I think Datumprikker.nl is one of the niftiest inventions on the world-wide web.  The site itself explains how it works:

Picking a date with a group of people can be a difficult task. Datumprikker.nl provides an easy solution to this problem.

In many cases you will need to make a lot of phone calls or send e-mails to find a date suitable for all participants. Create a event planner for your next meeting or event. Just select the possible dates and invite a group of people.

Everybody who is invited receives an e-mail with a link where they can easily respond to the suggested dates. As the administrator you can keep track of the progress and, once you have sufficient input, select the date.

The interface is very easy to figure out and use, and it really does save time (one of those things that the internet is always supposed to do but rarely actually delivers on its promises).  It's available in both English and Dutch.  I would heartily recommend this free resource (you can find the answers to some of the frequently asked questions here).  In short:  it's brilliant (and no, Datumprikker.nl is not paying me to write this post).

Just thought I'd pass along this little nugget that I've discovered and mined from the miraculous world of the internet...

It's fun when you return home, reuniting with your children after a few days of being away, only to see that the household has not only survived -- but thrived.  Thanks to some wonderful, wonderful friends here in Amsterdam (especially the lovely Leslie Phillips), our kids' week went incredibly well.  They made it to school each day, they ate good meals, and they had a lot of fun in the process.

When Marci and I got back home around noon today, Leslie had fresh banana muffins in the kitchen -- and we were treated with the opportunity to hear not one, but two new songs that Leslie had worked up with the kids over the preceding few days.  One was a guitar ballad (still in process), but the other one was a rap -- specially composed for the occasion of Elliot's friend Tobias's sixth birthday.  Perhaps you, too, will sppreciate Elliot's birthday rap to Tobias, so I've posted it above for your enjoyment.  You'll be surprised with how well it is done (Leslie is a gifted musician in addition to being a gifted babysitter).

Today is the concluding day of the Great Commission Europe annual Pastors Summit.  This year was specifically designated to allow for discussion of issues relating to marriage and ministry, so both husbands and wives have traveled in from as far north as the Netherlands, as far south as Italy, as far east as Ukraine, and as far west as Spain -- all converging in a small town just outside of Krakow, Poland.

In addition to teachings related to marriage, we also spent time praying for our churches and the Continent in general (this is one of the most revered traditions of the pastors summit).  Systematically, we pray church by church, country by country -- for several hours in the afternoon.  It's actually rather exhausting work... but definitely worthwhile.  We all seem to view this as a significant part of our work in Europe.

Then, for the balance of the time, we tend to focus on strategic discussion relating to the "business" (administration, organization, and communication) of Great Commission Europe... This part is -- if I'm being perfectly honest here -- quite challenging for me.  It takes me a lot of energy to engage in these strategic discussions.  A lot of energy, and a lot of coffee.

In the end, I've concluded that I have Conference Fatigue Syndrome.  Its symptoms do not become evident at every kind of conference -- but I definitely seem to be more susceptible at conferences relating to church planting, pastoring churches, and leadership in general.  Ironically, this personal predisposition to Conference Fatigue Syndrome (CoFaS) seems to be particularly rare among those in my line of work (pastor/missionary) -- but it is nevertheless a condition which I've learned that I must deal with as something of an occupational hazard.

The symptoms of CoFaS include irritability (occasionally building toward cynicism), fatigue (the longer the conference, the greater the fatigue), headaches,  and nausea at the sight of flip charts, strategic diagrams, or PowerPoint presentations (and/or at the mention of words like "vision statement" or "strategic planning").  The long-term diagnosis for sufferers of CoFaS is generally optimistic, though recurrence is common upon exposure to external stimuli such as conferences, seminars, and preparatory e-mails.

In examining my own struggles with CoFaS, I think a lot of it may have to do with my personal tendencies toward introversion (being energized more by solitude, reading, writing, etc. -- as opposed to long hours of conversation, group dynamics, and such)... But I also think it has a lot to with spiritual gifting.  Many pastors, missionaries, church-planters, and leaders are passionate about things like mission, vision, and values.  I am not (as unspiritual as that may sound, even to my own ears).  I much prefer day-to-day "battling in the trenches," advancing trench-to-trench, tree-to-tree, hedgerow-to-hedgerow, village-to-village (please forgive me for all the WW2 terminology; I'm currently reading through Ambrose's history of D-Day).  I fully value and believe in the need for greater oversight, strategizing, and planning -- like what the regimental, divisional, and operational leadership provides in war... But I, for one, am happy when I can let others play that role.  Now, I realize that my roles in church leadership sometimes require me to "wear hats" that are not the most comfortable on my head -- but all that just goes to explain why I might be so susceptible to Conference Fatigue Syndrome.

I'm not complaining (well, OK -- maybe I am complaining a little bit).  I'm just trying to deal with the realities of my life.  But at least I get to do it in a beautiful location, with my beautiful wife and good friends alongside me.  And that, though perhaps not a cure for CoFaS, is at least a pretty good treatment in the midst of it.

Marci and I are traveling in Poland this week.  We've been spending most of our time in conference sessions, but today we got to tour picturesque Krakow a bit.  We saw some magnificent buildings and an incredibly unique network of underground caverns and cathedrals within the old salt mines.  But perhaps my greatest amusement of the day came from seeing a number of billboards advertising for an electronics store called Media Markt.  Take a look at a (rather poor-quality) picture of the billboard here below:

What do you think of the spokesperson pictured?  Is it supposed to be male or femaile?  A child or an adult?  And what exactly is he wearing?  Gym shorts (very high and tight) with a pastel-striped polo shirt?  And could it be that his (her?) legs are actually shaved?  And why is this person advertising for Media Markt?  Is he supposed to be kind of cool, or kind of geeky and funny?  What could possibly be the meaning of this advertisement?

For the heck of it, we used an on-line translator to try and decipher what the text might mean.  The result:  "I gave everything of himself... but it has only birthday price."

Perhaps this is not even remotely amusing to anyone else -- but I figured I had to put it up on the ol' blog for my own enjoyment, if nothing else. :-) 

The middle chapters of Nehemiah portray such a powerful picture of spiritual battle.  So beautifully and so graphically illustrated.  The remnant of Israel has scraped together enough courage, manpower, material, and momentum to start rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem after over 100 years of disrepair and decrepitude.  It's a beautiful moment in Israel's history.  They're pulling together!  They're making it happen!  The City of David is rising again, like the mythical phoenix, from the ashes of utter destruction.  Quite literally.  If these chapters were represented in a major motion picture, the arm-in-arm teamwork of chapter 3 would be accompanied by a dramatic swell of the orchestral musical score, soaring crane shots, feel-good goosebumps raising on the forearms of everyone watching and witnessing the miracle of hope resurrected.