Long live independency

Olé olé...

I've been feeling sick since Friday, but Yesterday it broke loose. I coughed till my longues dried out. How our welformed bodies wait patiently for weekends to get sick Sigh.

Anyway... I wasn't sick enough to stay in bed all the time... but couldn't stay up longer than 10 minutes withour feeling like fainting either. I'm too sick to do things, but feel good enough to be able to think instead of just sleep.

And I get a little grumpy whenever I'm sick. I worry about the things I can't do right now becáúse I'm sick. Like when to meet my niece when I can't make it to her birthday, or where to do the laundry...

see... we don't have a washing machine.

And it got me thinking about the following:

If washing machines didn't exist, then less women would've been able to work full time in some office. You'd really need a day at least to do the laundry.

Men wouldn't be single that long, cause they would still live at their parents house, or marry earlier. Why? They'd need someone to do their washing. ;-)

hehe, sounds funny huh? but I'm not really kidding.

It's not just the washing machine,

It just struck me, that we need eachother.

I need someone to make some tea when I'm too sick to do that. I need someone to pick me up when I'm down. It could be my friends, people from my local church, my housemates, my family, my better half... my point is just that I'm not created to be totally independent!

There's a hole system of merchandising and society-atmosphere that proclames independency.

If I should believe television, I could actually start believing that I'm able to live independent on others, and still find happiness.

But I just want to state here: we were made to be dependent upon eachother and God!

When I look around me, I see lot's of people (especially singles, but married couples as well) who're trying their best to be independent, to live 'their' lives independent on others and independent on God.

We work 9 till 5, do the jobs that need to be done in the house, clean, cook or (worse) use microwave-food cause no-one is cooking us something and we're to tired or busy to cook ourselves.

Try to do sports, keep up with their 'social lives' (if that doesn't meen: trying to keep as many contacts to feel more important)
We don't need God, we plan our lives and what God intended us to be is unimportant or too scary cause it might just be exactly what you want to be. ;-)

If we get tired, we forget that God wants to give us real heart-peace. But instead we'll buy shoes, eat more chocolate, work-out more or work a bit harder to forget we feel empty and unaccepted.

And somehow the community provides,

If we want, we could oursource our entire lives to people we don't really know that much. People who wouldn't ask you how you are; babysitters, grocery-delivery-services, microwavefood, msn.

Man, If the supermarket could chew our food for us, we'd let them.

Yes, I know, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit.

But I just want to ask you,

Are you, deep inside, busy with trying to be independent?

When you'd like someone just to be there, would you call someone, or actually hesitate because you might interrupt someone elses "fresh&clean" independent lives?

Men, do you ask for directions sometimes? What is it in you that you don't do that?

When I'm really honest, I know sometimes I'm too proud to ask for help. And I hate it.

Because

we're not created to live like that!

hyacinth

It's been an interesting week again.
Confusing, tiring, amazing, surprising,
as the weather was stormy,
so my thoughts were rushing thorough my head.

I started this week waking up too late, I was late for work and was confused during the rest of the day.
But it ended quite well.
Tuesday we had a meeting for the Art-Of-Connecting (www.yfc-zeist.nl) that was really good. Wednesday, ate with a good friend of mine, haven't seen him for a while, so that was really nice.

Thursday...
was kind of hilarious really; We had some new-years-festivity going on at work that evening.
Quite a party that was, with a band playing lot's of Stevie Wonder - and other danceable stuff. Somehow just a few people danced. But it was just fun to be there anyway. I like Stevie, so I was being of the few who danced. It was fun.

Friday!!!!!!!
:-)
Right after work I jumped into a prayer meeting which was close to where I work. It's the national week of prayer or something. I didn't know, I just knew there was a prayermeeting, and I really really REALLY wanted to go there.
It was wonderful to meet perfect strangers from another church. Something within me went 'click' when I met these people. Not because of mutual interests or backgrounds or even the church-culture we are in.
We started with eating together, sang a few songs and then started praying.
Every time I meet other christians... no matter what church they're from, we're one.
We're really all just a part of one body; the body of Christ.
And we're all different,
like a toe is different from an arm,
or your eye is quite different from your stomach.
every part of the body, has a different look, a different function, another thing it does,
and if every part of the body does it's job and is healthy, and is well treated and loved by the other parts, then the body is whole, complete and stable.

Imagine your nose will try to see like your eyes do.
Then your nose will do a horribly poor job smelling, and it will be a pityfull thing to see.
Imagine your nose being your eye, and your eye trying to be your kneecap,
my Lord, your body will be pityfull and totally messed up. And every single part will be really frustrated trying to be/to do what they were never made to be/to do. Your body will end up not functioning at all.

Did you all know one day SOON Jesus is coming back?!
Well He is,
And it sais in the Bible that He will come back to take His Bride, His beloved church,
Believe me,
He is not coming for a bride that is pityfull and messed up.
He is coming for a pure bride.
I believe Jesus wants the chirstians to be ONE
to function as ONE BODY, loving eachother for what they do and the way they do it.

It's just so wonderful to see a glimpse of that during such a simple evening with fellow-christians in my hometown.
And if you're asking me what I'm doing here in Zeist...
I'm determined to use this time in which I'm not really involved in one particular church, to join the different churches and enjoy the way they go with/for Jesus.


Yesterday we had another prayermeeting. Different people, different organisation, same story. God is building His church, and I'm really glad He's got it all figured out.
For more information: http://www.yfc-zeist.nl/ and http://www.jongerengebedsdag.nl/

(P)REVIEW

So 2006.
This picture taken in December represents it... (It'll be better If you'd click it)
Colourfull
Interesting
Tiring
With dark moments, but also
new insights,
walls to jump over
mountains that moved and
mistakes I've made by which I've learned.
and - obviously - a camera to take pictures with (glory) now you can all enjoy the beauty of the sky every now and then. ;-)

2006

This was Christmas December with a Diner Together with my housemates (table)
We went to the movie Happy Feet.
But celebrating christmas at the days before that has been good as well.
With "all" my posible families: My moms family, My dads and the church.

Friday I had a (special) year-closure-diner with my dad (cake :-))



In this is a hopeful me, I enjoyed last years Autumn,
But I'm SO looking forward to this new year!
Looking forward to jump into Springtime, new places I'll go, People I'll get to know, The people and art that will move me and hopefully I'll be able to encourage others myself; being exactly where God has me.



At January 1st this hope was being confirmed by this afternoons' sky
I want to wish you all A VERY HAPPY AND BLESSED 2007!!!