Month: June 2013

Tonight is a first…

Not the first time I wrote a birthday blog (as you all know)

But the first time I wrote to my niece’s fiance who I now full embrace as my nephew….

Matthew George Cole (as the wedding invitation reads) will marry my oldest niece in just a few weeks.

And today he celebrates his 22nd birthday…(and i have lots of pictures since I am in charge of the wedding video)

I am so grateful for the opportunity to get to know him over the last year….

He has lived in my home and stepped up often to help. He likes to cook, cleans up after himself (mostly) and has an eye for what needs to be done and doing it!

I am so grateful for his kind and considerate ways in all of his interactions….

He is a conversationalist and asks good questions. He is interested, curious and eager to share about all his day held as well….

I am so grateful for his faith and foundation to serve God and God’s people…

He has served people in Africa and England and many other lands, but he also serves family and friends in his daily walk….

I am delighted to be adding another nephew to the clan….(top row of picture, far left)

Matt knows I enjoy him and am thankful for his love and care for Janneke…

Matt knows I believe in him AND will be here to support him in anything he needs…

Matt knows he has joined a big family who hangs out alot together. We laugh together and we cry together and we don’t keep secrets very well….

He knows those things and loves us anyway!

And so Matthew George, on this your 22nd birthday, I pray your coming year will hold many moments of awesome wonder as you see how God has provided for you in this new season of marriage and life with us all in the United States. It is evident to me that God is preparing the way for you as you and Janneke commit to one another and seek to serve His Kingdom. Thank you for inviting me into your lives and allowing me to enjoy the journey alongside the soon to be Cole couple…..

I love you and can’t wait to watch celebrate all this 22nd year will hold!

♥ Aunt Trish

 

 

 

My Dad has a great story….

A story of God’s call on his life to impact people and provide leadership….

It began way back when he was completing Seminary and we were all young….

I admire my Dad and marvel at his commitment to the Church and his daily calling to be involved…

He has had a consistent passion to God’s kingdom for many many years and I know he lives true to the calling God has placed on his heart…

If you Google Peter Borgdorff, he is pretty popular. That makes me proud.

My Dad has been one who teaches clearly on the gift of grace. Some of his devotionals come up high in the search list….

If you want to read more of his devotionals, follow this link: http://thisistoday.com/authors/peter-borgdorff

Here are some of his good words from his writing in the Today devotional….

To each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Ephesians 4:7

His cousin from the Netherlands told me it is as if I walked right out of his mouth….

I hear that and smile. I am happy to be a reminder to others of my father. He makes me proud!

Happy Father’s Day!

I love you Dad!

♥ Trish

I would like to tell you a little about my day-to-day right now….

Each evening I can honestly say I am intending to write a blog…

And yet, for the past number of months, life happens at my house after 10 pm….

When it was just me, I had a routine where part of winding down included doing some reflecting and blogging…

But then my niece’s fiance moved into my home for a few months….

A wonderful 21-year-old Englishman (yes, straight from England), and so easy to host in my home….

Although I don’t believe I can blame jet lag, he likes to cook a meal of sorts around 930 or so and in those times, I hear all about his heart, his vision, his dream and his love…(it really is so sweet)

And then a few weeks back, after college ended for Janneke, she started a job in GR, so she also moved in….

Such fun to have them both….

Such fun to watch them together, to hear of their stories of gutting a home and recreating their future space, such fun to watch him delight in her beauty and so fun to watch her rest in his strength….

And then there are the frequent evenings when I begin to consider starting my blog, when they come in and flop on my bed and I hear of the days events. The choosing and buying of their rings, the deep thoughts of what churches they are considering, the laughter in the  funny moments….

I am a very fortunate aunt to have my niece and her fiance live with me for this last season of their single lives….

I am a very fortunate aunt who gets to glean a sense of what it might feel like to be a parent, at least a very small glimpse of that….(from increased grocery bills to very sweet moments of grateful young adults)

I am a very fortunate aunt who has fallen even more in love with two emerging adults who desire to make a powerful impact in this world through their relationships and in time in Africa….

I really have been meaning to write, but I am busy enjoying pleasant interruptions to my routine….

They won’t stay forever and in time I will be back to nightly blogging, but for now, I am too busy enjoying this almost married couple!

I love you both Matt and Janneke and am so thankful you chose to come stay with this aunt of yours….I will never forget this delightful and wonderful time!

 

PS. Maybe I will move in with you someday when I am 100 years old! (tee hee)

 

I couldn’t tell you many specifics about my life ten years ago….

Well, sure I could tell you general things but nothing specific, well nothing except this one thing…

I can tell you where I was, in what Meijer aisle, what way I was facing and all the feelings that flooded my soul when Peter Henry arrived…

It was by no means new to me to celebrate the arrival of a new nephew, but it was new to have my sister living close by. The anticipation of meeting him and holding him within hours of his birth were moments of sheer wonder…

I have so enjoyed watching this boy grow and change. To be a part of his every day life and to hear of his good days and difficult times. To know this amazing kid in the way that I do makes me nothing but so very grateful and extremely blessed.

Peter has always had a heart of compassion and concern for others. He is aware of people in need and desires to impact his world….

Peter has always been a baseball fan. He has gone from bring a number one fan of the Tigers to being a very accomplished young athlete himself….

Peter has a good perspective on life. He is a deep thinker and is often thinking….

He has a great laugh and a genuine ability to be with others, without making it about himself….

He is looked up to by his siblings and enjoyed by his older cousins..,.

Peter is used to being with adult company and is a great conversationalist…

Peter is a boy who will do great things with his good mind, compassionate and tender heart and his growing faith….

I love you Peter Henry Bos and can’t wait to see what the next ten years holds. I am praying I will be able to enjoy the good days with you, share in the struggles and delight in all God holds for your life.

I love you tons and tons, for ever and ever, and that will never change!

Love Aunt Trish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first duty of love is to listen.~ Paul Tillich

I read this today and am struck by the simplicity….

And yet, many of us might agree that even in its simplicity, it is a rare thing today….

To listen….

My four-year old niece has an expectation that we will listen to her….

She has a rule that when anyone is in the car with her, the radio should be off, after all, if the radio is on, how can we really listen to her?

I believe that even at her very young age, she feels loved when she feels heard….

I wonder if you are listening to the ones that you love….

I wonder if you are hearing them through the words of their heart and responding to what they are asking for as opposed to what you think they need….

I wonder if you are being listened to by those who love you….

I have a card by my desk, it is one of my favorites, it says….

Listen hard, it is an excellent gift!

I hope that at the end of each day you can rest well knowing you have listened to those you love!

 

I have taken to hosting dinner once a week…

It started to help my sister out at dinner time during tax season…

It has continued because I enjoy the company we keep as a family….

I realize each week that I am grateful for the time we have together….

When my brother died six months ago at way to young of an age, I came face to face with the way life can change quickly…

I want to enjoy my friends and family in each day I have with them….

If I have another 50 years, I will be blessed….

If life changes tomorrow, I will be without regret as we continue to enjoy the company we keep with purpose and intention….

It is my hope that you won’t let life get too busy and miss spending time with those who are dear to you….

It is my hope that you will live loving others and open to being loved.

Now go and invite someone to share a meal, someone that you have been meaning to call….and enjoy being with them!

 

 

I found this definition the other day and I must say it has stuck with me because I heard myself quoting it today….

I am not sure it needs many more words than this…

I can picture the times i have chosen resting before tired…

And I can picture the times I have chosen resting after tired….that is a much more satisfying place to be!

Carry on my friends and push yourself through the danger of resting too soon!

To give you roots

To give you wings

I remember this saying often as it has been an evident desire in my sister and brother in law’s parenting…

I have loved watching them as parents nurture the roots and in the later years invite their wings…

These pictures show just a bit of Henry’s roots and wings…

Henry’s Graduation Video, June 2, 2013

His kindness and tenderness….

His being all boy and being gentle man…

I know he is not my child but I am a very lucky aunt who has been invited to watch him grow and participate in his upbringing….

My heart is full of gratitude for this very cute, very handsome, very tender boy!

If you have four minutes, please enjoy the video of a young boy growing his roots and earning his wings!