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Thursday, 24 September 2009

Monday, 24 August 2009

  • The Dutch Phenomenon of the Mint

    Yesterday morning, I did not preach and had the opportunity to sit in the pews.

    For the first time in my Christian life I experienced the Dutch phenomenon of the mint.

    The pastor had just read the sermon text and was delivering the opening lines of his introduction when I felt a nudge on my left elbow. I looked down and a roll of white, round mints was handed to me.

    At just that moment, I began to hear it...the crinkling of the wrappers.

    I chuckled to myself...and heartily joined in. As I unwrapped a mint, the noise it made contributed to the cacophony of crinkling.

    For a fleeting moment, I felt Dutch and passed the roll of mints back down the pew to where it came from.

    It cleared my sinuses, tasted good...and then it was over...just like that...the Dutch phenomenon of the mint.

    It's legendary, mind you.


  • ...At the peril of their own lives.

    Earlier today I had lunch with an elderly couple from the church and had a tremendously edifying time with them. They have been married for 55 years! Amazing.

    They grew up in the Netherlands. They shared some heart-stirring stories of their survival of the German occupation of the Netherlands during WWII.

    I was quite moved by their testimonies of the Lord's faithfulness to them during that horrible time. With tears in their eyes, they shared how they sheltered and hid Jews from the Nazis in their home. They had many close calls but the Lord preserved them and the Jews they were hiding. They didn't know about my father's side of the family being Jewish and my grandfather's survival of the Holocaust.

    They risked their very lives to help the Jewish people around them. I was given a wonderful opportunity to thank them for their courage and I shared my grandfather's story with them. We sat there for a moment staring at one another with watery eyes. We thanked the Lord for his providential care over our lives and families as we contemplated our weighty conversation. That was a moment I will never forget.

    While I've been in Lethbridge and have visited with several elderly believers from the Netherlands, I've learned that many of them sheltered Jews or brought food to them under cover of night...all at the peril of their own lives. I am profoundly grateful for their courage and testimony of faithfulness to the Lord.


Friday, 14 August 2009

  • I Need to Wear My Beanie Hat...


    It's cold and rainy today!

    Forecast Details for Lethbridge, Canada:
    Rain showers early then thundershowers for the afternoon. High 62F.

    I keep seeing locals walking around in shorts and a t-shirt in this weather. Canadians are a hearty people, indeed.

    It's August...yet it's January weather for this San Diegan.

    An early winter for me, I guess.


Wednesday, 12 August 2009

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