I’m flying up to Vermont with Bets on Friday to go skiing with my aunt, uncle, and four little cousins. I’m really excited! I’ve never been skiing before – from what my uncle tells me, my youngest cousin Cote (6 or 7 years old) will be the one teaching me. The rumor is that he’s the fastest and best skiier of the family. It’s going to be about 4 degrees, and we’re going to be about a mile away from the Canadian border. I think we’re going to try and take a day trip over to Canada one day which will be awesome.

Home is great. I’ve spent most of the day today just relaxing, drinking good coffee with my mom and dad, writing emails, taking a hunter’s safety course online, watching Ice Age 3 with my little brothers, and just enjoying a break from school. It’s hard to believe i’m only a semester away from graduating.

I’m loving being at home. It’s been a really relaxing break so far. Nick and Julie were in town for about a week, along with everyone else in the family. They left this morning to head up to St. Louis to spend New Years with Nick’s side of the family. As always though, its been great having the whole family together for Christmas – all 14 of us now (Dad, Mom, Wim and Libby and Carrie Lou, Nick and Julie, Betsy, me, Marianna, Johnny, Carrie, Peter, and David).

One of the highlights of break has been spending time with my 6 month old niece, Carrie Louise. I’m loving being an uncle and spoiling her with time and affection. It’s funny – looking back I’ve never really found little babies to be all that “cute” or “adorable,” but when it’s your niece or nephew, all of that seems to change. I’ve spent hours at a time holding Carrie Lou, playing with her, throwing her up in the air and watching her giggle, trying to teach her how to crawl, spoon-feeding her spinach (her facial expressions were priceless – it was the first time she’d ever had spinach), and just loving on her. It’s pretty amazing. I love being an uncle.

Tonight, me and all the boys in the family (except Nick) are going to see a professional hockey game in the Nashville stadium. The Nashville Predators vs. the Chicago Blackhawks. It should be fun!

I don’t have a whole lot of words to say here… other than the fact that my Opa – Dr. Wilhelmus Schaffers – was a great and godly man. He died two days ago on April 20, 2009 after living 81 years. He used to always say, “I’m 11 years overdue. God says that the length of our days is 70 years… any time past that is borrowed time.” My granddad lived a good 11 years and 4 months past his “due date.” I thank God for his life. He will be greatly missed.

For those of you who knew him, the funeral will be Friday, April 24th at 11:00 a.m. at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church.

Psalm 90
A prayer of Moses the man of God.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place
       throughout all generations.
Before the mountains were born
       or you brought forth the earth and the world,
       from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You turn men back to dust,
       saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”
For a thousand years in your sight
       are like a day that has just gone by,
       or like a watch in the night.
You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
       they are like the new grass of the morning-
though in the morning it springs up new,
       by evening it is dry and withered.
We are consumed by your anger
       and terrified by your indignation.
You have set our iniquities before you,
       our secret sins in the light of your presence.
All our days pass away under your wrath;
       we finish our years with a moan.
The length of our days is seventy years—
       or eighty, if we have the strength;
       yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
       for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Who knows the power of your anger?
       For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
Teach us to number our days aright,
       that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
       Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
       that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
       for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
       your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
       establish the work of our hands for us—
       yes, establish the work of our hands.

My younger brother Johnny (15) just got his first deer/buck on the last day of the hunting season this year. He was pretty excited.. I wish I had the whole story to tell on here, but I have yet to get the unabridged version of how he got it. He sent me a picture though, so I thought I would put it up here for people to see. It would have been a pretty big 10-pointer, except three of the points broke off on the left side. It was big.

It’s Tuesday, January 6th. I’m nearing the end of my Christmas break. I am heading back to school early this Friday to get ready for the new students coming in for orientation. I’m excited about it! It’s always fun to be back on campus for a few days before classes start… it’s nice to have time to prepare for classes, buy books (I recommend amazon.com, half.com, abebooks.com, fetchbook.info), see people, and just get mentally prepared. I am definitely going to have to get mentally prepared… it’s going to be a tough semester. I’m taking intermediate accounting 2, principles of taxation, principles of marketing, business law, the family (a sociology class), global trends, and singing in chorale.

It’s been relaxing being home. I’ve been trying to find work, but it’s been hard to find anything. I catered for a new year’s eve party for Providence Catering Company in Franklin, but aside from that I’ve just been at home with the family. I went up to Charlotte, NC this past weekend to visit a friend and her family. That was definitely a lot of fun!

Prayer for my Opa would be great. Thankfully, God has allowed him to live through the Christmas season one last time and spend some good time with the family… but he won’t be able to make it much longer. He sleeps a lot and hasn’t been eating. Prayer for my family with that would be great.

Prayer also for finances would be much appreciated. I’m uncertain as to how I will find the money to stay in school. My parents are unable to help me with any money because their support as missionaries has gone down a lot due to the economy. Please pray. I’m trusting that God will provide.. one way or another.

I am finally back at home in Franklin, TN enjoying my Christmas break after a long and hard semester. It feels amazing to be able to breathe again and to just enjoy sleeping, eating great food (we’re about to have peach muffins and banana bread for breakfast), and just doing fun and random things. I’m going to start building a coffee table today, as well as a little rustic work table for the kitchen. I’ve made a few plans and measurements, but I really don’t know how they’ll turn out until I can get into the workshop and start building. Things that I make seem to evolve and change a lot in the actual process of building them.. :)

Family tradition that I’m excited about? Roasting chesnuts on Christmas day…

I am one class away from being done with fall semester 2008 (other than finals, of course). I cannot wait to be done! So close. Today was a good day. I slept really well last night (a first in a while…), and then had my last class periods of intermediate accounting, youth ministry, and cost accounting.. :) It was definitely a good day. I handed in my last project for youth ministry, and now all I have to get past is my four finals. I’ll be studying pretty hard the next week and a half.

I’m thinking of heading over to see my Opa and Oma in a little while.. I haven’t been over there since Friday. My Opa hasn’t been doing very well the last few days. He had his 81st birthday on Saturday… the doctors didn’t think he would make it that far. I’m just enjoying the time I have with him now. Prayer for my family would be great.

Twenty more days until Christmas. Wow. I’m excited. School is finishing up here… three more days of classes and then finals. I’m ready to be done. I’m excited for home, for homecooked food, for the warm fire in our living room, for good books, for family, for friends, for sleep (oh my goodness), for amazing food (yes, again), for music, for crazy movie nights and game nights, for starbucks coffee, for cool Christmas presents (hoping for some C.S. Lewis and Oswald Chambers books…), for Christmas lights and our Christmas tree… and everything that Christmas is going to entail this year. BRING. IT. ON.

I’m home now… currently sitting in front of the fire typing away on my sister’s dinosaur of a laptop… I’ve got a book next to me that I should be reading – In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz. I’ll get to it in a little while. I haven’t been able to write in a while so I thought I would take the time to write a little update. The family is scattered around the house.. a few downstairs playing the piano, a few in the kitchen baking bread and making broccoli-cheese soup for dinner, and a few upstairs.. watching 24 no doubt.

It’s been so good to be home. Relaxing and restful… School has been busy and somewhat discouraging the last few weeks. Studying and writing papers has all but consumed my time, and yet, I don’t seem to be doing as well in my classes as I would like to be. It’s frustrating and very discouraging to spend four solid days studying for a single test.. and to scrape by with a C- (cost accounting). But i’m learning, and I guess that is what really matters… I’m trying to remind myself of that anyway. As my accounting professor has so often reminded me – failures and how you deal with them are what really determine a person’s character. Failures present the opportunity to either give up altogether or to persevere and learn from your mistakes. All that to say, it’s been a humbling and learning experience… and a character-building experience, no doubt.

A few more weeks of the semester.. and then Christmas!

I’m finding that coffee is one of my new favorite comforts in life. Strange because a little over three years ago I couldn’t even stomach drinking the stuff after it had been diluted with creamer and four spoonfulls of sugar. My Opa drinks coffee like it is nobody’s business… always has. My parents have always had their special times each day when they drink coffee together – every morning over the Bible and every afternoon around 4:30-5:00 p.m. when they wind down the day together. I finally started drinking it just so that I could sit at the table with the “grown-ups” and talk with them after dinner… though the first couple years I drank it, it could hardly be considered coffee once I was done with it. My sisters would always tease me say, “Would you like some coffee with your sugar?” Click to continue »