And there he is, our son; Levi Martin van ’t Veer. Yesterday night, around 3:30, I felt the first contraction. Luckily you don’t forget experiences of this level, I knew immediately that things were serious. For a second I considered to wait it out, but good thing is that I didn’t. We rushed to the hospital, basically ignored every red light – I mean, time was of the essence! And an hour and 10 minutes later, we (well I) got to hold our mini man in my arms. The Bible tells us 365 times that we shouldn’t fear. “Do not worry about the day of tomorrow” and things like that. Even though I am aware and know this very well, things can stay a bit scary when you don’t know how they will exactly play out. But every time, looking back, I can see the hand of God in every step. The oldest two were taken care of, we reached the hospital in time, delivery went well and fast… And that’s where faith grows, testimony upon testimony, time and time again, the reminders of God’s faithfulness and love for us. And this confirmation was found again in our baby. The day before I gave birth I prayed: “but Lord,...
Learn MoreWaiting, one of the things we’re all doing at the moment. We’re waiting for the world to open up again, we’re waiting to see friends and family again – in a way that we’re ‘used to’, we wait to travel and wait to go out and see the world. And me? Well, I’m still waiting for our little one to make his entry. Today is the day I’ve reached 40 weeks, full term as the doctors would say. The baby is ready. But out of experience, I know that it can take quite a while longer. Worst case scenario, it’ll be 12 more days. And I am so done. I miss it to sit on the floor, to be able to play with the older two. I miss it to leave the house without considering where the closest toilet might be, because well you know, 5 minutes is about the max that I can go without. I enjoy the movements in my belly, but I miss it to sit comfortably on the couch, without cut off nerves or well, a constant water melon laying on your lap. Last week I came across the following Bible verse: “Be completely humble, and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”...
Learn MoreSome of our good friends have been abroad for a while now, they left in the beginning of January. Right before leaving, they put their car up for sale, which has been at her parents in the meantime. The parents are out and about for a while now as well, so, we were asked to babysit the car. And in case a buyer would be interested, that we preferably would sell the car. You have to know that we’re not talking about a fancy sports car, but a simple –ugly- little red car. Standing there, on our doorstep. At some point last week, just passing by the car, I asked God if He just could make sure that this –ugly- car would get sold, so that I didn’t have to look at it anymore. The next day, Rein gets a message that someone is interested. And yesterday, these people came by. And the car? Sold! Hurray! While this is a fun story, this week wasn’t all that glamorous. Something I prayed much harder for, much more serious as well, didn’t happen. Not the result that I was hoping for. But still I believe that prayer works. Because I know, that it’s not because I didn’t pray hard enough, or...
Learn More
Counting down to Easter, I never thought that that would be something that I’d do one day. Well, several days. Until this year. I’ve read different books about family life these last couple of months, and several mentioned celebrating – and with that counting down to – Easter. When you think about it, we actually celebrate the most important moment in our Christian faith with this event. And if we count down to His birthday, why not to this one? Last Sunday, we read about how Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey. The leaders of the church – no Sietse, temple – weren’t happy with that. But Jesus didn’t come to be the king of a city or a country, no, He came to be the King of our hearts. At least our oldest got that part. We made a donkey out of our foot prints (well, the boys) and we wrote ‘Hosanna’ on top of it. This piece of art is proudly presented at the first day of our countdown. We had to wait until Wednesday until we could do our next event. I called it ‘feet washing Wednesday’, because it sounds fun. A few days before I prayed unexpectantly (because yes, those prayers exist too) that we’d...
Learn More
Do you know those days, or weeks, or maybe even months, where you’re just so incredibly distracted? Every time you want to do something, it seems like someone needs you. If it isn’t one of the kids who’s thirsty or just pooped, it’ll be the cat that wants to go in our out, or just the general buzzing of my phone. Apparently, it’s a huge challenge to give mommy some time to do something fully concentrated. Which makes me postpone, because I’ll be disturbed and distracted anyways. So, I leave the small stuff hanging, since I won’t be able to do them anyway, because you never know who will need you in that exact moment. That’s why I fill up my days with the small chores, things that can be easily interrupted; cleaning, laundry, tidying up… But my brain longs for so much more. It feels like my once very active organ is changing into a huge Jell-O – just to be able to connect to my lovely toddlers. But my 28-year old brain would like something too, just once in a while. What about the evenings? When peace and quiet has filled the house, because the kids are asleep? The evenings? What is that? Those zombie hours that...
Learn More
The last couple of days have been a great preparation for the baby to come… Our currently youngest (for approximately 4 more weeks) had a fever. Just like that. It started in the middle of the night, and lasted throughout the entire following day. I must say that the day time was really nice, Jeppe is already a very cuddly child, but now all day he was extra cuddly. And in a calm way. Well, a passed out way. The only thing is that this normally energetic kid has had his share of sleep problems. I have been told that sickness can mess up sleep training, well I can now confirm. The night that followed, he didn’t want to sleep in his own bed, same for naptime the day after. And I was already tired. So tired. Hello sleep deprivation. Of two days… In a couple of weeks, we´ll start a cycle of a couple of months. And it breaks me, no sleep. If they ever have to torture me for something, take my sleep away, and I´ll give you what you need. No, in all seriousness, it’s tough. It’s my biggest fear of the newborn stage. Since last week, I’m reminded of this Bible verse over and over...
Learn More