Vande Kraats B&B

Hank and I have been joking that we are running a B and B right now. We have hosted several of Gerald Folkerts' siblings the past two months. They come to Winnipeg to visit and just sleep at our place. Its a tough time for all of them and we are happy to help out this way. But we also had a house full on the Thanksgiving weekend when my mom and Hank's mom came for Elliott's baptism. We even had to ship Scott and Margaret to the Jory's because we had no vacancy. This weekend we had a very short visit from James Schaap. He was the featured speaker at the 100th anniversary of the CRC in Winnipeg. When some one sleeps in your home, you seem to develop a level of intimacy that is different than just stopping by for a visit. It may be the early morning vulnerability that we all have before the coffee is ready or it may be the late night talks in the living room with a bottle of wine. We have had the opportunity to do this with several of our guests and feel richer for it.

This has been a difficult year starting with the drama and worry of Elliott's birth, Kayla's difficulties and the many hospital visits until his surgery. At the same time, Dad was dying and we worried about Mom caring for him. We seemed to barely catch our breath once Dad was gone and Elliott was healed and we were faced with Gerald's illness. It seems trifling in some ways but there has been constant turnover in my staff and trying to keep 3 high needs boys with autism calm and learning with a revolving door of educational assistants has added to the stress. So it was good to be reminded again this weekend of God's faithfulness at the Anniversary celebrations. James had two insightful speeches. The image that remains for me is that on the prairies when the wind buffets you, the best thing to do is to go low. And the picture of "Now Thank We All Our God" being penned at the end of the bloody Thirty Year's War. Gary Bomhof, our dear friend and pastor for many years preached Sunday morning and he ended the sermon borrowing a line from Barak Obama - "Yes, we can." But Gary stressed that the "we" was not the strength of the American people but our strength when our faithful God becomes an integral part of our life. The road ahead may be rocky but we can travel it together. Yes we can.

One other thought, that sermon probably wouldn't have flown in NW Iowa at the moment.