Monday morning. Whew! They say Sunday is the day of rest, well, for the pastor’s family Monday is our day of rest. If you’re in the ministry I’m sure you know what I mean! =)
On Sunday it was our turn to be at the Kamps’ church. We had to endure a wild party on Saturday night that lasted until about 2 a.m. The Lord knew all about that party though. The Kamps’ church is only a few blocks from our house, which meant we didn’t have to get up nearly as early as we usually do when we drive into Amsterdam, where our church is located (plus Dad wants to get there an hour earlier than church actually starts so we can get things set up). It was good to get a little extra sleep. I’m glad everything worked out the way it did. God is good…always!
The service went well. Dad preached a great message about David’s three mighty men (2 Samuel 23:8-23). We had some nice fellowship after the service, but it just wasn’t the same as being at our church. I missed our people!
Anyway, back to today, Monday morning… I woke up at about 8 a.m. Our family usually fasts on Tuesdays for our church and revival and a lot of other things, but since we’ll have to do our weekly grocery shopping for ourselves and the Kamps tomorrow (the Kamps will be coming home from Canada on Wednesday!!!), we decided to fast today instead of tomorrow. I haven’t been feeling too great lately, and Lydia was also off her feed, so Dad told us not to fast. I appreciate that he is so thoughtful. My dad is great! He also gave us free from school because it is soooooo hot and humid! Regardless of that fact I went ahead and did school anyway. I’ve set goals to finish the accounting course I’m taking. I can’t afford to slow down.
Speaking of goals, Dad read from Oswald Chambers’ devotional book for our family devotions today. It was such a blessing to my heart! I’m going to share it with you…
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God’s Purpose or Mine?
“And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side...” —Mark 6:45
We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.
What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea.” It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.
God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.
God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.
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Family devotions continued... Then Dad read us one of his favorite chapters, 2 Corinthians 5. Reading that chapter always makes me think about a wonderful day we had several years ago…
It was late summer of 2005. We, the Kamps and the Huussen family, decided to take a day trip together. We took the train into Haarlem to ride our bikes through the dunes there in Haarlem. On our way to the dunes we passed the Kamps’ old house. It looked rather forlorn without our good friends living there; I’m so glad they moved to Almere! After quite a while of riding I remember we took a break under a clump of pine trees near a lake that was just over the ridge. Fresh-smelling pine needles covered the ground, making the picnic blanket a more enjoyable place to sit. Mom and Mrs. Kamps unpacked our sandwiches, and we ate a delicious lunch. Then Dad lead devotions; he read that chapter--2 Corinthians 5--and prayed. I remember thinking that Heaven must be a little like what we experienced there, as Dad’s strong voice read the Bible, the only sound in the peaceful quietness. God’s glorious creation surrounding us like a chapel. I imagined the tall pine trees were the pillars of our sanctuary, their green bows spreading above us like a canopy. It was truly a precious time and will always be something that sticks out in my mind. After our break we rode further through the dunes to the beach, where we relaxed by the water. It was cool enough at that point in the day that the people there were dressed. The children slipped their socks and shoes off and went splashing into the water until the hems of their clothing were wet. I remember Annika was afraid, so I took her by the hand and lead her into the water. Soon she was playing on her own. I joined Mom and Mrs. Kamps as they sat on the gray sand and talked while watching Dad and Mr. Kamps fly colorful kites in the strong wind. Then we ate fries at a restaurant on the beach front. It’s times like those that I’m glad we pray over our food; it needed all the prayer we could give it. I’m amazed we haven’t died yet; the restaurants in this place are so scary! Thankfully nobody got sick…must have been the prayer! After riding for what seemed like a long time we reached the entrance to the dunes and took the train back home. It was dark when we parted ways at our train station, the Kamps heading in one direction and we in the other. The day had been so much fun!!!
Back to the present… After finishing school I cleaned the kitchen and then went outside and worked in my little garden of tomatoes, sunflowers, and strawberries. It’s looking good, especially now that it’s been weeded. =) It really felt good to get my hands dirty. I love working a garden, even if I’m not too good at it…although I can’t take all the blame. The summers here in Holland don’t seem to cooperate. It’s either too rainy or too dry.
While I was busy in my garden the little neighbor kids came over and hung around for a bit. Then their mother came looking for them, so she stayed to watch the bunnies. They are getting huge. So much for them being dwarf rabbits!
I wrote some emails later on. Mom and Dad left to get some groceries for dinner. In the meantime Lydia made pizza crusts, and I cleaned in the living room and folded laundry. Later I helped Lydia out by cutting up veggies for the pizza.
We ate a pizza dinner at 7:30 p.m. in the living room. It was nice to eat later. I didn’t have much of an appetite all day, it being so warm and all, so dinner tasted good! We teased each other about this, that, and the other thing while we ate. It was funny.
Then Dad read our book about Adoniram Judson. We were all overtired and the three of us kids kept laughing about things that weren’t even funny. When I don’t get enough sleep it’s really scary; I laugh about nothing. Then I move to the second stage of overtiredness where I go from laughing like an idiot to becoming a grump. Lydia teases me about my invisible broomstick. What she’s implying is that I’m a witch. Ha, ha! She must have some experience in that area, because she does this really funny thing where she holds onto an invisible broomstick and slowly rides up and down while she walks around making these terrible laughing noises. =D
At 9:30 p.m. we got on Skype so we could sing happy birthday to Aaron Maynard. After we sang Dad went out to pray, and Lydia, Josiah, and I talked with the three Maynard boys--Russell, Clay, and Aaron. It was fun to talk to all the boys, because usually one or two of them is working in the boys’ home. Mom and Mrs. Chris joined in the conversation a little. The three boys teased each other, and we three Huussen kids teased each other, and we laughed at each other for teasing each other. Ha, ha! We did talk seriously a few times, but with Josiah the comedian present that was sorta hard. =) At one point we were calmly carrying on a conversation when Lydia jumped up from her seat screaming; a mosquito had landed on her. We all roared. Poor Lydia! She does this just about once a day during the summertime. When Lydia screams we all know she has discovered an insect or an insect has discovered her. Ha! We talked about Aaron’s birthday, food, instruments, and what songs we could sing together when they come to visit us. Russell, Clay, and Aaron sang a beautiful song for us. After about an hour we finished up our conversation and then headed for bed. It was a very nice day!!! =)
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