A Good Lesson

Awesome!!
We complain about the cross we bear but don't realize it is preparing
us for whatever is up ahead that God can see and we can't.
Whatever your cross, whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine after the rain....
Perhaps you may stumble, perhaps even fall;
God's always ready, to answer your call....
He knows every heartache, He sees every tear,
a word from His lips, can calm every fear...
Your sorrows may linger, throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish, come dawn's early light...
The Savior is waiting, somewhere above,
to give you His grace, and send you His love...

Sweden till now... :D

It is about time to upgrade my international weblog. So here I am :D
After a wonderful time in Switzerland it was the time to enjoy the awesome and gorgeous nature of Sweden. As a travelling guide I took 40 young people, in the age between 17 and 30 years, to Idre Fjäll, a beautiful resort near Idre. That’s near the boarder of Norway. We travelled for two days to reach it, but the place was magnificent. The houses had all facilities like a sauna, microwave and everything you need in a luxury kitchen. The mooses where walking around the houses and the grill place, unbelievable.
We have done a wide schedule of activities like rafting, cycling, driving, canoeing, walking etc. and of course we have enjoyed each other. Every evening we ended the day with a bible study, it was incredible that the group, with 40 members, was so close and everyone was having a good time with each other. There have been no problems and there was a lot of interactivity.
I asked the group to bring in some ideas for activities so two guys introduced the idea of organising Candlelight (that was a Dutch program on the radio, where people can bring in their poems and that a guy recites it. So they organised that and there were many poems about the nature, some love poems and go so on. They also wrote two verses about me :D Kind of funny…
But it was a great time with each other!
After my time in Sweden I went to work for four weeks in the home care by cleaning up in houses where the householder was not able anymore to do it by there own.
But tomorrow it is time to start my trainee ship. I looking forward to start, it will be the report to end my study in Rotterdam :D
I am going to do a survey at the organisation called De Hoop (The Hope) where people can go to when they are addicted. De Hoop Foundation is a centre for Christian addiction care and psychosocial care in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. Their website is also in English, when you are interested to look at it, just go to www.dehoop.org and click on the English flag.
Later on I am going to inform you all about how I am surviving there! :D

The story of Rick Warren

You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.
I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.
First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor , care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.
God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

The beauty of community

Do you also have these days, that you wake up and that you realise something incredible? Sometimes, I have those things that open my eyes immediately, and that is really cool!
However, to get to my point… today was a day to realise how important community is for everyone! As human beings, we are not able to live alone… that will make us weirdo’s, no we are shaped to be alone, but we have each other. To learn from, to help and to enjoy! That is also with the church, we have each other to encourage, to serve and to love.
In the first Corinthians 12 verse 12-27 says:

'The body of Christ has many different parts, just as any other body does. God's Spirit is inside each of us and all around us as well. So it doesn't matter that some of us are Jews and others are Gentiles and that some are slaves and others are free. Together we are one body.
Our bodies don't have just one part. They have many parts. Suppose a foot says, “I'm not a hand, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the foot still belong to the body? Or suppose an ear says, “I'm not an eye, and so I'm not part of the body.” Wouldn't the ear still belong to the body? If our bodies were only an eye, we couldn't hear a thing. And if they were only an ear, we couldn't smell a thing. But God has put all parts of our body together in the way that he decided is best.
A body isn't really a body, unless there is more than one part. It takes many parts to make a single body. That's why the eyes cannot say they don't need the hands. That's also why the head cannot say it doesn't need the feet. In fact, we cannot get along without the parts of the body that seem to be the weakest. We take special care to dress up some parts of our bodies. We are modest about our personal parts, but we don't have to be modest about other parts.
God put our bodies together in such a way that even the parts that seem the least important are valuable. He did this to make all parts of the body work together smoothly, with each part caring about the others. If one part of our body hurts, we hurt all over. If one part of our body is honoured, the whole body will be happy. Together you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is part of his body.'

Pretty cool, isn’t it? When you become a Christian you are ‘born’ into a new life, a new family. Very special is that this family around the whole world is! This is something that became clear during my residence in Winterthur.
My time here in Switzerland is about to end, which is really heartbreaking. I have had an amusing residence here, met so many lovely people and my life became a new dimension. I was used to be the bee, always busy with al kind of things, always taking care of things and do as much as possible. Just to pleasure other people, but to be honest, also my selves. And I have learned here to enjoy the time that I am alone, to take pleasure in doing nothing… Really, before I came here, I never realised that is can give such a good feeling just being alone. I had time to read more and also to explore God in a deeper way. I learned to bring al my things in His almighty hands, my future, my family, my schoolwork. Al small things of which you normally think that God doesn’t care about it. But I realised that God cares about every facet of our life!
From the first week of my stay here in Winterthur took God care of me. It was amazing to realise that He is looking after me… a little girl in a big big world. We all know the song; ‘I am a big big girl in a big big world’. I feel myself also a big girl, a responsible woman, but to be truthful, I also had times that I really felt like little girl. And it was so cool to know that God was on my side, taking care of my life, keeping in control and when something would go wrong, the one who held me. So cool!
When I was alone, did He take care of me, when I was sad did He something to get a smile on my face again and He also brought so much special people in my life. I am so grateful for that.
Last Saturday, when I was talking with Doro, we discussed how heaven will be (because we talked about it on Friday with our ‘Klein Gruppe’); like the most amazing place which you can imagine and than better than that. And I mentioned that it would be really cool when there are no boarders, no language problems, no just al people united for the throne of God. And than we can speak, worship and celebrate every day! Wow, that is really something to look forward to!
And of course, after I left it is not that worse, I mean 800 kilometres isn’t that bad! For lots of people is it a great opportunity to come to the Netherlands, and for me, I have lost my heart to Switzerland, so I will come back! In February 2008 we will pack al our snowboards and we come back, and hopefully there will be an opening in the programme for me to go to Winterthur and to see all beloved people!
There are lots of things in my life where I look forward to. My traineeship at ‘De Hoop’, this is a Christian organisation where people who are addicted have the possibility to get rid of their addiction. I really look forward to my time there, to use my talents to help a great institute. After this 800 hours and the presentation of this project, I hopefully be graduated at the end of January.
In February I will start as a volunteer at Agape, an international organisation. I will help the body of Discovery with their conferences, weekends and outreaches. That is going to be a great time, together with Nelleke & Gerrit van Wijngaarden.
After that I hope to join a bible school. I do not know yet where, but God is definitely going to provide a place for me. In fact I want to a certificate in Youth Ministry, with subjects as Youth discipleship, youth leadership and communication.

Love isn’t love till you give it away!

You are my all in all

Natalie Grant

Your are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking you as a precious jewel
Lord, to give up I would be a foul
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is your name

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Praising again I bless Your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down you pick me up
When I am dry you fill my cup
You are my all in all

Jesus, lamb of God
Worthy is your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is your name

Bridge;
You are my everything
The beginning and the end
The first, the last
You are the great I am

Jesus, lamb of God
Worthy is your name
Jesus, Lamb of God
Worthy is your name

Mein Lebensziel

Chönig vo mym Härz, I chume vor di und gä dir alli Ehr!

Als ich vor drei Jahre mit meinem Studium angefangen habe, war ich wirklich erstaunt, was die verschiedenen Lehrer über den Zukunft von allen Studenten sagten. Verschiedene Lehrer fragten, wer ein großes Haus haben möchte, ein so groß wie mögliches Auto, oder viel Geld.
In dieser Zeit habe ich schon bemerkt, dass ich über viele Sachen ganz anders denke als andere Jugendlichen.
Vielleicht hat es etwas mit meiner Geschichte zu tun. Ich bin aufgewachsen auf einem Bauernhof in einem kleinen Dorf, meine Eltern haben es immer noch sehr gut zusammen und ich habe noch 3 Brüder. Meine Eltern haben mir immer gelernt, dass es im Leben nicht darum geht, wer das meiste Geld verdienen kann, aber das es schlussendlich gar kein Glück gibt.
Heute gibt es auf dem Land viele Menschen, die reich sind und ihr Geld benutzen um einen alten Bauernhof zu kaufen, und es um zu bauen zu einem großen Haus. Aber wirklich, Geld bringt kein Glück.
Weil ich das schon als Kind gelernt habe, werde ich das auch gar nicht in meinem Leben anstreben. Aber auch meine Glaube hat einen Einfluss auf meine Gedanken. Ich bin seit verschiedenen Jahren Christin und das hat einen Einfluss auf mein Denken. Das Leben für erdliche Sachen ist so sinnlos, alles geht wieder weg oder geht verloren. Und auch gibt es nicht immer Spaß. Es bringt oft auch mehr Sorgen; vielleicht hast du den Angst dass etwas gestohlen wird, oder dass etwas kaputt geht. Und es geht noch weiter; wenn man soviel wie möglich verdienen mochte, wo ist denn das Ende? Es wird immer noch mehr geben, eine nicht zu erfüllende Lust nach mehr. Gleich wie beim Pokern, wenn du anfängst, wird es immer noch die Herausforderung geben, dass du noch mehr bekommen kann. Schlussendlich mit dem Erfolg dass du gar nichts mehr übrig hast.
Ich glaube, dass es das immer im Leben gibt. Wir haben ein natürliches Loch im unserem Herzen und wir Menschen möchten das gern mit etwas füllen. Aber am Ende unseres Lebens realisieren wir, dass es nicht zu füllen ist mit Geld, schönen Häusern, Autos oder freier Sexualität.
Nein, der einige Weg zu einem wirklich lebendswertem Leben ist das Leben mit Jesus Christus. Es ist der einige Weg zu Gott und mit Ihm haben wir das ewige Leben.
Um am Ende dieses Artikels bis ans Ziel von meinem Lebens zu kommen (warüber ich wirklich verschiedene Zeiten schreiben kann), kann ich wirklich zum Schluss kommen, dass das Jesus ist. Er leitet mich auf seinen Weg, mit dem Endziel um nach Hause zu kommen in den Himmel. Dass ist das Wichtigste in meinem Leben.

Studying in Switzerland!

Since they were looking for an Erasmus student who wanted to write for the weblog, I decided to be creative, because I love writing. As an Erasmus student I advise you to go abroad! I will tell you my story, why I decided to come to Switzerland and why I love it…

I am from the Netherlands and the school system is totally different there. For instance: you are 21 when you graduate for your bachelor : in the Netherlands it takes four years instead of three like here, to get your grade. Also, Education at the ‘Hogeschool Rotterdam’ is based on a laissez-faire principle, which means that the teachers are passive and willing to help you with your group exercises when you need it. Of course there are also exams but all the subjects have a lot of practical exercises, even English. For instance with eight students we started our own business for a year. Complete with a company strategy, stockholders and at the end an annual rapport. So everything is on a practical base.
This semester in Switzerland is the last semester that I have to attend classes. After the summer I have a final traineeship for half a year (about 800 hours) where I am going to write my final report (Diplom Arbeit). I will graduate after finishing it.
Motives to study abroad
There are lots of motives to study in a foreign country. I wanted to practise my languages, to take the challenge to live and study abroad (with financial support of Erasmus and the Dutch government) and to attend “normal” classes and do some smaller group courseworks.

But you might wonder why I chose Switzerland…
For me there are lots of reasons to come here, I love the mountains and snowboarding, I wanted to speak English fluently and to practise my German and I also find the culture very interesting. Swiss people have a good reputation abroad and coming here is the best way to analyse it on my own. And you know?! It isn’t too bad
While almost all English courses are given on Tuesday, I also attend some German classes, so that is a good opportunity to get my German up to a higher level. And also the Swiss German is a great challenge, I already met lots of Swiss people here and they find it cool when I am able to understand it. And to be honest, I prefer Schweizerdütsch
Marije's street, in Holland
In the Netherlands I live on the outskirts of Rotterdam, in a small village called Bleskensgraaf, so this is also my first experience of living in a ‘city’. More and more I’m getting to love Winterthur, the parks and of course the forest. My parents visited me last weekend and I warned them that there was a possibility that I want to stay here, even though I was just joking.
After this semester
After this summer I have to do a traineeship and after that I already have an international job for half a year. It is a great opportunity to practise my languages again, which is a big advantage. If you are considering studying abroad but you think one semester is too long I only can give you one piece of advice: GO!!! The time flies, you have so many new things to discover and new people to meet that your weeks are passing at an amazingly high speed. Every week or two, we organise a trip so we can discover Switzerland. It might be the last time that I live here for such a long time but I’ll definitely come back next year for a snowboard trip of two weeks in Emmetten (which lies between Andermatt and Luzern).