Welcome, 2009

This is the last post written in 2008!
A new year is going to star, with new things starting along with it, and old things finishing with it. Because,

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace."

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

You can't imagine how quickly has this year gone by to me. It seems like yesterday we all gathered around the clock downstairs and waited for it to struck twelve. I remember everything.
And now we'll be starting a new year!

2008 has been a great blessing to me. I've learnt many new lessons and have grown to love God more and more each day.
This year's been different from all other years; I'm not sure why and I couldn't explain the reason why it appears to be different, but it is. My life used to be normal, but through this year many things have changed it; and I'm thankful because all these things have taught me many precious lessons, and I've grown to be a lot more patient; I've grown to trust a lot more; I've learnt how to persevere; I've learnt so many other things that I cherish. God's plans for us are amazing!
Small glances to my 2008...

Family fun...

Discoveries...

Longings...

Beauty...

New horizons...

Dreams...

Thoughts...

Work...

Studies...

Friends...

Wonders...

Sighs...

Resolutions...

Rain...

Creations...

Brightness...

Freshness...

Visits...

Patience...

Accomplishments...

Colours...

Complexity...

Weirdness...

Hopes...

Games...

Cuteness...

Change...

Imagination...

Inspirations...

Sweetness...

Anneish things...

Chaos...

Reflections...

2008 brought to me all this and more. God has been great to me, and will continue to be so for the rest of my life. God is good!

Through this post, I want to wish all of you a

very happy New Year!!!

I hope you will have a blessed start and have a wonderful 2009, and remember, I love you all very much!

Farewell, 2008... Welcome, 2009!

Old CD's As Lights In The World

We were lately blessed to receive a visit from a Dutch lady that is a missionary among ship's crew in Alaska.
Among other things, she showed to us old CD's that were recorded in various languages.

It was a very simple contraption. The CD was in a cardboard envelope that could be unfolded. One of the sides had a sharp point stuck to it:

This point was placed on the CD, and placing whatever was round (in our case, a pen) in the hole on one of the sides of the white circle and starting to make the CD rotate, the Gospel could be heard.

The lady told me this was started when a lady went to preach in South America, and really enjoyed and loved it. One day she fell sick and had to go back to the USA. Her sickness was somewhat serious and she had to stay in bed for a while, and she became worried that the people she's preached to wouldn't hear the Good News any more, so she had her voice reading the Gospel recorded on these CD's in the language they spoke, and then had them sent to the village where she'd been. It was so easy to make them work that everybody could listen to God's word once again.
I really enjoyed her stay, and if you could pray for her and her work with the sailor men, I'm sure she would appreciate it!

A Little Walk In The Middle Of Nowhere

More Autumn for you all!
These are the pictures I took two weeks ago - it was still Autumn - and thought I would share them with you. I must have been in the mood for photographing, because most of the pictures I used to take of something usually came out horrible and the ones I took that day came out quite nicely - to my taste.
It was a very cold day, and my nose turned red very quickly. Thankfully I was wearing lots of warm clothes and my new scarf and hat, so I didn't suffer that much.

This cat was extremely fat, and I just couldn't help to take a picture of it. It looks so happy and contented in the picture.

This dog kept following us around; we named him Jack

This is my favourite picture of all of them. I don't really know how I took it, what kind of button I pressed... what do you think of it?

This is another "surprise" picture, a picture that came out nice enough to my taste accidentally. Though the forest is all dark, I just love the way the sky looks. The clouds were the exact same colour in real life.