Yesterday was my Mom's 60th Birthday! We celebrated on Saturday by going to a steak place in Amsterdam- wonderful food, but pretty sure we spent MY retirement money on that meal, and I didn't even pay?! haha. Ok so it wasn't so bad, we're actually pretty economical people, but I don't get how some of those restaurants stay open with their prices! Actually, I wonder about that all around the world with some places! The food was superb though!
Moving right along. Sunday morning we went to church, and my Dad and I had sneakily got some Cream Puffs and other assorted cookies into church on Saturday, and Sunday morning we surprised my Mom by having it announced that it was her birthday and that the cookies were in her honour for everyone! See, here in NL people have it right.. they have coffee, tea and cookies after Sunday morning services--- it helps since most people have somewhat of a commute home, no matter where they live and it takes time of course so it tides them over... PLUS it provides great time for fellowship... and above all, it's Coffee, Tea and FOOD! Who says no to that? Exactly.
So then we came home, had some hamburgers and brussel sprouts.. I've learned to eat those little cabbage-looking heads by some miracle, haha- and then relaxed for awhile. My Dad and I were tired from all the PLANNING we'd been doing. See, we decided to throw a little surprise party Sunday night- and one thing my Dad and I are good at doing is going overboard on food preparations. SO we had quiche which I made (DELICIOUS, I surprised myself, fo sho!!); chips and bread with 2 diff dips, chocolate fondue with fruits, marshmallows, cake, peanuts...., meatballs we'd bought already prepared (good thinking!), chicken from KFC... 2 of our missionary colleagues brought 1) a mexican dip with chips, and 2) the Birthday Cake--- and both were GEWELDIG (great) and LEKKER (great tasting!)- so thank you so much to you 2 ladies, Dar and Jackee!
And of course we had Pops, or Sodas as some of you call them.. or Coke if you call it that too. And not to forget, we had coffee and tea for everyone. When my Dad and I were out buying the stuff for the party, we were looking for disposable cups for the hot drinks. I found some glass cups that were cheap, and I told my Dad we should just get some to supplement the coffee/tea cups they already had.. and he said, well, why don't we buy these black/white ones, and get one for each guest, and they can take them home with them!! (all together now): *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww George*
How sweet is that? Very, I agree :)
So we gave everyone a "Murielmento"- it's like a "Momento" but, better :D
All in all, it turned out GREAT! Thanks to everyone for making it such a wonderful night for my Family and I! Love you all!
And hugs to all that couldn't be there! ;) Hugs and Love to you all too!!
That's all for now. 4 weeks -1 day is my Dad's 60th Bday, and 3 days later is my 30th, so we're celebrating 150 years together! Of course they want to average that out to 50 years old each, but I'm not agreeing to that one! haha :)
**A
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
It's been 2 weeks...
...and No, I have not disappeared into the oblivion that is the Netherlands :) 2 weeks ago as we were coming home from church, I wasn't feeling all that great. We stopped to get something to eat, and as we were standing in line I told my Mom that I was not feeling good. Hmm.. It just went downhill from there! I got a cold/flu or something, and was quite out of it for over a week! I even had to miss choir practice 2 Thursdays ago :'( and I was very bummed that I did! It turned out to be a good thing though, since I was still running a fever- which lasted nearly 10 days by the way! And now I've been battling a cough, which is also quite annoying!
But hey, God is good, and I'm still here to attest to that :) We had a trip planned since before I got here in September, so we decided to still do that, since I was feeling better by last Sunday. We spent 4 days in Luxembourg and Germany- and loved it!
Saturday before we left, I had the WONDERFUL opportunity to see one of my former (She's not old!!) teachers from the 8th grade! She taught me in Togo at the British School of Lome in the '92-'93 school year, and I hadn't heard or seen from her until this summer when we reconnected on FaceBook of all places! So then we catch up to where we are and so on, and she tells me she's going to be in Amsterdam on Saturday, the 18th of October, and would I like to meet up with her and her Mom! SHOCKING, haha! I took my Mom with, and we met up with them for some lunch and tea, and had such a wonderful time! It was such a blessing to reconnect after all these years, what fun! The time was short (TOO short!) but fabulous nonetheless. Hugs to you Debbie, and Patricia too!!
Well, that is all for now. Got some stuff to do for tonight. Did I mention that today is my Mom's 60th birthday?? That's right, and she doesn't look close to that age, does she? :) I'm making her a surprise supper! Well, she knows I'm making it for her, but she doesn't know what I'm making- and I'm cooking up a doooooozy! Thankfully I have a helper, in the form of my Dad! Wahoo!
Hugs and Love to all :) Thanks for your messages, emails and prayers-they impact me more than you will ever know!
**A
But hey, God is good, and I'm still here to attest to that :) We had a trip planned since before I got here in September, so we decided to still do that, since I was feeling better by last Sunday. We spent 4 days in Luxembourg and Germany- and loved it!
Saturday before we left, I had the WONDERFUL opportunity to see one of my former (She's not old!!) teachers from the 8th grade! She taught me in Togo at the British School of Lome in the '92-'93 school year, and I hadn't heard or seen from her until this summer when we reconnected on FaceBook of all places! So then we catch up to where we are and so on, and she tells me she's going to be in Amsterdam on Saturday, the 18th of October, and would I like to meet up with her and her Mom! SHOCKING, haha! I took my Mom with, and we met up with them for some lunch and tea, and had such a wonderful time! It was such a blessing to reconnect after all these years, what fun! The time was short (TOO short!) but fabulous nonetheless. Hugs to you Debbie, and Patricia too!!
Well, that is all for now. Got some stuff to do for tonight. Did I mention that today is my Mom's 60th birthday?? That's right, and she doesn't look close to that age, does she? :) I'm making her a surprise supper! Well, she knows I'm making it for her, but she doesn't know what I'm making- and I'm cooking up a doooooozy! Thankfully I have a helper, in the form of my Dad! Wahoo!
Hugs and Love to all :) Thanks for your messages, emails and prayers-they impact me more than you will ever know!
**A
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Leading Worship
I am so excited, because I have been able to lead worship twice in the last 3 days, and it is such an awesome thing to do! Sunday night it was at the English service where my parents and I attend church- called Keerpunt or "Turning Point". Every 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays there is an English service in the evening.
I really did NOT want to lead worship on Sunday. I was feeling... hmm, inept, to say the least. My piano playing is less than good, and I haven't really played since the middle of May-- so I set all my focus on that point of discomfort, and really had a battle. But I decided to do it anyway, the best that I could, and rely on God to do His thing :) I planned to go in early, around 5pm, so that I would have about an hour+ to practice and prepare.
We pull up to the church, and comment on how busy the parking area is..... Oh NO. There is an Indonesian service that runs from 3-6 pm... and so they were there, having service! Aaaaack!
We decided to go get a sandwich- what else could we do?! Oddly enough, I had peace somehow.. God is so true to His word when He says that He will give us peace in times when it doesn't make sense to have peace.
The sandwich was fantastic, btw- ham, mozarella, tomatoes and Pesto--- YUM YUM!!
ANYWAY (we're drifting away from the story here...!)- so we got back to the church, and I had about 18 minutes to practice, and then 1 minute to grab a cup of tea, and we started the service. God really answered our worship to Him- He Was There In The Midst Of Us, amen! And then one of my new friends, Sarah, got up and spoke some words of encouragement--- she talked about how God sees us as precious stones... sometimes on the outside, we just look like dull rocks with rough, ugly edges.. but on the inside, we are precious, beautiful stones.... :)
On with worship.. I led worship in chapel today at my parents' school- The PU's sang backup, and one of the students played guitar, and I played the piano. We practiced yesterday- and after Sunday night, I was so encouraged by the Holy Spirit, and the people at the service- that my confidence had grown and there was a change in my approach and thoughts even.
Today went very well, even though we were pressed for time (what's new?!)! God has encouraged me SO much, through people and these experiences, in just a few days. What a great journey! :)
love you all
~A
I really did NOT want to lead worship on Sunday. I was feeling... hmm, inept, to say the least. My piano playing is less than good, and I haven't really played since the middle of May-- so I set all my focus on that point of discomfort, and really had a battle. But I decided to do it anyway, the best that I could, and rely on God to do His thing :) I planned to go in early, around 5pm, so that I would have about an hour+ to practice and prepare.
We pull up to the church, and comment on how busy the parking area is..... Oh NO. There is an Indonesian service that runs from 3-6 pm... and so they were there, having service! Aaaaack!
We decided to go get a sandwich- what else could we do?! Oddly enough, I had peace somehow.. God is so true to His word when He says that He will give us peace in times when it doesn't make sense to have peace.
The sandwich was fantastic, btw- ham, mozarella, tomatoes and Pesto--- YUM YUM!!
ANYWAY (we're drifting away from the story here...!)- so we got back to the church, and I had about 18 minutes to practice, and then 1 minute to grab a cup of tea, and we started the service. God really answered our worship to Him- He Was There In The Midst Of Us, amen! And then one of my new friends, Sarah, got up and spoke some words of encouragement--- she talked about how God sees us as precious stones... sometimes on the outside, we just look like dull rocks with rough, ugly edges.. but on the inside, we are precious, beautiful stones.... :)
On with worship.. I led worship in chapel today at my parents' school- The PU's sang backup, and one of the students played guitar, and I played the piano. We practiced yesterday- and after Sunday night, I was so encouraged by the Holy Spirit, and the people at the service- that my confidence had grown and there was a change in my approach and thoughts even.
Today went very well, even though we were pressed for time (what's new?!)! God has encouraged me SO much, through people and these experiences, in just a few days. What a great journey! :)
love you all
~A
Friday, October 3, 2008
Hello!
Just wanted to say hello to everyone out there :) It's Friday, so that means Fish day! I trotted out to the open market about a 1/2 block from my house and got some fried fish to eat- I'm thankful it's only out there once per week, I can justify eating it that much :) Yum!
Anyway, Hugs'Love to all :)
~A
Anyway, Hugs'Love to all :)
~A
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Oktober???
It's Oktober? Say whaaaaaaaaat??? :) Yes, welcome to the very COLD month of October! It has been cold all month! And we're only nearly 24 hours into it, and Brrrr!
Today was my very first KidzArk event with the children's ministry that I am helping out with. It was loads of fun! The kids pretty much only speak Dutch, and I know how to say "What is your name? My name is Alicia. Do you speak English? I only speak English! That is pretty! Good job!" So... needless to say, I didn't converse a lot with the kids. I smiled a lot, and laughed when the kids were laughing- they give good clues as to when they are enjoying stuff or not, so it was fun! I helped in a Human Video and with Mosiac Tiles for the craft "club" time- that was fun too.
The best part was working with some Master's Commission students. I met 3 of them- there are 6 at one of the churches near the church where we met at for KidzArk- and 3 of them helped out today, as well as other students in a similar program. They spoke great English so we had fun talking and working together, and it was their first time helping out too, so I didn't feel like the sole total stranger to the whole process!
Then afterwards I went to a friends house and some other friends came over and we had Chinese food, and it was GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! I could have eaten MUCH more, haha! Geweldig ;)
I get tomorrow morning/afternoon off, so I am very excited to "chill" for awhile, it's nice to have breaks now and again :)
Blessings'Hugs'Love All
~A
Today was my very first KidzArk event with the children's ministry that I am helping out with. It was loads of fun! The kids pretty much only speak Dutch, and I know how to say "What is your name? My name is Alicia. Do you speak English? I only speak English! That is pretty! Good job!" So... needless to say, I didn't converse a lot with the kids. I smiled a lot, and laughed when the kids were laughing- they give good clues as to when they are enjoying stuff or not, so it was fun! I helped in a Human Video and with Mosiac Tiles for the craft "club" time- that was fun too.
The best part was working with some Master's Commission students. I met 3 of them- there are 6 at one of the churches near the church where we met at for KidzArk- and 3 of them helped out today, as well as other students in a similar program. They spoke great English so we had fun talking and working together, and it was their first time helping out too, so I didn't feel like the sole total stranger to the whole process!
Then afterwards I went to a friends house and some other friends came over and we had Chinese food, and it was GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! I could have eaten MUCH more, haha! Geweldig ;)
I get tomorrow morning/afternoon off, so I am very excited to "chill" for awhile, it's nice to have breaks now and again :)
Blessings'Hugs'Love All
~A
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