Christmas break: family, peace and homework

"2,5 weeks Christmas break... Plenty of time! I will miss everybody so much, it's so long!"
-2 weeks later-
"Where did the time go? I have so much things I still want and need to do and school starts Monday!"

Yes, this Christmas break flew by, but not because it was so incredibly busy. It was actually really peaceful, but productive at the same time because I did a lot of homework. January is a crazy homework month at my school, so I'm glad I got these weeks to catch up.

Some examples of my homework are... reading the Bible, doing a 4-hour long Bible study on 2nd John, reading a book called 'Supernatural ways of royalty' (incredible!) and filling in the 'Supernatural ways of royalty-workbook'. That workbook is filled with 175 pages of questions like "What would you not be willing to give up if God asked you to" and "What are the 10 rules/beliefs in your home/childhood? Which ones do you still recognize as truth and which ones not as (completely) true anymore?" and "If you was raised to become the President or Queen of the country, on what areas would your behavior and beliefs be different than they are now?" and "Do you get your identity from the things that you do or the things that you are?". It takes me sometimes 10 minutes to answer a question, because I have to think so deep and really reflect on some things. Really good, really practical and life changing.



So the content of my homework is amazing, but the locations I'm doing my homework, have my prayer-time and my 'think and journal'-time is incredible too! One of my favorite places on earth is the Alabaster house: the prayer house of Bethel Church (and the 'prophetic garden' around it). It's a room that's open 24/7 for everybody who just needs a quiet place with a peaceful atmosphere to focus on God without getting distracted. I love biking there in the mornings, especially when the sun shines on the snow of the mountain tops and I can enjoy the beautiful nature around me. And after that nice bike ride I get to spend a few undisturbed hours with my King before I head back and start the rest of my activities. Love it!



This break I stayed in Redding, so I had to miss my family who are back in the Netherlands. But luckily there's a Dutch family here in Redding who 'adopted' me and my roommates as 'spiritual daughters' and are taking such good care of us. We can always stay there, just to enjoy the family feeling for as long as we want. These last weeks I spend more nights at their house than in my own apartment! The house is filled with amazing inspiring people and my conversations with them are some of the highlights of this break. Some people have the ability to change your mindset completely and make you think about things you were 'sure of''. They are that kind of people and that's the kind of people I want to surround myself with. I always want to keep learning, keep changing and keep thinking.

At that "Dutchies house" they have a backyard where I sat down to journal and do homework for an afternoon. I was sitting in the sun next to the glittering Sacramento river, it's as warm at January 1st in California as it is in May/June in the Netherlands. I love it! Birds singing, ducks floating on the river and squirrels chasing each other between the trees. (sounds really romantic, but since someone called squirrels 'a rat with a really long tail' I find them way less attractive!)



What a privilege to live this life. :-)