Saturday and Sunday - Netherlands

Saturdaywas a beautiful day in the flat lands... the first warm day in a very long time after a long and snowy winter! We enjoyed it and had our morning coffee with a "Bosche Bol" on the balcony at my sister's place after my brother-in-law and I cleaned the stairwell and landings in their apartment building... Doesn't that sound familiar? Didn't I do that last Saturday? I guess traveling does something to the brain or the truth is that all people clean their stairwell and landings every Saturday... It was fun and of course, we laughed a lot while vacuum cleaning and mopping... And as all people who clean know, within 30 minutes after we were done there were already traces of bicycles and shoes on the tiles. Such is life! And by the way, a "Bosche Bol" is a regional delicacy existing of a rather large cream puff like pastry, filled with whipped cream and covered on the top with a thick layer of chocolate. When I used to visit my sister's family, I would always at some point during my stay treat the whole family and myself to "Bosche Bollen"... it's a tradition!

We went grocery shopping the store right across the street of Reinie and Ab's apartment building and I was in charge of picking some things that I had on my list of food items to eat while in the Netherlands... Of course, I gladly obliged! "Bitterkoekjes" and "Ontbijtkoek" found their way easily into the shopping basket... I don't think I can explain what any of these items are because I don't think anything like it exists in the States. So sorry! By now the "Bitterkoekjes" are gone and the "Ontbijtkoek" is halfway; certainly delicious!
We sat some more on the balcony in the afternoon and around 4:30 we left and drove to an extraordinarily beautiful region of Holland that is close by where Reinie and Ab live. The most gorgeously blooming apple and cherry treest were proudly showing of their blossoms! Spring is really the best time of the year to visit! The grass is green, new leaves on the trees are popping up and you can see the difference in growth overnight... it is absolutely beautiful!

A little after 6 we stopped in a city by the name of "Buren" where a lot of streets and homes were already decorated with red, white, blue and orange in anticipation of the celebration of Queen Beatrix' birthday on April 30. The queen's birthday is actually in January, but that is no month to have a lot of outdoor festivities! When Beatrix became queen 30 years ago this year, she decreed that Queen's Day would continue to be celebrated on April 30, which was her mother's (Juliana) birthday... Everybody was happy about that! Anyhow, "The Pannekoekenbakker" was open and hopping with business on this first warm day of the year. The three of us chose each our favorite pancake and had fun watching throngs of people coming and going... I had my mouth set for a pancake with bacon, ham, cheese and onion, topped of with some nice syrup! Delicious and I had a bit of indigestion after, but who cares! I didn't; it was ssssoooooooo worth it!

We were back home by 8:30 and I was in bed by 10. Sunday morning I drove myself in Reinie's little Fiat to Giessenburg where Rafael Giessenlanden meets every Sunday. It was from this church that I came to Coastlands almost 16 years ago. Each time I am in the Netherlands, I like to visit and say hello to some people that are still there from when I was there between December 1990 and September 1994. Arie van Oudheusden had just returned from the Foursquare Europe Conference in Spain (just like the Swiss pastors and the Albanian Pastors) and it was great to see him!

After church I went to the home of Bertjan and Rinske Krale (yes, Bertjan is Martijn's brother) and there were also some other friends gathered: Jaap and Aartje van Vliet (they and their family were a safe and very fun place for me during the 3 years before my departure to the States and when my mother came for a visit in 1997, Aartje came with her), Rene and Annette van Straten (Mirte's parents - Mirte is now an intern at Coastlands and was about 3 years old when I left the Netherlands), and my friends Margriet van Oord and Ineke Gusseklo. All dear people who I have kept in touch with one way or another. We had a great time sitting in the backyard at Bertjan and Rinske's home, close to the water and under a large tree... I told my story and how all of this traveling came about as well as about the future that the Lord has for me, and not only for me but also for them. The Lord has always something new for us, if we allow Him to. If we decide we are done, then our growth and dependence upon the Lord comes to a screetching halt... I had such a good time!

I was back home around 4 o'clock, where my nephew Lennart had arrived. He studies History and War History in particular and is now in the process of doing research for his final thesis. It was obvious that he is ready to be done, only this last big hurdle... He also has signed up to be sort of a guinnea pig for medications. Yes, you heard that right. He goes to an office in the north of the countyr and takes a dose of whatever type of medication needs to be research. The research people take his blood and make sure they know how he is responding to the medication and then he gets paid a decent amount of euros. Depending on the researched medication, he stays at this place with room and board for a few days or two and a half weeks. The first 24 hours after he takes the dose, they check him every 15 minutes but after that he has plenty of time to s tudy. He says that so far he has had no bad experiences! A funny and amazing way to make some money, really!

Well, I was in bed again by 10... tomorrow is Ab's 60th Birthday!!!