Where oh where Wednesday: Japanese gardens in Hasselt

About 20-30 minutes away from where we live is the largest garden of its kind in Europe. We have never visited (yet) even though we often are in Hasselt, where this garden is found. We have a few of our members in Maastricht who live in or near Hasselt and we know other brothers and sisters from the church in Hasselt. But this garden is something completely different. 

Although Shirley and I have never visited Japan, we know a little bit about for various reasons. My brother is married to a gal from Okinawa and our nieces and nephew are half-Japanese. We have good friends who have been sharing the gospel in Japan for decades. And one of the first people from a foreign culture who came to Christ in Maastricht was a man from Japan. We still have contact with him although he now lives with his Dutch wife in Leiden. 

So 20-30 minutes away we could visit the Japanese Gardens in Hasselt, Belgium. Back in 1985 Hasselt and the Japanese city of Itami became friends, sister cities. Hasselt decided to give Itami a carillon tower and Itami gave Hasselt the Japanese garden. The garden was built not as a small city garden, but an expansive site of 2.5 hectares where a meadow had previously graced the countryside. 

The connection of Hasselt with Itami is not such a strange one. The city of Hasselt is known for its jenever, or gin. This is made from berries on a juniper bush. I remember growing up in Colorado that we had some juniper bushes in our front yard I didn’t know that you could get gin from them. Itami is famous for its sake. Sake, which is made from rice, is said to have originated in Itami. 

Although we have never yet visited this garden, we have visited the Japanese Gardens in San Diego while on our Home Assignments and visiting family who live there. You can find some pictures here that may be reminiscent of what we will find in Hasselt when, hopefully soon, we visit the gardens which are basically in our back yard. 

Where oh Where Wednesday: Lommelse Sahara

Just about 30 minutes away from where we live we can visit the Sahara. Not the Sahara which one would find in the north of Africa, but the “Lommelse Sahara”. This is an area that has become a tourist attraction and national park due to man-made activities. First of all a pool was created due to the mining of pebbles (which is done quite a bit along the river where we live as well. Added to this, a Zink factory caused all of the trees to die, having an area of white sand behind. This was all before the 2nd World War. 

The history of this area, including an explosives factory which contributed to what it looks like today, in the end has created what many in the country have called one of the most beautiful areas of Flanders. These days it is a go-to place for hikers, bikers and youth clubs who love the nature that has been created. 

I still remember as a kid when we visited the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. We drove for hours to get behind the mountains (we lived on the Front Range in Colorado Springs) and approach an other-worldly pile of white sand in the middle of dark mountains. 

This otherworldly element is exactly what one experiences by this Belgian Sahara. Lommel is still Belgium, where we expect to see trees, grass and some heather. But sand dunes aren’t what anyone expects. This is what makes the Lommel Sahara such an amazing place to visit. 

Where oh Where Wednesday: Texas or Brussels

We are well into Spring, even if the weather here doesn’t quite know what to do yet. We have seen that tornadoes, sun and rain have already been added to the mix in the US. But along with the rain comes the Spring beauty as well. Very soon our cherry tree will begin to bloom and all over flowers are coloring the world. 

In the city of Brussels there is a forest. As you can imagine, people like to visit at all times of the year, escaping the grey of the city for the beauty of nature. At the beginning of Spring in the Halle forest the hyacinths bloom and color the forest with a blue carpet. People come from all around simply to get a glimpse of this beauty or to walk I its serenity (along with the thousands of other people taking a look). 

In Texas the blue bonnets have brought a beautiful blue to the fields around the hill country. These little flowers are famous for the beauty they bring. Such small delights that can bring such great joy simply by showing their faces. Songs have been written, canvases painted, and rolls and rolls of film filled (or memory cards topped up). 

Funny enough, hyacinths, like the ones in Brussels, are in the family of asparagus. This is also coming to harvest. There are no beautiful blue flowers. The white gold of the Netherlands is what this crop is called. It has to be harvested by hand and is a true delicacy. Limburg, the province we live and work in, is where you can really find this tasty bite. I only remember asparagus being green (which is all we had when I was a kid). If you have never tried it white, find a restaurant that serves it and enjoy.  

Do I deserve it?

There are various songs that talk about the grace of God. Some of my favorites talk about how grace means that I do not deserve it. About how amazing it is that `God would even think of me in giving His grace. That He doesn’t wait until I am “better” to offer me grace. He gives His most wonderful gift of life exactly when I need it - when I am dying. 

God through the apostle Paul puts it into words well in the letter to the Romans in chapter 5 and verse 6 through 8: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

I have thought about this quite a bit in the past months. Many of my discussions and contacts with people are things that look to be going nowhere if I were looking at my life and task here as a job. In a job you are focused on production. I have worked at a pizza place, a hamburger place, a hotel as room service and as a teacher. I have needed to sell as many pizza’s as possible on my shift, make and serve hamburgers at the drive-thru and at the counter and hope that visitors to the hotel order room service so that I could get tips. Even as a teacher my work was measured by my production. 

As an evangelist the same thing can be done. Supporting congregations might look at a certain area and compare it with another. How many people are coming to the Lord in that country? Not as many in this country over here. We need to encourage the worker there to be more productive. Or we need to move our funds elsewhere. These are all normal thoughts and considerations. And they are thoughts in my head as well. I worry about whether I am using my time wisely. Should I be putting more time into people who clearly seem to not want to hear any good news? Should I just drop them and move on to others? Am I wasting my time and productivity? 

Then I wonder about how long God had to wait for me. I look at so many in the church and realize that God must have worked a long time on them (and me). If I think about all the people He put into my life, I am truly amazed. Amazed that He could love such a sinner as me. He put a lot of resources into my life. I know that some of the people have probably never heard anything about what they did in my life to bring me to a life of faith in this loving God. 

In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus tells a story about sheep and goats. I have shared this often with the young people here. The people in this story who are non-productive are those who do nothing and are not even aware of what they have not done. Those who are praised as good servants are those who have helped in daily matters for people who are often overlooked. 

Some of the people I spend time with seem to me to be quite obstinate. I have spoken to them often of the love of Christ, have shared and read the Bible with them and have prayed with and for them. They remain obstinate and deny the need for any help from this God. And still I continue to help them as I can. 

A man in prison calls me almost every day. He claims that he is the pope and has a strange way of looking at God. But he also prays for me and the contacts I have with others. It is difficult to visit him in prison (90 minutes away and with the usual bureaucracy). Another man is struggling with cancer and health issues. He has no one in his life because he has turned all away through his vitriolic way of talking with most people. A woman thinks that she can and needs to buy every kind of contact - even now that she is in a nursing home at an advanced age. She has no children, but she has money. She has recently begun to learn how to pray, simply talking to God. 

These are people that take time. I wonder sometimes if it is “worth” it. Then I remember God’s grace and mercy in my life. God wants us to be gracious as He is gracious, to show mercy as He shows mercy. That means even when they don’t seem to be listening. As a matter of fact, that is exactly when it is needed - when they do not understand the value of what is being offered. 

We have a walnut tree in our yard. If you didn't know what walnuts were, you would never think to pick up these ugly, dirty things rotting underneath the tree. Sometimes people cannot see the beauty of what is being offered. Sometimes we cannot see the beauty of what is before us. I thank God for His grace and mercy with me, for the people He brought into my life. Many of you are those people. Thank you for being full of grace, even when you could not see where it was leading. Please pray for us as we try to do the same in our lives here. 

California Dreaming (Home Assignment 2023 California)

It’s the land of making dreams come true - or at least that is what many think when they think of California. Hollywood, Disney, surf and beaches, sunshine and palm trees. And truly, our first sight this time was something we had not yet seen in all of our trips to California - the jacaranda in bloom. It could have been a dream. (The picture at the beginning and in our pictures, here). 

And yet, California is like any other place, full of people trying to live, of stories and conversations and memories. We originally came out to Long Beach in the summer of 1990 just after Stephan was born. He celebrated his first birthday here with this church family (dressed like a little bunny). It has been good to see old friends and make new relationships here, even if the sun has not shone that much (they talk of “June gloom” here, which comes every year). 

Our time here has been filled with visits and conversations with the church members, as well as some time to look around and even do some tourist things. We made it down to Seal beach and stood in the wind amazed at the few people who braved the water and sand. We spent an evening at Harbor Village shivering in the evening sun that finally peaked through the clouds, but enjoying the boats in the marina and the people along the pier. 

Later in our time, we were treated to a visit to downtown Los Angeles. You would think that we had been there before, but this was our first time. We even took the “metro” there (a mix between a tram and a metro). It is always fun to visit places with people who know what they like and share it with you. In this case it was a very short but very busy (in years) funicular tram, an office building straight out of a 1930’s detective novel, Union Station and the old roots of this very large city, grounded in Spanish and Mexican culture. 

We of course spent time with members of the congregation, telling about how God is working in The Netherlands and Belgium. Scott preached on Sunday and we enjoyed a potluck afterwards. The song leader even made Scott feel at home (unknowingly) by raising the last verse of “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” - just like often happens in Maastricht on a Sunday. 

Sunday evening was an interesting time. We shared a meal of leftovers with the Jablonski’s. These were leftovers from the various meals since arriving and brought with them the various memories of good conversations. So we also enjoyed the conversations and memories a second time. 

And food has definitely been a part of this stop. A fish restaurant with a sort of fish tex-mex, O’Malley’s Irish pub for a breakfast, authentic Mexican fare including Mole enchilada’s (spicy chicken with chocolate), Angus beef steaks as well as good ol’ home-cooked meat and veggies. We may have to be rolled home when it is finally time, but we have enjoyed the varieties and especially the conversations along the way. 

Our trip these past 7 weeks has seemed like a dream. Even more so as we look back on all the people we have seen and places we have visited. And we missed seeing so many! But we have been able to share memories and make new memories along the way. 

Here in California we are blessed to stay with our friends, the Jablonski’s, who live on a golf course. They have plum and avocado trees in their yard. We have enjoyed the avocado’s almost every evening while being spoiled by their hospitality. Their Egyptian cat mewls and rubs your leg as the wind lightly plays with eh flowers growing around the swimming pool. 

And yet, life is still life whether it is elsewhere or here in what to some seems an idyllic surrounding. Gas prices are the highest here than anywhere we have yet seen and families still do their best to deal with all the struggles we are given in this life. We are so thankful not only to have family in God, but to have strength and security and a future in God. This is not a dream, but the real reality - wherever we are. 

Very soon we will be on the last leg of our trip, visiting with Sean and Jill in New York, after which we will be heading home. But that is another story. 

Whatsit Wednesday - Tulips from Amsterdam

The song talks about tulips from Amsterdam, probably because when people think of tulips, they think of the Netherlands. And when people think of Holland (The Netherlands), they think of Amsterdam if they think of any city. And you can certainly buy tulips in Amsterdam. 

I remember how, after returning from my two years in The Netherlands and wanting to buy flowers for my future bride I was shocked at how expensive flowers can be in the US. Even now with inflation I can still get roses or tulips or carnations or almost any other flower for about 3 euro for 10 flowers. 

Tulips, however, are typical for Holland. But, as many of you may know, they didn’t originate in Holland. Cultivation of the tulip began in Persia in the 10th century. The name “tulip” may come from either the word for ‘turk” or “turban” which was worn in the 16th century. Near the end of the century the tulips had created a mania among the Dutch and a new industry was born. 

If you visit The Netherlands, you do not want to miss visiting Keukenhof, near Leiden. In the Spring when the flowers are blooming in the fields, it looks like an artist has spread unbelievable colors across the fields. Some are so vibrant one wonders truly if it is not painted. The beauty of God is more amazing than anything we can even imagine!

The manifold wisdom of God

We have been blessed in our lives to travel quite a lot and see all sorts of different places. In the US we have lived in the Midwest, in the West “and even in Southern California,” he said with a wink in his eye. In Europe we have had the opportunity to travel all over most of western Europe and much of Eastern Europe. But we have realized that there is an amazing variety of beauty and information wherever we are. Look in your backyard (or on your terrace or balcony) and pay attention to what you can see, hear and smell even there.

In all of this variety, God wants to share with us His will, His word and His beauty. I have seen God’s beauty and truth in deserts, in coastal waters, in forests of pine trees or oak, in the rolling plains and the Grand Canyon. In each place there is something else to see, something else to learn.

In the same way, the various people we have in our lives are all opportunities to learn about God’s grace, love and patience – with us and others. This is how our weeks and months pass, in a variety of conversations, studies and activities – just like yours.

With the congregation in Maastricht we are working through a study of ‘The Mighty Deeds of God’ and how we proclaim them. On most Wednesday’s we are reading in Acts to discover and be encouraged by the way the church belongs to the Lord. This ties into a mentoring study that Scott is working on with a brother in the north of the country.

At least three times a month we meet with members from Belgium and the Netherlands to sing together and learn new songs. In March we are organizing a Song Workshop for the 4th time – a day to learn new songs for all the congregations, encourage one another in the beauty of singing together for the Lord. We are also recording these songs so that members can learn and teach them to others.

But each day also brings us back to our time together, what we have been reading in the Word, what God has been teaching us in our daily struggles. And we try to be aware of what we can learn and share. This is no different than the many ways that God has been working in your lives as well.

Would you like to share with us what you have been learning and experiencing? We would love to hear from you and share together, encouraging one another. Drop us an email, leave a message here on the blog, connect with us on facebook. The world is much smaller today than ever before. 

On the road again (again)

The last 5 days of our time in the United States was spent on a road trip in California. Back in 2010 we took a road trip with Stephan – the last time he was able to travel with us. This time we traveled with Sean (perhaps the last time he will be traveling with us), two of his friends and the father of his best friend. It was a furious few days of fun with 5 guys and a gal in a van.

We drove up along the Pacific Coast Highway until we could marvel at the beauty of Big Sur (arriving almost at sunset). Elephant seals, coastal views, Carmel-by-the-Sea and laughter in the van got us to Monterey for the night.

The next day we drove on to San Francisco and the Golden Gate bridge. Having been warned, we all had a sweater or jacket – and it was necessary. But what a view! Mind you, some people enjoy heights and others do not. Still, we got plenty of pictures of the fog rolling in. We heard later that an hour after we left on that day a whole pod of whales was seen feeding not far from the bridge. We didn’t see them, but we did enjoy the Warming Hut (actually very necessary) and headed on to our hostel in the city.

Our evening in San Francisco allowed us to drink in the excitement and life. From our busy hostel downtown, to Union Square with live music, the Apple store, trolley rides down to the wharf where we watched the sunset and had an In-n-out burger (finally) and then back to the hostel via a mega-climb up Lombard street to the trolley.

The next day took us to Yosemite valley with its majestic beauty. Breathtaking scenery, cool clear water, and tons of tourists (of whom we were 6). Climbing the slippery rocks by the falls, gawking at yet another amazing view as we wound our way with the days’ traffic out of the park. Fresno put us up for the night after we finally were able to find a gas station (just in time).

Another day, another amazing park – Sequoia/King’s Canyon this time. One hears about these trees, one sees pictures of others standing next to them, but until you are there, it simply doesn’t sink in. These things are real, not something out of a Tolkien story! Massive, stretching into the heavens, these gentle giants grow on the shoulders of mountains with just as massive and amazing valleys and vistas. Our eyes were not enough – our hearts had to open to God’s beauty and glory!

And then – as quickly as it had begun – it was done. We were able to visit the beach again, peacefully, and Shirley went shopping in Beverly Hills for the day. We were able to share and worship with the church again before getting packed and ready to return to reality. Because that is often what it feels like – like we have been in a dream. We have been so blessed by the beautiful things we have seen – in nature and in people.

As we return, we are just as excited, because we are coming home. We have missed everyone here and there is so much to do. First, of course, are the ‘necessaries’ – the lawn has grown to my knees, the weeds on the driveway are swallowing the stones and the emails and appointments are knocking at the door. So we are thankful for the encouragement we have had with God’s family in the US, breathing in God’s wonder in His nature, and sharing all that we have with those around us. Now it is time to do the same here.

And there is a lot to do: we have already started some of our studies and visits, lessons are being written for Family Camp, invitations for a song workshop in October, plans for reaching out to refugees in our area need to be made and much more. It is exciting that, no matter where we are (no matter where you are), God has so much for us to do, so many ways that He would like to use us. Look what he does with wind and water and rock and wood and dirt (all that natural beauty) and then thrill at what He will be able to do with us when we allow Him full rein in our lives. Let’s get on the road again!

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:10

Check out our pictures from the road trip here.