Snapshot 1
The evening fell in the Roma village when we were about to close the final Bible club evening.
We got a few bags of apples out of the car and shared them with the children. Each one of the children got an apple and while I was handing them out I felt tears welling up in my eyes. I felt a love for these children. A love that someone else had put into my heart. A love that my mother taught me in loving us and in teaching me how to love others.
My mother has this funny, lovely, characteristic habit of always coming after us when we left the house and saying: “Did you take an apple for the journey?””
And it was just this simple thing of handing out apples that made a bridge all the way from my heart to my mother far away.
Snapshot 2
Judith made this picture in the city of Swabisch Gmund here in Germany. Just a town dove who is thirsty and drinking. Judith is showing me that she is at home in many places where she can see beauty and she has a deep desire to catch the moment with the camera. I share this desire, though I use words rather than pictures.
Two years ago when we first visited the city of Osijek, I said to Jelle: I can live here, but we need two other families for the kids to have friends. I could hardly believe that we could get those families. We prayed about it, trusted, waited and look: Something beautiful happened after our packing and leaving our next house to be, last week.
Two families were there and waved us goodbye- till we meet again- soon and very soon.
It was only later that I realised that God gave us this. One family is a lovely Roma family with four children. And the other family is the family we live with at the college. They surrounded us with prayer and we both are looking forward to the next chapter of our journeying together!
Snapshot 3. Rich Mullins
A day in our car is -as you can imagine- not very boring. When we drove through Europe we would take turns picking a cd to listen to. Within a few hours we can jump from Jip and Janneke, to Barok music of Bach, jump on to the secret garden, listen to music from Rich Mullins and finish off with the adventures in Odysee.
There are definitely some tense moments and crying, being tired of other things, but in general the kids are doing great on the road. This qoute from Rich Mullins has been a lot in our hearts and we all loved this song, so this came back several times over the journey.
So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can’t, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You
And if I sing let me sing for the joy
That has born in me these songs
And if I weep let it be as a man
Who is longing for his home
This week we are here in Swabisch Gmund at the conference and the morning devotions are all about ps. 103.
And I would love to share a few verses:
Praise the Lord o my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord o my soul and forget not all his benefits.
The Lord works rightseousness and justice for all the oppressed.
The Lord is compasionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
From everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his rightseousness with their children’s children, with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
Praise the Lord o my soul!
I just picked out a few verses although the psalm is worth reading it as a whole.
This bouncy blogpost is an expressing of a bouncy summer which made us also longing for a place to settle. God gave us when He promised: “whatever you ask in My name, I’ll give it to you”. He gave two families and a house to live in when we move (not a long term place, but a great place to start.) And with that He gave me a huge confirmation. “This is the way to go now, just walk quietly and expect My mighty power that is going with you, where ever you go.” Is there more than home, than this? I am home, wherever This Lord is my Dwellingplace.
Glad that there’s lot’s of room, hope to meet you there!
