my life

Ready, go!

2010-05-09T21:53:00.002+02:00

Recently I've made the decision to open up a new website. In a few weeks I will start with building httP://www.jacoline.net I'm also planning to host my blog there.

An update about me:

Things are going really well. I now work at as web editor for EO (an evangelical national broadcast company in The Netherlands) I love it there! It's a freelance position but for now I've got plenty of work. I'm busy with work, but I love it. Life is pretty simple at the moment. But I'm loving every minute of it.

This week I will be going to London. In London I will be volunteering for Passion London (May 14th &15th). Passion is a christian student ministry. This is my 4th Passion conference and my first time as a volunteer. I'm excited! I'm praying that God will move almighty in everyone's heart during the conference (and beyond!)

The next update will be when I finished my new blog!

All ready for summer

2009-05-31T21:34:00.004+02:00

This is going to be a little bit of a random post while I'm long overdue with posting! I should make it my daily routine, but I can't seem to find that routine.
I will give it a go at some point.
It has been really nice weather this past week. Warm & sunny. Technical it isn't really summer weather yet but 21 celcius is enough for us all to go to the beach. That's warm weather in this country. I can go to the beach whenever I want to go while I live 5 minutes from it. Only I didn't have a nice bathing suit. The ones I have are either too much skin or not a lot of skin. So I needed to find something in between. I hate to go shopping for bathing suits while I'm a little bit blessed up front and most bathingsuits are made for girls with almost nothing up front. I really don't want my "things" to hang out or be seen on the beach. So, after shopping for an entire week I found my bathing suit! YAY! It's a tankini. It's by my fave brand Esprit and I love it!

Not me! Monday

2009-05-18T23:33:00.003+02:00

Not me! Monday is back again!!

Not me! Monday is originally from Mycharmingkids.net MckMama, the founder of this website, posts every Monday her 'Not me! Monday' blog post.

While driving during my driving lessons my driving instructor pointed out to me that there was this weird fly on my sweater. I grabbed the fly and I certainly did not threw it into the window of the car, while thinking that my car window was open. Definitely, did not happen to me.

I'm aunt 16 times (number 17 is coming in october) and when I was babysitting last week I really wanted to see my favorite tv-show. It was not me who put the kids to bed way early so I could see that tv-show. I'm not an aunt like that!

American friends & Amsterdam

2009-05-18T17:41:00.010+02:00

Last week I posted a blog about that fact that I can drive. That same day I had yet (again) driving lessons. This time around everything went PERFECT. My driving instructor was blown away. See....I CAN drive!!! Anyways...enough about my obsession with driving! It's probably driving you'll nuts!

Past week has been a crazy week. I worked all week and then on Friday I had to clean the house and do grocery shopping for the weekend, while my friends Sarah & John came over for a short weekendbreak.
Sarah & John are originally from Texas but they have been living in Germany for the last 1,5 years. John is with the US army and is stationed there.
It was really fun to get to know them a little bit better. They also brought their cute labrador puppy Bèni! Makes me want to have a dog too again!

While English is my second language and I normally don't speak it a lot it was good to actually have a chance to catch up on my English! Not to mention that I love having people over. We took Sarah & John to Amsterdam. Both of them wanted to visit the Anne Frank house. I've been in that museum a couple of times already, it's a nice place but after 30 minutes you've really seen it. Although the museum is really cool and it's cool to see that actual diary, rooms and wallpaper. I think it's good way to picture and think of World War II and also about how Anne Frank lived. However the museum about World War II and the jews that made a huge impact on my life was not really a museum but a Concentration Camp called Terezinstadt near Prague (Czech). If you are ever near Prague, you should visit it! It's impressive! It makes you think how bad the war was!

Anyway to go back to the story we decided to let them go in the Anne Frank house and we went off to find a restroom. When they were done we decided to have lunch and the something real Dutch is: pancakes! So we went to a place that served pancakes. Not hard to find in Amsterdam! The diner we ate in was named 'Sara's' and so we thought it was really suitable. Sarah should eat in Sara's, right? It was a really small diner but the pankcakes were really nice! After lunch we took them to see more of Amsterdam including a tour through the redlight district. Although it's a bit of a nasty place to go, it is a big part of Amsterdam plus the buildings in the redlight district are very old. Mainly because it was situated near the harbor and in the 16th century loads of V.O.C ships came in and you could find most fishermen in the bars ( in that district). The city itself was established near 1000 a.c.

Anyways we walked around and showed them bits of Amsterdam. The city is quite big but not as big as London or New York. I wish I could have showed them more but we only had one day. On Sunday Jeroen and I took Sarah and John to the beach here in my hometown Katwijk. After lunch they left again to go back to Germany. It was a short trip for them but hopefully they had fun. We surely did. We hope to visit them in Germany sometime this year or otherwise definitely next year.

I CAN drive!

2009-05-14T14:21:00.004+02:00

Driving a car isn’t that hard, right? That’s what I thought until I started taking driving lessons. I think I’ve taken around 40 lessons so far and my instructor still says I’m a terrible driver. Yesterday he was so mad that he kept yelling. I know that this is part of the deal. I mean, most instructors yell. But to be honest I don’t think I’m a bad driver. Okay- I still need to work on some things and need to improve my driving skills a little bit more. But you know what?! I CAN drive without hitting people or other cars. That’s quite something, don’t you think? Not to mention that I surely think I can drive long distances too.

Anyway my driving instructor disagrees and has forced me to take a few extra lessons. Also he wants me to sit in the back of his car next week while he instructs another student. Just to get the “ hang” of it. Right! Let me tell you, I’ll be glad when I pass my test: no more lessons and no more crazy instructors!

Not me! Monday is BACK

2009-05-04T11:01:00.005+02:00

Not me! Monday is back again!!

Not me! Monday is originally from Mycharmingkids.net MckMama, the founder of this website, posts every Monday her 'Not me! Monday' blog post. I love it and thought I should participate in it. In the last 5 weeks or so she didn't post a 'Not me! Monday' while her baby boy was taken into the hospital with severe supraventricular tachycardia. He had surgery and is now back home. He's still not cured but for now he's able to be home. If you want to read more about this go to MckMama's site, be sure to check it out. You don't want to miss the writings of this lady!

My best friend got married 1,5 week ago. I promised to make some sort of newspaper about the bride and groom for all the wedding guests. It was surely not me who started to make this newspaper two days prior to the wedding and then tried to print it the evening before the wedding. It surely didn't happen to me that we ran out of ink, so we had to run to the shops on the wedding day to get it printed. That didn't happen to me! :-)

I had a doctor’s appointment yesterday to get rid of this infection on my leg. It was big, red and nasty. So I went in and the doctor said it was infected sebum. He had to make a cut to get it out....I surely didn't cry and said over and over again that it was soooo painful. I'm not a baby like that.

I also did not go shopping after the minor surgery on my leg. Nope, definitely not me. I couldn't walk but I thought it was a waste not to go shopping while I still had my student card with free public transportation on it. Yesterday was the last day I could use it, while I'm not a student anymore. It definitely wasn't me who traveled all the way to Rotterdam and has now an infected leg. Nope not me.

My best friend got married!

2009-04-26T11:24:00.003+02:00

Enjoy some pics of the wedding :-) It was a blast! Really weird to think about it that she's married now... I still need to adjust to that, haha.

Worship stars?

2009-04-22T12:58:00.005+02:00

This morning my boyfriend e-mailed me this video. It's about the worshipmusic industry. Somebody just wrote a song about it, just to heat up the discussion onworshipmusic.

I love worshipmusic and I know a few people who are actually in worshipbands so the way I look at this video is as one big laugh. Of course I do understand why the guy made this video. It seems that worshipmusic is what's hot in christianmusic at the moment. There are christianartists who switch to worshipmusic just because it sells at the moment. Mainly because they can't continue to live without any dime.

I'm sure all the big names are earning quite some money through the music they make. But I also know that those big names are making a difference in the world by either donating their money or telling people about God. Still itr's good to keep questioning yourself about the music you buy and like.

So here's the video, don't get offended, it's good to see that somebody actually dares to write a song about this!

Vtech, 2 years later...

2009-04-16T20:17:00.004+02:00

It's two years ago, today, that 32 people were killed on Vtech University. Please remember those people today and pray for the ones that lost their friend/familymember or loved one that day.

New application

2009-04-15T10:34:00.007+02:00

Blogger has a new application! I now can post messages by sending an e-mail or a text message to my blogger account. It's pretty interesting and also very easy. Now I can blog wherever I want to blog! Yes!

On another note...I failed on my driving test. I hate it but I already expected it. My next test will be somewhere in the end of May, so there's enough time to practice!
Other than that, things are going well. I'm still looking for a job but there are a few possibilities coming up. I'm also going to be an aunt again (number 17 is on its way) :-). And in a few weeks Jeroen and I are together for 1 year! Time flies by when you are having a blast!

Driver license

2009-03-11T09:34:00.007+01:00

The day has just started and the sun is out and shining bright! I love the fact that it’s almost spring. That means that summer is on its way too and that I can hit the beach in a couple of months! That’s the nicest part of having a beach right near your house, when you have time you can always go and you don’t have to travel far. At the moment I’m still looking for a job. It’s frustrating because I know what I want and know where I can get that job but for some reason they never invite me for a job interview.

My first driving lesson starts in one week. I’m planning on getting my driver license in 2 weeks. It’s a very ambitious plan, especially because you need to have at least 30 or 35 lessons to be a reasonable driver but I’ve booked all my lessons in two weeks time so we’ll see how it goes. I’m 24 and I really need a driver license! Not to mention that the age in The Netherlands for driving is 18 and that I could have got my license way earlier but the costs have kept me back. Right now I’ve paid 1971 euro’s for lessons and the final test. It's almost 2000 euro’s! Which is 2532,60 dollars! I have to pass otherwise it will cost an additional 500 euro's. It’s crazy. I could have gone off to the US to get it there but then they won’t let m drive in The Netherlands, so there was no choice.

This week I’m heading to Belgium. One of my friends does an internship in Genk and so I’ll be visiting her on Thursday and Friday. Belgium is a whole other country than The Netherlands, but they speak Dutch too and so I don’t really see it as going to another country plus it costs me 3 euro’s to get there. I do look forward to be somewhere else for a day.
Other than that I’m working fulltime for my dad at the moment. He has his own company and advises other companies in technical installations. I’m doing the administrative side of it. He’s off to Frankfurt on Thursday so I’m glad I will have the rest of the week ‘off’.

Recipe

2009-03-05T13:41:00.006+01:00

I love to try all kinds of salads on my bread, for instance egg salad, or salmon salad.

Normally overhere you put it on little pieces of toast/bread at birthday parties but I just like to eat it at lunch and put it on my bread.

So today there's a recipe for Ham & Leek salad

Get 2 leek and get some ham, chop them both in small pieces and add whiskey cocktail sauce to it.....voila, DELICIOUS on a white bun!

Note: The cocktail sauce may be a Dutch thing....we usually poor it on schrimps but I think you can get it in other countries too.

Decorating

2009-03-04T19:24:00.009+01:00

I officially moved back to my parents place. Everything is moved but not everything is unpacked. In the craziness I re-did my room too! There's new wallpaper and well basically new stuff. I can't show you everything because my room is still a mess but here are some pictures:

This is the new wallpaper:

And this is one of the two old chairs I refurbished with a new 'coat' it's actually sheepskin and from IKEA! I LOVE IT!

Nostalgia

2009-03-04T18:36:00.006+01:00

This week I've been thinking about the bands I liked (and still like!) when I grew up. I was a big Hanson & Kelly Family fan. To this day I still love their music and try to go to their concerts whenever they are around.

I remember that I had a huge crush on the drummer of Hanson (Zac) and a huge crush on the singer of The Kelly Family (Paddy) I was obsessed with them, seriously! ;-)
You can imagine that the hormons of teenager set off easily, mine actually did!

Today I was surfing through the web and came across a video of Paddy Kelly. Paddy is still a Kelly but he's not in the bpart of the Kelly Family (as in band) anymore. Actually he joined a monestary. I barely could imagine that a 'hot' guy like Paddy joined a monastary! But yes he did.

To be honest I really admire him for that. He has had the rock 'n roll life, probably had many women around him fighting for his attention and well lived that lifestyl but still it wasn't that fulfilling so he quit the lifestyle and went to a monastary to learn more about his catholic faith and in the end joined the monastary. He's now called brother John Paul Mary.

I'm not a teenager anymore neither am I still obsessed & crazy in love with Paddy or Zac or someone else (other than maybe my boyfriend ;-)) But looking back and seeing how the lives of Paddy Kelly and Zac Hanson have evolved into something meaningful makes me admire them even more. Being a christian myself I find it hard to fully give everything up for God and Paddy did this! He gave his fame (and probably fortune) up to live a simpler life and a life of celibacy. Wow. I only wish more famous and not so famous people could do this.

Paddy (now)

Paddy (then)

Life in the FLDS

2009-01-26T16:38:00.007+01:00

I just finished reading a book called 'Stolen Innocence' by Elissa Wall. Elissa is a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). She was fourteen when she had to marry her cousin. She escaped the FLDS at the age of 18. Now, 23 years old she's married to another former FLDS member and has two kids. The book tells the story of Elissa in the FLDS from her birth to her big escape. It's a mind blowing book and I really couldn't stop reading. What I found interesting is that while she was living in a small town in Utah, she was so indoctrinated with the FLDS lifestyle that she didn't know what the 'real world' was. Elissa was one of the key witnesses in the trial of the State of Utah versus Warren Jeffs. Jeffs was the prophet of the FLDS and is now behind bars. If you haven't read the book yet, go and get it! You seriously don't want to miss it!!!

Awakening: the book

2009-01-25T19:58:00.009+01:00

Passion is one of the student ministries I love and support. Last year this ministry went on a world tour to 17 cities around the globe.
The Passion World Tour has come to an end but the memories will always be there! I was lucky enough to be at two of the tour stops: Paris & London.
This spring Passion will publish a book with pictures and stories about this world tour. The pictures are taken by Jeremy Cowart, an incredible photographer and the words are written by Passion founder Louie Giglio.

I'm very excited about this book. Can't wait to lay my hands on it. You can see a glimpse of the pictures that are going to be in there at awakeningthebook.com BUT I'm also posting a few of the pics that Jeremy took of my friends and I here in this post. Click on the link above and experience it!

I'm getting old!

2009-01-25T19:21:00.005+01:00

January is the month of my birthday. I was born on the 15th, two months too early. I guess I couldn't wait to come out. So this year I'm again a year older. It doesn't really matter to me but of course you get the usual birthday pranks. One of my best friends texted me the morning of my birthday saying that next year I will be 25, which if you round up, will be 30! Thank you Marianne. I think she forgot that she is turning 25 in november this year. Then there's my nephews and nieces who believe that I'm way too old for my boyfriend and that a man should be the one that's older in a relationship... Right! And they are only 10 years old.

I had a really nice birthday this year. Last year Fiona was in Holland and we had dinner at a really nice Malaysian restaurant. She's originally from Malaysia. Anyway I think the spicy food ( I mean REAALLLLY spicy) didn't do me good because my stomache felt horrible the whole evening. It was quite hilarious actually. This year I spend my birthday at a worship conference. Tim Hughes and Al Gordon were in Holland with Worship Central and so Jeroen (boyfriend) and I went the entire day. It was amazing and what a perfect way to spend my birthday!

The next day I had a big party for my friends and family and of course I got spoiled! I have an amazing group of friends, seriously and I can't thank God enough for that.

Graduation is coming up soon (I hope) There's still some things I need to do but I hope to have it all finished by february 1. I have been looking for a job in journalism/pr/communications for nearly two months now and I can't seem to find anything. They either don't take me or they take me and just don't pay me enough, it's horrible at the moment. It's frustrating but I have my hopes up and hope to find something in the next 3 weeks. Please continue to pray.

BACK!

2009-01-21T12:26:00.006+01:00

I haven't been updating my blog in a loooooong while, but I will today! Yay!!! So what happened in the past 1,5 month?? Well loads of things. Sinterklaas on the 5th of december is always fun! For the ones who don't know what Sinterklaas is, I will explain shortly. Sinterklaas is translated into English as Santa Claus. So on the 5th of december all the Dutch kids get presents. They get either presents the regular way, or hidden in a surprise box with poem (so they have to dig up their presents) The adults get presents too! So why the 5th of december? Well the real Santa Claus (Saint Nicolas) died on the 6th of december, so I guess they started to celebrate his generosity on the 5th of december!?!! And when the Dutch founded New York (then New Amsterdam) they brought their customs with them, but seriously I'm not sure why the Americans celebrate Santa Claus at christmas....haha.

People ask me quite a lot if we also give each other presents at christmas. When I answer with a 'no', they immediately ask what we do at christmas. Well to be honest, we have two christmas days (december 25th and 26th) and we celebrate the birth of Christ with going to church both days and have a really nice meal with family (both days). It's not as boring as it sounds, trust me. It's nice to have a long and very nice dinner with your relatives. At least, for me! haha

New Year was great too, we celebrate it here with LOADS LOADS of fireworks and hang out with our friends or family. I spend it this year in Ermelo, where my boyfriend lives. It was great and we had a nice time.

Wishing you all the best for 2009!!!

Heartache gone?

2008-12-15T12:51:00.005+01:00

Past november we burried my brother-in-law. He was only 48 years old.
When I first heard of his death I was relieved. Would this mean that my sister could finally go on with her life? But then after a while pain and tears started to come. I've known my brother-in-law for 19 years. I was 4 when he entered our home. He was a giving person, never knew love and thought he could earn it by giving. Then 6 years ago he started to feel depressed again and his depression took its toll. Two years ago he started to use drugs. He was already addicted to alcohol.
He became a very different person. Abused my sister and their 5 kids and wanted money money money. He almost killed my sister and put a knife in front of her. He went to jail for 3 months and when he came out of jail he started to stalk her and their kids. He didn't want to go to rehab. It was crazy to see him in that state, I couldn't believe what a different person he was. There was no life with him so my sister decided after a long time that divorce was the only option she had left.
They were in the middle of divorcing when he passed away of an heart attack. My 5 nieces and nephews don't have a dad anymore. They have seen him in his sick days and how bad this sounds they were relieved when he died. Isn't that horrible? My sister is still dealing with a lot of heart ache. She doesn't have enough money to get her bills paid and is now on welfare. His side of the family doesn't want to deal with her and her 5 kids after all she has been through. They keep shoving her bills of the funeral she should pay. It makes me mad.

This all has made her stronger but I just wish and pray that things will get better for her and her kids. Please pray for her too.

Not me! Monday

2008-11-02T23:28:00.008+01:00

It's time for Not me! Monday again!!

I didn't check MckMama's page (the founder of Not me! Mondays and mycharmingkids.net) every single minute on wednesday to see if her new baby was born.

It wasn't me who ate two chocolat bars in one day... nope definitely no stress for school.

I definitely not went before someone to grab a computer at school! She wasn't first
;-)

Not me! Mondays is originally from Mycharmingkids.net. For more Not me! Mondays check out My Charming kids blog

Who's going to be the next president?

2008-11-02T23:12:00.007+01:00

On facebook there's quite a war going on “who's going to be the next president?”Some are definitely voting for McCain, some are pro Obama. It's even so bad that people are getting offended if you chose the wrong candidate. Today somebody was offended when I said that Obama is a Christian. She was very rude and said that he was definitely not a Christian.... "he only sits in church, that's all." She became really angry with me. “Nope, he's definitely not a Christian because well he's pro abortion and he's a socialist." How in this world can we judge about someones beliefs? We are not God. Even though you might not agree with this candidate and he doesn't reflect your opinion, it doesn't mean he's not a Christian if he says he is! We're not aloud to judge. Please judge yourself first.

Definition of socialism "Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society" I don't see any reference to collective ownership although that may help the our poor neighbours that Jesus says we have to love as we love ourselves .Now that's radical socialism!

When I told this person what my choice will be if I had to choose between the two, this person turned to me and madly said “You don't even live in the US” With other words “You're not aloud to have an opinion”. It makes me mad. I've lived in the US, I've worked there. Even though I don't live in the US right now, the next American president will have a global impact. You know, almost every country follows the USA. Clothing, TV programs, food... The US is the trendsetter. Dutch, Australian and Britis troopsh are in Iraq because of the WMD. They never found any.

I live in a liberal country. We have abortion, we have gay marriage, we have legal drugs and we have legal prostitution. I can't say I'm proud of it. Definitely not. Everywhere I go in the world people remind me of it. If I say that I'm from The Netherlands they go “Drugs!!! Red light district!” These rules don't seem to care to a lot of people here, not as much as the outside world does.

I can only say and agree that people overhere are aloud to make choices. Which can be good and bad. There's nobody that goes off to another country to get their unborn aborted. I'm definitely against abortion don't get me wrong, overhere I do vote for a poltical party that's against it. But because we have this law, the abortion of unborn babies has dropped. Which is good. I think if we all invest in information on abortion and why you shouldn't abort instead of making it illegal it will have a much wider and bigger impact. And this is just one thing....I just want to make clear that we all should think outside the box, not just in the box.

Then there's FOX news. As a journalist I get the shivers of that news channel. I've watched it several times and you can just see and notice that FOX isn't objective. News should be objective, they should portray both sides of the story, in this case both president candidates. So I get really mad when people just believe FOX news. I mean can't you see that they are indoctrinating you with their beliefs. I feel I'm getting way to caught up in this president race... which is bad. I'm glad when this whole campaign is over.

Today a friend of mine posted a video of John Piper on her facebook profile. I think what Piper says is so true. Please watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFvlfc2VkN0

My friend also said (and I agree with her): "They need to look at all the issues, pray and ask God how He wants them to vote. Not listen to or read what other Christians tell them to do . God is Sovreign and He will have His man in for His purposes !!!What happens tomorrow in the US will affect the world.But praise God ,He is in control"

What my choice will be if I was able to vote....it would be number 3 ;-)

He’s not finished with me yet

2008-10-29T23:03:00.006+01:00

I recently heard this song and it reminded me of me. Every part of the song is just me. Except the first part. I wasn't born in Tennessee and definitely not in July. I was just born in The Netherlands in mid january. But yes the doctors did say I was lucky to be alive.
I was trouble since the day I was born and I'm still trouble....and school..
Well everybody knows I have trouble with school!! haha, oh and what I did in highschool...yeah I broke the rules and I definitely talked too much. Singing is not one of my dreams. God didn't gave me a voice to be a singer. I love to sing a long with my ipod, definitely. But I can truly say I can't sing. I don't play any instrument (except the Gibson toy). My dream is God's dream for me. I know I do/did the right education. I'm sure God will take me somewhere. I'm ready and I'm sure! There's still hope for me ;-)

Brandon Heath- Wait and see
I was born in Tennessee, late July humidity doctors said I was lucky to be alive
I’ve Been troubled since the day that I got here, trouble to the day I disappear
That’ll be the day that I finally get it right

There is hope, for me yeah, because God won’t forget, all the plans he’s made for me
I have to wait and see, he’s not finished with me yet, he’s not finished with me yet

I never really was that good in school. Talked too much, broke the rules
My teachers thought I was a hopeless fool all right.
I don’t know how but I made it through, it’s one of those things you gotta do
I always had a knack for telling the truth.

There is hope, for me yet, because God won’t forget, all the plans he’s made for me
I have to wait and see, he’s not finished with me yet, he’s not finished with me yet

Still wonerin’ why I’m here. Still wrestling with my fear
But oh….He’s up to something,
And the farther out I go, I’ve seen enough to know that I’m not here for nothin’
He’s up to somethin’

So here’s my time to be a man, follow my heart as far as I can
No tellin’ where I’m ending up tonight
I never slow down or so it seems, but singing my heart is one of my dreams
All I gotta do is hold on tight.

There is hope, for me yet, because God won’t forget, all the plans he’s made for me
I have to wait and see, he’s not finished with me yet, he’s not finished with me yet
He’s not finished with me yet, He’s not finished with me yet

Pumpkins!!!!

2008-10-29T11:08:00.006+01:00

The pumpkins I carved last year and this year!!

Not me! Monday

2008-10-27T18:13:00.004+01:00

It's time for Not me! Monday again!!

I didn't buy a toy guitar for my nephews birthday and decided that I liked it better, nope not me.

It wasn't me who walked out of a store with three Gibson toy guitars, because friends wanted to have them too. No not kids but adults! Definitely not me who bought those three guitars.

It wasn't me who dropped the bag with the three guitars while walking through the door of the store. What caused quite some commotion and attention. Definitely not me.

It wasn't me who went grocery shopping and decided to buy complicated ingredients for a complicated meal. Then decided at home that I didn't want to cook so I grabbed one of the meals my fridge holds and warmed that one up...Nope definitely not me.

Not me! Mondays is originally from Mycharmingkids.net. For more Not me! Mondays check out My Charming kids blog

Winter!

2008-10-26T19:43:00.005+01:00

November and December are busy months in my family. Everyone is celebrating their birthday and then there's of course Christmas and New Years! Before we know it, it's January and I'm already celebrating my birthday. I'm getting old.

Last year around this time I was in the USA. I love Halloween and I always wanted to go to one of the Halloween parties and I did last year. My costume was terrible... I was a witch but I looked like a Goth! I had fun anyways. Also I learned to carve a pumpkin. For a Dutch city girl, that's quite something!! So about three weeks ago my boyfriend and I bought a pumpkin and carved it together. He did the nasty party (emptying the pumpkin) and I did the best part (which was carving). This weekend we bought again some pumpkins at a farm near his hometown and I did it again with his sister!! He ran off just in time so we had to empty the pumpkins ourselves...But we had a lot of fun!! Will post some pictures when I get them.
Here are a two from last year!

Other than that everything goes really well. I'm looking forward to the upcoming holiday season. At least I have enough christian christmas worship albums to play! I've already started. My personal favorite is: Casting Crowns!

Skinny jeans on a wide tree

2008-10-23T12:33:00.007+02:00

I bought myself a pair of skinny jeans.... yes black ones!! I've always thought (I still think) that these pair of pants were made for girls who have a figure like a stick. I'm definitely not a stick...compare my figure with a big tree. A small wide tree.

Anyways....I dove in and got myself a pair. Actually it does look kind of weird on my body. It looks much better with a large sweater and my Ugg boots. So sorry for all the people who think 'big' women can't wear skinny jeans... I'm going to wear them anyways!

I'm in love with this journal....

2008-10-23T12:25:00.006+02:00

Seriously, I think that this is one of the most creative journals I've ever seen. I really want one myself. Joy Deeann Carson is a Nashville, TN based artist ans she makes incredible paintings and journals. Check out her site here.

Luckily the christmas holidays are coming up and my birthday!!!

My new toy

2008-10-22T13:26:00.004+02:00

It's my nephews birthday on thursday, he's turning 5. So yesterday I went into a toystore to see if I could find him a gift. I ran into the Gibson Power Tour Guitar. I was suprised...Gibson makes toys!!!??!!!
So because I can't make it to his birthday on thursday I gave him the present yesterday. He liked it but I guess my brother in law and I liked it better. We played the guitar for hours... Eventually I decided...( a bit hard to admit) to buy one myself.

Now I'm rocking away on my new Gibson toy guitar... yay BABY!

Here's a video I found on youtube, I'm certainly not the only adult who likes this thing:

Not me! Monday

2008-10-20T20:02:00.009+02:00

No it wasn't me who ran outside the house when I heard this big bang...it wasn't me who stared for a few minutes what was going on down the street and it wasn't me who looked to see how many neighbours were actually staring at a crashed car. Nope...not me.

Not my bag. It wasn't my bag who hit the person next to me on the train. Nope not my bag.

I haven't been watching tv for almost 3 hours now, nope definitely not me.

I didn't spill candle wax on my new table cloth. Nope. It wasn't me who ruined the last table cloth, so it was definitely not me who ruined the new one.

Not me! Mondays is originally from Mycharmingkids.net. For more Not me! Mondays check out My Charming kids blog

Are you the perfect christian?

2008-10-20T15:26:00.006+02:00

Today I was sitting in the train overthinking some stuff. I know this doesn't sound interesting but in some way or somehow this came to my mind. "If you think you're the perfect christian, then you're probably not."

How many of us can relate to this?? I once thought I was on the right path and that I was indeed a good christian. But knowing myself, knowing who I am, and knowing who I am in God I can truly say I'm NOT. What a relief that God loves me!

Shout unto God

2008-10-16T17:10:00.004+02:00

I first saw a video like this at a christian concert. I thought it was amazing. I personally believe that every christian concert should start like this ;-)

New video's on my Youtube channel

2008-10-15T21:13:00.004+02:00

Today I've uploaded a few video's to my Youtube Channel. Two Leeland video's and two Chris Tomlin video's. Check em out here

Check out this new Tomlin promo video:

Antwerp

2008-10-13T18:35:00.010+02:00

This past weekend I was in Belgium with three of my friends. We visited Antwerp and had so much fun! Here are a few pictures.

The Irish Matchmaker

2008-10-13T13:59:00.010+02:00

As a journalism-student I'm always interested in new TV-programs. Recently I discovered a new addition to the 'reality dating on TV kind of shows', it's called The Irish Matchmaker.

For all you Irish people out there...I'll explain.

Three Dutch single women in their mid-thirties go to Ireland to find the love of their life. With the help of an Irish matchmaker they go on dates. The three women travel all over Ireland and find their dates on different places in Ireland. In the end they have to choose a second date with one of the Irish men.

Normally I zap away when this kind of TV program is on. But this time around I'm hooked. Not only because I have friends living in Ireland but also it's interesting to see how a Dutch gal and an Irish bloke go together. Culture is interesting!

You can watch episodes here.

Remembering: Loren & Thomas

2008-10-08T11:47:00.006+02:00

Two people I've met in the past years have passed away suddenly in the last three weeks. Both times I was very shocked to hear the news.

A friend from Maine passed away three weeks ago. Loren st. Cyr was only 20 when he passed away. I remember him as a quiet kid. He was best friends with Max and the two of them were always up to no good. Thinking of him gives me a big smile. Although I haven't seen him recenlty I find it hard to believe he's gone.

Then this week I got the news that Thomas Skaar passed away on monday. Thomas was the sound-engineer for Compass in Norway and I met him this summer. He was a funny guy and did a great job for Compass.

Both deaths are very tragic. Both guys were really young. It makes me think about life and why this happends. Why God let this happen.

Please pray for the family and friends of Loren st. Cyr and Thomas Skaar.

Matthew 11:25-30
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Winner

2008-10-02T11:36:00.002+02:00

The winner of the Tomlin cd is confirmed and has gotten the cd in the mail.

Thanks for all the participants!

Hello Love!

2008-09-15T11:45:00.007+02:00

Walking into a christian bookstore you can't miss Chris Tomlin's latest cd 'Hello Love'. The big letters of the word 'Love' draw your attention. Following his 2006 RIAA Gold-certified record, See the Morning, Tomlin's latest project communicates what he describes as the "need to introduce ourselves to love again." Produced by Ed Cash (Steven Curtis Chapman, Starfield, Bethany Dillon), Hello Love gives the Church a voice to worship their Creator.

'Sing, Sing, Sing' is one of the songs that can be described as a happy sing-a-long song. You can't sit still and just have to sing and jump along. Although the song will be live on stage better that on a n album 'Sing, Sing, Sing' is a good start for this new album.
When Tomlin was playing at a concert in Belfast, Nothern-Ireland he came across Bluetree's song 'God of this city'. The chorus particularly was strong 'You'r the God of this city, You're the God of this nation' and so he decided to introduce it at Passion conferences. A christian youth movement he's involved in. Since, this song has been igniting university students around the world to live for the name and renown of Jesus.

The title track 'Love' is sung with the Watoto Children's Choir, This timeless song about love. could be played on secular radiostation's too. The choir adds a cultural flavor too it, which makes the song even more stronger. "Love is the answer. Love will find a way. When we love one another, it's a brighter day."

'I will rise' is a beautiful victorious anthem about how Jesus overcame the grave. This song is powerful and gives strenght to people who go through difficult times.

My ultimate favorite is 'Praise the Father, Praise the son'. This song, written by Chris Tomlin and Ed Cash, was added when recording of the album was almost finished. It's an old hymn that has been changed for todays worship. It's a song that can be sung in churches across the globe. The song is strong yet simple.

Many of us know that Tomlin is one of the best-selling christian recording artist and has several radio hits and Dove award to his credit. He has written some of the most passionate contemporary worship songs and has played a vital role in he contemporary worship movement. All of this isn't what matters to Tomlin: "I've always wanted to write songs to give voice to people to worship God, that's my heart. In the end of the day, what ever awards come my way, I want these songs to reach generations of people to worship Him and to just really open their hearts to sing His praises. Maybe long after I'm gone, maybe when these songs lasts, when people sing it and pass it down, that would be amazing"

That wish and hope is becoming true. Tomlin's songs are sung all over the world and have entered many church buildings. I believe that this album will definitely be picked up by fellow worshippers.

Win HELLO LOVE (Tomlin)

2008-09-13T14:20:00.006+02:00

Follow-up

I have one copy of Chris Tomlin's new cd 'Hello Love' to give-away. Everyone can enter this competition (no matter where you live) All you have to do is e-mail me and tell me why you want this cd. The most original e-mail will win! Draw, photoshop or just write down why you want it.

The contest has ended!

Currently reading...

2008-09-13T14:19:00.000+02:00

This guy is a genius....

2008-09-09T11:23:00.002+02:00

and his name is Jeremy Cowart.

I met this guy at Passion Paris and Passion London back in june. He was making photo's for Passion and he left an impression on me. I never heard of him or actually read about him until I googled him. Well he's the guy behind most of the photo's you probably know and I can proudly say...he photographed me! :-)

.....................notice Crowder??

Win the new Tomlin cd!!

2008-09-09T11:12:00.002+02:00

EMI CMG have been so kind to send me the new Tomlin cd to give away to one of my blogreaders.

Stay tuned this week for the cd review and I'll tell you how you can win this cd!!

Hello Love

2008-09-08T21:35:00.002+02:00

Chris Tomlin week!

2008-09-07T15:00:00.000+02:00

Yes, I made this week into Chris Tomlin week. You just can't get around the fact that Chris Tomlin released a new cd. So why not support it?! Look around on my blog and enjoy all the new promo banners and click on it!

Blackbird cover

2008-09-06T11:46:00.000+02:00

My friend Sarah from Austin, Texas moved to Germany this summer to live as a newlywed with her husband John. John serves in the US army as a soldier. Anyway John recorded a cover of the Beatles song Blackbird a few months ago and I thought I would share it with you. I love it and I personally think he did a great job.

New Phone

2008-09-05T11:56:00.000+02:00

Here's my new gadget. I wanted an iphone but there are so many problems with it here in my home country that I decided to take another phone. This is my new phone!!! It's a Samsung Touchwiz F480...but from what I've heard it's called a Samsung Tocco in the UK and a Samsung Player Style in France. WEIRD!

Anyways...this is my new phone for this upcoming year and I love it!! It has a touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera...NICE!

How can something as Passion get so big???

2008-09-04T15:37:00.003+02:00

At the moment I’m working on my dissertation about Christian youth movements in the USA. I hope to finish my journalism studies by the end of this year. I’m esp. looking into Passion conferences and their growth over the past few years. Marketing strategies etc.

So if any of you can tell me a bit about:
-the history of Christian youth movements in the USA
-the percentage of Christian young people in the US (is it growing?)
-do more young people attend Christian concerts/ conferences now than they used to?
-the history of worship leaders, is this a modern thing?
-how can something as Passion get so big in the US?

Please let me know! I’ve done my research but I would like to know MORE!
Please e-mail me here.

Flevo!

2008-09-04T15:26:00.007+02:00

The Flevo Festival rocked. This year: again part of the web team. I worked my butt off, so unfortunately I couldn’t really enjoy much music but I did get to see a few bands! My list of interviews was very satisfying this time around. On Thursday I had an interview with a band called Starfield. I must admit I like their music a lot so I was pretty stoked about this interview. Unfortunately it was cancelled due some delay. But I was able to go to the press conference. Then on Friday I had Tim Hughes and Fireflight. Tim Hughes was great. It was a short interview but I had the chance to ask him about his writing process and just about his life as worship leader. He’s a great guy. Then in the afternoon a band called Fireflight. Never heard of them but supposedly they have written the title song for a TV-show called Bionic Woman. I think you can compare them with the band Paramore. Pretty solid Christian rock music
Then on Saturday I got to interview four guys from Chicago: Flatfoot 56. A punk rock band. They were really nice and seriously even though people asked them the same questions over and over again they were not bored at all. Their concert was pretty awesome too. Not my kind of music but they know how to play! We had fun watching them.

So highlights of the festival: I think New World Son was definitely rocking the stage. I liked Tim Hughes, although it seemed like he played his set list and then noticed there was still time left so he started his set list again. I loved Starfield. Oh and definitely watching Flatfoot 56 made my whole week. I’m sad that I missed Philippa Hanna. There was less worship music this year, understandable because it is a Christian rock festival but it would have been cool to see Chris Tomlin again up on main stage.

Hairbrush experience by Beth Moore

2008-09-01T13:20:00.005+02:00

While I was surfing through the web I came across this blog post:

HAIRBRUSH EXPERIENCE OF BETH MOORE AT THE AIRPORT

For those of you who do not know Beth Moore, she is an outstanding Bible teacher, writer of Bible studies, and is a married mother of two daughters.

This is one of her experiences:

April 20, 2005, at the Airport in Knoxville, waiting to board theplane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because Iwant to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really working in you. You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least of which is your ego.

I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Humped over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier His knees protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coathanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of veins and bones. The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man. I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport... an impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere?

There I sat; trying to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin slice of humanity served up on a wheelchair only a few seats from me. All the while, my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a feeling for him. Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern, and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking old man. I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall. I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something socontrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen. And it may be embarrassing. I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. 'Oh, no, God, please, no.' I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it into heaven and said, 'Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking audience. Please, Lord!' There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His highness, 'Please don't make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane.' Then I heard it ...'I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his hair.'

The words were so clear, my heart leap into my throat, and my thoughts spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No-brainier. I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, 'God, as I live and breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on this Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man' Again as clearly as I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement across the wall of my mind. 'That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair.' I looked up at God and quipped, 'I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a hairbrush?' God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: 'I will thoroughly furnish you unto all good works.' (2 Timothy 3:17)

I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even as I retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as possible, 'Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?' He looked back at me and said,'What did you say?''May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?'To which he responded in volume ten, 'Little lady, if you expect me to hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that.'At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out , 'SIR, MAY I HAVE THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?'At which point every eye in the place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more peculiar than old Mr. Long Locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face,and say, 'If you really want to.' Are you kidding? Of course I didn'twant to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, 'Yes, sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have ahairbrush.' 'I have one in my bag,' he responded.I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I was doing.

I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands,remembering to take my time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old man and me.

I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I - for that few minutes - felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself at home for a short while.The emotions were so strong and so pure t hat I knew they had to be God's. His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's. I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees and said, 'Sir, do you know my Jesus?'He said, 'Yes, I do' Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, 'I've known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry me until I got to know the Savior.' He said, 'You see, the problem is, I haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what a mess I must be for my bride.'

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand, was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never forget it.Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have accompanied him on that aircraft.I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her cheeks. She said, 'That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did you do that? What made you do that?'I said, 'Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!'And we got to share.

I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted,you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you as an individual. Tell Him your need!I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way . . all because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me to that old man. He sent that old man to me.

John 1:14 'The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth'

Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, 'Wow! What a ride! Thank You, Lord!'

Pastor exposed as fraud

2008-08-21T00:28:00.003+02:00

In seek of attention some people do crazy stuff. A former Adelaide pastor who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his terminal cancer 'battle' has been exposed as a fraud.

Read the story here

New wallet

2008-08-11T15:32:00.005+02:00

This is my new wallet!!! Isn’t it COOL?!

Pylones…is the brand of my new wallet and it's a French brand. They have crazy designs! Check them out at http://www.pylones.com/. I love their stuff!!

Compass interview

2008-08-08T13:52:00.007+02:00

Never heard of the band Compass?? They are amazing!

Check out their myspace
Check out this interview

(click on the words to direct you to the site)

Interview Steven Curtis Chapman

2008-08-08T13:43:00.004+02:00

During a tragic accident the Chapman family lost one of their kids. In this interview the family talks about the loss of their daughter and sister.

Wasted

2008-08-07T14:15:00.000+02:00

The life of my family and of myself have been turned upside down over the past year. I came across this song and it reminds me of this past year. Not only that but Carrie Underwood has an AMAZING voice!

Bike trip mania

2008-08-07T10:40:00.006+02:00

I’m part of the international committee of the YMCA in Katwijk. YMCA Katwijk has a partnership with YMCA Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Every two years we organise a trip. This year we organised a bike trip in Holland for Dutch and American kids. In 2010 we are going back to Boothbay.

At the moment there’s a group of 6 American kids and two adults here in my hometown. We had planned to take them on two bike trips: one to Otterlo and the other one to Amsterdam. Last weekend we went to Amsterdam. We left on Saturday and came back yesterday.

Our first stop was camping “Amsterdamse Bos”.
Being Dutch and living here in Holland I experienced loads of camping spots here and I can truly say that this is the worst camping EVER! Never go there!!! The owner is extremely rude and there’s continually people smoking pot on the camping site. I don’t care if you want to smoke pot but please don’t do it in a kitchen where everybody is cooking. Later I found out that the kitchen was the only place where you could smoke. Ughhh. We visited this camping 4 years ago and everything was all right back then...but probably much changed in 4 years time. The camping experience ruined our trip for a bit but luckily we still had loads of fun. On Sunday the group visited the Muiderslot castle. On Monday we went to Amsterdam to do some sightseeing. We visited the Amsterdam Dungeon. Which was an awesome place, we had fun! Also we took the group to the Anne Frank house and on a boat ride through the canals. It was amazing. On Tuesday we headed for Spaarnwoude. There we stayed at camping “Houtrak” This was an amazing camping site and the owner was great! We came back yesterday and were all pretty tired. The American group is leaving Friday, unfortunately! But I think we can look back to a wonderful three weeks.

NEW Chris Tomlin -Hello Love

2008-08-06T13:52:00.000+02:00

Engaged!

2008-08-01T14:03:00.015+02:00

My best friend is getting married!!! Yes! Her boyfriend proposed to her yesterday.

Without knowing it I saw the proposal. I was cycling down the boulevard when I saw a small airplane with a huge banner flying over the beach. I couldn’t read the sign because (obviously) I’m blind without glasses on.
She called me later that evening to tell me the news. It’s amazing! I’m so happy for them!!!

My roommate is getting married too!! Her boyfriend proposed to her 4 weeks ago!!

A LOT of marriages next year ;-) Congrats to both couples!

Media invasion: Radovan Karadzic

2008-08-01T11:54:00.009+02:00

Radovan Karadzic in 1992 (left) and in a photo released on 22 July 2008

At this moment there’s a huge media invasion in Holland. Media from all around the world have come to Holland for Radovan Karadzic trial; he’s the former leader of the Bosnian Serbs. He made his first appearance at the Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Thursday afternoon where he is expected to be formally charged. Karadzic has been indicted on 11 charges relating to war crimes and genocide during the Bosnian conflict in the early 1990s. According to the BBC a new hearing has been set for August 29. According to Dutch news the trial can take up to two years!

Phil Wickham

2008-07-29T11:42:00.004+02:00

Phil Wickham is somebody who has amazed me this year. I love his music. His lyrics are great and he gives a whole new 'flavour' to worship music. I had the privilege to see him at Frenzy. Check him out!

FUEL

2008-07-29T11:34:00.005+02:00

Five Dutch women attacked and raped in Kenya

2008-07-28T11:31:00.002+02:00

A lot of my friends are going on mission trips this summer with Christian organisations, so I was pretty shocked to hear about this. Although nobody I know personally was involved, I do want to ask you all to pray for these young people.

Five young Dutch women between the ages of 17 and 25 were raped by a group of Kenyan men last Thursday during a working holiday organised by the Amersfoort based christian charity Livingstone.

A spokeswoman for Livingstone on Monday confirmed the report which was published in the Reformatorisch Dagblad newspaper, reports ANP news service.

The attacks took place while a group of 12 Dutch volunteers were working on rebuilding a school. Despite security measures, around 10 men forced their way onto the terrain using a neighbour as hostage, reports ANP.

The intruders, who were armed with a gun and other weapons, demanded all those present, including local people and children, to surrender their valuables. Five of the Dutch women were taken to another room where they were raped.

‘They also tried to rape a number of local women but they were eventually left alone because they had babies with them,’ the spokeswoman for Livingstone told ANP.

Staff at the organisation are ‘extremely shocked’ by the attacks and have immediately suspended the Kenyan project, she said.

The five Dutch women were treated at a hospital in Nairobi before being flown to Brussels on Saturday where they were met by family and Livingstone staff. They will be offered further medical care in the Netherlands.

Kenyan police have assigned 30 officers to the case and have already questioned a hundred people, says ANP.

Revivals in Lakeland

2008-07-14T10:43:00.006+02:00

Lately I have been hearing a lot about the revival that is going on in Lakeland, Florida at the moment. For many non-christians 'a revival' might sound weird. It's complicated to explain everything but for some reason I found out about this christian revival through friends and christian media. Although many people mentioned it, I never really checked it out. I don’t know why but I never really gotten into it...

Last week I met up with a friend who asked me if I heard about this revival. I told her that I did but that I’ve never watched it. I told her that the things that I heard from other people kind of alerted me to not watch it. Then she said that she watched it for an entire week with her husband on God.tv She said that every evening after they watched it, they both felt not peaceful about it and ended up in a big discussion. She then explained what she saw on television and explained how she felt seeing it. In the end of the week she called up a friend’s mother and talked about the revival. This friends’ mother asked her how she felt about the revival in Lakeland. My friend replied that she was confused about it and the friends’mother then asked do you see any of the fruits of the Spirit in this revival.

Galations 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

My friend then replied that she didn’t see most of the fruits of the spirit in this revival. There’s no love, there’s no peace, there’s no longsuffering or gentleness. After they talked for a while about it my friend hung up but she was still very confused. She then told me that there are probably still a few good things about this revival but that we must be aware of all the wrong things and test it to the Bible. The Bible states that many many false prophets will come so we have to be aware!

Matthew 7:15-23
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

and

"At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. . . . For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect –- if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time" (Matthew 24:10-13;24).

Later she came across this prophecy and felt that this prophecy was very occurring to what’s happening right now. http://bibleprophecyrevealed.us/wp/?p=33

I thought this was very interesting.

All I know is that I’m still not interested to watch it or feel like I should watch it. This ministry gives me a really weird feeling...but I thought I might just post it here and see what you guys think. Have you watched it and how did you feel about it?

Update:
I hesitated to post the message above because I wasn’t sure of the reactions but then I got these two articles through e-mail. One in Dutch and one in English:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaithMatters/Story?id=5338963&page=1 (English)
http://www.manna-vandaag.nl/?post=3567 (Dutch)

Passion Paris, Passion London and Frenzy Edinburgh

2008-06-12T16:26:00.004+02:00

Paris, London and Edinburgh in 1 week!! It was crazy but yet so awesome.

I never really planned to do this but for some reason all the puzzle pieces landed exactly in the right place. I always wanted to go to the Frenzy Festival in Edinburgh. As a matter of fact, we were planning to go last year. For some reason we didn't go. So I decided last November that it would be cool to go to Edinburgh for the Frenzy Festival in June. Fiona and I decided to book our hotel room in advance, just to be sure of a place to stay near the event. A week after this I got an e-mail about a Passion meeting at the Hammersmith Apollo. I decided to go and asked Fiona if she wanted to join me (while she lives in London). So we went and we got to hear everything about the Passion world tour. We were fired up! The only thing that crossed our minds was: Passion London is happening 1 day before we leave for Frenzy..oh no…
When I returned home I told the Passion news to all my friends, it was because of them I got to know Passion in the first place. I still remember that they played the “How Great is our God”-cd a lot. Of course they were all very excited but London is quite expensive so they asked: why not go to Paris instead? WOW…three gatherings in one week? Wouldn't that be crazy stupid? Wouldn't that be ridiculous? Am I out of my mind? I prayed a lot about it and for some reason it all came together.

Paris
So the first stop was Paris. We arrived in Paris on the Sunday evening by bus. It’s quite the trip from The Hague to Paris: 8 hours by bus. Very dreadful. We spend the Monday in downtown Paris. Shopping, sightseeing, relaxing…everything. In the evening we visited Montmartre, a very beautiful place in Paris. I love this place not to mention it’s the most beautiful place in Paris. Just the light and the surroundings are perfect! It’s very romantic as well.
Tuesday was Passion day! The morning we met up with a few Dutchies at Starbucks! Then my boyfriend Jeroen came in at Gare du Nord at around 1pm. I promised to get him from the train station but never expected that the actual train station would be so big. How on earth would I be able to go from platform 44 to platform 8? My French is very basic and because most French people don’t speak English I tried to ask around. Needles to say that I overlooked this huge Thalys and Eurostar sign. After I desperately phoned Jeroen I noticed it. To make a long story short I got him off the train, brought him to the hotel and in the afternoon we had some time alone in Paris. Which was really nice :-)
We met up with the whole group at 4pm again. Not everyone showed up because it so happened to be that two people got a fine because they lost their metro card. Anyways they arrived half an hour later and we headed off for Passion. We were all pretty much fired up about it and couldn’t wait to get there. Waiting in line for the venue to open we got to meet some amazing people. We knew that our friends from Italy were around: Daniela & Davide and so we met up with them. Then standing behind us in line there were two guys from Atlanta, Georgia and Magdalena from Austria. One of the guys of our group, Joel, got a hold of David Crowder and gave him this Heineken promotion hat. It was a weird hat and you could drum on it. At first we convinced Joel not to take the hat with him to Passion. Well he could take it with him but we were so not going to stand next to him. Despite this he brought it with him to Passion and gave it to Crowder. Later on in Edinburgh I got to ask David about it and he said the hat was a big hit and that they still had it.
Before Passion Paris we prayed with around 8 people in a circle prayer. It was truly a powerful moment. All of us were from different nations but God brought us safely to Paris. Amazing! It was an amazing evening of worship. Just hearing all the songs sung by everyone was so powerful. I love Roland Garros and was excited that I was in Paris, during Roland Garros. Unfortunately i couldn't afford a ticket so when Mr. Louie Giglio (founder and Passion speaker) said that they had a tennis player coming, I was excited! I was wishing that my favourite tennis player would come but knowing he’s a Muslim, I didn’t expect him to have seen the light! (Still praying ;-)) But unfortunately nope…I guess Marat Safin was still at Roland Garros that day but it turned out to be Mary Piece and she told everyone her testimony of faith. It was all about to deny yourself (Matthew 16:24) and Louie’s talk continued on Pierce’s testimony. Louie’s talk made me think. He also talked about that we should shine in our profession or in whatever we do. He encouraged us to finish college. To be honest I'm struggling to finish college...as a matter of fact I'm already in college studying journalism for 6 years!!!! The problem is... I dislike college...I don't know why but it's just something I can't set my mind to it. I absolutely love working in journalism. I loved my job in tv and I absolutely love doing some work as a publicist. But I struggle to finish college, I even thought about quitting...but that would be a waiste of money and studentloans. I feel and know that God wants me to finish college so that he can use me to the max....and what Louie said in Paris encouraged me a lot. I felt I heard God's voice saying it again to me.

London
Around noon on Wednesday we got on the Eurostar to London. My first ever Eurostar ride, so I was excited. I must admit that being in a tunnel under the sea is a bit of a scary thought. So I had to calm myself a bit…what if the tunnel collapsed? But looking at my best friend I already knew what her answer would be because she said it before to me. “If you die, you know where you are going”. Good answer but so not helping me to overcome my fears. Mmm…maybe I need to work on that! Haha. Anyway when we arrived in London we jumped on to the tube and stalled our bags at Victoria Station, then we hopped back on the tube and went straight to Covent Garden. There I met my friend Donna from North-Carolina. Her family is originally from Italy but she was born in the USA. She was on holiday in Europe and so happened to be in Paris and London during the same time I was there. It was great to see her. She’s an amazing woman and so fun to hang around with. She told me a funny story about her trip to Barcelona and said that she was thinking of opening a massage salon in Spain, is that correct Donna;-) haha. Just kidding. For some reason some there are people who offer massages at the beach in Spain.
After our meeting with Donna we headed for Fiona’s place, where we would stay the next couple of days.

Thursday morning was quite relaxing, we slept in a bit. At least we tried until my phone rang. A Norwegian friend called if we could pick up his group tickets for Passion. No problem. First we decided to get some real English breakfast. I love bacon, eggs, toast, beans…mmmm… There was this old English lady sitting next to us asking if we could really eat it! She couldn’t. After we had our breakfast we did some shopping and headed to the Hammersmith Apollo to get our tickets and meet another Dutch girl. We decided to stay near the Apollo and hung around a bit. We got to talk to a guy from South-Africa and to a bunch of people from Belfast. During the evening we sat next to these wonderful ladies from Scotland. They were excited about being front row, because this was actually there first time front row. I was amazed by the 3000 people that showed up. I still remember praying in the venue back in November at the Passion meeting and now God brought all these people to Passion London. I could only say WOW. Passion London was an amazing night too. It was so amazing to worship with so many people from different nations. We come from different backgrounds, different cultures but yet we all have one thing in common and that is Jesus. Louie read some passages from Ashley’s diary. You might not know Ashley’s story and if you don’t, please go and read it here: http://268blog.blogspot.com/2007/05/ashleys-home.html
Ashley’s life has been so short but crucial. God has been using Ashley to the fullest and will continue to use her story. She’s living on in everyone’s heart. Not to mention that we will all see her when we go to heaven. When Louie read passages from her diary it was one of those moments that you will never forget. This girl, Ashley, was just a normal girl. She had her own struggles in life, relationship problems etc. She thought her roommate was a fruitcake because she believed in Jesus. Ashley could writes he explained how she felt and what she was going through. Eventually she got to see that Jesus is alive! So amazing, so powerful! It’s hard because sometimes I wish she was still around just to say to her: hey girl, your story has encouraged me so much! Thank you! The passages from her diary brought tears to my eyes. Not just from laughing, I must admit Ashley’s writing is humorous, but her story is incredible.

Edinburgh
On Friday afternoon we left for Edinburgh!! I was excited about it because it was my first time in Scotland. We flew with British Airways so we got to see the new terminal at London Heathrow. Wow, it looks really nice! Fiona told me that all together is cost a fortune to build this thing. We landed in Edinburgh in the afternoon and headed directly to our hotel: the Quality hotel. We were a bit bumped at first that the WiFi didn’t work, but the hotel staff ensured us that they were working on it. We decided to head to the city centre! I really wanted to see the castle. So we decided to do the royal mile, she the castle and have dinner afterwards at some pub. The castle is amazing!! So beautiful. Not only the castle is so beautiful but Edinburgh is! Paris and London are great but Edinburgh tops them all (in my opinion) I bought some Scottish souvenirs. Also a small kilt for my little niece (it’s so cute!) and then for dinner we met up with some amazing people from Dallas, Texas we met earlier that week!! The pub we ate in was really nice, very Scottish but I just ordered fish and chips and of course a good pint of beer.
After dinner the Texas girls went up to the castle and Fiona and I did a little bit of walking in Edinburgh. Around 9:30pm we wanted to go back to the hotel but couldn’t find our bus stop so we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel. I love the taxi’s there, they are so cute!
Saturday was Frenzy time!! Our hotel was next to the venue, which was really good. Our Norwegian friends asked if they could put their luggage in our room, so our room was quite busy but we didn’t mind. The Frenzy Festival was great as well. So many young people from all over Scotland coming in for this particular festival and they were loud!! I also heard that the Frenzy people don’t profit from this festival and that all the artists come and perform for free… I don’t know if this is true but if so: wow.
We tried to go to as many concerts as possible. We got to see Phil Wickham. Who is a very talented and gifted worshipleader. I’m impressed by his music. We got to hear Leeland, amazing as well. David Crowder band, Chris Tomlin and Delirious? WOW!! Hearing Chris sing “God of this city” was just amazing. Especially after we just came from Paris and London. It gives so much more meaning to that song. Chris also explained how the band Bluetree wrote the song, which was amazing too. Bluetree wrote it in Thailand when they were playing there at a local bar in an area full of prostitutes. God truly put this song in their mouths while playing. Isn’t that amazing??
So Frenzy rocked!! The next morning we left early to go to the city centre again. Our flights were scheduled to depart in the afternoon so we had some time left. It was great to walk around again and I bought some last things. Also Fiona and I did this typical tourist thing: a photographer took a picture of us in Scottish clothes. We just wanted to have fun. The guy had a southern US accent so I asked if he was from the States and what he did in Scotland. He told us that he married a Scottish girl and that he was indeed from Arkansas. Turns out he is a Christian as well and was pretty bumped to hear that he missed Frenzy. He told us that he played guitar with Chris Tomlin when he was about 15 at a camp back home and he did lighting for Rebecca st. James. How funny is that? It was really great meeting him.
Anyway we headed back to the hotel to get our stuff and headed to the airport. Fiona's flight went back to London and my flight went back to Amsterdam. It’s good to be home, but it was an amazing week. I got to meet so many amazing people! I loved talking to and seeing all the familiar faces of people I actually know from the States and from all over Europe. Most of all it was incredible to see God move in every city!! (And He is still moving) "For greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city" Thanks to Fiona for everything!! And to everyone else: I hope to see you all soon!!

I simply LOVE this song

2008-05-28T21:47:00.003+02:00

"Saviour, please" by Josh Wilson
http://www.myspace.com/joshwilson

Savior, please take my hand
I work so hard, I live so fast
This life begins, and then it ends
And I do the best that I can, but I don't know how long it'll last

I try to be so tough
But I'm just not strong enough
I can't do this along, God I need You to hold on to me
I try to be good enough
But I'm nothing without Your love
Savior, please keep saving me

Savior, please help me stand
I fall so hard, I fade so fast
Will You begin right where I end
And be the God of all I am because You're all I have

Hallelujah
Everything You are to me
Is everything I'll ever need
And I am learning to believe
That I don't have to prove a thing
'Cause You're the one who's saving me

God in control?

2008-05-26T16:36:00.003+02:00

Have you ever thought about your life and worried too much about your future, or even about tomorrow? I think we all do. We can all worry about the future. What would it look like? Where and what will we be? How are we financial secure? Lots of questions can run through your mind.

I can worry too much about these things, so much that it sometimes controls my decisions and my thinking. I can sometimes blame myself so bad about wrong decisions I've made. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I think I might have said this before but for some reason God is in control of our lives. He knows what's best for us. It doesn't mean that we have to sit back and see what God is doing. We need to participate in life. We need to make decisions too. Sometimes we can make really bad decisions and sometimes we make life really hard for ourselves. In the hardest times of life we can always trust in God.

Include Him in your life. Include Him in every step you take. Know that He is God and that He is mighty and powerful. Without Him you wouldn't even exist. So try to do the right thing and don't be afraid about the things you have messed up. God understands and He forgives you.

Norway

2008-05-18T16:12:00.003+02:00

So I might not have told everybody this yet, but we are going to NORWAY!! Yeah!! :-) After the HUGE trip we planned another 'Huge' trip but only to Norway.
We are leaving sunday june 29 and coming back sunday july 6. We will arrive in Norway on june 30th. The first 2,5 days we'll spend at the Seaside Festival in Norway. Then we are planning to go to Oslo, Stockholm (yes that's Sweden) and drive back to Holland. I'm VERY excited!

Light

2008-05-14T13:50:00.003+02:00

Look around you, go outside and take a walk. Enjoy life, enjoy everything around you. Take a look at the sun. The source of life. Without it life is not possible.. The sun gives light. Without light it's dark. Darkness will surround you. Boats need a lighthouse in the dark to find their way. The light keeps us on track..keep us going.

Sit down and think... Is God your light?

The "Huge" trip

2008-05-13T15:11:00.003+02:00

Wow, I know I haven't been blogging lately. I don't have a lot of inspiration at the moment. Too much happening in my life. It's all good though, so don't worry.

The 'huge' trip is coming up in 2,5 weeks. I'm excited! Can't wait to hit the road.
We are going to....

-Paris on june 1st until june 4th (Passion Paris conference)
-London on june 4th until june 6th (Passion London Conference)
-Edinburgh june 6th until june 8th (Frenzy Festival)

It's going to be a crazy week but I'm super excited. Not only because of these conferences or festivals but mainly because I'm excited to see God move in these cities!! I feel blessed that God wants me to be a part of that! I'm excited to spend time with my friends and let them experience Passion too.

Anyways, that's all for now. I'll keep you all updated!!

My favourite song at the moment...

2008-05-04T00:34:00.001+02:00

Paul Baloche- Hosanna (Praise is Rising)

Psalm 22

2008-05-04T00:29:00.003+02:00

Read Psalm 22. Have you ever thought about it that David actually wrote this song for Jesus?!

It already starts with: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus said these exact word on the cross.

And the people who crucified Jesus said the same things that are written in this verse: "He trusts in the LORD;
let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."

For me this was quite an eye-opener...
I know you can find Jesus through all the scriptures in the Old Testament. It's really cool to see all the numbers, resembles and prophecies. I never really did a Bible study about that until last week...

So David composed a song for Jesus without knowing it. It was truly a song given by God and put into David's mouth. Wow! I still believe that ubntil this day, God puts songs into people hearts....and maybe these songs are prophecies too. Think about...!!

GMA week

2008-05-04T00:27:00.004+02:00

GMA week has happened again this year without me being there :-) It's one of my dreams to go there someday. I would be a little kid in a candyshop, really!!
Anyway it's always good to hear stories, see photo's & video's.

and someday.....

What would you do if this happened to you?

2008-05-02T10:31:00.004+02:00

This must be one of the worst things that can happen you as an artist or as an attendee... Starfield must have been really scared, but must of all the crowd must have been scared. I wanted to share this with you. Please pray for the people that were injured during this concert.

Soul Survivor conference

2008-04-24T13:39:00.004+02:00

SOUL SURVIVOR THIS WEEKEND/UPCOMING WEEK!! YEAH! I'm very excited.
It means I'm gone, away, out for almost a week. No internet connection whatsoever (although...I have a phone).

I tried to pack my bags...it's my least favorite thing to do. I have (yet again) overpacked. Anyways...I don't care my suitcase is big but my friends' car not.
Every year I blame her car! (Els: it's wayyyy too small ) My packing skills are just brilliant.

I'm off... will update you guys next week!

ladybugs

2008-04-15T20:39:00.005+02:00

Ladybugs are evil, yup that's my opinion. Today at least 25 ladybugs took over the office. It was nasty. Nobody seemed to care, except me... I tried to remove them and put them outside the building. Seriously, I hate every kind of bug...so at some point I was so disgusted, I quit. I know you guys now probably think that I'm crazy but I don't get it why people think ladybugs are cute. IT'S A BUG! Not to mention that 25 is just too much:-)
I know there's a reason that God created bugs but I seriously don't like bugs, maybe it's a female thing...

Stellar Kart in Holland

2008-04-07T21:01:00.003+02:00

Stellar Kart was in Holland and I bumped into them at work (EO) I didn't realise who they were until I walked away. Here's a little video:

"The Church"

2008-04-07T20:30:00.002+02:00

I found these songs from Jonathan Scott band in my inbox today. I thought I would share them with you. Esp. the first song "The Church" is beautiful. It's about how the church should be.
Anyway take a moment, sit down and listen here.

Praying

2008-03-30T13:21:00.006+02:00

In a couple of weeks the "Heaven on Earth" -conference will start off. I'm looking forward to it but I know it's going to be a busy week. First Soul Survivor and then Heaven on Earth. It's not sure if I will attend Soul Survivor this year. It's still very open. Anyway, one of my friends send me a text message this morning about the Heaven on Earth conference. The conference is located in an arena in Rotterdam, a city here in The Netherlands. If I decide to sleep at home I have to travel about 1,5 hours to reach the arena. Which is okay. But my friend decided it was better to just arrange a place to sleep. So she sends me this text message this morning saying: "Jac, I'm going to register for the ministry team so that I also have a place to sleep, maybe you can do the same thing, and for the record: you can pray!"

It cracked me up because I did do a ministry course a couple of years ago at Soul Survivor. If you want to be part of the ministry team at Soul Survivor you need to do a course. So did that but decided not to be part of the ministry team because I'm afraid that I can't pray for someone else... Yeah, I know: everyone can pray. But I'm very insecure and have some issues with myself regarding this, hehe. So I normally say to my friends: "can you pray?"
All my friends know & they joke about it...even my roommates!! Whenever dinner is ready and we are all together they both shout: "I'm not praying".

Gavin DeGraw

2008-03-30T11:55:00.006+02:00

Going to see Gavin DeGraw @ BNN this week. Looking forward to it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0PewkxvyZ8

I love the first verse:
"So many people gonna say that they want you,
To try to get you thinking they really care,
But there's nothing like the warmth of the one who has put in the time and you know he's gonna be there"

SO TRUE!

Unhappy

2008-03-30T11:27:00.005+02:00

Have you ever been so unhappy that you're almost making yourself so depressed. And that you don't see the good things in your life anymore? Well I have. I'm sure most of you are struggling and everyone has their own problems and worries. I'm worrying too much, esp. about my future. The recent week I have been so unhappy about everything. How am I ever going to finish college? How am I ever going to pay off studentloans? How am I ever going to be happy? Will I find a good job after college? Things that are running through my mind 24 hours each day. I don't know all the answers to these questions but I'm sure I'm not the only one who's unsure about the future. I'm fortunate to have a God who knows my future and who holds me in His hand.

Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Allergic part 2

2008-03-23T16:26:00.001+01:00

Update about my allergic reaction (sorry, this is very random) I'm still not sure what it was. It only lasted for about three days and then it was GONE. So that's basically it.

Messing with my weblog

2008-03-23T16:25:00.002+01:00

I'm kind of messing around with the layout of this blog so as you can see I dropped some images into this thing:-)

Divine Romance

2008-03-23T13:37:00.005+01:00

Have been thinking a lot about love this week. I came across this song by Phil Wickham on facebook. Phil ia quite new for me. But I must admit I really like his music. I love this song and the lyrics say it all!

He is Risen!

2008-03-23T13:34:00.001+01:00

Matthew 28: 1-10
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

Today we remember that Jesus died for us on the cross

2008-03-21T23:04:00.002+01:00

Matthew 27:45-56 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."

Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

Spider

2008-03-13T21:59:00.005+01:00

Today we were waching some funny video's on youtube. Until someone said oh I know a video it's not really funny but you should watch it. So yeah we watched it... it's a....well you need to see this yourself:

http://en.qoob.tv/video/clip_view.asp?id=289

I think the moral of this story is: never buy a fake spider.

....my eye is itching :-p

The iMac story

2008-03-13T15:11:00.000+01:00

I'm working on an iMac at work. The computer is okay, it's not spectacular but it's working for me. Recently we bought a Canon photo camera at work. I tried to connect it with my computer but it wasn't working because I had to install the Canon photo program first. I mentioned this to my colleague and he gave me the install CD. I tried it but it wasn't working, I only got the ReadMe-file. So I mentioned this to my colleague and he said well I guess it doesn't work on an iMac you need to call the helpdesk. So did that and the guy at the helpdesk didn't understand why it wasn't working. So he went online on my computer, downloaded the program...still not working. After 1 hour on the phone (I'm not kidding) my colleague suddenly said: oh...I guess there are two CD's...I gave you the wrong one....

THANKS!

One God. One Church. One mission.

2008-03-09T22:18:00.002+01:00

I made this video really quick...The footage is from last weeks conference: One God. One church. One mission.

Allergic

2008-03-09T22:02:00.003+01:00

I regret, I regret making fun of people who have allergic reactions to something...(sorry friends!!)

because what I've experienced this weekend is that I'm allergic to something as well... I know, MAJOR NEWS.

I've eaten something and I'm allergic to it... I have break outs everywhere on my legs. :-S (I know) It's even so bad that I can't really sit down...I'm still debating what to do at work tomorrow.

In these kind of situations I always call my mom. So I picked up the phone, called her up, explained the entire situation and she just laughed and said: " yeah, your dad has it too, I think it's genetic."

RIGHT!!

The worst thing is, is that my doctor is 2 hours away from me and I forgot my health insurance card and so can't go to the hospital... So I guess I have to see what happends and hope for the best.

I think this is God's punishment of me laughing at people. LOL

Some random stuff...

2008-03-05T20:44:00.003+01:00

This morning it was snowing. The weather forecast mentioned that it would snow these past couple of days but every time I opened my curtains there was no snow.. I'm not a big fan of cold weather so I wasn't too disappointed but in a way it's cool to see snow...

This morning I walked out of the flat I live in and it started to snow. HARD. The first thing that came into my mind was: "please Lord, not a lot of snow...I want to be able to get home tonight"

You see, if there's a lot of snow the whole public transportation system in Holland shuts down. My second thought was "oh no I'm wearing my All stars". I just read Stephen's blog last night and he posted that there was snow and ice in Ireland and he fell walking out of the door, wearing All stars. A bad story and I didn't want to repeat him.. Anyway I managed to get into the bus & arrived at work safe. But I watched the weather closely today...Luckily all snow is gone now. I'm curious how tomorrow morning will look like.

Work was interesting today. I had this evaluation talk with my supervisor this afternoon. I'm doing well and there's nothing else to say. I love this job and would love to stay there but it's a freelance job and my contract is ending april 17th. I hope they will offer me a new contract but because this is a TV program and it's ending in April. I'm almost positive that I will be without a job after April. Which is kind of a stress factor for me. But I guess everything will turn out good in the end and I need to learn to put more of my trust in the Lord.

A day @ the beach in Katwijk

2008-03-02T19:54:00.001+01:00

Please care

2008-03-02T18:49:00.009+01:00

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside.”- Job 23:10-11

Everybody has struggles or is going through hard circumstances. At the moment life is not so good to me. I know it's a part of life and I know this needs to happen in order for me to grow. But the hardest thing for me is that most people just ignore my problems, other peoples problems or just problems in general. It's understandable in a way because everybody has its own struggles. But wouldn't it be great if somebody just said to you "I don't understand. But I care and I'll try to understand."

And you know what, everybody needs that! It's not about the attention, it's just about the fact that somebody loves you & cares. That's what counts.

Thanks Kari for letting me hear this song

One God. One Church. One Mission.

2008-02-29T00:31:00.003+01:00

This weekend the One God. One Church. One mission-conference will start off in Katwijk. This is the first BIG conference a couple of my friends & people from church organised.
I helped out a tiny tiny bit & I'm looking forward to it.
Past week someone asked me..so what religion is this...is it protestant or catholic or is it another religion?
That just makes me so mad. Why do we need to put things in boxes??? So I replied... it's NONE. The conference isn't about religion.. It's about having a personal relationship with Jesus. Everytime I say things like that, people stare at me and give me some weird look thinking "that girl is nuts" but you know it's true! We are all God's people, ONE CHURCH. And it doesn't matter if you are poor, rich, ugly, pretty, protestant or catholic..you are so worthy and so precious & God loves you no matter what!

Amsterdam-Paris-London-Edinburgh-Amsterdam

2008-02-20T12:42:00.005+01:00

Jolanda and I are going on a TRIP!!! On june 1st we are leaving for Paris.... on june 4th we are leaving for London with the Eurostar and on june 6th I'm leaving to go to Edinburgh, while Jolanda is heading home... It's going to be a BLAST. We both look forward to go. Also we are planning on going to Norway on june 30th for the Seaside festival. WE ARE EXCITED! :-)

Jesus Hold me

2008-02-18T21:24:00.002+01:00

Have you ever had that feeling that you're not quite on the right frequency with God? I have.... I was just thinking about this last night. Sometimes it feels like I'm not quite tuned into the right frequency. I'm there but there's still some noise disturbing the signal. And sometimes it's just hard to turn that button into the right direction so that it will give me the right signal.

Maybe...that's life, we need to continue to make sure we are on the right frequency with God. So check your frequency and make sure there's no noise disturbing the signal between you & God.

Check Compass' new songs

2008-02-18T21:16:00.008+01:00

Click here to check out their amazing new songs!

Irish memories

2008-02-17T21:01:00.003+01:00

I was just surfing on facebook and came across a quote from Robin about the Ireland trip last month... Robin showed us around. On the day that I left we were having lunch in a pub.... the only pub in Ireland without an alcohol license!! haha...And Robin managed to find it without knowing. Brings back good memories...

Happy single awareness day

2008-02-14T16:41:00.000+01:00

For most people this is single awareness day, like me. Although I don’t mind being single.
Of course my friends & family joke about it. “ Jac- when was your last boyfriend?” is what they ask frequently in a joking way. But for me it doesn’t matter how long I’m single. I enjoy being single, I’ve experienced bad relationships and I know what kind of guy I’m looking for. Someone with goals in life, dreams and above all one who loves God too. Yesterday something happened and it kind of made me realize that God’s timing is indeed perfect. Loving someone is not always fun, sometimes it can hurt too.. Thinking about that made me realize that I enjoy being single, how weird that might sound. I know God’s timing is perfect!

2008-02-13T11:05:00.000+01:00

2008-02-13T10:27:00.000+01:00

(Heart)

2008-02-10T17:55:00.000+01:00

'Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'

Natalee Holloway's case solved?

2008-02-04T20:38:00.000+01:00

BIG NEWS. BIG news everywhere. Well at least in Holland and in the US. Dutch crime scene investigator Peter R. de Vries solved the Natalee Holloway case. Or at least he claims to. Last night his tv show had 7 million viewers in Holland. 7 million!! (Holland only has 16 million inhabitants)I was one of the viewers. In 2 hours Peter R. de Vries showed the viewers the confession of Joran on tape (filmed with hidden camera's )It was shocking to see Joran talk about it with no regret. Is this a new breakthrough in the Holloway case?! I sure hope so. Only with no evidence they still can't send Joran to prison. Hopefully this case is solved soon!!

my life

Ready, go!

All ready for summer

Not me! Monday

American friends & Amsterdam

I CAN drive!

Not me! Monday is BACK

My best friend got married!

Worship stars?

Vtech, 2 years later...

New application

Driver license

Recipe

Decorating

Nostalgia

Life in the FLDS

Awakening: the book

I'm getting old!

BACK!

Heartache gone?

Not me! Monday

Who's going to be the next president?

He’s not finished with me yet

Pumpkins!!!!

Not me! Monday

Winter!

Skinny jeans on a wide tree

I'm in love with this journal....

My new toy

Not me! Monday

Are you the perfect christian?

Shout unto God

New video's on my Youtube channel

Antwerp

The Irish Matchmaker

Remembering: Loren & Thomas

Winner

Hello Love!

Win HELLO LOVE (Tomlin)

Currently reading...

This guy is a genius....

Win the new Tomlin cd!!

Hello Love

Chris Tomlin week!

Blackbird cover

New Phone

How can something as Passion get so big???

Flevo!

Hairbrush experience by Beth Moore

Pastor exposed as fraud

New wallet

Compass interview

Interview Steven Curtis Chapman

Wasted

Bike trip mania

*NEW* Chris Tomlin -Hello Love

Engaged!

Media invasion: Radovan Karadzic

Phil Wickham

FUEL

Five Dutch women attacked and raped in Kenya

Revivals in Lakeland

Passion Paris, Passion London and Frenzy Edinburgh

I simply LOVE this song

God in control?

Norway

Light

The "Huge" trip

My favourite song at the moment...

Psalm 22

GMA week

What would you do if this happened to you?

Soul Survivor conference

ladybugs

Stellar Kart in Holland

"The Church"

Praying

Gavin DeGraw

Unhappy

Allergic part 2

NEW Chris Tomlin -Hello Love