Abide with me.

Well yesterday we went to Crabby Joe's for Katrina's birthday. It was a really good time and it was great fun. When Liz drove us back to Redeemer on the way home we (Katrina, Liz, Heather, Kristin and I) started talking about how God has been blessing us in our lives. And the reason why he blesses us, is because we let go and we give something into God's hands. It was really cool to hear some of the testimonies of how God always abides with us. Dictionary.com gives this as one of their definitions of abide: To wait patiently for.

That is what God does with us. He waits patiently for us, he waits for us to admit to him over and over again that we will only find joy and blessings in surrendering everything to him. Especially in those hard times we have to stay close to God, we have to remain faithfull to him, and then he will abide with us through any struggle. We sang the song Abide with me in church this morning. And it was just a great testimony to me, it was a testimony of God to me, he told me that he abides with me.

The last time I sang this song was at a funeral, it was one of those times when the eventide falls fast. At that moment God abided with me, and the great thing is now he still abides with me. He will always wait patiently for me, when I am in times of deepened darkness or in times of blessed joy. He is always there to abide with me, the only thing I have to do is surrender to him. Why is that so hard?

God bless, Willem


1.
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
the darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
2.
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;
earth's joys grow dim; its glories pass away;
change and decay in all around I see;
O thou who changest not, abide with me.
3.
I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power?
Who, like thyself, my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.
4.
I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless;
ills have no weight, and tears not bitterness.
Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
5.
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

Banquet - God pouring out His blessings

As promised, I will give my short review of spring banquet. This is probably the 1oth review of banquet you have read, but I hope you continue reading. Spring banquet was quite the (new) experience for me. In Holland we never had a big fancy prom or banquet with a dinner and everything (although we did have a great dance). However, this was new. Me and my friends arrived quite early, which gave us time to make some pictures and check out the amazing venue. Nevertheless, everybody showed up and dinner started, it was amazing to see 44 (?) tables full of Redeemer students and friends come out and join fellowship together.

During dinner, there were good conversations, people dropping by to say, "hey, how are you?" , and a of course great food. It was amazing to feel the positive atmosphere in that hall, it was smiles and positivity all around. After dinner JB5 gave an amazing performance and got everybody grooving. It was great to see thes guys use their talents in such a good way. The night continued with the DJ (who's name I forget is it Micah?). Once again the atmoshere continued to be great as the night continued. When the DJ played Jesus Freak, the crowd burst out in shouts of joy, after a great moshpit, Jehan had the great idea of crowd-surfing, so Jeff Wynands flew through the banquet hall. It seemed even an old streaker (I did not see him... luckily) could not destroy this night.

The evening was a great one of fellowship, fun, friends, dance and joy. If you would have asked me beforehand what the last song should have been I would have probably named somekind of classic tune that everybody knows. That's exactly what happened, "blessed be Your name", was the last tune. With that song we ended the night to the glory of God, I think this was the most important and best part of the night for me. It is easy to forget sometimes how many blessings God pours out on us. Especially when we are so busy with ourselves and our friends. But, God wants to be part of our entire life, that song reminded me that this evening to belonged to God. After all, if it wasn't for His son, we would have not been here.

To conclude this review, yes! spring banquet was a huge blessing for me. It was an avening of food, dance, fun, friends, and most of all God. God who blessed us all in such an amzing way. In giving us the possibility to be here at Redeemer University College and giving us the oppertunity to go to a banquet like this one.

here a few pictures of last Saturday...

Tim, Matt, myself, and Steve - trying to be like superman

A modern version of an old Dutch picture (Trine and I)

Donald Duck in Jail

Well, even comic book heroes can take a wrong turn!


Donald Duck behind bars
Stockholm - A first edition of a Donald Duck comic book from 1948 has been held behind bars in Sweden for a year-and-a-half amid a divorcing couple's drawn-out custody battle, Swedish media reported on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old comic book was part of a collection at a museum in Koeinge, in southern Sweden, run by the couple.

When they split up, they both claimed to be the rightful owner of the comic book. But in 2004, one of the couple decided to shut down the museum and sold the comic book to a third party, regional daily Hallandsposten reported in its online edition.
As a result, the other spouse reported the comic as stolen to police, and it was confiscated pending a ruling.

If in mint condition, the item would be considered a rarity by collectors and could be worth up to $16 200, according to Swedish news agency TT.

Prosecutor Sonja Seligmann said she would soon rule on the matter.
In the meantime, the comic book remains under lock and key with the Halland police.

source: http://www.news24.com/

It is great when life makes sense

What a weekend!

Wow, I have had quite the weekend!

Here is a short summary, it all started when Matt, Steve and I followed Liz, Angie and Katrina all the way to Niagara Falls. Katrina thought she was going to Webster's falls for some pictures and did not notice us follwing them all the way to Niagara.

Once we arrived at the falls, we scared, but suprised Katrina. We had a great night, with many (free) desserts and lots of fun! Saturday we had spring banquet! It was a blast, I had great fun dinning, but mostly dancing. It was an awesome night with great people, grat music, great food, great naked men (I didn't see him), great punch fountains, and great memories! (pictures will follow)

Today, after church I went to the van Eek's, even though they are not directly related to me I had a great day! It was good being in a real home for a bit again. And the food was excellent (three times in one week!) I got to catch up with my cousins and had a relaxing afternoon.

A blog in English

I have decided to start up a blog in english, I will try to run 2 blogs at the same time, my already existing blog and my new English blog! If you are excited about this idea, please leave me a comment as an encouaragement!