On Sunday morning I woke up late. I don’t know why my family didn’t get me up. Everyone else was running kinda late too. That never happens! Thankfully we made it to church okay with time to spare, and faithful Mischa and Hugo had the chairs and the coffee stuff set up and ready. We had a visitor come for the second time, and he even came to street preaching on Saturday, so that’s neat! We’re praying for God to give us 50 solid people. This past year we’ve lost some people because of stands we’re taking based on God’s Word. It’s not fun having people leave, but if that is what it takes to have a clean and holy church, then so be it. I hope that doesn’t sound like a calloused way to look at it. Believe me, it does bother us. God knows. By faith we’re trusting that He’s going to reward our church with faithful people to take the place of those who cared more about the fulfillment of their fleshly desires than about following the Lord.
Anyway, I was in the nursery…again. I enjoy the children immensely, so that’s not a problem, but I miss hearing the preaching (live). Sometimes I do wish others would be more happy and willing to serve God. After the preaching and a short break we watched a section of ‘The Way of the Master’ series. The service was a blessing! I’m so thankful for our church and our people! I love them!
On Monday we did fun things like grocery shopping, cleaning the fridge, and the usual Monday housecleaning.
On Tuesday I did some of my college studies and cut out my dress pattern. During the afternoon the three of us kids worked in the yard a bit and helped Lydia clean her rabbits’ cage. Lately her bunnies have been fighting a lot. Peanut is getting more and more aggressive with Pumpkin. Little rebel! We think they are two dominant males and are fighting for their territory. I guess they don’t realize that what they think of as “theirs” is really our yard. Ha!
On November 11th, the Dutch people celebrate St. Martin’s Day, which I believe is some kind of Catholic celebration. After dark the neighborhood children go from house to houses with paper, candle-light lanterns, singing songs about St. Martin in return for candy (we give them tracts as well). Anyway, I got the door as the bell rang and there stood two little boys. They began singing their little song, which, when translated, goes like this:
Saint, Saint Martin
The cows have tails
The girls have skirts on
Here comes Saint Martin
One of the little boys looked at my clothing, smiled at me, and then grinned at his friend when they got to the part about girls wearing skirts, as if to say, “Look! She’s wearing a skirt!” It was so cute to see that! You probably already know what I think about women wearing God-honoring clothing, which means dresses/skirts, so I won’t start the whole spiel. But, I will say this. I think it made an impression on those little boys that one girl they saw that night was indeed wearing a skirt, like their little song said is normal clothing for a girl to wear. Get it? Cows naturally have tails; girls should naturally wear skirts. Boy, I didn’t think I could squeeze “preaching” out of a dumb little song about a Catholic “saint.” Ha!
On Wednesday night we had a great service, even if attendance was low. Those who weren’t in church really missed a blessing. Dad preached a great message covering a variety of topics, all things that I needed to hear about--God’s will, prayer, concern for souls, and faith. Dad said something in the beginning of his message about God’s will that stayed with me for the rest of the week. He said that we don’t always know God’s will, but the Holy Spirit inside us knows. That’s why we need to stay in tune with God, so that He can guide us, through His Spirit, in His will. This is what really struck me. Dad said, “God has already set you on the path of His will.” That is a beautiful thought! God is already training me in ways that I probably don’t even realize, so that I will be prepared for the future work He has for me! I don’t need to worry about the future; I just need to stay close to God and allow Him to direct me, like a father guides his young child by the hand. I was thinking about these verses:
Proverbs 20:24 “Man’s goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?”
Jeremiah 10:23 “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.”
Proverbs 3:6 “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
After the service people prayed for a long time. It was a blessing, praise God!
On Thursday Josiah made biscuits for dinner for the very first time! Lydia and I both decided that this week he was going to learn how to do more cooking. Boys should know how to make some food so they can cook for their wives someday. When I told Josiah about our plans for him, he immediately offered to make biscuits, which he boasted he could make with no problem. (14-year-olds know everything…they think! Ha!) I supervised while he made the biscuits and worked on making the eggs, hash browns, and turkey-ham. We often eat breakfast for dinner on Thursday nights. Yummy! The biscuits were good…actually edible! (chuckle) I’m just teasing. They really were delicious. Josiah did a good job. (Picture: my egg and turkey-ham sandwich.)Everyone but Mom, who wasn’t feeling well, left for street preaching after we finished dinner. It was very cold. Mr. Kamps and Josh were there. Glenn arrived, and Anthony and his mom (members of our church) came all the way from Amsterdam as well! That was exciting. After praying, all the others went to pass out tracts. Mr. Kamps and I held the banner for a while and talked some. Suddenly a steady gust of wind hit us and started blowing my side of the banner down. I was glad that Anthony was able to step right in for me, because I couldn’t hold it up any longer. Sometimes I know what Piglet must feel like as far as feeling like you could blow away with the wind. Ha! Sometimes it’s scary holding that banner. We got lots of tracts out, had several good conversations, and the guys preached.
On Friday we had family night. Mom and Dad are on a juice fast for the next week, so the three of us kids ate dinner alone. I’ll be glad when Mom and Dad can eat again, because it just isn’t the same without them. We watched another part of ‘The War,’ which is a very in-depth documentary series about WWII. It is definitely interesting, although some of the footage is quite graphic. I don’t like that, but it’s good for people to see and remember how horrible war really is. We so quickly forget! The men who fought in WWII are getting old now and dying, and with their deaths go so many untold stories. I’m very glad they made this documentary, because history only repeats itself, and this treachery cannot happen again!
One American soldier told how he entered an old farm house, occupied by Germans. Two soldiers were dead, and another soldier was still alive. As the American soldier approached, the German soldier held up his hand and repeated, “Comrade! Comrade!” in German. He reached inside his jacket. Thinking the German soldier was about to pull a gun or a grenade, the American soldier knocked his head with the butt of his rifle. As he looked inside the German soldier’s jacket he found a little pack of pictures. The German soldier had wanted to show the American soldier his family back home. The American soldier finished his story, saying in a choked up voice, “And that was all.” I cried.
We tend to lump all the German soldiers together as being wicked, while many of them were just young men who only wanted to live peaceful lives, but they were forced to fight for their country and for the wicked goals of one evil man named Hitler. It’s so true what Ecclesiastes 9:18 says. “Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.” War is a horrible thing, but sometimes war is the only option left. I cringe to think what Europe would be today had the Allied forces not intervened. Praise God for the victory He gave! We are forever indebted to the brave Allies--approximately 61 million souls--who gave their lives to liberate people in foreign lands from cruel Nazi rule. I’m so thankful that I have had the privilege of visiting one of the American WWII cemeteries, located in Belgium. It is a sobering thing to look at 5,328 graves…white crosses that stretch almost endlessly across a quiet field. As Thanksgiving Day approaches, this is another thing we can be thankful for. We have so much to be for which to be thankful!!! Please take a minute to watch this touching video! (Click Here!)
After watching a section of the movie, we prayed together as a family for our troops in the Middle East, who are fighting against terrorism, and for our country, now in the hands of an evil man. Then we took a walk through the dark night and the thick mist. It’s feeling less like fall and more like winter over here. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!
Today is Saturday, and I’ve got a busy day ahead. Cleaning (my bedroom), Christmas shopping (Yes, Christmas shopping! ’Tis the season for secrets!!!!), grocery shopping, and cooking. I’m making chili for dinner tomorrow, and I promised a dear sickly lady in our church that I’d bring her dinner. I think we’ll have homemade pizza for dinner tonight. I don’t know; we’ll see.
Anyway, I’ve gotta go. I hope you all have a great day! Lord bless!!!
~ Hannah
No comments:
Post a Comment