Signs

PRAISE THE LORD FOR QUICKLY ANSWERED PRAYERS
AND A SIGN I DIDN'T DARE TO ASK FOR!

Do you believe in signs from God? Do you believe it's okay to ask God for a sign?
I find it a very tricky thing. Because when you ask for a sign about something, it's so easy to see a sign when it isn't there.

So, I was praying about a certain thing with a friend of mine and we asked God for some clarity. But I think I was afraid to ask God for a sign. Maybe God doesn't want to tell us everything and we just have to learn to trust Him. But the very next day something happened that looked like a sign to me........twice! So, I feel like He gave me sign I didn't ask for! How awesome is God!

What are your thoughts on signs?

Yes, I'm still alive!

I don't even know what to write.
It's not like my life is boring or uneventful or anything.
But nothing stands out at the moment.
My head's full of thoughts, but I guess they're a bit to personal to mention.
So, I guess this is all for now.
How lame!!!
Oh wait, I thought of something! We might get an aquarium at reception!
How cool is that!

Dinner

Yesterday I prepared dinner for 20 people in less than 2 hours, including a vegetarian meal with tofu! Quite impressive I think.

I'm not bragging, I'm just a little proud of myself!

Lesson nr.1

Lesson learned today:

Do not attend any meeting, gathering or whatever for any other reason than actually wanting to be there. It's most unsatisfying!!!

Example: do not go to a birthday party for the food if you don't like the person whose birthday it is. In other words: no ulterior motives!

Mr Darcy!

Bryan McFadyen in Pride and Prejudice

Martin Henderson in Bride and Prejudice



Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice






Who do you think is the cutest (or hottest, or whatever) Mr Darcy of them all?

(My goodness, I'm so superficial!)

Fav CD of the moment

At the moment I listen to Kelly Clarkson a lot. She has some cool songs. Here are the lyrics of one of my favourites:

Hear me

Hear me
Hear me
You gotta be out there
You gotta be somewhere
Wherever you are
I'm waiting
'Cause there are these nights when
I sing myself to sleep
And I'm hopin' my dreams
Bring you close to me
Are you listening?

Hear me
I'm cryin' out
I'm ready now
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me
Hear me
Hear me
Can you hear me?
Hear me

I used to be scared of
Letting someone in
But it gets so lonely
Being on my own
No one to talk to
And no one to hold me
I'm not always strong
Oh, I need you here
Are you listening?

Hear me
I'm cryin' out
I'm ready now
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me

I'm restless and wild
I fall, but I try
I need someone to understand
Can you hear me?
I'm lost in my thoughts
And baby I'm far
For all that I've got
Can you hear me?

Hear me
I'm cryin' out
I'm ready now
Turn my world upside down
Find me
I'm lost inside the crowd
It's getting loud
I need you to see
I'm screaming for you to please
Hear me

Hear me
Hear me
Hear me
Can you hear me?

Hear me
Hear me
Hear me
Can you hear me?

Oh, oh, oh, oh...
Hear me
Hear me
Hear me

Some random thoughts...

I had some trouble sleeping lately, and when I can't sleep I think. Here are some of my thoughts:

Have you ever had a desire or longing so strong that it hurt? (I know I have!)

I should really go to the zoo! I love animals . I love looking at the fish in the big aqaurium, it's so relaxing! I would like to go to the one in Arnhem. Anyone wanna come?

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11: 28-30. I had to think of this after a couple of nights of not enough sleep)

I wish I could go on vacation to Turkey for a week. That would be so lovely!

Talk about randomness! "Random" is my favourite english word. And "flabbergasted". It's just so funny!

Dilemma's

I think I'm going through a bit of a dipje (dutch for uh... yeah, I don't know). Which makes me wonder what it is that could help me out of this. But it's not that easy, cause I run into all kinds of dilemma's. For example:

I want to spend some time alone, but I also want to spend time with my friends

I want to be outside of the Shelter for a while, but I don't want to miss out on anything
I want to be out of the christian environment, but I still want to spend time with God
I want to relax and do nothing, but I don't want to waste my time
I want to spoil myself, but I don't want to waste my money

So, as you can see, I have a hard time figuring out what I want.

Any suggestions ?

Phone phobia

I have a phone phobia. I really do not like speaking on the phone. Weirdly enough I had two jobs where I had to answer phone calls all day long. I never pick up my mobile phone. I always let it ring and then I look who called me and decide whether I'll call back or not.
But I think I'm not the only one. At Willemsstraat (where we live) we all hate picking up the phone. So if you would call us the change is big that we just don't pick up. I think we should have an answering machine. That would be cool.
Thinking about this reminded me of a really funny Seinfeld episode. In this episode George pretends not to be at home and he used a song to be the message callers hear on the answering machine. It goes like this:

"Believe it or not,
George isn't at home,
Please leave a messaaaage at the beep.
I must be out,
Or I'd pick up the phone,
Where could I beeeee?
Believe it or not,
I'm not hoooome!"

Makes me laugh!

Nothing to write

I have nothing to tell you, so I just wanna show you this cute cartoon!

Picture time!

Check out some random pics at my Xanga!
(translation: look at these nice pictures on my other website)
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=nynkevanfoeken

Lists!

I was reading Matt's blog and I got inspired to put some lists on my blog as well.

Five books I started reading but haven't finished (yet):
-Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
-The Horse And His Boy by C.S. Lewis
-The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
-Love and Freindship by Jane Austen
-Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Ten countries I want to visit:
-USA
-Mexico
-Italy
-Sweden
-India
-Russia
-Australia
-China
-Ireland
-Portugal
(and Poland)

Five favorite things to buy when I go shopping:
-Books
-CD's
-DVD's
-Cosmetics (make-up, perfume)
-Shoes

Five movies I could watch over, and over, and over...
-Little Women
-Pride and Prejudice
-The Lord of the Rings trilogy
-How To Loose A Guy In Ten Days (I'm not kidding!)
-Bridget Jones's Diary

Ten random things about me:
-I like to eat sweets in even numbers
-I would like to learn to speak Italian, Russian and Romanian (and Polish)
-I had over 30 crushes in my life
-I am proud to be half German
-I'm allergic to most pets (except dogs)
-I smoked about ten cigarettes in my life
-I've never been kissed
-Or asked out on a date
-I'm so sad!!!
-I love Magda, my Polish friend

Praise the Lord!!!

Praise the Lord, he is so good!
I was having some trouble with money lately, the trouble being not having enough of it!
I had to pay some bills and the reason I couldn't pay them was because I spent money on other stuff that I didn't really need. I felt kind of stupid and guilty about this.
So, I decided to pray and I asked God to help me to be more responsible with money.
And God is so good! He really helped me out! Me parents sent me some money and today I received my tax refund, and it's even more than I thought it would be. And I also receive pocket money today!
The weird thing is, I don't even feel like shopping. Normally I would go out and spend, spend, spend!
God is really teaching me and blessing me!!!

Some other stuff

By the way, I hope you realize that my worries about loneliness were just temporary! It's not like I was depressed for days! I'm actually doing really well!

I made a lot of pictures lately, so I will soon put some of them on my Xanga site!

Amsterdam rules!

I spent some great days in the city! There is so much to see and to do here. And the weather was great. Everything is nicer when the sun shines!
Yesterday I went to see a french movie at the Filmmuseum. I went together with Laurissa and Leticia. The movie had dutch subtitles. That was good, cause my french isn't that great. I guess it was a little harder for Laurissa and Leticia because they don't speak dutch. The acting in the movie was very dramatic, I loved it!
I should really do some more exploring in Amsterdam. My sister keeps telling me to see stuff and to go places, and I never do. But this saturday we're going to the Prinsengrachtconcert! I'm looking forward to it!

Happiness, loneliness and other thoughts.

I thought about happiness today, and how I never seem to feel completely happy. And I was just thinking about what things would make me happy.
Ofcourse I have very good days when I feel very good and happy and satisfied with the way things are going, but on other days I just feel down and start to worry about where these feelings come from and what I can do to prevent them!
I'm happy to live here in Amsterdam and work in the Shelter. I love it! But I'm a little scared of the time after this. I'm afraid I'll have to go back to a boring office job and face everyday life. It makes me think about how to plan my future. I don't know how to do it!
If, for example, I was dating someone and we were planning on getting married, then I would know what the future would probably be like. We would plan the wedding, find a nice place to live, both find jobs, and enjoy life together. But, being alone, I'm not looking forward at all to finding a job and a place to live. What's the fun in living alone? Okay, maybe living alone is not so bad, but how do I prevent myself from becoming lonely?
I guess that's what I'm trying to do. Preventing myself from becoming lonely.
Here in the Shelter it's easy, there's people everywhere! But what about Friesland? My best friends don't live there. They live in other parts of the Netherlands or outside of the Netherlands! Who am I gonna hang out with?
I thought about doing a DTS next year, but I realize that doing a DTS would also be another way for me to prevent being lonely, and that's ofcourse not a good reason to do it.
I know this entry is maybe a bit heavy and not really fun to read, but this has been on my mind and I would like to hear other peoples thoughts about it.

Let's Dance!

Yesterday evening we had a Samba and Salsa night at the Shelter Jordan! It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed dancing! I don't dance a lot here, except when I'm alone in my room.
Dancing must be one of the things I love to do most, but it's one of the things I hardly ever do. How come? Well, I think some of the reasons (at this moment) are:

Not knowing any dancing schools in Amsterdam
Not having any time to take classes
Not having any money to pay for them
Not having anyone to go with (or dance with, you need a partner for stuff like ballroomdancing)
Not being able to finish a course of a year because I'll probably move back to Friesland in five months.
Not having the right clothes to wear
Etc, etc.

I guess I could make it work out if I really wanted to. Maybe I'm just a little scared to actually go through with this.

But I should, because I LOVE DANCING!

Time for an update

Hey, I haven't blogged in a while. So here's what has been going on:
I spent a wonderful week at home with my parents and sister. It was soooooooo relaxing! Cecilia came to visit me and we had lots of fun. We spent a lot of time hanging on the couch watching movies and Friends! Cecilia was the perfect guest!
Lately I've been thinking about doing a DTS......in the States! I really wanna experience living in another country for a while. And why not the States? I found a cool DTS in Denver, Colorado.
If I'm really going through with this, then I'll come to the USA in september 2006!
Yeah, that's still a long time from now. But I like the idea.
I told my parents about this idea and the expression on my dad's face just said: "Oh no, she's gonna need more money from us!"
But the plan is to make all the money I need myself. So hopefully I can find a good job after working in the Shelter.
So, yesterday I tried to put pictures from my digital camera unto a CD. That was torture! It took me two hours to succeed! Somehow all my pictures got erased from my memory disc, that was not supposed to happen! But luckily I have them on a CD now. And now I have some room on my memory disc for pictures of all the Shelter people that are leaving.
Yep, it's that time again. This week is a non-stop goodbye party! Lots of people are leaving. And lots of new people are coming! Some new Dutch people as well! That's cool. I think nationalities will be a little more diverse now. All the Americans will be replaced by Germans, Swiss, Dutch, Jamaican and African people. Can't wait to meet them!
That's my update for now.
So, how've you been?

When the pee stinks!

The hills are alive,
with the sound of music!

Oh, I love that movie! It's cheesy, I know.
But it's a part of my life. I must have seen that movie at least once a year since I was 4 years old.

A while ago I was singing songs from The Sound of Music at reception with Laurissa. We had lots of fun, but I'm not sure what the guests thought about it.

A few days ago one of my friends here, Cecilia, saw the movie for the first time. She made me laugh when she told me that she thought the lyrics of the song "My favourite things" were:
"When the dog bites,
when the pee stinks!"

Hahaha!

Yep, that movie is definitely one of my favourite things!

Feeling Old!

Okay, this new cleaner we have at our hostel keeps calling me 'ma'am'. I don't really like that.
It actually makes me feel quite uncomfortable (and old).
A few days ago I was looking in the mirror and I felt I looked different. I would like to use the words "more mature" but what I really felt was "old".
I try to convince myself that I only looked older because I was tired. But I found myself asking some people here if they thought I looked older than when I got here 4 months ago.
I will see my parents next week and then I'll ask them. They don't see me that often so they should be able to tell the difference, if there is any. I hope not...