Our 2008 Christmas letter

Where has the time flown? It hardly feels like a year since Maarten and I survived Christmas in Canada and 1 week in Portland Oregon where he attended some meetings regarding an American dredging ship. We had 6 days at the Marriot Waterfront – what an amazing hotel with amazing views of Mount Hood. We felt very spoiled by our visit. After having a year like 2007 with Maarten having an aneurysm it was a nice way to begin 2008, in comfort!

Maarten returned to work full-time in February. I’ve missed having him home, life kind of gets boring and uneventful. Over the year I’ve been teaching English 3-4 times a week, singing in a choir, going to physio, baking Linda’s famous chocolate cakes, endless Dutch lessons… visiting people (I’m very good at that!)


My Wednesday Morning English Group!

June 10th we flew to Canada and went to Caronport for my half sister’s high school graduation. She sang in the high school musical called, “Forgiven.” It was very appropriate under the circumstances, as her mother was also there!
Here I am at Caronport with my brother Mark and my birthday present from him!
From Caronport we rode with my youngest brother Mark and his family back to Edmonton where we visited with Tony & Donna. We went to Fort Edmonton for a day, what a wonderful experience that was! From Edmonton, we flew back to Winnipeg and spent the day with the Uttley’s and then went North by bus.

We were planning on heading South in time to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary in Winnipeg, only to cancel our plans and wait and ride South with my mom who had an appointment to see a neurologist. She is still waiting to hear the results of her last tests in November.

My sweet husband made a huge sacrifice – he wants you all to know! I had promised him that we would attend some sort of game, the Goldeyes, or the Blue Bombers, but because we stayed in Thompson longer than anticipated, he gave up what would have been his 7th wedding anniversary present! We ended up staying at a Bed & Breakfast with my mom, and then we went to stay with Dr. Kati and his family. We attended a Schutzenfest with them. (It’s a German celebration in a town called Little Britain. Someone had a sense of humour!)
Maarten and I had invited my 11 year old niece Lenea to come to Holland for the summer. It was hectic to arrange her ticket not even knowing if my brother was going to allow her to travel or not. We didn’t do it until the last minute, what a nightmare that was! God really made a way for it to happen! I was amazed once again at how He continues to meet our needs when we are at our wits end! My brother Keith came to Winnipeg with his family, and we all stayed at the Holiday Inn Airport West. They have a massive play structure there that the kids had a great time on!
Maarten flew off to Oregon for work on July 9th and Lenea and I left for Holland on the 11th. We had a good trip and arrived safely in Holland. Maarten returned to Holland the following week. Lenea had a great summer and we had a great summer having her.It was frustrating for me though, about the third week in July I got an infection in my leg. One that my GP treated with a low dosage drug, after three more weeks and a tummy full of antibiotics later, I saw my specialist who gave me two courses of high dosage antibiotics. That got me up on my legs again, but all this to tell you, I sat on my butt all summer – and was very angry about it! It was nearing the time we had to return Lenea to Canada (although she made it known loud and clear she would love to live here!)
Lenea with a friend, brought home a baby duck!
The last three weeks of August Maarten was again in Oregon and I was alone with Lenea. Thankfully she was here to help when I was so helpless! Thankfully, the families in our church stepped up to the plate and took Lenea out to the sea side, boating, swimming, and just doing fun things with her and for her. Lenea also had the opportunity to have riding lessons at a stable in the next town. She had an English speaking instructor.
One of the most difficult things for me was to find out how poor her eyesight is. I struggled with this too in my growing up years. Not nice! We were going to get Lenea glasses, but the eye specialist said that she needed contacts and glasses would not do. His price, 375 euros. I talked this over with Maarten who suggested we leave this to her parents (as he had already paid so much for her to be here!) I agreed (and that was hard for me to do!) and I prayed that God would take care of things as my hands were tied! While Maarten was still away in Oregon, we were invited to friends for supper. This family, after hearing my story of Lenea needing contacts, offered to pay the difference between what we would have paid for her glasses and the price of the contacts! How amazing that God answered prayer, and so quickly! I was so incredibly thankful that I wrote an e-mail to all my friends about this event – one person wrote back that I shouldn’t be begging overseas when Canada has a good eye care health system. I suppose what this person doesn’t know, is that Lenea is under Medical Services and they DO NOT pay for contact lenses, especially for children!

I am extremely thankful to the Lord and the kind friends who gave! It was also interesting, that when I went to pay for Lenea’s contacts, the doctor gave us an additional amount off the cost! We were amazed at God’s blessing for Lenea! Don’t get me wrong – but how come God couldn’t have been a little quicker on the uptake with my infected leg and healing so I could have done more interesting things with Lenea? I felt robbed!
I started walking with elbow crutches her last 2 weeks here. Over the summer she read a book called, “The Watchmaker’s Daughter,” the life story of Corrie ten Boom. I took her to Haarlem to see the museum in the house of Corrie, and to see Corrie’s bedroom with an opening in the wall showing the hiding place. It is so impressive. Rosa, Lenea, me and Anne at Corrie's door.Maarten and I also took her to The Hague, where the government of Holland sits, and we wandered through the tweede kamer. (The Dutch houses of Parliament.) One thing Lenea did, and I was very proud of her, was she wrote in a journal every day! Mrs. Kati had given her a book and pen, and told her that it would be a good thing to do. I had to encourage her on occasion but she did a fine job! When she is old and grey I hope she can look back at it and remember her time with us.

September 3, Lenea and I returned to Canada and stayed with George & Bessie for a couple of days before heading North, Auntie Colleen took us out for supper then took us to the bus (and Uncle Grant took us out for lunch at Smitty’s and bought Lenea a pair of jeans at Wearhouse One!

While I was in Canada for four weeks I had the opportunity to attend a women’s retreat in the Whiteshell, the food wasn’t great but it was a lovely weekend, and I got to go canoeing!

I returned to the Netherlands on October 1st.

Maarten was supposed to write the letter this year, however, as a result of work commitments he is in Oregon and I’m writing…

My legs are doing ok, I got new liners today and I hope that in a month or so the skin will be better, it is very fragile and breaks down easily. As a result, I am hardly walking and not even exercising which is something my body needs badly – the kilos keep creeping on, and I hate it.

Maarten is healthy as a horse and except for being tired sometimes in the evenings when he comes from work; he helps out a lot with cooking, he cooks on weekends, does all the laundry, takes out the garbage, does some grocery shopping during the week, and we go grocery shopping together on Saturdays – regular life things in a country where there is no Sunday shopping and no Wal-mart! I’m kind of getting used to the way they do things over here – I suppose I am a bit of a slow learner.

Today I shared a Charlie Brown Christmas with my students. I hoped that it would give them something to think about as the real meaning of Christmas might be missed in this day and age. When Charlie Brown complains about the overwhelming materialism that he sees amongst everyone during the Christmas season, Lucy suggests that he become director of the school Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown accepts, but it proves to be a frustrating struggle. When an attempt to restore the proper spirit with a forlorn little fir Christmas tree fails, he needs Linus' help to learn what the real meaning of Christmas is. It was a good reminder for me too!
One thing I know for sure, God has given me a great husband and I am thankful – he is a great guy! Maarten has bought a book (in Dutch) about immigrating to Canada! We’re not sure what is ahead – but we are seeking God’s will, and if you could take time to pray for us, knowing what to do about our future, we would appreciate it.

I’ll close with a quote from Wilda English, “God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith; the warmth of Christmas, which is love; the radiance of Christmas, which is purity; the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice; the belief in Christmas, which is truth; the all of Christmas, which is Christ.”

Wherever you find yourself this Christmas have a happy & blessed one.

P.S. Linda allowed me to write the closing paragraph of this year’s letter. I think she did a great job! This year once again flew by at 100km/h. At least that is how fast it seemed. I am feeling much better, though different. Being that close to the call home has changed my focus on life and what is important in life. I strongly feel and believe that Linda and I are at some turning point or crossroads in our lives. We pray a lot for wisdom and guidance in this matter, feel free to join us. We need it…. The difference between the choice of the heart and the choice of the mind I guess. Hmmm I see I have two lines left ;-)) Must close, so to speak. My prayer is that all of you may find a very peaceful, warm and wonderful Christmas. We will think of you and if you think of us then through distance we will be together in mind. Love you all, Maarten. Gezegend kerstfeest!! (That’s Dutch) ;-))
Just a picture of our enormous tree!