not a reli-blog

I don't want this thing to turn into a reli-blog, if you know what i mean, but I just love putting my thoughts up here....

I've been very busy past month, as usual...haha, but in a good way..
Anyway I've been to a show of the blue man group. Three blue man, who are funny and weird. The show is a mix between comedy, rockconcert, science and light effects. It's an amazing show.
I'm doing this ministry course at Soul Survivor Holland, which has been quite interesting till sofar
I colored my hair brown today...it turned out a little bit more greenish, than I expected..oh well...I still remember the time that my hair turned out orange. My dad thought it was quite amusing and begin to sing the national anthem (orange is the color of my country) The only thing I could do was cry...LOL
So besides that I've basically worked a lot, and one new thing: I'm going back to college in january to finally start the whole graduating process...Yippie for me?! haha

Have a merry christmas and a happy new year! xxx

Past month - London, SoSu

I should begin to write something about the past month. I haven't updated this blog in a while. I wanted to update it but for some reason I just didn't have the time to do it.

A lot of things have happened during this pas month. I've been away most of the time which was great. Just to be around different people other than my family can sometimes be a relief ;-) I love my family to death, don't get me wrong, but they are the kind of people that always tell you the truth no matter how harsh it actually is. I admire that but sometimes you just have to get out and have some time for yourself. When I was in London I really enjoyed walking there all by myself...I know it sounds weird in a way but I enjoyed seeing things I wanted to see. Going to St. Paul's cathedral and sitting on one of the benches in the cathedral made me feel peaceful. Okay, I know I'm not turning into some boring old lady, but I just liked walking there and sitting there. Looking at the architecture and just thinking about the fact how old this cathedral is. How people used to worship God in there (and still are worshipping God in there). Amazing to think that this is called the house of God. Even when we now know and say that God lives everywhere, not only in churches. An amazing church.

Anyway I actually should start at the beginning of this all. November 17th was the day that Soul Survivor conference rolled in. I am a big fan of those conferences, I like meeting new people and talking & praying with other christians. Before the conference I had this big crisis of faith, as how I like to call it. I was so stuck in my life, didn't know where to go and what to do, and what were God's plans for me??
Now and then you just come to a crossing in your path with God, and I came at a crossing. Which way was I suppose to go, what is God's plan for me. I seriously felt like I was walking into a wall. At the conference I finally realised that I had to let God in, I asked Him how he felt about me and what I should change in order to come more closer to Him. I got this vision of a tree. I really didn't know why I got that vision and I was thinking it over and over again. I know that I was praying to God to show me what I needed to get changed in order to grow in my faith and to be even more closer to Him. But why the tree? I was getting more and more confused until one of the speakers at the conference suddenly spoke that she got a vision of a tree (so I was pretty shocked) and then she told us that she saw that the tree was cutted down. And that in order to get closer to God we should cut ourselves from traditions and set ourselves free. I was even more shocked. I know I am so caught up in the church traditions and stuff, and that I'm afraid to let myself go for 100%. Church has always been a big issue for me. Raised in a traditional church where I just couldn't grow in my faith (as for now) and I'm still looking for a church where I can be who I want to be, and where I can grow spiritually and personally. Being in a church where you can grow is such a gift, everybody who reads this, please admire that, because it's not something that just comes a long your path.

I hate to say that the conference was the factor that got me over my faith crisis, of course not, but it did help me to get things straight for me and my relationship with God. I met up with some wonderful people that weekend. I stayed with a couple of friends in a little vacation house. We had fun and it was great to see them again. Great to see how they have grown in their faith, in their relationship with God.

For me it's amazing how God works, he sends me and you to places and brings people on our path. I realised that when I was on my weekend away to London. A month ago I made a last minute decision to go to London to see some friends and go to a party of one of mine and one of their favorite singers: Daniel Bedingfield. I just love his music. I hadn't seen him for more than over a year so it was nice to see him perform again, to meet him again and to just be around my friends. It was at a Daniel Bedingfield concert that I got saved a couple of years ago...or at least chose to live for God. I feel so emberassed to say that, at a Daniel Bedingfield concert of all places but it's funny how God works. After that He put people onto my path that helped me in my way to live for Him!

The next day, sunday, I wanted to go to the Hillsong church in London. I had to go all by myself. I just don't like to go to church all by myself, and normally if I have to go all by myself I just decide not to go, so wrong! But I was in London and I wanted to go to church so I just took the nearest tube to the Dominion theatre. On my way to the theatre I prayed to God that he just wouldn't let me feel so alone. And when I entered the building people started to come up to me and introducing themselves to me. I quickly made friends and I wasn't alone anymore...WOW!
I'm so thankful to God for this. The service at the Hillsong church was amazing. An amazing time of worhip, I danced, clapped and sung! On my way to the Hillsong church I passed a homeless guy who was sleeping on the floor. I felt so bad and I was thinking on how to help those homeless people, because I was suppose to go to a warm church, where it didn't rain inside and where people were hearing God's word and getting to know eachother with a hot cup of coffee in their hands. I felt kind of awkward. I wasn't the only one who was thinking about that because during the sermon the pastor told a similar story about the fact that he passed a homeless guy. And he wanted to get the church in action to help these homeless people, God is just amazing! Please pray for this, not only for the homeless in London, but for the homeless everywhere on this earth.

London was just great. It was great to be there and see something of the history of the city. It was a real blessing to be there. I can go on forever and I actually don't want to close this post but it's getting way too long, and I don't want to make it all too boring:-) So for now: Take care and have a great week! Blessings, Jacoline

Soul Survivor conference


More pics and the story will follow soon:-) For now, a pic Ronald made this morning, on our way back.

Bored

So here I am doing all these kind of tests on the internet, try some yourself. Go to:
http://www.blogthings.com

Some of my outcomes:
- I'm 50% American:
America: You don't love it or want to leave it.But you wouldn't mind giving it an extreme make over.On the 4th of July, you'll fly a freak flag instead...And give Uncle Sam a sucker punch!

-I'll die when I'm 82

-In my past life I was a Jaquar (the animal)

-My Mexican Name is: Doña Dominga

-I belong in Dublin

-My 1920's name is: Violette Bobbie

-If I was Born in 2893... my name would be Vuis Vovv and I would be half Alien

-in Highschool I was the athletic kid (yeah right!)

-In should spend my summer in the city (does New York counts for this summer??)

-I'm a Pumpkin Pie at Thanksgiving

-Maroon 5 Shares My Taste in Music (finally something that is right!)

-In weather I am Rain...

So.....this is what i did the past hour;-)

Wild water rafting


This summer in Bingham, Maine (although it was my second time...It was an incredible experience...) So again next year?? Hopefully!!!

Hillsong Concert


Yesterday I was at a Hillsong concert. I had heard about the Hillsong church but never really listened to the music until yesterday. The concert was so amazing, one of the things that I really liked was that it wasn't about Hillsong, it was all about God! You can see a shift in christian artists nowadays, there are only a few artists who put God in the center of it all. This was my second major concert where I experienced this. My first time was this summer @ Soulfest.

It makes me curious how those artists and their bandmembers handle the pressure of making an music album that sells but also an album to proclaim God's glory, can those two go together? Should we sell christian merchandise, and how far should we go with this? I like buying a good christian book or a good christian cd. And of course you can find a christian artist good looking, but you need to draw the line for yourself, you are not adoring him but it has to be about God. We are all made with an empty hole in our heart, a hunger for something, a hunger to worship. Louie Giglio said something about this in his book 'the air I breathe'. Every human being has a desire to worship, some worship famous artists or sports people, other worship money. We are all on the search for something more powerful than us. An example of this is that everybody wants to know why we are on this earth, and how we are created. People come up with evolution theories but they just don't understand that there's a God Who's so much more powerful than us! Even as a christian you can't understand it, we can only proclaim it!!

The concert made me think about my life. Sometimes I'm so caught up in my own issues. I don't feel like a perfect christian, and I am definitely not a perfect christian although I'm trying to follow God in everything I do. But sometimes I feel so lonely..esp. in my path to follow Jesus. Also I feel lonely in a way that I sometimes just need somebody. Around me I see all those people getting married or having this long term relationships, and until now I've failed in relationships...of course I'm still young and I have plenty of time, and I definitely don't want to get married yet, but if I look around me, it sometimes makes me lonely and sometimes I just see myself as one big failure..nothing is going the way I want it to go. But you see, the beauty of this all is that God doesn't see me as one big failure. Hard to imagine but He loves us unconditionally. And although I don't see it always that clear, He is around us and He guides us through our everything. I believe that everything has its purpose and God helps us to get through it! Beautiful to think about that!

Hillsong concert

I'm away this weekend to a Hillsong concert! Well actually it's worshipleader Darlene Zschech from Hillsong who's going to perform here in Holland, but I just can't wait to go.

Hannah


After 13 years....

(the short version)
Hannah and I have a special story together! Our moms met eachother in the hospital while they were still pregnant of us! They both had to be in the hospital because in both pregnancies the baby was in danger. My mom had a bloodproblem and Hannah's mom had to stay in the hospital during her whole pregnancy. My mom became friends with Hannah's mom, quite unusual because Hannah's mom couldn't speak a word of Dutch and my mom couldn't speak a word of English. Unfortunately, through the years my mom lost contact with Hannah's mom, but the stories about Hannah and her mom were always a big part of the years that I was still a kid. It made me curious and I wanted to get in touch with Hannah again, I tried to find her on the internet. I didn't expect to find her, but I did. I found her through the Namedatebase, somewhere in the end of last year.
We started to e-mail eachother and last week she was in Holland to see her dad and I got the chance to meet her and her boyfriend!
The funny part is that we are so much alike in personalities. Also, Hannah became a christian a couple of years ago and I'm a christian too! We both have the same opinion about christian subjects, which is amazing! I also believe (actually we both do) that God is the reason of all of this, we might not would have met eachother of would have been in touch again...It's so amazing! Hannah is back in England again, and I can't wait to fly over to see her and her boyfriend again. Hopefully in december.....

New addition to the Van der Plas family :-)

Early saturdaymorning 23rd of september a new baby was born into our family:-) My brother's wife gave birth to their 4th child and only daughter, her name is: Maartje.
I don't have any pictures yet, but I've seen the baby, she's adorable, and her three older brothers are very proud that they have a baby sis.
It's the 14th grandchild of my parents, and I'm 14 times aunt! Thanks to God for this little miracle!

New addition to the Hanson family:-)


When I first heard the news I could hardly imagine that Taylor Hanson (at age 23) is a father again for the third time! River Samuel Hanson born on september 4, 2006.
When I was a teenybopper teenager I was a huge fan of Hanson, they were a huge part of my teenage years, I hade penpals from all over the world and I collected everything from Hanson. My wish was to go to their hometown Tulsa (I even had a map) and I knew every tiny bit of them (I was so strange!!). I said in an earlier post that I was born crazy but I definitely was crazy! I even met them twice! Yeah (I know hard to believe)
Well the craziness has disappeared but once in a while I still listen to their music, and I appreciate the fact that they make their own music and that they're independent artists! So congratulations to the Hanson Family for the birth of River!

Shalom!


I found this picture after 17 years! It's hilarious, It proofs that I was born as a crazy kiddo!!

Tonko, Els, Marijke, Jacoline and Alda


>>>>>>>>Getting some ice tea in downtown Utrecht :-D

Pictures of Chris @ Soulfest

I made some pictures with my videocamera at Soulfest, and I finally found out how I could get them of my videocamera..LOL..So here they are...Enjoy!











What's new?

So....I have been spamming my blogpot,but it's all for a good purpose:-)

What's new in my life? Well at the moment my parents are reinventing their marriage again, I guess ;-) They are on a vacation to Prague, their third vacation this year! I'm happy for them, they finally have the time to see a little bit of the world.
My grandmother keeps on asking if I already found myself a new boyfriend...(Nope and not going to happen for a while..lol) My brother in law said to me last week: 'your different, different than your sisters, you are the kind of girl that is going to have a career and travel a lot...." So, yeah.....probably not, but hey it was fun hearing that from his mouth...and probably he says that because I'm still single..haha
The thing is that I'm happy with being single, and being single is just so much easier...esp. right now..I have to graduate from college!
And today, well I went to see some dolphins in the 'dolphinarium in Hardewijk' (a kind of zoo for sea creatures) together with my sister and her three kids. It was warm and crowded (I didn't like that at all!!) But seeing the dolphins doing their tricks made it all a bit easier. Those dolphins are so smart and so beautiful, wow! After we came back from Hardewijk we ordered a lot of McDonald's food and ate it at home (the guy at McDonalds looked at me and he was like: are you hungry?! Ehm...kind of...I just need a lot of food for my family...LOL)
So, yeah I had fun:-) Have a good week!!!

Music

I just love it! So check out my fave bands at the moment:

http://www.myspace.com/starfield
http://www.myspace.com/leelandmusic
http://www.myspace.com/48158382

Passion

Unfortunately I can't go, but if you can: just go!



Isaiah 26:8-Yes, walking in the way of your judgments, Lord, have we waited for you. Your name and your renown are the desire of our soul.

SoulSurvivor Meeting

Last weekend I had a meeting with a few of my SoSu friends :-) Pictures credits go to Tonko!


Tonko &Marijke


Alda, Me, Els


The girls getting money ;-)


Alda & me





Els and me :-D

Pictures Camp Knickerbocker



All credits go to Alex K.

Christian Media

I haven't posted on this blog for a while, I arrived safely home on august 19th! So I'm back in Holland again, it's weird to be home again! I definitely want to go back to the US soon:-) Yesterday I got an e-mail from Martijn Moens (from SoulSurvivor Holland) with an invitation for a brainstormteam for Christian Media. I'm definitely going to join this team while it is one of my biggest dreams to do something with my education and my religion. So hopefully something good will come out of this. I'll keep you updated! Love, Jacky

ps: I'm a little bit behind with reading and answering my e-mails, but I'll try to e-mail you all soon!

Soulfest 2006


Just a reminder that I'm still in the USA. Last weekend I went to Soulfest! Which was awesome! Here's a pic enjoy! Pictures are up on my other blog: http://jacinthestates.blogspot.com
I'm leaving for holland next week...sniff...

Happy 4th of july!

I'm in Boothbay, Maine, USA right now for 8 weeks and this is already my second week! I'm enjoying it very much up here in the north east! Tomorrow, 4th of july! Happy 4th of july everone! On 15th of july I'll gop to new york for two days and on the 5th of august I'll attend SoulFest, hope to see Chris Tomlin up there, I've got the tickets but it's 3 hours away so I'm not sure if I can get there, pray for me! Keep you updated! Much Love

Idiot

Still 4 days to go and I will be in the US! I'm excited but nervous. It will be my first time travelling alone and it won't be as scary as it seems to me but I guess it's just frealing me out a bit. I have this vision sitting next to an awful person in the airplane, and if that happens I will be stuck with that person for at least 7 hours! It makes me freak out even more...LOL. Not to mention that I'm an awful person myself when it comes to airplanes and subway systems...I see danger everywhere...Like last year in London a few weeks after the bombing in the underground...I didn't want to go in the subway but my friend forced me to go in...so there I was sitting in the carriage as scared as I could be..

On our way back from London to Amsterdam I was sitting next to an emergency exit in the airplane...so I told my friend: "If we ever need that exit I can't open it cause I'm scared"...and she said to me: "Well if we need it, you will open it, I'm sure". I'm such an idiot at times..

You lose a friend, you win one

Why are friends friends if they sometimes just suck!?! Maybe this is a little bit harsh but sometimes it makes me wonder why things aren't the way they should be regarding friends. I'm blessed that I have friends! And with most of them I became friends in primary school.
I have my own opinion but I just hate fights! I try to prevent fights all the time...Having a fight with a friend about something stupid reminds me of the years that I couldn't get along with my parents. And those years were awful!
So I can truly say that I don't argue with my friends and don't want to get in a fight with them. But there's always one particular group of friends that just can't help it but there's always something going on there! And sometimes I question myself if that is just normal and why I'm still friends with them...But I just cqn't give them up...My mom always says: "Sometimes you lose a friends and sometimes you win one"...maybe that's just the way of life! And I, I have to get used to that!

New Blog

For my dutch friends: check my new blog! I will be leaving the netherlands on June 24 and will be returning on August 19.

http://jacinthestates.blogspot.com

Dates and Hanson



This weekend I watched a movie called "My date with Drew" It's actually more a documentary than a movie....but I loved it! It's a true story about an ordinary guy who wants to go on a date with Drew Barrymore...It's hilarious and you should definitely see it!

Most of you know that I've been a Hanson fan for quite a while...well my favorite Hanson is married last week! Congrats to Zac and Kate!

Art

Photograph by: Susanne Kooijman

My dear friend Susanne wrote this poem, and I just had to share it with you! She's very talented so you have to check out this link aswell:
http://www.lfsrt.net/susanne/

Lost in the dark of the night
Noises from the streets
cars racing past.
A woman shouting at her crying baby
I want to shut her up
but my mind is too empty

I can hardly think
let alone speak
My legs carry me to god knows where
All I know is that I should keep walking
keep walking
untill my feet refuse to move
Doesn't matter where to I go
Just away from the heartlesness of this place,
where the people don't look at you,
just through you.

Amazing weekend!

I had an amazing weekend! On saturday I went together with my friend Mark to see a movie called Poseidon! One word: Spectaculair! One negative aspect....I had nightmares the whole following night! LOL
On sunday a friend of mine was being baptised:


It was great to see her again and to be in her church! See also invited a few friends from soul survivor and so it was one big reunion! It was great to see them all again! After church we drove to the showgrounds of Walibi World, a theme park. We went to Opwekking. Opwekking (Revival) is a christian annual event, that was going on that weekend. It was my first time there, it was great to be there and to see so many people singing along to worship songs, WOW! It was packed! Too crowded for me, so we decided pretty quick to go and find a place where we could sit and relax. I was talking to some friends that I know from SoulSurvivor: Edwin and Jakoliza, they are a couple. And at some point they asked me if I was still single...they obviously knew the answer, but still I replied that I was single. And they both said: well we don't think that is going to last long! So I bursted out into laughing...and replied that I really didn't care...that morning in church there was this guy who walked up to the front and he had a word (or in this case a bible verse) for all of us...and he said: For everything there is a time! There's a time to get to know my next boyfriend too...lol...and maybe I already know him maybe I don't...but I guess it's just not the right time right now...and to be very honest...I don't care...there are so many things that God has in mind for me, so many things that are going to happen this summer... so I'm thankful to God for my life right now!

So still less than 3 weeks to go before I actually leave for Boston! I'm very excited, that's all I can say right now...!!

USA trip 2006


I will be a campcounselor this summer but a few kids from my hometown will also visit Boothbay this summer, check the log that I've made for them.... http://katwijkboothbay.blogspot.com

Trust Him!

So.....here I am again...I'm right now in the progress of finding a job for 2 days a week...and getting everything solved out before I actually leave to the US! (Still 37 days to go!) I'm so excited to see all my friends again, and I'm looking forward to work for the YMCA!

Oh, and I have some news that I want to share, it's official: I'm going to SOULFEST!
Soulfest is a christian event in New Hampshire, USA, and while I'm in Maine during the entire summer I wanted to go and see what Soulfest is about! I can only go for one day...unfortunately, because I have to work during the week at camp knickerbocker. But I bought tickets for the saturday, so I'm going! Yay!

I have been reading Revelations past sunday...it still strikes me what will happen when finally the end of earth is there! It's above my imagination. It's just something you can't imagine even while you just want to imagine it. I think we have to trust Jesus in this...we certainly have to trust Him every second of our lives but do we trust Him all the time? It's not always easy to trust Him, but I try to do it all the time...and in this case, the case of the end of the earth....I totally trust Him! -Trust Him too!

New pictures of me

This one is not so new, taken last year, but this one (with the american flag) is taken today!

Revolutionary LOVE

Past week I've been to Soul Survivor... For the ones that don't know what Soul Survivor is; It's a christian event for (and to equip) young christian people...
The past week was amazing! I've learned so much about understanding God and about living your dream...
This year I decided to work for soul survivor, so I became a part of the videoteam. I had the honor to interview pastor Mike Pilavachi and worshipleader David Ruis.
There was a special service on fridaynight for volunteers, and after the main speech there was some time for the soulteam to pray for the volunteers. I have this strong desire to work for Passion or a church after college and because this is my last year I really have to figure out what I want to do next year. And because I have this desire of working for Passion or a church (and I don't know if this is also what God wants me to do) I went up to this girl who started praying for me....
On monday I had to interview David Ruis. But it was really hard to track him down, he is such a busy guy! LOL! On my way over to David I ran into Wesley Campbell (the author of 'Praying the Bible') he was talking with David (they are friends) I didn't know for sure if he was the author of 'Praying the Bible' so I asked him, to make sure he was. He said yes and so I said to him that I loved the book. He asked my name and I started to explain who I was, what I did, and that I had an interview with David. I also told him about my last year of college and my desire to volunteer at a church...he immediately said: you have to come and work for me! We need you! Wow I was surprised! But what about Passion?? Lol...I keep you updated! Much Love, Jacoline

3 Months to go...


Only less than 3 months left and then I will hit the US againJ Well again…it will be my second time in the US but still…I’m very excited, can’t wait to get in that airplane and land in Boston. I’m looking forward to work at Camp Knickerbocker…I have to work there for 7 weeks, but it will be a great experience. I’m also almost finished with college…will be (hopefully) graduated in august/september…and then I will find myself a descent job in media land....LOL

A picture...

This picture is taken last summer at a Beach party, with Daniel Bedingfield performing...I found it on the web and I even didn't know of the existence...lol..So here it is...

Soul Survivor Meeting

Yup I had a soul surviror meeting;-) Not with the soul survivor staff but with people of the Soul Survivor forum (the dutch version) We met at utrecht Central station and ate something at macDonalds..then we headed to a Irish Pub, I only stayed there for a few minutes because I had to leave to get my train...I had a great time.

Dirk and Lisanne

The two youngest members of my family:-) Dirk is my brothers son...and Lisanne my sisters daughter..