Winter in Eindhoven

Just a short blog to share my day with you.

It snowed last night.. much more than we all expected...and much more than it did in years..
This resulted in the biggest chaos i've seen in years in my hometown.
I haven't seen so many cars stuck on the road in my life..
I haven't been in such a long trafficjam in my hometown ever in my life.
And never.. did i have such a long journey to work..
Usually it take me about 30-40 minutes.. today it took me 2,5 hours!!

But besides the long journey.. this was one of the coolest days of this winter!
Playing the snow with the kids at work.. enjoying the pretty sights..
I loved it!

So.. here are a few pics of winter in holland!

Hello 2009!

Happy New Year!

I can't believe 2009 is already here.. Time really flies..
I can remember this exact day last year.. Januari 1st 2008.. the day before i left to Portugal.
I remember having a party and saying goodbye to aalll my family and friends.
A year has passed.. and looking back i can say this was one more amazing year. Maybe one of the most amazing in my life.
I look back on so many blessings, and I'm really grateful to God for everything he has given me in 2008.
All the new friends, the places I've been, the things He led me to do. It was absolutely amazing!
And this really makes me excited about 2009. Because I know God has so much more in store for me (and you!). Great things will happen in 2009!
I'm excited and really can't wait to see where God is gonna lead me this year, what great things He will do.
I really hope you can say the same thing. I hope you feel the same excitement, the same passion burning inside of you to be the person that He wants you to be. He can use you and me to do great things in this world.
A world that needs God, that needs Love.
All we have to do is be available. Say Here I am God. Take me as I am. Mold me, Use me.

Show me a vision like Isaiah saw,
Where the angel touched his lips and he sinned no more.
Let me hear your voice saying “Who shall I send?”
I’ll say send me Lord,
I’ll follow you to the end.

Show me a vision like Eziekel saw,
An army of light from a valley of bones.
Breathe life into these lungs of mine,
So I can scream and shout of your love divine.

Search light, burns bright, floods my eyes,
Invade me, serenade me, I’m giving back my life.

Here I am send me,
Here I am send me,
There’s nothing in my hands,
But here I am send me.

I’m in Jacobs dream seeing heavens gate,
Let me climb all night on my ladder of faith.
Wrestle with the angel till my body is weak,
Dislocate my bones for it’s you that I seek.

Show me the light Paul apostle saw,
When he fell to the dust and he could see no more,
Open my eyes, open my eyes,
Open my eyes, open my eyes.

Search light, burns bright, floods my eyes,
Invade me, serenade me, I’m giving back my life.

Here I am send me,
Here I am send me,
There’s nothing in my hands,
But here I am send me.

I’m frightened what you’ll find,
When you open up my heart,
I’m walking in the light,
Cos it’s light that changes the atmosphere,
So touch these lips that criticise,
And put a song in my mouth that opens our eyes

Here I am send me,
Here I am send me,
There’s nothing, I'm nothing, There's nothing, I'm nothing
But here I am send me!!!

May this new year be full of joy and happiness and may the Lord lead you (and me)to places where you can be a blessing to others!

Love,
Deborah

Lar Evangélico Português needs your help!

Hello you :)

Thanks for taking time to read this!
As many of you may know I've lived in Portugal for the first 6 months of this year, to work in a childrens home. I won't tell you all about what i've done right now, cause it will take me ages and this note will be way too long. :P
I just want to ask you for some help.

On Februari 21st I'm organizing a charity concert. The band Everlife (USA) and Nuclear PLayground (NL) will play a great show that night, and besides that we will share something about this childrens home, the work that we have done, and are still doing there, we'll try and find some new sponsor and raise (alot of ) money, we hope!Now there's a thing.. to organize this concert i need €1500 (which is about $2000).€1500 i dont have. Now i've been writing potential sponsors for 3 months, with no results. I was about to give in when God spoke to me recently and told me to not give up, to hold on and trust Him.I believe there are people like you all out there that would like to help me.

So let me tell you something about the childrens home.Lar Evangélico Português is a home in Maia, Porto, Portugal, which roots go back to 1968.The family Machado started taking kids and older people into their house who were suffering from the post war financial crisis. Although they had a limited income themself and could barely take care of their own family, they wanted to share everything they got with the people that had less.Their house got too small pretty fast and thats when Lar entered the world.In the past 40 years many kids have past through the home. Many of them are still connected with the work.
Right now Lar de crianças e jovens (children and youth) has around 65 kids in the age of 3-26 years old.Kids who come from broken families. Parents who use alcohol and/or drugs, mothers who are prostitues, parents who are in jail for crimes of every kind, neglection, fisical and sexual abuse.. all these things are things many of these kids have experienced in their young lifes. Things no one should ever experience!They provide these kids a new home. A safe place to stay, a warm family where the love of christ is spread.
In the 6 months i've worked there I've experience love above everything else.And thats really what these kids need. a Family. People that love them. Many of them never experienced any kind of love before they got to the home. The home doesnt only provide them food and a bed to sleep in, but also education, and many activities. The people that work there, give everything they have, to give these kids the best they can, for a very limited salary. I really respect the work they're all doing.

Thats really why i want to do so much more. And one thing we can all do to help them, is to support them financially.All the work they're doing costs alot. They're supported by the government but that money is just enough to pay the staff. They dont have money for food, clothes or hygiene products. Thats what they need us for.

By organizing this charity concert i hope to raise alot of money. Money so they can get proper food, so they can get clothes, so they can take a good shower.. These isnt luxuy.. these are things we all NEED!

Now.. i have some questions for you..
Are you willing to help these kids and give them the things they need?
Are you willing to make 2009 a better year for them?
Are you willing to spend a little less on your own christmas presents, and spend a few bucks on this project??

Yes.. even a few bucks.. every little bit helps!
I believe we can pull this off.. TOGETHER.
I really can't do this on my own.. i need people by my side..

You can donate something through paypal.If you dont have paypal but still want to help us out please send an email to deborah.flep@gmail.com and we'll work something out!!
Thanks you for your time and have a wonderful christmas!

Love,
Deborah

Business of the Season

I know i know I'm a real bad person.. it's been over a month since i last blogged!
I got caught up in all my work, family things and preparing for the december month!
So.. what's been going on in my life...

I got another cousin!! Her name is Lynn.
She's my grandma's 10th granddaughter!
The girls rule in our family ;)
I've seen her quiet a few times now and she's so beautiful and absolutely adorable (as you can see on the picture!).
What a miracle! :D

School has been quiet busy. I'm finishing my internship in the end of januari and i have some things left to do. Have to read two more books and write reports about them, and have a couple more reports two write about the work i'm doing (and those are not just a few pages :S).
So that's some work left to do. But I'm sure enjoying my time at Bambino's Home! The kids are so sweet and i really like the people I´m working with!
They offert me a job after I´m done with the internship which is truly a gift from heaven cause I´m gonna need some money! so Yay God!

Besides work and school I´ve been working on a charity concert.
I´m organizing a concert in our church with Everlife (US) and Nuclear Playground (NL). It's to raise money for the childrens home Lar Evangélico Português, in Porto, Portugal (see last blog).
I'm still working on finding individuals, groups, organisations, church etc. that want to sponsor us. We'll need a max. of €1500 for the expenses of the concert. I'm hoping we can get that money together cause i really want all the money we raise that night to go to the kids!
So if you know people, groups, organisations, anyone, who wants to sponsor us, let me know!! Cause we really need help!

For more info you can check www.myspace.com/everlife and http://everlife.hyves.nl
Februari 21th 2009, Baptisten Gemeente 'De Schuilplaats' Eindhoven
Be there! ;)

This week was my birthday. Oh what a week. On tuesday i had to work, so the kids sang happy birthday for me and made me a nice bday crown. Oh lucky me :p but it was a fun day!
In the evening i had a little party at my house with my family, which was very nice!
And yesterday I had another little party with my friends. Oh we laughed so much, i really love my friends!
Ingeborg, Helmya, Natasja and Martijn gave me a crepe maker. A thing to make crepes (du-uh), which are basicly.. really thin pancakes.. only they taste different.. you can eat them with chocolate and whipped cream, with ice cream, or with ham, cheese and mushrooms... and with many mor ethings probably but thats what i've tried to far!

Can't wait for next weekend when we go to 'Zeeland' with most of our friends. Gonna be such a great weekend!
I'll be making crepes of course! ha i hope it will work!!

Well I'm gonna leave it with this for now.. I know i promisses picture from Porto..
I'm working on the video! Hope i can finish it soon!

Have a great week!

Love,
Deb

Porto: A trip never to forget!

Hello all!

Gosh it already passed by.. This trip was long to look forward to (looking back.. we booked our flight on july 23rd.. only 3 weeks after i got home from my internship in the childrens home!).
I can say.. 5 days were just too short. We did soooo many things! Let me give you a short sumary of the days! Me, Helmya, Ingeborg and Natasja on our trip to Porto - Portugal.

On wednesday we left home around noon to head to Brussels South Airport (Charleroi). Our flight was at 4.45pm.
After a 2 hour drive from Eindhoven to Charleroi we checked in a waited for departure.
Everything went well and at 6pm local time we landed in Porto.
Leonor and the kids (a small part of the family i used to live with) were already waiting for us.
Gosh it was SO great to close my arms around them! I really missed them so much.
The kids were a little shy ast first, but that was fast gone when we went the the playground, to pass time waiting for Emanuel.. who was.. of course late...
When he arrived we drove the his parents house where we were staying.
After a warm welcome we had a lovely dinner and gave them our gifts from Holland.

Jumping in to my 'own' bed that night was awesome. I was back home again.

On thursday we went shopping in the new shoppin centre "MARshopping", with Leonor, Emanuel and the kids. We dropped the kids at the playground where they were taken care of, and were about to have a whole lot of fun. That shopping spree was so much fun. and so expensive. ha. but i bought some real cool new things!

That evening was our first visit to the children's home. Lar Evangélico Português. I really was SO excited to see all the kids again. And so were they. Kids were flying into my arms as soon as i walked in. The looks on their faces were priceless.
It was great to be back and spend some time with the little kids. I totally love them!
We also brought a golden envelope to give to Daniel, Isabel, Madeleina, and Emanuel. We collected money at our church the week before (at the choirs concert) and were able to give them almost €420. Money that was very welcome, and very needed in this time of financial crisis. It's great to see how God is providing everything in such different ways.
I truly hope i can continue to be of meaning for the home in the next years!

On friday we went the the 'Quinta' (farm) of Leonor's dad in Abragão. Really.. in the middle of nowhere... but soooo amazing. I'd been there many times before and was again excited to go there.
On our way there through, we got stuck in Penefiel. We were smelling something really bad.. making jokes about it.. and soon after that finding out the car was smoking and the bad smell was our car.
Something with the gears... very nice..
Luckioly Leonor's dad could come and pick us up while the car would be taken back to Porto to get fixed.
The day at the Quinta was awesome. Me and Helmya went to take a little survival in the little river next to the house while the others went on a little jeep safari. Very funny when it started raining half way and we had to climb aaaaall the way back to where we started and got back to the home completely soaked. But it was SO much fun!

Later that night we went out for dinner at the Italian Restaurant (greeeaaaat lasagne) and went bowling after that. André and Guilherme (Emanuel and Leonors kids, 5 and 3 years old) were with us and joined us for the first time. You shouls have seen the looks on their faces. Really priceless! They had the time of their life!
Again Helmya won. I don't know how she does it.. i think she secretly goes bowling every week!

On saturdaymorning we once again went to the Childrens home for another visit. We just wanted to spend some more time with the lovely kids.
Once again is was unforgetable. It was great to be able to give these kids a little exta attention.
I love them and they all stole my heart a long time ago! (and i dont think they're planning on ever giving it back ;))
It's really great to see the good work of the home once again and to be a little part of these kids lives.
Our money is really used very well.
In the afternoon we went to Aveiro. I went their ones before with my parents. Great little town, but sadly almost everything was closed because of some holiday and the weather was awefull.
After lunch and a short walk through the centre we headed back to Porto to get a nice hot shower and get ready for dinner.
We went to out fav restaurant in Porto: Ar the Rio. If you ever go to Porto.. go and try that restaurant at the riverside! (at the side of Vila Nova de Gaia) We had a reeeaaal good dinner and headed to Emanuel and Leonor's house for desert: Crêpes com chocolate e chantilly! (crepes with chocolate and whipped cream)
Emanuel is real good at making them!
After the kids went to bad we played some Uno on our last evening! Great fun. And i won the one big final game! :) (that totally made my day :P)

On sundaymorning we got up with blue skies, so decided we should really go to the beach now.
We spend a few hours there untill lunch which were totally awesome. Perfect end of the holidays.
Playing with the kids on the beach and playing some baseball at the end.
Latr that day we had the most wonderful family lunch and had a chance to spend some time with everyone of the family. At the end we took some wonderful pictures and then the end had come.
Time to go back to Holland.
Way too soon really. None of us wanted to go back, but we really had to.
Saying goodbye was once again hard. We really wished we could stay longer, but work was waiting.
There's not really much to say about our flight back.. we were all tired and sad we had to go back.. and on top of that.. they didnt have much food in the plane.. we had t live on a cup a soup and some pringles we had left. (way to go ryan air for not having any food on an evening flight!)

We're all back to work now and already started the countdown to our next visit: June 2009.
8 months still... but a real good thing to look forward to!

I'll be posting a video with some pictures soon! So keep checking back!

Love,
Deborah

Spreading the Love: an update!

Hello friends!

So it has been 2 weeks if im right.. since my last blog.
I just thought I'd give you a little update on how things are going.

You know.. the past few weeks have been crrraaaazy. Work was so busy and i had every reason to like.. crash in the weekends and not be able to do anything more.. but nothing like that happened..
Of course i was tired in the evenings after a hard day of work.. but i didn't really crash like i usually do when things are as busy as the past 2 weeks.
I believe it has one reason.
Love.
Maaaaan, did this fill me with joy the past weeks! It makes me SO energetic!
The response I've been getting these past 2 weeks have made me stand amazed.
Not only have I been told I'm loved by many many people, God has also shown me how much He really loves me.

I can't even really find the words to explain to you how I really feel.
I'm just amazed by how much God loves me, all the things He has done for me and all the things He is still doing!
I enjoy riding my bike to work (for 20 minutes) everyday just because I get to see the birds waking up, the sun rising above the trees, and the AMAZING colors autumn is bringing us.
I can hear God saying 'Good morning Deb, welcome to this new day!', every single morning.
Isn't that amazing? God is great :)

So let me talk a little about the love I have been spreading, and what i've been experiencing through that.
I've done several things to show people they're loved.
I've told friends I love them, I bought flowers for my parents, I've done the 'boring things' at work so no one else had to do them, i've helped old people with their groceries, I've sent post cards, bought people presents, and I've gone to work and back every day greeting people on the way.
Oh you should see the smiles on the faces of every single person. The feeling of giving, is just indescribable. It just fills me with joy.

I'm really excited to see what these next 2 weeks are gonna bring me!
I'll make sure to share it with you all!

Now.. I am curious about your experiences! Tell me about it!

Love,
Deb

The Joy of Rain

The story starts on a rainy tuesday in September, in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
I finished work and ran to the busstop to catch my bus.
Waiting for the bus i started looking for my student card, when i realized it was still in the pocket of my other jacket. The one that was at home..
I got nervous and started searching my bag for money..ANY money.. somewhere?!
no. nothing. not a coin. nothing.

'You gotta be kiddin' me', i thought. 'Do i really have to walk home? In the RAIN?'

After sending a message to my mom to tell her i would take a little longer, cause i had to walk, i started my journey.
I plugged my iPod in my ears and crossed the street.
You have to know by now.. i was really frustrated and cold. Cold as in freezing. and i had at LEAST 30 minutes ahead if not longer.

Looking at the rain made me think of something one of the kids at work said some time ago. 'Aww it's raining! God's crying! We have to make Him happy!'
Of course we all laughed about that back then, but now it made me think.
What if God is really crying. What if He's really that sad?
If I look around in this world, i can see He has many many reasons to.
And if He was really crying, I would want to make Him happy. I would want to make Him smile again!

"So how would i do this?", i thought.
What makes God smile?
I mean.. what would be the most important thing.
Love, Love, Love. Say it out loud.. Love.
I believe it makes God smile to see us love eachother.

John 13:34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."

So this all reminded me of helpothers.org. I once ordered these little cards you could give to people, or just put in their bags or anywhere to spread the love.
Those cards were a really easy thing, but here was actually a postcard with is that said aaaaall these things you could do to show someone you love him/her.
Thank your Heroes, send flowers to a friend, read to a child, clean up your park, buy someone coffee, smile, plant a tree, volunteer, bake cookies for a neighbour.. many many things.
And you know... i just thought i should do this more often.. show people i love them.

So I challenged myself.
For the next month I will show at least 1 person a day I love him/her.

I hope I can challenge you all to do the same. It all starts with you and me, but you and me can change this world.
Let's brighten someone's day.
Let's Spread the Love!
For more love spreading ideas check http://www.helpothers.org/

Have fun! and keep smiling :D !!

Love,Deborah

P.S. I got home safe, soaked but safe.