That woman you gave me

My new phone uses the same size/kind of charger as Matthijs's phone does. That means we can just borrow each other's charger if one has forgotten it at home or can't find it.

Not being able to find the charger happens more often than one might expect. It's not that our new place is huge, even if it is almost twice the size of our place in Amsterdam. There's also not that much stuff in it yet, so it's fairly easy to go searching through everything. The problem, however, is that we still don't entirely have a place for everything in the house and tasks and work times fluctuate quite a bit.

The other week Matthijs managed to lose his charger for several days. I'd noticed that he had confiscated and moved my charger, and I asked him where his was. He wasn't sure - he figured he must have left it at my work.

After several days of his still not finding it, he complained about its absence and how he couldn't figure out where in the world he could have put it. Only then, after noticing his searching for several days, did it occur to me. I had, several days earlier, cleaned off the counter and placed his charger in what is, in my head, the equivalent of the drawer we had in Amsterdam for this sort of thing. It was probably not my best moment, even though Matthijs did appreciate I had FINALLY thought about it and told him about it.

Prayer and wisdom

I am beginning to realize that campus ministry is a lot about being open to unexpected moments and opportunities to minister. It seems a bit strange to consider that watching, waiting, reading, and reacting are fundamental to the job description. Such a description feels too far removed from the busy activity and problem-solving mindset that permeates so much of this culture, including church culture.

It's not that things can't be busy or there's a lack of things to do - answering email being a part of that! It's simply recognizing that this calling means looking for how God might be working,  caring for those around me, and doing my best to share the hope, joy and peace of God whenever and wherever I can.

Today a group of Christians are coming to Michigan State, arguing that the world was created in 6 days. Their communication thus far has been alienating and offensive to the scientists at MSU. As a fellow Christian, I am bothered by this and frustrated by how this group has limited and misrepresented the gospel.

At the same time, in the midst of this negative event, there has also been good. Because of what's happening, I have been able to connect with some of the grad students affected by this, providing encouragement for the good work they do and supporting them in their concerns. And today I get to go to campus as a pastor, representing the gospel, a gospel full of hope and joy, wisdom and grace. I pray that I might have the words and non-words to do that well.

Fall at Michigan State

Autumn has always been my favorite time of the year. I love the beauty of the trees turning colours. It was different in the Netherlands, and I've missed it.

The following pictures I took while I was walking through MSU give a glimpse of some of the beauty of this season.

One large adventure

Much to my delight, Matthijs has now been here a week. It's been an adventure.

For me it's been hard at times. I'm super glad he's here, but i find it hard to figure out a healthy balance for work, especially since I didn't have to have balance when he wasn't here (No one used to care if I worked at 9 am or 9 pm or every moment in between). And i don't know how to sort out how our relationship will get affected by my being the one going to work now. What does that mean for household chores and expectations? And how do I ask and expect stuff from Matthijs in a way that's realistic, recognizing it's rather hard adjusting to a new country? And what does the role of a pastor's husband even look like?!? Perhaps it might help if I knew what the role of pastor looked like....

So that's the less fun part of the adventure.

The real fun has been had in the adventures Matthijs and I have undertaken together. Even my normal life is more of a fun adventure because Matthijs is here!

Yesterday was the big trip to the Secretary of State. For those unfamiliar with Michigan, this is where you get a driver's license. Without studying, Matthijs managed to pass the test and get his learning permit, which means he can practice driving with anyone who's had a license for awhile. We went driving together tonight. It went well: i.e., the car stayed on the road, no thing/one got hit, I didn't get stressed out in the passenger seat, Matthijs seemed fairly relaxed, and our relationship is doing fine, as far as I can tell. Matthijs practicing driving is definitely going to be the great adventure of this month....

Matthijs also agreed to join me in playing broomball with church and campus edge folks. Running around after a large plastic ball with a fake broom, in sneakers on ice, isn't my immediate idea of fun, but Matthijs said he would if I would, so....
It was actually lots of fun, minus the sore back/ behind for 4 days.

And what else? We've had people over already, despite not having enough furniture (because hospitality is about welcoming people and not first about having our act together). And we've been exploring our new neighborhood.

Stay tuned for more adventures.
And hopefully some pictures. Not because the adventures are so photo worthy, but because I get to experience fall here again, and the colours are even more beautiful than I remember.

So what does my job look like?

Now that I've shared photos of my new house, it seems also appropriate to share a bit more about what my life looks like here. I have a real job now (with a paycheck even!), but as a lot of my work involves writing emails, thinking and praying, as well as talking to people over coffee, it might not seem that much like work. On top of that, I have a lot of freedom about how I spend my time and where I spend my time, which means that I could easily rearrange my time so I could be free for my dad's visit last week (although because of that I think he has the vague suspicion that I don't actually work that hard....)

Most of the time I truly love what I do. I get to share the good news: how loving God and following Him can be such an amazing blessing, not necessarily an easy one, but one full of joy and hope and fellowship. I also get to ask how one's academic discipline affects one's faith and vice versa. Or, as the person I was talking to this morning phrased it: we shouldn't have to park our academic selves at the door when we participate in church nor should we have to leave our faith at the entrance when we live our academic professional lives.

To give a concrete idea of what happens with the ministry, I often post stories and thoughts from our Bible studies on the website of Campus Edge Fellowship. This semester we're talking about the book of Amos in one study and sex, intimacy, singleness and relationships in the other. Your prayers for us, as well as your wisdom on these topics are appreciated!

My schattige huisje

In Dutch, schattig means cute and huisje means little house. A friend of mine used the words to describe my new place, and it's an apt description. It's also the first time in my adult life that I've rented a house unattached from any other building. Although it's more than big enough for 2 people, it's still fairly compact, which contributes to it being cute. For those of you living in North America, it'll look like a pretty typical house, but for those living in the Netherlands, it's quite a bit different.

The following gives some pictures of the house so that you have some idea of what it looks like, at least until you can (hopefully) come visit in person. Half of the kitchen is missing (it was messy), as is the quite large (but dirty/dusty) basement. Furthermore, most of the living room is missing, as it's missing furniture. We'll be getting some eventually, but if you're more than welcome to help us with that, if you'd like :)

kitchen - theblue is a bit overwhelming

kitchen (2) - thanks to Bette and Diego for the table!

the covered front porch - opening immediately into the living room

The only shelving at the moment - in the future, it will hold the games and knick knacks, but now it's a book storage space.

bathroom

bathroom

bedroom - there's actually more than 10 inches between the bed and our clothes in this one!

Bedroom - the closet will be much more full when Matthijs and his stuff arrives

Bedroom  - note the cat window and a lovely dresser from Bonnie and Jim

Front bedroom, aka Matthijs study and/or the spare room. Thanks to Blythe and Pete for the lovely orange curtains! (and the other ones that you've seen previously)

And since we have all these lovely pictures, I thought I'd also include an extra one : Jerry meeting a squirel in front of the neighbour's house.

Biking and Privilege

A fascinating blog entry comparing biking and white privilege has been passing around Facebook. Through comparing white privilege to the "privilege" that cars have on the road, it provides a helpful analogy. It's not that whites are oppressive to blacks or even necessarily racist, it's more that there are systems set up that benefit whites and make life more complicated for non-whites. It's worth reading to help one think more about the issues.

What makes the article more interesting for me is that the person writing it bikes in Lansing - my new city in which I also bike. Most fascinating to me is that his experience has not been mine. Perhaps it is because I have come from a place - Amsterdam - where the system is set up for bikers. It is there that I learned how to pay more attention to others on the road because even if the system was set up for me there would always be those who broke the rules, whether that be bikers running through red lights, tourists on bikes, or taxi drivers. That is not something that I had learned previously, making me realize that we North Americans have developed a system/attitude that is less safe for pedestrians and bikers. We have also not learned how to share the road well, whether that be with (other) bikers or even other cars (e.g., merging or letting others in). Because I have lived in a difficult culture, it is more obvious to me what we are missing in this culture. I expect the same to be true when it comes to white privilege and racial issues.

Reading his article has also reminded me that not everyone experiences white privilege (as a white or black) in the same way. Different from him, I have found that most cars have given me much room, erring on the side of the caution as their uncertainty of how to relate to me becomes apparent. I have found roads and areas that are bike friendly, even making their proximity a criteria for my new place. So even as I miss the bike culture of the Netherlands, I have felt safe and welcome here - a very different story from that of the other biker in Lansing. I think that is also what makes white privilege complicated to understand: because everyone has different stories and experiences, it is hard to see the difficulties clearly.