I went away last weekend to Berlin. It was grand. I'm trying to process. It was perfect timing to get away, following a couple exhausting weeks. I needed some new; new art, new museums, new food, new metro system, new conversations with old friends. And the time exceeded my expectations!

1) To walk around Berlin without an open giant bottle of beer is so not cool
2)"Bonhoeffer" a biography by Eric Metaxas was the perfect book to bring along, I can't seem to read fast enough though, as it reads like a spy novel . It did mean that I had no space for a chunk of the Berlin wall I intended to bring home (I'm not sure if my humor comes across when I'm tired). In case not... the main point: it's a HUGE book but oh so worth it. I will reflect more on this book and what it's stirring in me later.
3) Russian food is spectacular.
4) I managed to not eat one sausage. I'm okay with that.
5) I will always remember the Holocaust monument. One of the most gripping powerful pieces of art I've ever seen.
6) In a similar vein the Jewish museum was hauntingly beautiful. I'll never be able to explain the way the building engages your body, the way the architect build the floors at an angle to disorient you, or the fact that you walk over 10,000 metal faces representing victims of violence. And the hollow metal eyes bore into your soul and you know that you too are capable, you too can do this, you too step on their lifeless heads. And the empty sell like room with a sliver of sunlight at the top, and the heavy door which snaps behind you, fear and enclose and you cry without meaning to but feeling so relieved that you have.
7) I also expected it to be more crazy, more loud, more like a city-wide house (music) show.
But it wasn't, it was artsy and bohemian with a love affair for graffiti, yet quite peaceful. A good mix between Barcelona and Paris.
8) Cycling in Berlin was great though I did not feel at the top of the food chain like I do in Amsterdam. Cars still decidedly hold that place though they do have many bike lanes.
9) People were very kind and smiled as you crossed on the sidewalk! I'm not used to that.
10) Punk style
11) Lidl and Aldi are the main grocery stores! Yep, our grocery bill was very low. Success!
12) Speaking of cheap, food and just about everything in Berlin does not cost a lot.
13) Hardy anyone wears Birkenstock sandals.
14) Germans love their cake... and oh man, so do I!

I'm now home, feeling energized , very happy, and alive! (photos by Amanda O.)

I like themes, I like knowing what to expect. It made me happy to flip through a contemporary art magazine today where every entry had some kind of connection to birds, or to dip into 4 books over the course of a few weeks about a certain theme, to eat cabbage cooked in a variety of ways for a week, to wear black for 3 days straight just because it matches my hair. Themes are nice, rhythm is nice. Yet sometimes things change and surprises are welcome...

I was thinking today how I have this idea of what I'm capable of in my head, what I'm successful at, my skills, the things I should do, and shouldn't do and how sometimes I wake up and realize I'm doing something I never thought I could do and would have freaked me out 6 months ago. That's when all I can say is "Thank you God that you will never stop surprising me. Thank you that I can't put you in a box and thank you for giving me just what I need when I'm pushed out of the nest and forced to figure out how to fly."

I prayed and invited Jesus to lead my life when I was 8, around 15 it became personal and really began to affect my life. At that time I had what I call a conversion to the church and the Holy Spirit, when I was 18 the Bible began to come to life for me, and so it went... year after year I continued to try on and wear more and more of the life of Jesus. And this week I felt like I got saved yet again.

I think it's John Wimber who said "we need to be filled regularly with the Holy Spirit because we leak", it's not just a one off event. I'm starting to think in the same way we need to be saved more than once. Not saved for salvation... that's done once and for all, but saved for ourselves, reminded again. Believe it again. The beauty of the good news caught my breath again this week. The beauty of the story; of God's desire for relationship with us, and sin and pain preventing that. So, in one radical act of grace that revivals all epic novels he became man, sending his son to earth. Jesus lived perfectly and then took all our sin and healed it by dieing in our place. When he rose to life he became the doorway for us back to God. Back to life now with God. And that's the door I walked through again this week. Without recognizing daily my need for salvation I start to forget. I live like I'm not free. I forget why it matters to tell others. I forget that Jesus is in me and wants to move in to every room of my heart and instead I live scared and controlled. And through the beauty of the gospel we're freed from that. I invite repeated opportunities to pull on the sweater of truth and wear it so that it becomes again my very own skin.

the last few days in images

baby steps

Declaration of faith
To whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life,
and we have believed and have come to know
that You are the Holy One of God.

Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ,
King of endless glory.
(from the Northumbria daily office)

If I didn't love the Vineyard so much I'd be an Anglican in a heartbeat I'm sure. Hearing Alastair from Christ Church the other day talk about holy week (the week before Easter starting with Palm Sunday) coming up in April reminded me of that again.

Some people run from tradition, growing up with too much ritual which can turn in to rules and legalism. So they walk in to places like the Vineyard and can breathe. Others like me who have grown up knowing very little liturgy beyond a guy on guitar leading songs, waiting for the Holy Spirit, and trying to everything with a no hype attitude.

So, when I went away to university and walked in to an Anglican church in Chicago... I felt like I'd discovered the greatest thing ever. You mean there are prayers that Christians have been reading for hundreds of years at the same time each day? There's a church calendar? The color fabrics on the tables and walls actually mean something? The day after fat Tuesday is actually a quite meaningful day?

Every year around this time, as much of the Church around the world looks toward Easter, taking 40 days to "go in to the dessert" and align themselves in a purposeful way with Jesus as he over 2000 years ago, prepared to go and die..... I too attempt to think purposefully in this direction. However, I have a very hard time doing any alone so I've been enjoying a few resources as well as doing some things in community.

Here are the things I've been enjoying doing regularly this month:

• CTBI: Churches in Britain and Ireland came together to put together a series of studies, readings, and reflections for Lent. Julia got me hooked on this. Each year it's a different theme. It's supported by bbc which makes it extra cool to me.

• Northumbria Community : Lovely prayers/poetry/readings in a daily office kind of format by a new Celtic monastic community called Northumbria in Britain.

• Reading Sex God, by Rob Bell.

I lack so much rhythm in my life despite my crave for it... these are baby steps towards finding a bit more.

Canticle
Christ, as a light
illumine and guide me.
Christ, as a shield
overshadow me.
Christ under me;
Christ over me;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Be in the heart of each to whom I speak;
in the mouth of each who speaks unto me.
This day be within and without me,
lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.
Christ as a light;
Christ as a shield;
Christ beside me
on my left and my right.
(from the Northumbria daily office)

kids books and the dutch writers behind them

Growing up our favorite Bible stories were read to us from these small paper back books. Each little book told a Bible story with vibrant painted colors and large earthy figures. We loved them. The characters were very human and very alive. The text was simple, we had them in English and French as I remember. I think I even learned to read using some of these books. So, a few months I popped in to a Christian bookstore in town and immediately identified the same illustrations on a cover in the kid's section. On closer inspection I found the exact illustrations, this time bound in a larger volume of stories and it hit me, the author/illustrator is dutch! Kees de Kort. I promptly bought the book and have been enjoying reading them now in dutch. Check them out below:


jesus and his followers

road to emmaus

abraham and the promise

david and goliath

And then the other day I was in Ohio with a friend at a little girl's one year old birthday. We bought her Mo Willem's famous "Knuffle Bunny" books. The 3rd and last book is about the same little girl from the first two but this time she goes to Holland to visit her grandma and grandpa (opa and oma) and as I'm flipping through I realize.. this author has to be dutch! Why didn't I see it before. "Knuffel" in dutch means "hug" and it's pronounced not with a soft "k" but instead like "ka-nuf-al" and in English we say "nuffle". I flipped to the front just to be sure and yep, "Willems" is a hard core dutch name. I feel witty and smart when I discover things like this... so there I was in the middle of the party chuckling to myself like I just uncovered a little secret (which I'm sure most people realized before I did).



So to complete my random blog entry I would say that dutch children's writers/illustrators may have the corner on the kid's lit market. Hurrah for the lovely language of double "e" words.

There are a few things that I've heard this week which made me really happy... kind of like Syrian polos (a drink with tons of mint and lemon juice) make me happy. I know that sounds silly but you have no idea how amazing a polo is on a hot summer day. And yes, I'm also dreaming of hot summer days.


- "I really like your church, it's like going to my pilates class, I leave feeling so relaxed."

- "I feel so much love here and I want to respond and figure out where that love is coming from."

- "It's important to name things, my daughter was crying last week and I asked her, are you crying because you're sick or because mom's gone on a trip. She answered, because mom's gone. I have mommy cramps."

- Belly laughing with a friend while listening to David Sedaris.

- Me to a friend: "Do you want to come to church with me tomorrow? No pressure, but know that I will always keep asking because I think it's the greatest thing ever (said with a twinkle in my eye). "
Answer: "I know! I love that about you even though church is the last place I want to be. Keep asking."

- "When I think about dance school I don't want to dance but when I'm dancing I can't think of anything else I'd rather do."

- "Jesus didn't die for clean air, he died for people. The people are in the cities, so go to the cities!" -John Wimber

-"Jesus gave Peter a chance to recant, he wanted forgiveness to be the marker of His life, not failure. Jesus would always rather restore than remove and re-appoint." -Simon Ponsonby.

random knowledge

Here's an article I thought very fascinating about the Grant Tour which Chinese tourists like to take of Europe. It brought a toe step closer a culture which based on my West coast/middle America/North African upbringing has been entirely unknown. Here's a link if you're interested:

Chinese tourists

Oh! and one more random article just for fun... if you're like me and find random bits of knowledge incredibly delightful (it's also from The Economist):

An elegy on the British pub

Enjoy...
Brooke

home sick

I'm terrible at being sick. The low point to my madness was yesterday when I caught myself starting to clean the bathroom. It took me a minute to realize how insane that was before I hobbled back to bed. I have what my mom calls the "superhero syndrome," I love that she came up with that and it so perfectly describes me. It points to something that feels good a lot of the time when I'm feeling 'top' as they say in dutch or having a good day or feeling emotionally healthy but then out of the blue can be so very bad.

And I realize that it makes me a person who lives like I don't need grace. A dear pastor said to me a few weeks ago, 'Brooke, remember that in your weakness your Father is strong. That's just how it works.' And I would say to myself, 'Come on Brooke, just get used to it! He loves your weakness.'

Here's a lovely little Wendell Berry poem I'm been reading nearly daily:

The Wild Rose

Sometimes hidden from me
in daily custom and in trust,
so that I live by you unaware
as by the beating of my heart,

suddenly you flare in my sight,
a wild rose blooming at the edge
of thicket, grace and light
where yesterday was only shade

and once more I am blessed, choosing
again what i chose before.

I'm reading a lovely little book called, Proper Confidence; Faith, Doubt and Certainty in Christian Discipleship by Lesslie Newbigin these days. I'm trying to savor it so it's taking me quite a while despite it's size. Do you ever read a book that you wish deep in your gut could become a part of you, stick to you, with bits always floating around your earlobes, close enough to be caught on a whim and quoted? This is one of those books for me. Here's a little tidbit:

"... the gospel does not become public truth for a society by being propagated as a theory or as a worldview and certainly not a s a religion. It can become public truth only insofar as it is embodied in a society (the church) which is both "abiding in" Christ and engaging in the life of the world."

Good stuff. Okay, what else is going on?

It's been a restful week for me. I took a week off to visit my brother and sister in law in the lovely mountains of Switzerland. It's so good to have family an hour flight away. I feel very grateful. We skied some, though I remember myself being better than I actually am, and did our best to stay on the slopes! The narrow slopes in the Alps are very new to me, they're nothing like the wide Rocky mountains. We tried our hand at snowshoeing as well, ate lots and ate lots of cheese and chocolate.

Oud en Nieuw (New Years Eve) was spent with some of N&T's friends in a nearby small town. It was a fabulous mix matched group of internationals. We started off with a scavenger hunt in the town of Rolle (which brought us instantly closer!) running around looking for empty wine bottles with the city's name on them, the cheapest gas station, the name of the port master, and of course taking a required awkward group photo at each site. The night concluded with a fondue dinner and dancing... lots of dancing!

Going away from the "normal," may that be Amsterdam or Columbus, always gives me life and helps me find center, re-focus, and gain creative ideas. This week was no exception.

I hope you each had a great New Years as well! Here's to a 2011!

snow, neighbors, and baking

It snowed a lot here in Amsterdam on Friday and Saturday (it's still here!). It was so fabulous and for the most part people are jolly and in a good mood about it, except for those who fall while cycling, which has been a daily, hourly, minute by minute occurrence! Most people who are brave enough cycle, do so with one foot either on the ground or ready to plant in case of a slippery spot, even the little scooter dudes who whiz past you on the bike path, sometimes nicking your handlebars, are reduced to driving slowly with both feet gliding along the street. That made me very happy! But for the most part it's just too beautiful to be grumpy. Even though I'd love a white Christmas, I'm hoping I get to my brother and sister-in-love in Switzerland safe and sound before any more flights are canceled or airports shut down.

Here's a little photo story of what happens when it snows on a Saturday and you have super nice neighbors with kids the same age as your dear friends.

babe

Yay! There's a new little babe around town! Just in time for Christmas.
Grant Pershing Nash is a sweetheart. He's Amanda and John's second which means I get a lot more opportunity to hold him and as you can tell here, I'm thrilled about that.

house show

On Saturday we hosted our first house show event. Well, Mark hosted the show at his sweet apartment overlooking a canal, and Rue Royale provided the entertainment (Eva Ellingsworth opened), but it was a a group effort on the part of our faith community. My sister and Rachel gave me the sweet idea of emailing Rue Royale and asking them to play and since it happened to be during a week I was feeling bold and creative, I emailed. And they said, absolutely we'd love to! Hannah provided the gezelligheid complete with glühwein and hapjes, Reetta, Anete, and Amanda baked up a storm, and everyone invited their friends. It's moments like last Saturday night when I look around and think, okay... yes, this is what I love doing. There's a lot about planting a church that's so hard, and annoying, and just plain depressing sometimes, but nights like this give me such joy and I leave feeling like the luckiest girl in the world doing church in creative ways in this city that has crept under my skin and become a part of me.

i like huge tables

On Saturday I went ice skating with some friends on "natuurijs"which can be found on frozen lakes or small ponds, any kind of ice clad body of water which is not man made. We skated on the Oostvaardersplassen. I actually switched back to my boots quite quickly since it was my first time on "noren" ice skates which were a bit too big for me and I'd forgotten to bring my trusty white "figure" skates as a back up. Nonetheless I enjoyed walking the ice and watching people skate off. Noren skates are super fast, people who use them look like the speed skates at the Winter Olympics!

The whole experience was great fun though. It was a very snowy bitter cold day. We arrived by car, parked, and headed down a little path to the lake. A small wooden structure was built next to the lake where other skaters were either putting on their ice skates or taking them off to go home. Everyone was super jolly. I was offered, and accepted numerous cookies and sips of tea. Nieke felt the need to explain, saying this is one of only two times that dutch people connect with strangers... while skating and the other being complaining about public transportation weather delays! Chuckling and still nibbling at our cookies we strapped our skates on and hobbled to the lake. Laughter and calls of "veel plezier" from the wooden shelter following us onto the ice.

I would have to agree with Nieke for the most part about the dutch tendency to connect less with strangers, since she is dutch after all and the expert. But I may add a possible third place of connection and spontaneous gezelligheid; the Coffee Company (which would be the Amsterdam version of Starbucks but much better). Sitting today drinking my latte and reading my book, I accidentally kicked my "neighbor" across the table, he looked up and I laughed apologetically. Later he asked me to watched his mac as he went to the wc. I obliged. He came back and we chatted with a lady and her son enjoying their hot chocolate. He offered to take a photo of them. And blah blah blah. As I settled back to my book I recognized how much I enjoy the Coffee Company tables (pictured below). They're large slabs of wood built together to make huge large tables, while slightly too low for me to cross my leg over my knee, they are the perfect place to engage in pleasant small talk between a sip of coffee and a page of my book. These sorts of tables have become the way I choose a restaurant to eat lunch at or a place to grab a cup of coffee. Wagawama has them and a few others. I enjoy them in the similar way that I love public transportation. Who says we need individual cars or tables to sit at. I love sitting and being human with other humans. I don't know if the guy with the bruised knee feels the same.

Thank God for Sweden

I've been feeling very nostalgic lately. Nostalgia is actually rarely far from me. Perhaps it's that change and living far from family and traditions has been a constant aspect of my childhood and adult life. Ritual and remembered tradition is very special to me.

Yesterday I began to crave the bread my mom would make every Christmas morning growing up. I'm not sure it was actually every year but my memory has deemed it so. I stayed up late yesterday making it and surprised my co-workers with it this morning... plus a few hungry children who were home sick :) Try it.. it may become ritual for you as well!

Swedish Tea Ring:

1 cup warm milk
2 packages of dry yeast (or 4 teaspoons bulk yeast) (let this sit in 1 cup of warm water for 5 min)
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
6 to 7 cups of flour

Mix the following together for the glaze:
3 to 4 cups of powdered sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla
a pinch of salt

Add water or milk by the tablespoon until the glaze will dribble off a spoon. Set aside.

Measure warm milk into a large mixing bowl. Dissolve yeast in another bowl of warm water. Once dissolved pour yeast water in to the milk. Stir in sugar, salt, and butter. Beat in eggs. Beat in 2 to 3 cups of flour. Stir in remaining flour. Knead on a floured surface. If dough is too sticky, knead in a little more flour, a quarter cup at a time. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes. Afterward, knead dough for a few minutes. Roll out dough into a rectangle approximately 24 inches long by about 16 inches wide. Spread with soft butter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Beginning on the wide side, roll up dough. When the dough is rolled, be sure the seam is on the bottom. Grasp dough on each end and pull gently to stretch the dough another couple of inches. Cut the roll of dough in half. Grease two cookie sheets. Take each end of one roll and put them together on the cookie sheet to form a circle. Use a scissors to cut about a third to a half the way through the dough at two inch intervals all around the circle. Gently turn the dough outward. That is, grasp the dough and turn it on its side so that the cuts are on the outside instead of on the top. Repeat with the other roll. Set in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 to 35 minutes. Allow the tea rings to cool completely. Frost with powder sugar glaze. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the tea rings. Decorate with toasted almonds before the glaze has a chance to set. Cut into slices to serve. This recipe makes two large tea rings. Let me know how it goes!

street art

I've been on a bit of a street art kick of late, wishing deep down that I had created the art movement which is now ironically entering in to the mainstream creative world. Street artists could be crudely identified as graffiti artists who have something to say, who's wall art communicates more than scribbles on the side of a train or metro car.

I spent a chunk of my adolescent years in Orange County, California where at that point graffiti was only an eye sore, sprayed haphazardly over freeway overpasses. Then I met Connor, a cool 12 year old who thought graffiti was pretty awesome and who liked to write in the style. Also, in Amsterdam there's a guy who goes by the name of Laser 3.14 and he writes statements and questions on buildings or temporary structures which are under construction. His prose has a prophetic lyrical quality to it. Nearly every day I cycle by one of his "paintings". A couple years ago I visited London and discovered "Banksy", a street art "painter" who has a narrative quality to his work. I am fascinated by the idea of an artist choosing to be a "voice" for one particular city. Amsterdam has Laser 3.14, London has Banksy (though he now makes art all over the world), Paris has Space Invader, and on and on.

Setting the question of illegal vandalizing of buildings aside, the art these men and perhaps women produce is truly interesting and their way of choosing surfaces in order to purposefully decrease the lifespan of their art. Laser 3.14's "art" is often gone after a few months when the construction material is removed. Banksy recently created a documentary on street art, called "Exit Through the Gift Shop." It's a well made film, inviting the viewer behind the curtain to glimpse a bit of the mysterious life of the street artist. I also recently bought this book, "Concrete Messages" for my parents who went to Israel for a few weeks and were struck by the constant presence of the large wall which divides the Palestinian neighborhoods from those of the Israeli people. The book has beautiful photographs of art created by street artists from around the world to give a voice to the Palestinian people.



In close, my brother and his wife Tanya recently discovered a "Space Invader" (the artist is based in Paris I believe) a couple blocks from my house when they visited last. How cool is that? Here's proof (my brother with the invader). So, as you walk or drive around your cities and suburbs keep your eyes open, you never know when you'll see a glimpse of this controversial art medium.

the day after

Babysitting is super productive I'm learning tonight. At least when the baby in question is less than 3 months old and sleeps like a stud. I'm in Den Haag watching Emerson, son of my dear friends Adrienne and Nic Grimes. They're out on a rare date. I'm getting so much done, I've even whittled down my inbox to 4995 unread emails! Yes, I NEVER delete emails. I'm trying to turn a new leaf since I'm tired of people freaking out when they look at my desktop.

Despite my productive stint, I'm actually quite exhausted but I don't think it's from a long day or an hour train trip or not sleeping enough, rather from turkey that I'm sure is still sitting in my stomach. Gobbling. I'm used to abnormally large things, I'm from the land that invented abnormally large things, yet this truly was the largest turkey I've ever seen. There was a collective gasp when Amanda and John unveiled the beast at our Thanksgiving dinner last night. This picture does not even begin to describe how much meat there was on that big boy. Let's just say that the 24 of us ate less than 1/4 of it.

It was a great Thanksgiving. I spend the day hopping between the Nashes and Pickerills, cooking delicious things, decorating, baking nana's roll recipe, and lots of skyping with dear friends and family. I enjoyed meeting new people during the dinner and just sitting around and chilling. In true T-day tradition Connor even rented a film for us and we had a sleepover after the cleaning up was done. We have, for the most part, switched to Dutch holidays, but this is the one American holiday that we keep alive and well. Julia and I threaten every year to go buy little roasted chickens but between Amanda and Connor we are kept to the straight and narrow. Toward the end of the night I escaped to the kid's room and watched a bit of Monsters Inc. with them, trying to let the effects of the tryptophan wane enough to help clean up.

Emerson is starting to stir a bit so I will close. If you come from the Thanksgiving celebrating tradition, I hope it was a wonderful holiday for you, with lots of family and good friends nearby.

funny funnies

The days and hours go too fast. I feel these days like my life is whizzing by me and I'm trying desperately to stop and smell the roses. There are small things in life that give me delight and they often involve children, ritual, food, and memories. I received all 4 this afternoon.

I went over to Amanda's to bake pies with my grandma's special pie recipe. I think it's from her, I can't remember. But the secret ingredient is vinegar (I can't keep secrets). We baked and talked and I cried and we talked and Grayson played. Halfway through Gloria, Connor, and Lucas arrive with their parents, hungry for an after school snack. So, we make funny funnies! We hardly ever had dessert in my family, but when we did it was usually pie. And when you make a pie there are always extra dough bits left. And when you use my grandma's crust recipe it's too good to not use every bit! Thus, funny funnies came in to being! We drank tea and ate funny funnies and played Yatzee Jr. and reminisced and laughed. A good day.

Recipe for "funny funnies":

• Take all the extra crust bits and mash them in one ball. Roll it out.
• Sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon generously then roll it up into a log.
• Cut little slices along the top of the log about 2 inches apart (don't cut all the way to the table).
• Curve it a bit into a wreath shape and then shove in the oven on a pan next to your baking pie.

These will get done before your pie does ... so you have something to snack on as you wait!

Remembering stories

Lately in an attempt to remember my roots, the truth of what God has done in my life, I've been re-listening to the testimony of John Wimber (the founder of the Vineyard movement). It's entitled, "I'm a fool for Christ, who's fool are you?" I'm thoroughly enjoying it, both laughing and sniffing back tears. I think more than his story or the way he articulates simple Biblical truth, or his laid back hilarious manner ... is the intimacy with which he talks about God, it almost sounds too personal, too dichtbij, but it's having quiet the effect on me. I love all his little quips, for example... "one prayer that God always answers, is 'God, what's wrong with me?' " Or, how he had been praying for healing for over a year and finally a woman is healed, and he walks out of her home, looks up at the sky and says, " Yeah God... we got one!" His journey from being raised in a thoroughly un-churched family (for generations) to a personal relationship with Jesus, to falling in love with the church, to encountering the Holy Spirit and starting a new movement of churches is such a gift to us.

I met John just a few times in my life. He died when I was about 18 years old and I still have strong memories of him sitting on a bar chair each Sunday morning and praying simply, "Come Holy Spirit." My brother, sister, and I would at that point put away our coloring books which kept us occupied during the message and sit up to watch the Holy Spirit come. Some people encountered Him in a quiet way, others with tears, others with shaking or laughing, it didn't really matter how He came but that He was thick in the place. And the way John lead the time was without hype or extra craziness, just simple and confident.

We grew up excited to go to church, expectant to see what God would do. Still to this day when it's time to pray for people at the end of a Sunday service, I get this little twist of excitement in my stomach, expectant to see God touch people. Listening to John's testimony brings back my childhood memories, it renews again my love of the greater Church and makes me so thankful that Jesus didn't just promise to return one day in the future but that He left His Holy Spirit with us for the now.

the crew: ages 2 till 53!


pub quiz time! (hannah sure made it hard!). I still can't believe the Sahara desert is only 20% desert.


hannah, trav, daniël, mark, and jaap apparently up to no good...


I'm back from a lovely weekend away with some of my favorite people. For our church retreat. We crammed into an old building in Driebergen, once used as a stable for horses. Yes, high class digs. There were large bunk rooms for the men and women... and kids. It was cold but we had candles lit nearly 24/7 and the heat turned up. The kids ran wild all weekend (I was glad I did't have to wake them and take them to school come Monday morning). We explored some nice trails in the woods around the area, played some mad games of Phase10 and Werewolf (kind of like Mafia), completed a 1000 piece puzzle, who's the geek who brought that? :). During the day we had workshops on meditative and imaginative prayer and how to study the Bible, we worshiped and best of all the Holy Spirit really met us and did some great things. It was a weekend that I will not forget quickly. We left Sunday afternoon, some in their cars, other walking to the bus and train, all saying, let's do this again soon! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend, the top one includes not everyone, some had already left by Sunday afternoon.