Horse Chestnuts

          I'm thankful for kind friends, both new ones here and old ones at "home" and an even kinder Father in heaven who has been treating me like His little girl!                                                                  I've been counting blessings today and there are so many things I have to be thankful for that I am really amazed. This is one of them: a marzipan horse chestnut. We found it at a little bakery and enjoyed it tonight! My girls have played with horse chestnuts from our trees in Tiskilwa every fall of their lives, collecting "rubies" from all over the hillside.                                  Now there is a horse chestnut tree right outside our apartment so when I saw this, I just had to celebrate and get it for the girls. 

Thanks God, I needed that!

 The past few days we've really felt like we are here!!  We finally have our public transport cards (after getting lost in the mail due to a possible zero that I included that should have been excluded) , so we've been getting out and about. (Thank you Dory Hofstra)! We made it to downtown Amsterdam and the girls and I will head back tomorrow with a Dutch neighbor boy to meet a family from South Africa and go to a cool kids museum. I'm excited!

We've continued to be humbled by the little things of being newbies here and God's provision for us, almost daily, as we learn. Just yesterday  I managed to lock our whole family out of the house we are house sitting because the locks here are different and a key won't work in the door if there are keys in the lock on the other side.  When I realized we were all locked out, I took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. 

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces patience." James 1:2-3

Matt was in class so Anya, Nora and I, wandered to campus and were able to eat lunch there while he came back to attempt entry.  Amazingly, although I had shut all the windows up tight because it had looked like rain, he had noticed one a few days before with a faulty latch.  With the help of a neighbor, who we had helped a days before loading something into his car, Matt was able to get in and was eating lunch as I was praying on the way home that we would be able to get in without breaking anything, and he fixed the latch too!  We all rejoiced ,were reminded of the blessing of eating with the Tyndale students again, and stayed "home" the rest of the day!

Swimming in the canal!!

Today, the girls and I ventured out again, on our bikes to the more predominantly Muslim part of town to do our grocery shopping.  They have better fruits and veggies at better prices and huge tubs of OLIVES. Anya and I love olives. Anyway, it began to rain and the ride was long and we were pooped.  About a 1/4 mile from home, the rain had stopped and Nora looked over and saw ripe, wild blackberries on the side of the bike path.  YUM.  We picked enough to add to the other fruit to have quite a gourmet fruit plate for desert, and there are plenty more that will ripen with time!

Nora commented that she thought God was rewarding our perseverance!  :)

 "I will teach you and guide you in the way you should go, I will keep you under my eye." Psalms 32:8

I could go on but will spare you other examples, (unless you want more) but it got me thinking about how parents love their kids so much and often go and above and beyond what is even reasonable to their children, just to show their love.  I'm feeling like that now.  That God knows that being away from home is not easy, for the girls or for Matt and I, and somehow He is going to go above an beyond in the little things (and not so little things) to show us His love and give us the confidence that we are in fact, under His eye. 

 

Thanks God, I needed that!

"Home Sweet House Sitting"

 After 6 wonderful weeks, interacting with really interesting people at every meal, we are happy to sit down with just the four of us again!! 

We even have a good plan worked out for housing now so we are good to go and we can begin to count down our remaining nomadic days, 31 to go!

Reflections on Hamsters and the Worry Wheel

Knabbeltje  (the official Dutch name for Little Nibbles) will soon be heading home.  Her little hamster wheel creaks at night as she pours her nocturnal energy into it, going nowhere. It reminds me of worry. 

I hesitate to admit that I spent time on the hamster wheel of worry last week.   Our “Garden of Eden” house sitting gig had some serious drawbacks.   It's 1/2 hour away by car, but alas, we don’t have a car. So Matt’s commute to school would have been about 3 hours a day by public transport.  Or he could have pretended to be training for the Tour de France and tried to cut it down to two hours by bike.  We considered all the possibilities and thought perhaps he would stay in the dorms certain nights of the week… but then, that is just less time together… sigh.  

Then I found out, as is so often the case when you are new in a culture and don’t know the language, I had totally misinterpreted the waterbed exchange.  In fact, that room would be off limits, the splash park was closed.  No biggie, I get it, but how do I explain that to Nora?  What next…my brain spun round and round,   “am I really safe in the Father’s arms?”

“For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him… For after these things, the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt. 6:8b & 32-33

OK, OK… I get it… I’ve been singing that song since I can remember.  It is a Kauffman family favorite passed down from Matt’s Maternal  Grandparents.  So how do I do that?

Well, God was working it out.  I am blown away.  We started looking again for housing.  We considered quite a few options.  But again, some Christian people, who believe it or not- needed a cat sitter for a month, decided that they could rent out their attic apartment.  When I heard the size of the place (tiny), I had to have a serious wrestling match with my needs and my wants.   I got my wants pinned to the floor and declared victory, but then we went to see it!   

God is providing for our needs, and much more.   It is a lovely, little space, in the heart of an ethnically diverse area very near campus, and the cat is so cute and friendly!! My girls and their cats were inseparable, now we have a great substitute!  We’ll move their August 31^st.    So this plan of staying light on our feet here will buy us some freedom to travel, which was one of our hopes in coming here.  So we might take off on an adventure to Germany between Matt’s summer and fall classes.  More on that later!

So for now, we are out of the dorms and gratefully house sitting in a lovely home for the next few weeks,  Knabbeltje is heading home soon, and we get to know our next pet, Tsjompie (sounds like Chompie!),  in a few weeks. God is good!

Home in the Father's arms...

This morning I woke up feeling unsettled. It was only 4:30, and pitch black in our room, so I grabbed my laptop and went and sat on the floor of the bathroom between our adjacent dorm rooms. Tapping away, I was feeling alone, and kind of upset. I wondered as I looked at Facebook whether I was even being honest with you all. Honestly, for all the blessings, this past month has been really hard. 

Suddenly, I sensed a motion in the room. I was no longer alone. Was it a mouse?.... Eek! Yikes, no, it was the hamster we are taking care of, Little Nibbles, scampering across the bathroom floor. Then quick as lightening, she was under the door and into the girls’ room. Thankfully I secured her safely and returned her to the cage, seeing the breach in the tunnel that allowed for her clever escape. With a big sigh of relief, and a glance at my sleeping princesses, (Anya strongly objects to this portrayal  ) I thanked God for saving Little Nibbles and saving us the horror of having to explain the loss of a beloved pet. 

I decided maybe I needed to go for a walk with some worship music instead, so off I went, down the street. Past the home of the boy whose plant I am caring for, past house we will begin sitting next week, past the home of the cats we were sitting this past week, past the canals that are home to the birds that we've been feeding with old bread from the Tyndale cafeteria, and finally back "home" to the dorm. I felt welcome here.

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life." Matthew 19:29

It made me think of the verse above... It is hard not having a "home," and yet, we somehow just haven't felt right about signing a lease on one here. Not only is it really expensive but the houses are gutted; no floor, no fixtures, no frills at all. For some reason, inexplicable to all expats, that is just how it is done here. The thought of accumulating a household of possessions here is down right unnerving. So, we've waited. This has been especially hard on Anya, which of course makes it hard on me as I am generally the one with whom her angst is expressed.


So, I just wanted to share that after asking for prayers last weekend, Matt and I felt a peace about not signing a lease, and waiting. We had an offer for some house sitting in August and a different offer in September and October. On Tuesday night we went to the Fall House (as we are starting to call it), and it was like a dream come true, or better said, a prayer perfectly answered.


Anya had been begging us to get a house right next to a canal with a balcony (not exactly the bargain shopper just yet). Well, we got to the house and sure enough, not only was it right next to a canal, but the first room at the top of the stairs had a beautiful balcony. Anya claimed it right away. The next room, now Nora's future space, had a waterbed, which thrilled them both. I was thrilled when the lovely, older Dutch woman whose home it is and who had been entirely proper up until that moment began to throw the girls on to the bed, just for the sheer joy of watching them enjoy the "splash." On the way "home" to Tyndale, Nora confided that she had been praying for a waterbed. Pretty cool, God!!


Not only that but the day before going to see the house, Matt had really begun to miss his farm. Well, the older Dutch gentleman of the house is a master gardener who has the most amazing Garden of Eden type front and back yards with a huge garden and greenhouse about five minutes away by bike that we will be tending while they are gone. Amazing!!


I have to admit, it is still not easy to not know what is next, November onward, but by typing and sharing this testimony to God's provision, my faith is strengthened that we are not alone. Little Nibbles is safe in her cage and so are we in the arms of our loving Father.  

The sweet rewards of gardening, beauty and a treat!!

When we arrived at campus here at Tyndale, one of the things that unnerved me was the borders of weeds along the sides of the buildings.  Clearly at some point, they had been tended beds, but no longer were they a source of beauty.  After asking around, I learned that in the spring, a few bulbs did authenticate the fact that we are in Holland, although their blooms were short lived and the legacy left behind in summer was non existent.   The Master Gardener is here checking her own photos!

 So, although once again, I didn't take "before" pictures, at least you get to see the after here. Nora and Anya worked with me over two weekends to "dig for buried treasure", ie. the bulbs.  We hacked through extensive tree roots that filled up two wheel barrels.  Then headed to the garden center with two Tyndale Students, Zana from Serbia and Assel from Kazakhstan to pick out the plants you see here.  The bulbs are reburied in hopes of a beautiful spring!  The sweet reward of a banana milk shake was enough to keep Nora happy.  Anya was happy too, just not in the mood for a photo to prove it. :)

Dinner time... In the wake of the Zimmerman trial

Just checking into the news back home, makes me even happier that our dinner table is filled by people of all shades!   The dessert bowl proclaims the truth that it is "for all" in the newly acquired Greek of the first year students here at Tyndale.  That's a foretaste of heaven!

Tyndale school cafeteria with Lee Baiden from Ghana, Apollos Makara from Rwanda, and Galete from Ethiopia, and Matt Sears Kauffman from USA.

This is Anya and Nora's new very good buddy, Lee Baiden.  He is a 2nd year student who in his "spare time" delivers about 400 newspapers daily.  Why does he work two jobs in addition to a full time course load?  Be cause he is a published author who writes books on Africa, and the ability to do that, doesn't pay, it costs.

Why Greek? 5 minute video

Some of you have asked, "Why Amsterdam?", "Why Tyndale", and you may now be asking "Why is Matt studying Greek? This 5 minute video, posted by one of his professors, provides a great answer. Matt Sears Kauffman, my dear hubbie, has been studying 10+ hours a day, in addition to class, seeking to comprehend Biblical Greek. We are just starting this journey but we know it is one that God wants us to be on, goat ice cream and all!

Goat Ice Cream and New Friends

Today, while Matt was busy translating Greek New Testament passages, the girls and I took a bike trip with new friends Lucia and Flores. I had borrowed a tandem bike, so Nora and I rode together to a local forest and farm.

The girls had soft serve goat ice cream! Lucia is from Brazil and just graduated from the program Matt is starting in and she is a great encouragement to our whole family. 

Flores is a great example of multi-cultural Amsterdam; Dutch Dad, Korean Mom, and Lucia has been his Brazilian babysitter, teaching him English!! 

It all combined to made for a great outing! The goats liked Nora's shirt, I guess it reminded them of Dutch flowers!

It's all Greek to me, or Dutch.... or Hmmmm

Matt is learning Greek (a full years worth in 8 weeks), the ladies are working on Dutch and we are all learning a new land!! 

Except for a few days last week when we rented a car (thus the cool pictures), we are being home bodies, or "dorm" bodies and enjoying the new friends, who are really family as brothers and sisters in Christ! Matt's classmates hail from Ghana, China, Ethiopia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Holland, Serbia, India, etc. It has been such an encouragement and people are very warm to our girls too. We're seeing some positive things already as they are feeling more settled.

Another reason we are staying home is kind of a taste of being a foreigner in a "highly developed" country! The public transport is really expensive unless you get these special cards, and you can't get the special cards unless you get bank account, and you can't get a bank account until you get a special number from the municipality, and you can't get the special number from the municipality until you have your visa.... sigh!! Actually, we got the bank account today using our Social Security numbers after about 5 attempts, but then we can't use it until we have a phone number, and we can't get a phone number until we have a SIM card, and they were all out of SIM cards when Matt tried in town.

You would think I would be frustrated, and alas, I would be except for three things that God provided.

1)Before leaving the States I had a lovely conversation with a woman who had lived here for a year and she loved it. She had said, "if you can get through the bureaucracy of getting established, you will love it!" Words of wisdom!!

2) I stumbled upon the audio book while looking at the Tiskilwa online library system, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World", and am loving it! It's slowing me down and helping me think that this is my chance to be still and listen to God too!

3) They people at Tyndale are WONDERFUL and I am so blessed and invigorated by the conversations here that I don't mind that I literally have not left our little suburb and have yet to actually see Amsterdam. All in due time!

Much love to you all...

Except for a few days last week when we rented a car (thus the cool pictures), we are being home bodies, or "dorm

Tyndale Student Map... waiting for the faces and places of Matt's class!

This map of Tyndale students hangs in the cafeteria, with last year's students removed and awaiting the pictures from this year's new class! We've met about half of these folks and look forward to sharing their stories as we get to know them better. 

One man I sat with yesterday, Jonathan from Ghana, just graduated and is heading home tomorrow. He has a wife and two kids at home and is now torn between being excited to see his family and sad to leave his Tyndale family. Please pray for Matt's classmates as probably many of them are saying hard goodbyes this weekend as they have to leave their families at home. We are privileged to be able to stick together.

We're Here!!!

We are now in Amsterdam and are feeling that many of your prayers and ours have been answered. We arrived at the Amsterdam airport and I literally felt like we were crawling. I really feel like Satan was making one last all out assault on us to prevent us from getting here in the last few weeks, and especially days. Our weaknesses felt totally exposed!

But just moments after landing, we got a text from a woman associated with Tyndale that is a Christian taxi driver. She took us to campus where there were 3 very kind folks standing outside to usher us into our dorm room, and show us where they had dinner waiting for us. It felt like coming home, but better, as the kids actually ate without complaint!

We've been walking around and checking out playgrounds. Everything is very green with lots of ducks in little canals and ponds. Even though we are quite close to the airport, you hardly can hear the planes. I overheard Nora tell Anya that, "this is just like Tiskilwa, only better!" Anya has even been caught smiling, really big!

I'm sure we will have some major adjustments, but we are reminded of how God has provided a way for us and how He will continue to do so.

One last amazing detail, I was feeling a lot of anxiety about homeschooling after walking by a bunch of schools this morning. Then we just met a Tyndale professor who homeschooled his now college aged daughters while they were missionaries in Romania and believe it or not, his family used the same Sonlight curriculum we have been using the past 5 years. I was trying to figure out what we would do because the books would be too expensive to ship here. He has all the books and said we could use them!!!!! Huge relief!!!

God is good. This picture is in the dorms. I promise the next one will be scenic!

#1 Traveling tip with children: Bribery! "Desperate times call for desperate measures"

Last few days before getting to Amsterdam, bribing the girls with cookies! We've been in Italy and and France, learning a lot. The girls keep reminding me that this is summer, not homeschool. We'll be living in the dorms this summer so I'm excited to get to know Matt's classmates who will be from all over the world. God is good. I feel like a very little fish in a very big pond, but He is with me.

Our girls' first real castle and first European friends

Every little girl hears about castles, whether they are into it or not.  So to get to go to a real one is pretty cool.  Matt picked out this one for our little girls in Carcassonne, France.  Amazingly, although we had no reservations, we ended up at a really cool one room bed and breakfast overlooking this UNESCO World Heritage site. It was right in the middle of a vineyard so Matt was happy too!  

But by this point, castle or no castle, the kids were ready to meet some real kids! 

So we were blessed to meet these lovely British Girls, Lauren and Anna, who became fast friends after I struck up a conversation with their family in a museum and they hiked about a mile to the top of our castle overlook!
  

They proved their true Bristish blood by being so brave,
swimming with my girls in this VERY cold pool. 

 The next day their family made the hike again for Lauren's birthday
and shared  the most delicious birthday cake ever!!

The parents had a nice visit too!! 

Final Travel TIP for Today: It is much more fun to tour a cathedral /church
with someone else's' kids rather than your own!

Thankfully all four of them had a nice time in this lovely one!

The hideouts of the Heritics

Greetings all! It is pretty amazing to have the time to be over here, in Europe, before Matt's school starts. Even though it was in large part because of a ticket deal we nabbed before knowing that he was admitted to Tyndale, I think God had it planned out that the girls could make a lot of their mental and emotional transition, prior to getting to to Holland. They are learning to travel and we are learning to travel with them. We are basically eating out of the grocery stores, which interestingly seem to be a fair bit cheaper than in the US! The food quality is great!! Our few restaurant experiences have been great too.

We are seeing and experiencing some pretty amazing things, like Medieval castles/towns, cool beaches and mountains. (See the link for the coolest one so far, we hiked up and into it.). The natural and historical beauty is amazing. It has been unseasonably cold and we hit up a very cool, incredibly huge flea market in Barcelona for near winter gear!!

Nora's foot is completely healed, praise God! It only "hurts" when we are walking somewhere she absolutely does not want to go. Very clever! I figure if it didn't hurt mountain climbing yesterday, then that excuse is worn out for good.

Being gone while our house was still under pretty massive work has been a big headache for Matt as he wishes he could have done all the work himself and one contractor really left us in a pickle. It is finally on the market, thanks to the kindness of several great friends and family!

The timing was pretty amazing as on the same day the old house went on the market, we found a place in Holland to stay when we get there, which is great... More news later!

Thanks for the prayers and friendships, even from afar! 

Menorca - Natural beauty and cutting the technology cord

After spending four days physically, and months mentally, trying to get to Minorca, Spain, we thoroughly enjoyed a week of almost total disconnectedness. Minorca is an island off the coast of Spain that we would have never visited except that it was the only timeshare that would trade with my mom's in Virginia, and what a treat. 

Apparently, thanks to a bit of a feud between Spain's former dictator, Franco, and the Minorcan King of that time, Minorca was not allowed to develop tourism for about four decades, so it's natural beauty shines through, EVERYWHERE!! It was designated a UNESCO biosphere site so although there are now plenty of nice places to stay, it is really tranquilo (my new favorite word).

It was the perfect place for us to relax, the girls to play on the many varied beaches, and deal with life without wi-fi. 

The history was amazing, as the Island had been inhabited for over three thousand years. Early Christians, in the 5th century, built caves in the rocky coves and shared their faith with locals who were worshiping rock structures called Talaiots. Sadly, a bit later, these same Christians, forcibly converted local Jews, and banished those that wouldn't. Sigh... 

Anyway, we are back on mainland Spain now and our country mice girls are getting accustomed to city life... sort of. It is just dawning on them that we will be living in a city for the next year and, well, the jury is out. Praying we can all adjust but loving it for the time being.

Crashed in Stockholm - not the plane, just our bodies!

In the last few days at home, I kept thinking, "less is more except when it comes to oxygen (deep breaths Joy, stay calm) and good friends." Thanks to ALL my good friends who made is possible for us to get out of our house and on to the plane. We were even able to leave the wheel chair behind and Nora is feeling good.

We are in Sweden now on a 23 hour layover!! The kids are happily sleeping our day away. Nora slept some on the plane.... Anya stayed up all night, not wanting to miss breakfast!  We sat in the hotel lobby for 2 hours then and crashed once we got in. We are looking forward to heading out on a mini-adventure to a 1000 year old town tonight and then on to Spain in the morning. 

Less than a week.... Getting ready to go!!

I'm not sure who all is praying for us but I can tell you one thing.... God is listening!!! 
We are SOOOOOOOOO thankful..... my wonderful mother in law, Joy Sears found us this wheelchair little gem at a thrift store for 10$. I can even check it on the plane for free even though it weighs have a ton!! Nora is psyched!!

Also, work around out house is blowing me away! Matt is working like a (work) horse. God had brought an amazing drywall duo and an a fabulous 75 year old master builder who I called at 9 pm on Tuesday night. He was here at 7 am in yesterday morning and worked all day yesterday and today.... Our house blemishes are disappearing!! (Of course it always looks worse before it looks better). 

Someday maybe we will actually fix up a house for us instead of always doing it for someone else.... sigh!! For now, I'm looking forward to not owning one!

Queen's Day Celebrations... I wonder what they'll call it next year?

  Queens Day is a big deal in the Netherlands. Who knew?  I sure didn't.  I didn't even know they had a queen. She's only been in charge for 33 years!  I thought England and some tribal territories in Africa were the only places left on the planet with monarchies still running.  I have a lot to learn.  

Anyway, we decided this would be a good occasion to celebrate in our ongoing effort to make heading to Holland for a year seem like a good idea to all of us.  So, although we didn't wear orange, as apparently the rest of the entire nation did (thanks to guys like this one), we did enjoy ourselves.

The Queen abdicated (retired) and the new King, her son, Willem-Alexander, and his wife, Queen Maximá, have three young girls, I mean princesses!   He is the first king they have had in 123 years, so no wonder it's "Queens" Day!

Sounds a bit like a fairy tale!  I wonder what they'll call next year's festivities?

Consider the Ravens and the Lilies

Anya's coping mechanism!

Anya drew this a few weeks ago when she first learned we were moving.  She wasn't thrilled, still isn't.   This is part of how she was coping, a pretty good mechanism I think! 

The script says: Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap,they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Consider the lilies, how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin; yet I say unto you, Even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Luke 12:24 and 27

Nora is just ready to go on an adventure, go to a beach (any beach- we're Mid-Westerners) and eat Gouda cheese!  

I'm so proud of both my girls how they are handling the big changes coming up in less than 3 weeks now. 

Yikes!! Did I really just type 3 weeks?   

Going fishing in the Netherlands?

 Matt attempting to remove the hook from Nora's big catch last summer!

Maybe it was trying to get the hook out of this poor little guy's mouth while fishing with Nora last summer, I'm not sure, but  at some point in the last few years we began to wonder, what would it be like to really be "fishers of men"?   Jesus calls us all so clearly to do so, to share the truth of the gospel in ways that are compelling and convicting.

Perhaps Matt, the little boy who spent hours at a farm pond and even won a few fishing competitions, has decided to improve the equipment in his tackle box for "fishing".  

In a way,  that's what heading to Tyndale  for seminary is all about. The opportunity is pulling him, just like the old farm pond used to.  At least that's how I see it, and I started the blog! ;)

And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

A Sower Went Out to Sow... and found a gift!

The task itself was not a hard one.  We had already done the "hard work"days before, transforming our beloved garden into a big empty dirt patch.   But the hard work of this day was emotional.  It felt like a real commitment to actually sow grass seed, so that possibly someone who didn't want the work of a huge garden might still want to buy our house.   So we deliberated.... again... but in the end, it was done. Our garden has retired.... and although I will miss the mid-western tomatoes this summer, I can't say that taking a year off sounds like a bad idea!

Amazingly, as we tore out the garden a week ago, (and I wondered what impact that would have on my kids little phyches) Nora discovered a burrow of baby bunnies.  

These little guys charmed them so much that there was never a word said about the loss of what has been a pretty major part of their childhood.

It made me think of this verse: If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!  Matthew 7:11

We're IN and we're going!

Looooong story short; we're IN and we're going!  We just broke the news to our girls today, and in a few days will be sharing with all of you, that Matt was accepted to Seminary in the Netherlands.  After many years of thinking, praying, studying, and dreaming, he really felt that Tyndale was the place for him to pursue graduate studies in theology.

You might wonder why I say "we" when it is "him" really.  True.   But in that "we", I'm including all of us, because we will all learn, all grow, all be blessed by classmates from all over the world and professors who are teaching as a mission, not a career.  Not to mention the chance to live in Europe!

Although it is completely nuts to think the we will be out of here in about eight weeks, for at least a year, and that as I type this no one knows this but the four of us, I have such a peace and clarity it is almost weird.   I've been waking up at about 4 am, totally rested but with my brain so full of details that I've just set a pen and paper by the bed to capture the "To Do's".  

I look forward to sharing this adventure with you all!