I just walked across the Ringvaart, here in Amsterdam Oost! A brave neighbor, Henk, was out shoveling this morning -- and he confirmed that the ice was already 6 centimeters thick, beneath the blanket of snow from yesterday. He said that he checked things out himself, together with two other grown men creating a combined weight of over 200 kilograms, and the ice was totally safe.

So a spontaneous ice party burst out with kids on skates and sleds, mothers taking pictures, and dogs chasing balls through the snow. It's the way Amsterdam winters are meant to be!

So I'm trying to collect some resources for finding out if / when / where one might be able to find naturally-frozzen waterways within the Netherlands. We have friends coming to visit from Florida next -- and believe it or not, they're really excited about the idea of getting to experience a real Dutch winter. I had my doubts that they would be fortunate enough to get the real experience, with the mild winter that we've been having; however, with the cold snap that we're currently experiencing, it's looking somewhat feasible. So I'm trying to prepare myself with some resources for judging where the natural ice action might be discovered.

So far, I've found a few decent internet resources, listed here below:

• www.schaatstochten.info
• www.schaatsen.nl
• www.schaatsforum.nl

But I'm still looking for more resources -- particularly information about where to find naturally iced-over waterways that would be safe for skating. If you let me know about any other information that you might be awaare of, please let me know (a comment to the Facebook version of this content or an e-mail) -- and I will add it to the list (crediting you for your help, of course), for posterity sake.

Exactly nine years ago, our family moved to the Netherlands. As you can see from the photographic collage here above, we've changed and grown a lot from year to year. What an adventure it's been!

One of my colleagues is getting married and moving on from her day-to-day responsibilities with our ministry here in Amsterdam, so we decided to mark the occasion with a special Staff Day. The celebration started at the end of the school day, when the team greeted our kids with balloons and cheers.

After balloons were distributed and affixed to each bicycle in our group, we loaded up and biked to a local bowling alley to spend the afternoon goofing off together.

My team lost (who knew that Marci, Linda, and Naomi were such bowling sharks?!?), but we still had a really good time together.

After bowling, then, we all rode back to our family's home and enjoyed a lovely dinner together -- followed by lounging about and having some deeper conversation. It really ended up being a lovely day.

To me, the whole experience underscored the point that we're not just colleagues; we're family. We know and appreciate each other deeply, after having experienced much joy and sorrow together over the past decade of working together. I could never completely explain the connection in words -- but somehow the pictures from our time together help to capture the beauty of this "Family of Colleagues" (a greater collection of images can be accessed in the Family Pictures section of the website). God has given us a tremendous gift with this group of friends / sisters / colleagues.

I've learned a lot about conflict through the years: through personal relationships, through raising children, and through church leadership situations. But this lesson in conflict, brought to you by Sesame Street (featuring Robin Williams and the Two-Headed Monster), is one of the best that I've ever seen.

(via 22 Words)