A poem about belonging
One sister here wrote to the other a rondeau/ rondel A Rondel/rondeau is an eight-line song that was widely used and sung in the Middle Ages. Another example of a rondeau is In Flanders Fields I’m sharing this poem here with permission, but I am not allowed to mention who of the sisters wrote it.…
High water in the Low lands and a Winterwonderland
Our second lock-down here in the Netherlands was disrupted by a wonderful surprise. First of all, due to the melting snow upriver in Germany and Switzerland, the rivers rose 14 meters above sea level. Normally, most of the Netherlands/Lowlands are below sea level—hence our country’s name. Every year, I feel the adrenaline rush through…
A hidden life in a time of crisis
“One day we know what it’s for, there will be no more riddles; we’ll know why we live.” Franziska Jagerstratter Obviously, the pandemic is taking up quite a bit of our attention. Unfortunately, it could make us silently overlook nearly 75 years of liberation since World War II. The film A Hidden Life was released…
Unexpected!
Our friend Jantien, recently became a mother after nine years of waiting! She wrote a lovely text in which she played with words and perspectives. I asked her if she wanted to be a guest blogger. And she agreed! Quite a change to have such a little one to take care of. Is n’t he…
A walk to the well
15 juni 2019- My friend and language teacher Laura invited me to celebrate her birthday in their Vikendica in Bistrinci. A small second home, where local people often spend their weekends. The literal translation is Little Weekend. It is localized on the outskirts of town. 30 kilometers away from Osijek.…
C.S. Lewis’s Ideal Day and (y)ours?
These unusual weeks of working from home make you think: How did other people—before us—do it? I was thinking about C.S.Lewis as his book Surprised by Joy was laying around in our living room, and someone mentioned his description of his Ideal Day during a conversation at the table. In Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis…
Natasha fights for peace
Natasha points to some words on the street: “Now is the time to make your dreams come true!” I walk with her along the Drava River in Osijek. “Look! We put this kind of phrases here to give depressed young people a little courage. There is so much despair! The aftermath of the Yugoslavian war…
How a beggar became a pastors wife
How a beggar became a pastor’s wife It was Summer 2013, and our family visited the little church in Darda for the first time. We met the Nicolić family: Đeno, Biljana, and their four children. Đeno led the service, and Julianna, our translator, whispered: “This is remarkable. He is here just for a few months…
The religious map of Croatia
In the heart of the square of Osijek is an angular bronze statue. A big, heavy man points to the ground while he gazes with a stern look to the horizon. This country, this land, is Croatia. Only God and the Croats themselves make out what is happening here! These are the words on the…