be leaving for our Home Assignment (April 28) and we are looking forward to all the singing and visiting we will be able to do with brothers and sisters from around the US. We hope to see some of you soon and join in singing the grace of God together. 

Whensday: Tax day

For many people in the US today is tax day. A frantic gathering of papers and numbers and hoping that you have everything correct and on time. Wondering if you will get any money back or have to pay even more. It doesn’t matter what country you live in, these feelings remain the same. Nobody likes paying taxes. 

Some people will expound on how good it is to have services - which are paid by our taxes. Others will point out that the services could be cheaper if we didn’t pay all the taxes. Still others point out the fraud going on which makes our taxes even higher. In any case, most nobody wants to pay taxes. Almost everyone wished they were paying fewer taxes. 

At the moment one of the bigger worries for many is the price of gasoline. For us that means diesel, since we drive a diesel car (you use less for more miles). Looking at the high prices we hear about in the US doesn’t give us much of a shock here. We are paying about $10 per gallon here. And most of that is tax. Which is how some countries are helping the pain at the gas station by lowering the taxes - temporarily. But someone will have to pay in the end. 

As mentioned earlier, we are working through our tax situation here in Belgium. But we are also working through our tax situation in the US. Since we live outside the US we do not have to worry about the April 15 deadline (ours is in June). But we do still have to make sure that everything is ready, correct and up-to-date. 

So for us we will simply enjoy this Spring day. The sun is shining at the minute, but that could change. It is after all, April. The Dutch say, “April does what she wants”. Nothing about flowers and showers, just uncertainty. The beauty is simply evident if you open your eyes.  

And just in case you missed it, these things all happened on April 15. The Titanic sank, Leonardo Da Vinci was born in 1452, Jackie Robinson became the first black baseball player in the MLB, Notre Dame cathedral in Paris caught fire in 2019, the first McDonald’s opened in 1955. Like I said, April does what she wants. 

Getting ready to travel

In just 15 days we head off on our Home Assignment. This is our trip along our supporting congregations and our family. These last two weeks before we leave are filled with last-minute-getting-readies (if I can use that word). We are contacting the places we will visit and making sure they know we are coming. We are contacting the congregations making sure we know what how we can help while we are there. We are still finalizing a few travel bits, like accommodation in some of the stops. But we are looking forward to the time together. 

A Home Assignment is always quite a logistical challenge. We have 4 congregations which support us and at least 2 others we visit along the way with whom we have developed a good relationship. Our family is not in any of the places our supporting congregations are, so that means some extra driving or flying. Altogether this means that we want to make the most of every moment we are anywhere - even if it is only for a few days. 

As we prepare, we also are aware that we will be gone from our house for some time, so we want to make sure that everything is ready there,. We have very good neighbors who will keep an eye on things. I will try to mow the lawn at least one more time before we leave. And I will get the weeding done before we go. Not that it will look like I did by the time we get back, but at least it will have been done. 

Then we have to both think about what we will pack for the trip. As any of you who have traveled recently know, luggage allowances have gotten smaller about as quickly as gas prices have risen. When we traveled in 2023 (our last Home Assignment) we only took “carry-on” for the first. Since we are traveling from end of April to end of June, all across the country, we have to consider what kind of weather we might get and pack at least something that will be appropriate. 

At least this time we do not have to worry about any house pets that we are leaving behind for a few months. We have a neighbor cat who likes to come visit when she feels like it. We cat-sat our colleague’s cat for a few weeks back in March while they were gone. But we do not have any pets of our own to be concerned about. We do look forward to seeing our kids and their pets. We especially look forward to seeing our granddaughter in person again. 

So if we seem a little tired when we see you, don’t worry. We are not worried. We are very glad to be able to travel to see you. We are so thankful that you make the effort to see us as well. Traveling is an adventure and seeing people is an amazing blessing that we look forward to. We will miss seeing everyone here in Europe while we are gone, but we look forward to seeing all of you in the US while we are there. 

If you want to see our route, check out this earlier post.

Whatsit Wednesday: Elstar apple

The trees are blooming everywhere. White, pink, red flowers in an explosion of Spring as you drive around the countryside. In our backyard our cherry tree is blooming as well. We used to have a pear orchard just across the canal that would be a full field of blossoms at this time. That field is now just a field, but not far from us is the fruit district. Pear and apple trees grow all along the sides of the roads everywhere they can be found. 

It will soon be the time of year to eat apples. Although, to be honest, the apples have never really left the supermarkets. If they are not being grown here, they are going from Spain or elsewhere. Some are even grown in hothouses year-round. And there are all types of apples. The Elstar is one of the most sold here, next to the Jonagold and Granny Smith. I like the Granny Smith because I like my apples sour. It reminds me of the apple trees in our backyard when I was growing up. 

The Elstar apple is an apple that was made in the Netherlands in 1955 by crossing a Golden Delicious with an Ingrid Marie (an older race of apple). This was done by Arie Schaap and Tijs Visser. When the time came to give the apple a commercial name, a solution was sought combining the maker’s name and the place he lived, Elst. So they combined Elst+ AR (from Arie) and created the Elstar. The apple official went in to production in 1975. 

By 2006 about 45 percent of apple production in the Netherlands was Elstar. They can be plucked in September and saved until June. It is a red striped to dark red apple which is also used for apple juice and apple sauce. 

What kind of apple do you prefer? 

Whodunit Wednesday: M.C. Escher

He is still one of my favorite artists. M.C. Escher is well-known for his drawings that trick the eye. The detail in his drawings is what always drew me to his work. When I first came to the Netherlands, I got a subscription to the library so that I could check out his books and look through the pictures. Several of his paintings adorn the walls of buildings around the world. 

Maurits Cornelis Escher was born in 1898 in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands. Leeuwaarden is a part of Friesland, which in the past was its own country and people. But Escher’s family moved to Arnhem (much further south) when he was only 5 years old. He was considered a sickly child and did not do very well at school, although it was clear from early on that he was good at drawing. 

He went to a technical college and the Haarlem School of Architecture and decorative arts where he learned to make woodcuts. In his journeys in 1922 he traveled to Italy and Spain and was amazed at the intricate designs that he saw there. He started a family and lived in Italy until just before the war. In the end he ended up in Baarn, the Netherlands, where most of his work was done (although he had already been commissioned to design stamps for the Dutch Postal Service). 

His work is quite mathematical, which often means that conservative artists consider him less and artist and the general public loves his work. His technical ability is praised by all, but some cannot find themselves in his mathematical, symmetrical style. Perhaps Escher would say that they simply need to look deeper into the works. Some of his works tend to push into infinity.

You can find his work in The Hague, of course, but also in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and in Huis ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Japan. Have you ever seen his work? What do you think of it?