“Opgeruimd staat netjes”

“Cleaned up looks good” is about what the phrase means. Getting things ordered, put away, cleaned up makes for a feeling of peace. “Everything in its place and a place for everything” (or is it the other way around). In any case, that is NOT what our house looks like at the moment. We are discovering things that we had forgotten we had and now need to be gotten rid of. We are trying to find places to set things (boxes and boxes of “things”) that then need to go to new owners or the container or a second-hand shop. 

While we are working on getting the house ready to hand over to the new owner, we are also continuing with our normal contacts and tasks for each week. This means that things get a bit busy. But it is good to share the truths of God’s word with the various groups we work with as well as be encouraged by all of the conversations we have along the way. 

We were touched by our last visit for singing with the congregation in Eindhoven as several of them knew that that would be the last time to see us before we leave. This coming Saturday we will be in Haarlem for the singing there and look forward to being able to touch base again with some brothers and sisters who we will not see again until we all get Home together. These are bittersweet moments and we are thankful that we get the chance to see people. 

And still, we understand that we need to take a breather every once in a while. So this last week (which is why we did not write this past week) we took a few days off to just be together. We got a cheap flight to Montenegro and enjoyed sunny weather and a new culture and food. I will get the pictures up soon so you can share the beauty if you are interested. It was good to be away on a last European adventure. 

The rest of this month we will try to get everything finished in the house. The movers come around the middle of November. We will clean the house and then stay with church members until we leave. At the congregation we all together are looking at how to make sure that everything is in its place as well. Who will take over certain tasks? How will things change? God is good and blesses in ways we could not even think of, so it will be exciting to see how the congregation grows in this time. 

Where oh Where Wednesday: North Holland

This week we are off for a few days together and we decided to check out some cities in North Holland. The name of the country has often been called “Holland” although the official name is “the Netherlands”. This is because when the Dutch were the kings of commerce in the world, they came from the province of North or South Holland. North Holland is where you find the cities of Amsterdam and Haarlem as well as some of the most important cities historically that people would recognize from their cheese (Edam, Volendam and Alkmaar cheese market). 

Since we can also visit good friends and mentors in Haarlem, we started there. Haarlem (which is where the name for the section in New York City comes from) is where many well-known painters came from, where Corrie ten Boom hid Jews in her watchmaking shop during World War II and where Max Verstappen won the Dutch Grand Prix (actually in Zandvoort just outside of Haarlem). For a short afternoon walk we hit some historical memories for us as well. Scott spent two years working with the church here in the 1980’s and we both did a mission summer here a few weeks before we had our first kiss. 

We also took a walk around the town of Hoorn, which is where the VOC (The Dutch East India Company) had its start and Dutch economic superiority began. It was a beautiful, cold day and we enjoyed delicious goodies from a local baker, a walk beside the sea and an adventure in a parking garage. Boats, ice, dog-walkers, a Belgian woman born in the US married to a Dutch shipper selling English sweaters - an amazing, wonderful day. 

We will end our short trip with a stop-over in the city of Leiden where the oldest university can be found. We have previously visited the botanical garden where the share some of the wonders that were brought back by the VOC. There are also trees which are more than 200 years old. But we are looking forward to see some more of the downtown and sniffing some amazing history which is to be found in so many places, even if this city is in South Holland - but that is a different story..