Mr. and Mrs. Marc and Heidi La Porte

It's already October 12th in Holland and that means today is the day that Heidi gets married! Wish we could all be there to celebrate this day with you two! "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

bye bye Copenhagen! Hello Amsterdam

Hey guys!

where are you ??? have all of you entirely dropped the blogger idea?

However... just wanted to say bye.. im leaving in a couple of hours for The Shelter.. I have on idea if I will meet any of you there... probably not, but that will leave me tons of time to actually see the Amsterdam sights that I recomended without actually seeing them for myself. And of course check out the latest in poster-fashion :-D

I'll bring my Digi-Cam and post some pictures of the wedding and all for you to see! And perhaps a pic or two from our lovely city!

Whats up with all of you? Boyfriends - Girlfriends - new jobs - anything?????
let me know!

Miss you all and would have loved to chill in "the Bos" or at Leidseplain, Vondelpark or even in the red lights :-D

Cheers my friends - hope to hear from you soon....

Carl

Off to Amsterdam!

Hey guys

I have just bought my ticket and will be going to Amsterdam to Heidi's wedding! Its going to be great.. Stay at the shelter, chill in the city, buy posters and eat tons of stoopwafels! Great stuff. I wonder if i'll se anyone of you there.. i'll be there from the 11th Oct. - 14th oct..

Update me on you lives..
please

cheers

Carl

the Faithful One

O lot is changing for us right now. After Amterdam I thought that it might be Gods way for me to work at my parents office and to live around my home-area. So I started a 2-year training to become an "assistant tax accountant". After completing that I worked another year without schooling. All this was pretty challenging and not easy at times. But God made it through for me and on friday I had my last workday.
We're leaving for the States on the 27th of July. I don't have a job jet over there. Right now it fells like our hole life is changing. Our appartment became a few piles of "stuff", our jobs, our families, the language we use.
Anyways, this time in Germany was difficult, in the same time so precious. And it just makes me praise our Faithful God.

lecker, strawberries

They should have weighed me and not my bucket!!!

lots-o-luv,
Andy

Pictures from the Faroe Islands

Hey Guys!

As promised... Here are some pictures from this often wet but gorgeouss place in the Atlantic Ocean!
Strendur - the small city (6-800 inhabitans) in which i live :-)

this is a tombstone for all the fishermen who have died at sea from this small city over the years!
Me!!! :-)
the sun shines rarely, but I have been fortunate! 2 days out of 8 so far! This is from my city!
This is a small Fjord 20 min from here. The landscape is so diverse, its awesome!

Maybe more will be uploaded soon!

take care

Carl

Greetings from the Faroe Islands

Hey everybody

Just a qucik hello from Strendur on Esteroy which is part of the Faroe Islands!!!

I got here this tuesday, and everything is going good!
I will be here for 2 more weeks for practicing to become a teacher!

the nature here is gorgeous, wild and rainy. it changes and children changes underwear (hmm???)

Well i'll post some pictures soon!
hope everything is going well with everybody. Keep me updated!

Cheers
Carl

and Dori... I'll pray for you!

grad school

Well, I've been accepted to grad school. Iit looks like for the next two years I will be living in Wake Forest, NC and working on an Intercultural Studies degree. Sometimes I'm excited and sometimes not. There's so much on my mind and so much going on! At the moment I'm a bit down and overwhelmed. I would appreciate y'alls prayers!
Carl and Andrew, thanks for posting!!
I love and miss you guys!!
Dori

Beautiful experience

I just wanted to add in addition to my comment on Andrews post, and FANTASTIC experience I had last Tuesday!!

Keith Caputo visited Copenhagen and it was brilliant. I was standing in front of him the whole time as he performed. It was so beautiful. The songs, the setting the music. I was touched to the very bone! I know alot of you guys don't like him, and thats allright, but nevertheless I had a brilliant night!!!! I have some photos on my cell, and i will try to get them on my comp. so you can see them, and share the experience with me!

otherwise check out www.keithcaputo.com ...

WOW

cheers

Carl :-)

Word up, Carl!

Hey Carl,

I thought about you this morning and was praying for you.

When I read your massages on the grouper, I thought it was about time I said something. So I decided to break the silence.

Sounds like there has been a lot of activity over the first part of the year for you with arm surgery and school and faroe island travels. Staying busy, eh?

I think I remember you mentioning something about pursuing teaching of some kind. Is that working out all right for you?

I have taken a break from school for the past two semesters. I am going back to Seminary this summer to start up classes again. I am taking a language and culture learning class this summer that is a part of the multi-cultural program. I have tried learning German a "million times" before, but never came out with much more than incoherent child babble. Maybe I will get it down one of these days.

During the time I have been off from school I have been discovering many things about myself.

I went to see the doctor a few months ago and he said that I was suffering from depression, so I decided to start taking anti-depressants. I feel a lot better now. The challenge now is to remember to take my pills every day.

I have also been reading a book called "Highly Sensitive Person" by Elaine Aron. A friend of mine, who also has depression, recommended it to me. After glancing through the book, I have realized that I get overwhelmed and over stimulated by chaotic situations in life. I have always wondered why I get tired a lot. Maybe this is the reason.

Anyway, there has been a lot of self-discovery and I am praying that it will result in a more manageable life-style for myself.

I am still living with my parents and working at the bank as a teller. I think this season in my life is simply about waiting. I am involved in my bible study group at church, so that gives me some community to relate to. But for the most part I am waiting. It gets hard sometimes watching the world rush by with busyness. Sometimes I wonder why I can't put more effort into hurrying to get somewhere or why I can't push my circumstances towards resolution faster. But then I realize that I don't have the energy for all that.

Mostly, I am trying to overcome the mindgames of worry. Trusting that God has not left the picture and that life is not always going to be "stuck" is a challenge, but that is my struggle for now. I am just trying to stay mentally available to do whatever God has planned for today.

I read your comments about having trouble praying and reading the Bible. I just wanted to say: "rest in God." OK. So that isn't so easy, eh? I am trying to do it too. But I want to remind you as well as myself of this: Your his child. He is watching out for you. He won't lose you. He knows your heart. Somehow, he will see you through. Just listen for him throughout your day and you'll be fine.

Anyway, I hope your doing well.

God's blessings to you.

Andrew

Luke and Lorelai 4 ever....peace!

Hey guys...

Just wanted to drop a note, that I have officially become DK's biggest fan of "Gilmore Girls"... I dont know what it is, but it is intriging??? have no idea how to spell that word.
Its horrible.. Every freaking day, i have to know whats up with the whole Lorelai Luke situation.... And whats the deal with Logan and Rory???

Lets have some feedback going here.... We need to .. hmmm I need to hear from you guys, and know what people are up to!

Cheers
Carl

going through surgery

Hey

People havent been on here for a while, but, if people see this thread, I just want to ask ( yet again) for your prayers.
Tomorrow the 1/3 2006 im will be having surgery in my arm. Its not a big thing, but i will be totally sedated :-)
The nail i have in the marrow of my arm, will be removed, and i am a bit scared. I hope all of you are having fun and enjoying life.

this was just my little request

cheers
Carl

Carl Update!

Hey Guys..

This is really crappy because I wrote a long post yesterday, and for some reason it didnt "upload" it.

hmm.. so here we go again!

First of all, i want to thank all of you guys for your prayers. It is so lovely to know that brothers and sisters in christ ( some you have never known) can pray for you and its is not i vein.
Let me start by syaing that I AM going to Faroe Islands!!! this is so cool, and scary, since im going alone and at the moment have no place to stay ;) hahah but no worries.

I started to read in my bible about two weeks ago, however, I stopped again for a reason i cant define. I was actually kind of enjoying it, so maybe i should take it up again soon :-)

Otherwise things are going good. A bit sick of school ( especially math and the math assignment im doing at the moment) But i'll live

Have been using a lot of time lately to buy a new aquarium and new fish. That is just great stuff! I cant wait. Next week i hope that the aquarium is up and running, and in two weeks time the fish are thriving

gotta go study

cheers
carl

just some pics from backin the day my band "acne vulgaris"

Muhammed cartoons vs. Semmy

In this redicoulous time, where the cartoons of Muhammed is filling a lot of, at least the Danish media, I wanted to let you remember out very own Semmy!!!!

At least once a year, I visit his website, which quite frankly has been pretty crappy. However today I visited it again, and to my amasement it had a new layout. But thats not all.... Now we can listen to Semmy's voice, as he is presenting his website with a voicemessage. Now thats just good stuff.

Where do i want to go with this? i dont really know! Just feel free to have a little laugh and be think of the good times semmy brought to the shelter. It beats burnt down scandinavian embassies every time!

cheers
Carl

PS. the website is http://www.semmy.com/ Never forget Semmy!

Hello all! :)
Thanks for posting things! I love hearing from y'all! (and thanks Treas :)! Here's a bit about me lately:
I have another new little neice. I don't have a picture at the moment but I am now an aunt 15 times. :) My sister, Danielle, now has 4 boys and a little girl. :)
Also, yesterday I visited a grad school. I'm looking into a degree in Intercultural Studies. I liked the school and if I go there, it would involve fairly quickly finding a church to join and moving down there probably in July for at least a year and a half. I'm also going to a vision retreat with a mission board that works with street children. So, I'd really appreciate your prayers for wisdom and direction! I'll let you know what happens. :)
I love you guys!!
Dori

Prayer request

Hey guys!

I am in need of prayer for some things, so if you can squeeze in a prayer or two that would be awesome!

First of all.. I have drifted away from God lately, and in some way i havent cared, but in some way i still know that it is wrong and i need to belong to Him! I have stopped reading my bible and stopped praying, and its not because i havent had the time to do these things, it just feeld as a burden. However please pray for me and me relationship to Christ

Another thing is that i have applied to have my teaching practice on the Faroe Islands for 3 weeks. I have contacted them, but need it all to fall in place before this wednesday. It sucks that i havent heard from them yet, because i need to find another place to teach. So please pray for me


Otherwise things are going great, im back at school and its all Ok, but im applying for The School of Design in Copenhagen this summer, and dropping out of Teaching. I honestly hope that this will work out, but the appliance test are seriously hard, and i dont think that i will make it trough the pinhole, but who knows.

Take care everyone

and Andy og tine.. thanks for the card! glad you liked the vase!

take care and.. merry christmas???

and thanks

Carl

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to wish you guys a merry christmas and a happy New year.
I celebrated my christmas at my Parents. good stuff with potatoes and duck and some other good danish traditional stuff.. yummi

Im leaving for Copenhagen today, where i am celebrating New Years eve with some friends from school. Its going to be awesome.
May god bless all of you in the new year, and provide lots of lady friends to us singles guys out there :-)

cheers
Carl

going to the chapel

if things went as planned... Shawna is getting married today... CONGRATULATIONS!!! :o)

collide...

it's been over a year since i've really let anyone in... i've kept myself at a distance from people for fear that i will miserably fail again... and i sometimes wonder if maybe isolation is better... at least that way i know i won't cause anyone else pain... and at least in isolation i would never again have to experience the indescribably excruciating pain of knowing i caused someone, a very dear someone, deep wounds...

the universiteit van amsterdam rejected me... and though my heart is still very much longing to be in europe again... doors continue to shut... i don't want to accept the fact that God is maybe saying no... but maybe He is... maybe...

and now i find myself in the midst of being invited to be apart of a community house here in portland... but i don't trust myself... how can i expect them to trust me? i am far too relationally klutzy... i don't want to cause anyone any pain again... plus my job situation is seasonal...

how do i commit to something when i am financially unsound and mentally and emotionally messy? but no longer can i remain in this paralyzed state either that has grabbed ahold of me for far too long...

and the howie day song collide has been on repeat in my brain all day long...

Thanksgiving

This year i had my second Thanksgiving in my hole life. It was great. With "a bit" of a German influence. Our family came over and we had dinner with a turkey (kind of). It was Andy and my first turkey ever made.
We watched "the Titans" because there is no American football in German TV. My niece Rahel and my nephew Nils enjoyed being spoiled.

So that was our Thanksgiving here in Germany. It is very special to have family. It is wonderful to be around them.
I don't enjoy my job very much. Also I don't feel like my life is here in Germany for good. But I like to say also for everyone who might feel the same way, that God has good plans. That in any situation He can and will give beauty. Like the beauty of being with family in my case. Or the beauty of playing with our niece and nephew.

I would like to give encouragement with this for those who feel like they are in a diffiult place. God is doing something, especially in this place.

the bled forest

Doug wrote this on his myspace blog today and it's so beautiful... i must post it here... (forgive me Doug...)

we should climb a mountain.

mountains like these.
and travellers.
and events that happen to them.
and they are versed.
trade a physical mountain for a spiritual mountain, stands between each soul and its goal.
we dwell here in the valley and travellers from valley to valley. we'd rather go 'round.
content to listen to the beards and flannel, the men with dogs and abused army issue artifact.
we in sight of the mountain our entire lives, and never enter wilderness.
only accompanied by the experienced guide do we take the best and least dangerous route.
only alone determine the will to take luck and grace and the unmarked trail.
in the bled forest i'll reach out my hands and find another hand and we'll join hands and it'll be my brother's hand. we storm castles this way.
at the top maybe we'll find you, and we'll find others, and we'll discuss our varying, no single or fixed number, non repeatable routes.

teaching fungus

Hey guys! Just wanted to add a litttle pic of me teaching my fellow students about .... well... fungus!





Ad this is of me finding... fungus. Great stuff!



Enjoy!

Cheers

Carl

This is my thanksgiving and this is my family (26 people and still growing). Below is Jaron, one of the two newest additions. Little Lydia somehow evaded the camara.
...God is good!!!

Thanksgiving sentiments

"To live with compassion means

to enter others' dark moments.

It is to walk into places of pain,

not to flinch or look away when another agonizes.

It means

to stay where people suffer."

--Henri Nouwen












I am thankful to share life's journey with you all--my friends.

I count it a blessing from God to know you.

Andrew

Hallo from the Vander Laan's :-) this is Andy and Tine

coldplay and plumb...

this gets me every time... especially the instrumental bridge to the chorus... good grief...

and all of this... is so beautiful to me...

every ounce

"Live. And live well. Breathe. Breathe in and breathe deeply. Be present. Do not be past. Do not be future. Be now. On a crystal clear, breezy 70-degree day, roll down the windows and feel the wind against your skin. Feel the warmth of the sun. ... Taste every ounce of flavor. Taste every ounce of friendship. Taste every ounce of life. Because it is most definitely a gift." - Kyle Lake

how does this thing work?

i know blogger.com is rather confusing... so here are four steps that will hopefully make this experience a little less painful...

1. go here: http://www.blogger.com/start
2. type in your username and password
3. click on the green plus sign to the right of life really lived
4. click publish post after you say whatcha wanna say

also, whenever you publish something, at the bottom of your post you'll see your name on the left and a comments link on the right... please click on the comments link to see how other people are responding to your post...

one more thing... if there are certain web-sites you frequent or give us more info on what you're up to or blogs that you really enjoy reading or organizations that you really respect... please let me know and i'll put a link to it under your name in the right hand column...

thanks you guys... love ya...

Hey Ya'll,

Signing in and say'in howdie.

Shawna, congratulations on the decision to get married!

and Hans

I think that look is good on you ;)

Cheers

Da Carl in da House!!

Hey guys... im in!

Hope everything is dandy wherever you are!
Here in DK it's all good.. I still think aboutu that awesome wedding we attended i germany. Thats was great seeing most of you there!

Well just wanted to announce my presence here at blogger, and Treasure... Is Grouper still running? My comp cracked and all my progs were erased :(

not goood!

Well

take care guys!

Carl

Douglas and Hans in the house!!!

can't wait to hear what's happening with each of you! post, post, post!!! :o)

another wedding!!!

hey you guys, this e-mail is from Shawna!

Hello all!

I pray that all of you are doing well. I am doing great! I do have some big news for all of you:

As you all know I am getting married, the date has changed...from May 20th 2006 to Dec. 10th 2005 (1.3 months away). I know many of you are shocked. I am too!

Andy and I have moved the date for multiple reasons:

1) I am finished school after thanksgiving break (Nov 28th) - reason: the classes next semester don't really apply all that much to me because they are primarily internship prep courses, and I am not going on internship.

2) Because I am not continuing in school I will no longer be allowed to be in the USA, that is without getting married.

3) Most importantly: God has called Andy and I together for a greater purpose than we know; What we do know is that we love each other deeply and we feel we can do more TOGETHER than apart for the furthering His Kingdom ("One person can defeat 1000 deamons, two people 10,000!")

We trust Him and lean in Him alone for guidance and direction, He has proved Himself faithful again and again - we have no doubt in our minds that this is God's plan for our lives - He will provide and bless His chosen ones.

This is big news I know, but wait...there's more:

Because I am done with school sooner than planned, I am not able to leave the country (go home for Christmas to Canada). So the wedding location has changed form Vancouver Island, Canada to Bloomington, Minnesota USA. We will be sending out invitations as soon as we book the church and reception hall - hopefully tomorrow.

This is just a heads up to let you know what is going on in my life right now and that you are all invited to my wedding on Saturday Dec.10th 2005.

If you are a christian I ask that you would be in prayer for Andy and I and the sudden change of plans and the large amount of stress that comes with this next month. We are looking for an apartment in the Bloomington area and praying for a caretaker position - manager of apartments - because we get free rent that way.

We know God has called us to this place and the church we are part of for such a time as this - For those of you who don't know, Andy and I are both leaders in our church youth group of 60 kids and growing.

I am sorry for the short notice, but God's ways are highter than our ways - and the plans that HE has mmade are good and true!

I love you all and miss you immensely,

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to e-mail me, or call me (if you leave a message I'll get back to you ASAP)

Thanks and God Bless - To God Be The Glory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shawna (& Andy)

yeah Shawna!

wow, you were quite sneaky, signing up and all without even saying hello! welcome, welcome, welcome my first floor roomie! :o) so, so glad you are here!

small prayers, big faith

Hello! :) Treasure said I should share this so here it goes...
I did a dumb thing tonight. I locked us out of the house. No spare key, no open windows, no cell phone and no car keys... So, I jogged down the road to where I work. Liz and the kids piled in the car and came to lend a hand and anything else we could find to help pick a lock. A half an hour later and nothing was working until Will (5 yrs old) said, we just need to pray. He dropped down and as soon as he started praying, the door came open. I almost wonder if that wasn't part of the reason for the whole evening... God is good!

so awesome!!!

welcome Alicia, Dayspring, and Sam!!! it looks like the invitation worked okay??? it's so awesome to "see" each of you... now start posting like crazy!!! :o)

and more from Tom!

thank you!

this place is asking for a wedding!

and here it comes...

the Reverends

the Bride and Groom

could those chairs be any farther apart? oh wait... they were... until Andy scooted over...

dusslingen

this place is asking for a party!

and here it is...

the newest Vander Laans and Ma and Pa Vander Laan

Bruce, Jan, Tine, Andy, Cindy, Tom

Damaris and KAS reading the wedding newspaper

anyone hungry?

Horst and Hildegard with the Vander Laans close behind

Damaris and KAS emceeing

it's 2, no 4, 3, it's 3...

this is just too good not to be blogged about...

so i was just wandering around evergreen's forum and i came across this link... i think this is the coolest thing i've seen online in a long time... i won't even tell you what it is... you'll just have to check it out... also here and tell me what you think???