Quit blogging

04Mar09

Dear people,

Over the past month I haven’t done much blogging on this weblog. The reason for that was that my wife and I went on an orientation trip to New Zealand to check out the country and see if we could and would like to live there.

We wrote a blog about that on http://familyadventure.wordpress.com. Now we have returned I signal that, although I feel an urgency to write,  I don’t have the time and energy to spend time on it. Managing a weblog demands that you spend time on it, so this isn’t a good combination. Therefore I decided to bring this weblog to a close.

I will keep blogging every now and then on Facebook and Dutch networksite Hyves and I’m also present at Twitter. If you want to keep following me, login there and request to be my friend.

Here are the links:

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1261351935&ref=name

Hyves: http://stoepie5.hyves.nl/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/stoepie35


04Feb09

As said before, I will not be blogging on this site the coming weeks. But if you would like to stay informed about our journey to New Zealand, check out familyadventure.wordpress.com.

The blog is in Dutch, so if you’re not a Dutch speaker, you can use Google Translate for instance.

Cheers!


Time

02Feb09

I was preparing all kinds of notes about all kinds of subjects, like how I love to read, and what I have read in the past few months, and what I am planning to read, and about how the travel to New Zealand is affecting our family life at this moment.

But, I decided not to write about all that, because I have to do other things to prepare for the trip and give some attention to the kids, etc.
So, this will be my last “normal” (is there anything normal about me?) note before going to NZ.
See ya!

Closing 2008

11Jan09

Hi everyone, happy new year to you all!!

In starting the new year I also want to look back on 2008 and close that year.

Last year was an exciting year for me and my family. If I needed to give it a theme, I would say “Explore new horizons”.

We decided to chase our dream to move to New Zealand. The first step in chasing this dream is that Mattanja and I will travel to New Zealand coming February to see if the reality fits our dream .

Next to that we started our own company, Boost Your Life. We promote wellness products, produced by American based company Wellness International Network (in short: WIN). The products we promote are among the best products available in the market. Our goal in starting this business is to create financial freedom for ourselves, a healthy long life and to have the  possibility to help other people.

And to complete our yourney in 2008, during the first months of the year we felt that God led us out of the church we were part of for years. So, we listened and just before the summer we left. Currently we have no idea where God is leading us, but for the time being we visit the “Meerkerk“, a baptist church in Hoofddorp (the Netherlands) on Sunday.

So, that was last year. We are very curious what this year will bring!


Here’s a great short video of one of the best bass-players in the world, Abraham Laboriel. Watch and enjoy his enthousiasm in playing!! It’s great!


Credit crisis?

31Dec08

OK, so we had a credit crisis this fall.

But, who was the victim? Here in the Netherlands “Sinterklaas” didn’t suffer. The shops reported no decline in sales. Also Santa Claus didn’t suffer.  Yesterday morning all tickets for the “Staatsloterij” (the National Lottery) with a jackpot of €25 million were sold. Tonight the New Year will be celebrated with as least as much fireworks as in the last years.

So, can anyone tell me where this credit crisis has hit? It seems that until now “only” banks have been hit. Or….. is everyone spending as much money as they possibly can to forget their trouble?

By the way, today I read that we have a female Messiah, who will solve the (supposedly) credit crisis! Her name? The infamous Paris Hilton!!!!!! Her brilliant solution is to buy as many things as she can.  Phew! Bless her!


This is one of my favourite songs. The lyrics are so appealing: we are living in paradise, but there are so many who don’t! What are we going to do about it?


I am addicted

08Dec08

OK, I have to admit it. I always knew that one day the truth had to come out. So here it is: I am an addict. I have a very strong addiction that I can’t get rid of.

But is it  ist2_6986931-prescription-drug-cocktail or dobbelsteen1 or cocaine?

Lucky for me these addictions are not what I am talking about! My addiction is (physically) a lot less devastating. My addiction is that I want to consume tons of information through the internet, tv, iTunes (iPod) or via books and magazines. Especially books! I read everything, or almost everything, because I have found out that I can’t read everything. Surprise huh?

One-and-a-half weeks ago it was my birthday and a few days ago we celebrated the Dutch feast of “Sinterklaas”. On both occasions I received some books, so my appetite can be satisfied again.

I got the following books:

  • Brother Andrew and Al Janssen – Secret Believers (Dutch translation, Geheime gelovigen)
  • Michael Yaconelli – Messy Spirituality (Dutch translation, Struikelend achter Jezus aan)
  • Larry Crabb and Dan Allender – Encouragement (The key to caring) (Dutch translation: Bemoedigen doet goed) Apparently someone wants me to learn how to encourage others :-)
  • David Pawson – Unlocking the secret, Omnibus (Dutch translation, Sleutels tot de Bijbel)
  • Another Larry Crap, eeh Crabb, book – The Pressure’s Off (Dutch translation, De Druk van de Ketel).

And that while I was also in the middle of reading:

  • Willem de Vink – Hemels DNA (only in Dutch, English should be Heavenly DNA)
  • Mattheus van der Steen – Durf te Dromen (also only in Dutch, English should be Dare to Dream).

And I think it’s needless to say that I still have other books on my wishlist. But, where do I get the time to read all this stuff? I don’t know!!! HELP!!! But then again,  I LIKE IT!!! I just love to read. I hope heaven is filled with books and magazines. Maybe it’s a good idea to pray for that. Probably God will answer my prayer. Ooh, exciting!!

I’m sorry, I have to end this post, my books are calling again, and I can’t resist! Read you later!


Scot McKnight has written a post related to the subject on which I wrote two weeks ago. I think he nails it on the head! Check it at: http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2008/11/spiritual-disciplines-a-critiq.html#more.


Quote

30Oct08

Here’s a great truth written down by Henri Nouwen:

“When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing… not healing, not curing… that is a friend who cares.”

(HT: Lance Fuelsie White - http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=2147)




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