1 year down and summer is here

As I am sitting here on the last day of april school is all done (well first year is). As I have said throughout this school year, I have really been blessed at Redeemer, on my first day already I felt like I was in the right place. The experiences that I have gained in the last year will last me a lifetime. Besides all the large events there are also small things that have made this year amazing. I will not name specific memories, because the year as a whole was a great learning experience full of blessings. As I was reading through my fellow bloggers blog's I read a great post on Heather Zuidhof's blog. Now I am not a big fan of stealing from other blogs, but I will this time. The piece on Heather's blog (see blog roll left) had a great understanding of how different life is between university and home, how there are 2 worlds.

Here is the piece,
"A year has passed and now we stand on the brink of returning to a world where we are surrounded by the paradox of everything, and yet nothing being the same. In one week we will reluctantly give our hugs and, fighting the tears, say goodbye to people who were once just names on a sheet of paper, to return to people that we hugged and fought tears to say goodbye to before we ever left.
We will leave our best friends to return to our best friends. We will go back to the places we came from and go back to the same things we did last summer, and every summer before that. We will come into town on that same familiar road, and even though it has been months, it will seem like only yesterday.As you walk into your old bedroom, every emotion will pass through you as you reflect on the way your life has changed and the person you have become. You suddenly realize that the things that were most important to you a year ago don't seem to matter so much anymore, and the things you hold highest now, no one at home will completely understand.
The memories and the stories from school won't mean anything to anyone at home and yet you resent them for that they can't share that happiness with you. Who will you call first? What will you do your first weekend home with your friends? How long before you actually start missing people barging in without calling or knocking? Who will get pizza at three in the morning with you now? How long until you adjust to sleeping alone in a room again?
Then you start to realize how much things have changed, and you realize the hardest part of university is balancing the two completely different worlds you now live in, trying desperately to hold on to everything all the while trying to figure out what you have to leave behind. In the matter of one day's traveling time we will leave our world of living next door to our best friends, walking across campus to eat, instant messenger, 8:00am classes and the perpetual procrastination to a world that will seem foreign to us despite the fact that we lived in it for eighteen years.
But it is different now. We now know the meaning of true friendship. We know who we have kept in touch with over the past year and who we hold dearest in our hearts. We've left our high school world to deal with the real world. We've had our hearts broken, we've fallen in love, we've helped our best friends overcome depression, stress and death, and we've stayed up all night on the phone just to talk to a friend in need. There have been times when we've felt so helpless being hours away from home when we know our families needed us, and there are times we know we have made a difference.
One week from now we will leave. One week from now we take down our pictures and pack up our clothes. No more going next door to do nothing for hours on end. We will leave our friends whose random email and phone calls will bring us to laughter and tears this summer. We will take our memories and dreams and put them away for now, saving them for our return to this world. One week from now we will arrive. We will unpack our bags and have dinner with our families. We will drive over to our best friend's house and do nothing for hours on end. We will return to the same friends whose random emails and phone calls have brought us to laughter and tears over the year. We will unpack old dreams and memories that have been put away for the past year. In one week we will dig deep inside to find the strength and conviction to adjust to change and still keep each other close.
And somehow, in some way, we will find our place between these two completely different worlds."

The great thing is, we will find our place between these two worlds. Wednesday morning I found my place between these two worlds. Before 11:20AM my university world was the only world I had a place in. At night I would be done my exams and I would be done my first year, however, I had no summer plans at all. However, things change; I got a call at 11:20 that Scott Missions Camp would love to offer me a job for July and August. And it is almost certain that in may and june I will probably work for Redeemer Food Services.

However, let's not look in the future, let tomorrow's worries (joy's) be for tomorrow. Yesterday, my destination was Lester B. Pearson Airport (that's Toronto). I picked up my brother and his wife from the airport. My oldest brother and his wife live in Holland and so I did not see them since June last year. It is great to be around family (even family from Holland) and it is great to be home for a little while, even though I have never lived in this house longer than 2 weeks.

Well, I want to be social again, so I will get back to you later.

Hi from everybody (my mom, my brother (Jeroen) his wife (Jacqueline) and from me. God bless.

2 exams, 2 days

No I don't have 2 exams left in 2 days. I have 2 exams today and I am done. And tomorrow I will be leaving Redeemer (that is 2 days, if you include today). It is still a bit unreal to me at the moment, but I think I am getting ready for it. Today I have Sociology 122 and Geography 122. So, in about 12 hours I am done all my exams. This is a really horrible update, because I know I should be studying... Then look at it this way, I hereby promise an year wrap-up (update) before this month is over. In the mean well, people have exams left, good luck on them. People who are driving home, I wish you traveling mercies. God bless, Willem

Why I love (don't mind) exam week!

Well, once again they have arrived: EXAMS!!
Once you get over the annoyance of having to cramp everything in your head at once. It gets fun! Sure, it can get a little depressing sometimes, but it is a time of great relaxation and joy in between all those times. I'll give you a couple of examples.

- You are always able to find people that also need a study break, and you can catch up with them!
- People are focussed on comfort, I love it when I see people walking around on socks and bare feet and in comfortable clothes. Who really cares what a studying person looks like.
- You get a lot of stuff done, other events that need to be done (like updating your blog) gets done, sure you are procastinating, but it gets done!
- You once again learn to appreciate the wonderful world of Hi-liter's, the bright and beautifull coours blow me away (well only when I really don't feel like studying)
- When you really want some disgusting fa(s)t-food, you are perfectly justified and you don't have to explain it to anyone.
- Taking a bike ride or playing catch is a great way to get a break and enjoy the beautifull weather!
- You don't have to go to classess
- You are able to end some of the dreadful courses you had to take! (if you are taking any of those)
- You learn to appreciate the carpet in the library!
- And the Redeemer bookstore has a 15% discount on clothes!

These are some of the serious and less serious reasons of why I love exam week. And therefore I wish everybody blessings with their exams, but especially in the simple things that come with exams.

God bless, Willem

4 Things about me

Four jobs I have had:
@ Redeemer Food services (yes, I am the soup guy)
$ Hoogvliet Supermarket working in the produce section
% Working as a mover, host, and general task person for my old high school
# My first ever job delivering magazines

Four movies I could watch over and over:
@ Shawshank Redemption
$ Forest Gump
% Braveheart
# Cool Runnings

Four books I could read over and over:
@ Bible
$ God in the Alley
% the Harry Potter books
# any suggestions?

Places I have lived:
@ Alsmeer, the Netherlands (0-2)
$ Ede, the Netherlands moved twice within Ede (2-18)
% Barrie, Ontario (since this summer)
# Ancaster, Ontario (Redeemer)

Four Places I've been on Vacation:
@ Southern Ontario and surroundings about 10 times, kinda weird, it is now my home
$ Denmark
% Cheltenham, England
# Disneyland Paris, oh I am running out of space...

Websites I vist daily :
@ www.voetalzone.nl (soccer)
$ www.redeemer.ca/webmail
% tons of blogs... see blog links
# www.nos.nl (news)

Four favorite foods:
@ Shoarma (Shawarma)
$ A mom cooked meal of salmon, fried patatoes and veggies
% home made pizza
# sheperds pie

Favorite alcoholic drinks:
@ Bailey's on ice
$ Wine (many sorts)
% Smirnoff Ice
# That's right no beer, I am not a big beer drinker

Four favorite non-alcoholic drinks:
@ Orange Juice
$ Sprite
% Water (ice cold or running water)
# Milkshake

Four favorite musicians:
@ Simon and Garfunkel
$ Jamie Cullum
% Article One (formerly Appartain display)
# Rod Stewart (it is so hard to choose)

Four places I'd rather be right now:
@ In my old church with all my friends from there
$ At a hockey game
% In our old store
# Chicago

Last 4 books I have read:
@ a few of the Narnia's
$ Some bible books
% God in the Alley
# Physical Geography chapter 19

Last 4 movies I have seen:
@ V for Vendetta
$ West Side Story
% Walk the Line
# Save the Last Dance

Thanks to Steve.

By the way drop by dorm 36 next year!
That is where Nathan, James, Evan, Josh, Peter, Matt, Steve and I will be living!!

fun week(end)

While most people are busy with papers and test, I am priviliged with hardly any of that at the end of this term. I only had a test and lab on wednesday and from now until my exams I am done! So, it is time for some pre-exam fun. Last week I had the Mosaic dinner, which was a pleasent event. Now I just came back from a movie and a great night at Ashley, Kara-Dee and Jill's place. With the guys from my dorm we watched V for Vedeta, it was a really good movie, that gets thinking. Tomorrow, I have my ATeam social for the end of the year and saturday I will be going to a Hillsong United concert. Sunday is my birthday, and I'll probably celebrate it monday evening (I think). All this continues until my last day of classes next week wednesday.

I can't believe how wuick this year has passed. It seems only yesterday that this all began. There have been so many memories over the last year, it is hard to remember everything. However, there a re still a few weeks left and I plan to enjoy them!

It is a kinda sad small update, but that's all for now! - God bless, Willem

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!