Snapshots <3

So I know this girl. Her name is Cassie. She's absolutely amazing.

I love her.

Sweetness <3

Moments <3

Why Don't People Ask Us About Our Hope?

I was reading again tonight in my devotions, from one of my favorite books "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper... :) As I was reading through chapter 7, I came across these two paragraphs..ones that were very convicting reminders to me, and I want to share them with you...

'"There is no doubt that if we lived more like this, the world would be more likely to consider whether Jesus is an all-satisfying Treasure. He would look like one. When was the last time someone asked you about " the reason for the hope that is in you"? That's what Peter said we should always be ready to give an answer: " Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you" (I Peter 3:15).
Why don't people ask us about our hope? The answer is probably that we look as if we hope in the same things they do. our lives don't look like they are on the Calvary road, stripped down for sacrificial love, serving others with the sweet assurance that we don't need to be rewarded in this life. Our reward is great in heaven ( Matthew 5:12)! " You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just" (Luke 14:14). If we believed this more deeply, others might see the worth of God and find in him their gladness." '


...something to think about...

Precious.

A mother and her son.

So we discovered ....

...that William and I...both have one elf ear, and one round ear :D (poor guy :P)

William Timothy - Strong, to fear God <3

A new little blessing to the Kroesbergen family!!! <3

Welcoming my new little brother William Timothy Kroesbergen!!
Born December 12, 2009 at 8:37 p.m.
Weighing in at 7 pounds and 14 ounces :)
This handsome little guy has a head of dark hair, a full mouth, a button nose, clef chin and a good set of lungs...
Praise the Lord that he's healthy! Mom looks wonderful as always and our family is SO excited to finally have a baby brother!!

Oh I just LOVE him!!!

A picture from summer.

I'm not sure why, but this picture just makes me laugh. :D

*happy sigh* :)

It's like something wonderful and lovely has happened. I'm finally finished my exam! I'm not even gonna think about it...until I get my mark back :P for now...I'm done. No more stress!

I better have passed. :P

The other two <3

some goings on in the life of Amber and Rueben these past few weeks :)...


More than just excited to finally put the tree up.. :):)

All prettied up for the school Christmas program! (Rueben loves making faces..every other face besides a smiley face :P)

The two cuties at Webster's Falls :)..a surprise day off of school!

Amber and I at the Fall's...freezing.

It's still not completely finished..we still have to add the candy canes, but this is what it is so far! :):)

What happens when...

I don't know about you, but this makes me laugh. Like hysterically. :D



Oh the joys of photo booth :D

Angels From the Realms of Glory...

"PLEASE don't be changing key!" :P
(my thoughts at the interlude :D)

stressfulllll

I have to say...I really need to study. and I really need to pass. :S

...and this is how we relax :D

My super talented cousin, Ryan Vandenberg and I...

just one of my amazing cousins <3

My lovely cousin from Edmonton :) ....last Tim Horton's together till Christmas..



(Cheryl my younger sister, myself, Charlotte)

some goings on around the Kroesbergen households...<3

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Kurtis being a distraction while I attempt to ...study :D

brings back memories of our rubber boots days on the farm! :)

We are really and truly very serious sometimes ;)

My very pregnant and beautiful mother <3...one month to go!

Charity always seems to give the most smiles to Grandpa or Uncle Wes...Grandpa absolutely adores her :)

It is finished.

His body is lying beside his wife's.
In the ground, covered with dirt.
He's not there.
On this earth,
His body is no longer a temple of the Holy Spirit..
Opa's heaven, he's with his Lord.
His soul is with Jesus.
It's hard to let him go,
but I'm gonna see him again..
and that makes me smile.

Funeral details for Opa

Funeral Arrangements:

Visitation is Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 at the..

McCleister Funeral Home
495 Park Road North Brantford, ON
N3R 7K8

...and the funeral will be held Lord willing on Wednesday, at 10:00 a.m. at the Hamilton Free Reformed Church.
Internment to follow at Mt. Zion Cemetary.

Thank again for all your thoughts and prayers! They mean so much and it's such a comfort to be surrounded by so many brothers and sisters in Christ!

Life is but a breath...

November 13, 2009.

Klaas Pikkert

He's gone.

His life was full, and everything that he did, everything that he taught, he did because he loved his Lord with all his heart.

He touched so many hearts, he made an impact on so many minds and so many lives.

He was always such a special man, someone I always looked up to, someone who I will never forget for the wonderful, loving Opa that he was to me.

There's no more disease in his body, his body is perfect!

He has no more frustrations about not being able to communicate. He's singing in the presence of Jesus!

Those eyes which lost their sparkle...they're sparkling again!

He's not by himself, he's in the same place as Oma and they're praising God together in heaven!
Dad read this chapter last night by his bedside when we were all there to say our last goodbyes. It was one of Opa and Oma's favorite psalms and I just want to share five verses that are so fitting for this day in our lives...

Psalm 103:14-18
"For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them."



I'm going to miss him so much, but this is the best thing that could have happened to him and it's time to let him go, to be with his Heavenly Father.

I love you Opa.

Some verses I came across in my devotions this morning ..

1 John 4: 7 - 16

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but tat He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love on another. No one has seen God at any tim. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in Him."


and...

Chapter 5: 14-15

" Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

I love these verses :)

Thoughts..

God works in mysterious ways.

Some days I just feel like packing it all in and trying something different. Other days, I love my life and I love what I do, still other days I have a hard time trying to stay focused because I'm tired, or stressed.
To be honest, my life right now is crazy. I sometimes feel as if I have no extra down time to do anything to just...relax. And then I think, "well maybe that's being selfish." Because I mean, our lives aren't even our own to begin with, so what right do we have to live them around our own plans and preferences right? I don't know..it's something I really struggle with. How much time are we allowed to take for ourselves to just quiet down from our crazy, hectic schedules and use that time to spend more in His Word, or even just to enjoy the gifts of creation that He's created for us?

I'm really trying to figure out where that fine line is.

And then there's the moments in our lives, those days where everything seems to be going just the way we think it should go. We're happy, and there's really nothing that we feel should be different about it. And then it changes. Everything. You feel as if everything's turned upside down and you don't know what to believe anymore...time passes and then something changes. Again. Except this time, it's amazing. What you thought before would never happen, it does!...in the most incredible and miraculous way!

Those are the times, the days when you just stop. You can't help but lift your voice to Him. When everything seemed all wrong, when you couldn't seem to figure out why..it all makes sense. Sometimes I don't even have words for it. I don't know how to thank Him how He ought to be thanked. But I do with all of my heart, because I love Him, and I love Him for all the mysterious ways He works in my life. I love Him for lifting me up in His hands when I most feel like falling. When He speaks through His Word during the times I least feel like trusting.

I guess it's like when you're closed in all around you..the only place to turn, the only place to look , is up. Where He's there. He's never left, and He never will! ..Honestly, what could be more comforting than to have Christ, the Lord, our King surround you with His loving arms, and ever-present Spirit?

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15

"To everything 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 has been 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 to war, and a time of peace. What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set to the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh form the beginning to the end. I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put into it, nor anything taken from it: and God doeth it it, that men should fear before Him. That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past."

Spirit Breathed..

Hebrews 4:12

"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

and these people...I love :)

A sort of last minute Thanksgiving family picture :)
Left to right: Wes, Jana, Brad, Charity, Jacinda, Cheryl, Heidi, Mom, Opa, Dad, and me...

Christ bought every good thing and every bad thing that turned for good...

Convicting. Very.

- Excerpt taken from Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

"Why is this the case? Because for redeemed sinners, every good thing-indeed every bad thing that God turns for good- was obtained for us by the cross of Christ. Apart from the death of Christ, sinners get nothing but judgement. Apart from the cross of Christ, there is only condemnation. Therefore everything that you enjoy in Christ- as a Christian, as a person who trusts Christ- is owing to the death of Christ. And all your rejoicing in all things should therefore be a rejoicing in the cross where all your blessings were purchased for you at the cost of the death of the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
One of the reasons we are not as Christ-centered and cross-saturated as we should be is that we have no realized that everything-everything good, and everything bad that God turns for the good of his redeemed children- was purchased by the death of Christ for us. We simply take life and breath and health and friends and everything for granted. We think it is ours by right. But the face is that it is not ours by right. We are doubly undeserving of it.
1) We are creatures, and our Creator is not bound or obligated to give us anything- not life or health or anything. He gives, he takes, and he does us no injustice ( Job 1:21).
2) And besides being creatures with no clain on our Creator, we are sinners. We have fallen short of his glory (Romans 3:23). We have ignored him and disobeyed him and failed to love him and trust him. The wrath of his justice is kindled against us. All we deserve from him is judgment (Romans 3:19). Therefore every breath we take, every time our heart beats, every day that the sun rises, every moment we see with our eyes or hear with our ears or speak with our mouths or walk with our legs is, for now, a free and undeserved gift to sinners who deserve only judgement."

Charity continued :)

Charity - 2 months

Someone special...

So there's this adorable little boy and he makes me smile.

Is Eternal Life A Heaven Full of Mirrors?

Something that really struck me.

The following is a series of paragraphs taken from John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life.


"Now think what this means for God's love. How shall God love us? Mere logic could give us the answer: God loves us best by giving us the best to enjoy forever, namely himself, for he is best. But we are not dependant on logic alone. The Bible makes this clear. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoeverbelieves in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). God loves us by giving us eternal life at the cost of his Son, Jesus Christ. But what is eternal life? Is it eternal self-esteem? Is it heaven full of mirrors? Or snowboards, or golf links?
No. Jesus tell us exactly what he meant: "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus christ whom you have sent" (John 3:17). What is eternal life? It is to know God and his Son, Jesus Christ. No thing can satisfy the soul. The soul was made to stand in awe in a Person - the only person worthy of awe. All heroes are shadows of Christ. We love to admire their excellence. How much more will we be satisfied by the one Person who conceived all excellence and embodies all skill, all talent, all strength and brilliance and savvy and goodness. This is what I have been trying to say. God loves us by liberating us from the bondage of self so that we can enjoy knowing and admiring him forever.
Or consider the way the apostle Peter says it. "Christ also sufferent once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD" (1 Peter 3:18). Why did God send Jesus Christ to die for us? "That he might bring us to God" - to himself. God sent Christ to die so that we could come home to the all-satisfying Father. This is love. God's love for us is God's doing what he must do, at great cost to himself, so that we might have the pleasure of seeing and savoring him forever. If it is true, as the Psalmist says to God, "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Psalm 16:11), then what must love do? It must rescue us from our addiction to self and bring us, changed, into the presence of God."

~ Taken from Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper

the girls :)

what I love about them.

Dear Est an' Kay an' Teresa,

It's funny how some of my closest friends can be so incredibly different from eachother. I have to say, I have some pretty amazing ones. There's the "coffee dates" with four incredible girl friends...we end up having good talks, heart to heart ;), sometimes serious, other times bursting out in embarrassingly loud laughter right in the middle of a packed Williams Coffee Pub :P but that's what makes it good times. But it's not just the times we have, it's who they mean to me as friends. They've always been there for me, to listen, to talk...and every time I make a mistake about something in life, or screw up trust, they open up there hearts and find it in themselves to forgive me. .. even when it's the last thing I deserve. And that's why I love them so much. I love them for the good times we have, and the memories we make, but I love them for the hearts they have, and the wise women that they are.

They truly are blessings to me.

Love,
me

I'm sorry.

There are few things, that make me feel depressed and sad. But I have to be honest, one of those things is someone that I know all to well. Someone that forgets who she is sometimes, and someone who needs to be reminded of alot of important things.

In case there was any question in your mind, that someone is myself.

I was talking to a very special person today, a lovely wife and mother, an honest, caring, wonderful woman of God. My sister. It was brought to my mind...in her gentle way, of something that needs to change in my life. She's right. I know she is. And when I think about the mistakes I've made and the hurt that I've caused other people; the questions that have been wondered in other's minds, and the picture that I present in who I've been acting as a person...it makes me angry with myself. I know better, and why didn't I see these things? There isn't any excuse valid for what's been going on, and I don't even want to make any.
I want to apologize. To those of you who know what I'm talking about, for those of you who have been wondering certain things...I'm sorry for not being the godly example that I, as a daughter of Christ ought to have been. I realize fully the mistakes that I've made and I want to make them right. I'm asking you to please give me the chance to prove who I really am as a child of God, and to please forgive me for all the things that left any questions in your mind.

Please pray for me..pray that my life will be a picture of Christ, and that I will really live out the love of God in my life to those around me.

I love her.

Adorable..that's all I have to say.



trouble much? ;)



Sleeping Beauty no? <3



Charity has this thing for Grandpa..he can always get her to smile for him. Everytime. Jealousy. ;)



She needs hair clips..big time!