So much has happened in the last few weeks. It's time for a new blog!
We celebrated the wedding of our older daughter in Brazil! And it was just as exotic and beautiful as it sounds - just like in a movie! Our son-in-law's family is so nice! And Brazil is more modern than I expected. You can even fill up your regular car with alcohol, which is cheaper and better for the environment. People are very friendly and relaxed. It's easy to strike up a conversation and no one causes stress. I could really slow down and never felt like I had to pretend. It's okay if you're tired or late. Everyone was very helpful, generous and hospitable. Only the jungle feeling was missing a bit in the big city, but at least there are big parks and wild parrots.
The wedding was on a lake with a wooden land, in a Ficus Benjamin forest. Beautiful decorations and lights. All guests very nicely dressed. But no seating arrangements. After the wedding ceremony (which was very well organized) everything was a bit more relaxed. (We even practiced how to walk our daughter down the aisle). By the way, it was really nice that we could bring her to her groom together, both parents, not just her dad.
Immediately after the wedding we went on vacation to the sea (separated from the bride and groom of course). The sunsets so close to the equator are very special! We waited for this spectacle every day. And we enjoyed the time together as a family. Shortly after we had to say goodbye to our youngest daughter who is now on the OM ship Logos Hope in West Africa and the Caribbean for one year. Now the girls' room is completely empty. We have to get used to it. But we are grateful and happy with her for this adventure! Many people are supporting her, even our dentist and family doctor!
Now it is getting quiet again. We are helping the new couple set up their apartment. I'm starting to promote book number three, which will be released in early September. And I'm thinking about my next writing project. (I have already submitted book number four for next year. Then the children's series will be complete.)
In addition to all these beautiful things, there are also sad things. That's life, and that makes it even more precious. Two friends and religious role models are finishing their battle with cancer. Knowing that they will soon die, they bravely say goodbye to friends and family. They know they are going to heaven, to be with Jesus. That death only seems to win. And yet it is a leap into the unknown. A leap and God catches them.
I pray for their families that God will comfort them. Years ago, I heard the best comfort from a friend whose baby died shortly after birth: Her husband desperately said: "Part of us is already dead!" But she replied: "Part of us is already in heaven!" What a perspective! So some of my friends and family are already in heaven or on their way there. This comforts me and gives me hope.
Life goes on here. People marry and babies are born. Literally and figuratively. Life grows and changes. New stages and new adventures come.
God goes with us. Even across borders. No matter if countries, times or dimensions.
God's love and mercy never leave us.
Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7 (MB)