My friend Helen sent me a link to this video, and I enjoyed it so much that I decided I simply must pass it along.  Merry Christmas to young and old, Australian and British, Dutch and American (and everyone else too)!

Amsterdam got socked by a pretty significant snowstorm yesterday:  maybe about six inches / 15 centimeters -- all in the space of about four or five hours.  It was pretty intense.  And pretty awesome.  The city looks beautiful under all of the heavy snow.  It really completes the Christmas effect.  The only problem with the snowstorm is the implications for transportation.  While the snow storm was raging yesterday, automotive traffic slowed considerably, and much of the public transportation system was shut down for awhile.

My preferred mode of transportation, even in the midst of a snow storm, is bicycle.  With a bicycle, you don't have to deal with the crowds and unpredictable time tables.  But you do have to deal with a lot of snow on the bike paths.  I was fish-tailing all over the place while I rode throughout Amsterdam and Amstelveen --

probably about two hours of total bicycling -- but believe it or not, I didn't crash even once.  I was plenty tired by the time I was done with my traveling.  But it was actually kind of fun, too.  When I stopped at the end of one bicycle ride, I noticed that I had about an inch-and-a-half  / 3 centimeters of snow caked on the brim of my cap and on the inside of my coat's hood.  Like I said, it was pretty awesome.

By the time I got home from my romp through the snowy streets of Amsterdam, it was time to get ready for our school's Kerst Diner.  The kids were all dolled up in special holiday clothes -- but because of the snow, we had all the kids wear their rubber boots to get from home to the school.  It made for an intriguing picture before we left, at any rate. :-)

The Kerst Diner (Christmas Dinner) is an interesting Dutch school tradition that has no real parallel with American holiday celebrations, but our family has really come to enjoy the annual event.

Basically, the idea is that all the kids and teachers get dressed up and then meet up in their classrooms at night-time, after the sun has gone down (which gives the school a very different feel from what everyone is used to).  All of the rooms are lit only by strands of Christmas lights.  And when the kids assemble in their rooms, they share in a dinner.  Some years this dinner is potluck; some years it's provided by the school.  Regardless of the way that the dinner is organized, the idea is for everyone to enjoy a special formal dinner together.

While the kids all enjoy eating in their classrooms, the adults gather in the main lobby of the school and hang out in a party atmosphere, munching on cookies and drinking hot chocolate and glühwein (spiced, hot wine).  This makes the whole event fun for parents as well as for the kids, since we can all get a chance to mingle and get to know each other to an extent that we're not usually afforded during the daily shuffle to ferry kids to and from school.

After an hour of everyone enjoying the gezellige party atmosphere, everyone assembles out on the school playground, where roaring fires have been kindled for everyone to enjoy.  Standing around the fires, everyone sings a few Christmas songs, and then the party breaks up with everyone wishing each other a pleasant school-vacation, a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

And so the Christmas vacation begins.

Have you ever heard of stores and shopping centers who do a crazy "Christmas in July" sales blitz during the height of the summer?  Well, this is kind of like that except inverted:  "July in Christmas(time)."

Out of the eleven months in my Proverbs 365 project, I have reviewed ten of them.  But for whatever reason, I never got around to reviewing the month of July.  Now I'm down to my last two weeks of the project, and I feel like I want to complete the record.  So without further ado, here are what I consider to be my top three posts from the month of July:

The writing is perhaps a bit terse and timid, but P1413 - Gam Zeh Ya'Avor definitely represents one of my favorite bits of Solomonic wisdom -- even if it may be from extra biblical Jewish mythology.  In this piece, I explained that "Proverbs 14:13 may be about the closest we can get to a biblical confirmation of the extra-biblical legend of a ring... that would fulfill two specific criteria:  'If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy.'  ...[To complete the assignment, one of the king's advisors] came back to Solomon with a gold ring... inscribed with this simple phrase:  "Gam zeh ya'avor." Translated:  'This, too, shall pass.'"  Perhaps you've heard the phrase before, too -- and if you're interested in learning more of the back story or the ways that this story from mythology ties in with the Proverbs, then you should check out the piece by following the link above.

P2521 - Confessions of a Sixth-Grade Stickboy is a very different kind of piece.  It's a short story about a 12-year-old kid who's been repeatedly plagued by the school bully.  At one point in the story, he wonders, "What else is a 'Stickboy' supposed to do against a monster like Tony Sanchez?  He's got to weigh, like, 200 pounds -- in the sixth grade!"  But at the end of the school year, the kid finally gets a chance to get even with the bully by means of a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  Using the same wisdom that was uttered by King Solomon (in Proverbs 25:21) and later echoed and amplified by Jesus himself, the "Stickboy" comes to term with his nemesis in a way that restores his dignity and reduces the bully to tears.  But if you want to find out exactly what happened, you'll have to follow the link above and read it for yourself.

The third of my July favorites floats in a yet another, completely different stream from the two entries listed above:  it's about my lovely wife.  I'm reminded to reference this piece now because Marci and I have been spending most of this week nursing children while they vomit and moan and keep us up throughout the nights with their feverish agony... The lessons of Proverbs 31:25 are indeed good ones to remember for any parent dealing with small children.  In case you might need some reminding of your own, I recommend that you read P3125 - Clothed with Strength and Dignity... in the Midst of Scribbelty Ankle-Biters.

Finally, for a complete listing of July's content, here are the titles of all 31 entries, along with direct links to the rest of the content:

• P110 - Options in Times of Enticement
• P210 - Accepting Wisdom/Jesus into Your Heart
• P307 - The Miraculous Powers of the "Fear-and-Shun" Health Program
• P418 - The First Gleam of Dawn
• P507 - Because I Told You So
• P619 - Detestable Like Jacob
• P711 - A Call to Vigilence
• P830 - Day After Day of Delight
• P904 - The Call of the Carnies
• P1004 - The Value of Diligence
• P1125 - Paolo's Pay-Off
• P1220 - Promoting Peace
• P1307 - Keeping Up with the Pembertons
• P1413 - Gam Zeh Ya'Avor
• P1518 - Mac-Bikers and Scooter-Weenies
• P1604 - The Sovereignty of God
• P1717 - The Family Way
• P1817 - The Rigors of Cross-Examination
• P1911 - Foul Trouble
• P2006 - Unfailing Love
• P2117 - Could This One Be Wrong?
• P2210 - Contemplating the Revival of Witch Trials, Burnings at the Stake, and Excommunication
• P2304 - The Wisdom to Show Restraint
• P2419 - Fretting and Envying
• P2521 - Confessions of a Sixth-Grade Stickboy
• P2607 - Under FDR's Blanket
• P2710 - Love the One You're With
• P2806 - Puss-in-Boots Rewritten According to the Proverbs
• P2913 - People from Willard
• P3018 - State of Amazement
• P3125 - Clothed with Strength and Dignity... In the Midst of Scribbelty Ankle-Biters

I'm really glad to be just two weeks away from the completion of this project.  Then, the process of selection, editing, and rewriting for broader publication will begin in earnest.  But for now, there will be fourteen more days of daily reflections.  So please feel free to join me for the concluding days of the project at Proverbs 365!

Today's edition of "The Big Picture" has some absolutely incredible photography, highlighting notable events from 2010.  The pictures on this site are almost always noteworthy -- but today's photographs are exceptional.  I'm especially impressed the one with the matador, the one with the woman burned by acid, and the one with the fighter jet.

Are there any other good photography sites that you like to visit?

Our cable provider recently sent us a guide to their programming for the coming weeks, and when I saw their write-up of the coverage for a basketball game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers, I had to smile because of its implications for the Dutch perception of Americans, Christmas, and basketball.  Here's the article, and my rough translation into English:

Digest your Christmas dinner in the same way that the Americans do it.  Plop yourself down on the couch and enjoy top-quality basketball.  The Los Angeles Lakers are the defending NBA champions, and they will be facing off against the heir-apparent for the title in 2011:  the Miami Heat, with the Big Three of Lebron James (sic), Dwayne Wade (sic), and Chris Bosh.  A guarantee for fireworks on this otherwise peaceful first day of Christmas.  Miami wants to let it be known that the power dynamics in American basketball are definitively shifting and that the East Coast is now calling the shots.  Led by Kobe Bryant, L.A. is planning to show the Heat's young dogs that they still have a lot to learn.

Funny, huh?

There are perhaps some meaningful insights in there -- such as the depiction of Americans as overstuffed, lazy media-addicts who ditch out on some of the much-prized gezelligheid of lingering for hours at the dinner table to go sit on their overstuffed La-Z-Boys parked in front of the television and consume sports entertainment.  As much as I don't like to admit it, I can see the portrait that they're trying to paint there -- and there may be some valid critique in there.  I also think it's interesting to see that the Dutch still seem to consider basketball as a very American sport (while my impression from American media -- and indeed from seeing other parts of the world -- is that basketball is becoming increasingly international).  They call the sport "American basketball" at one point, and they seem to be trying to illustrate the ways that basketball is uniquely integrated into American cultural experiences such as Christmas.  This observation, I think, may be less valid, especially considering the fact that the Dutch television station is actually going to be showing the game!  But even so, it's interesting to get that little mirror into the Dutch perception of basketball.

While granting some of the insightful information that such a write-up contains, I also think it's funny to see some of the misunderstandings that are perpetuated by the Dutch media.  First of all, I think they significantly overstate the significance that basketball plays in American Christmas celebrations.  Sports in general, yes -- but I would say that American football is more integrally tied-in with the holiday season than basketball is.  Secondly, they're providing a skewed analysis of some of the dynamics at play in the NBA right now, and I honestly don't know how much they're just making up as they go.  For instance, they misspell the names of two of the league's biggest stars, and they portray Miami's "Big Three" as being "young dogs" -- while, in fact, they are some of the NBA's most decorated players these days.  I'm not sure exactly why it strikes me as off (or at least markedly different from the tone that's given to these match-ups by the American media)... but I just intuitively sense that they're perspective on the sport is a lot different than mine, which has been developed by years of following basketball.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting piece.  All in all, I'm excited that the Dutch television stations are broadcasting such a game within the Netherlands (even though it comes on at an unfortunate time of day).  I enjoy the opportunity to view these sorts of things from two angles.

It's Christmas season in the Low Countries.  This is the eighth December that this American family has spent in Europe, and every year it feels like the cultural overlap becomes a little bit greater.  Does this mean that Dutch holiday celebrations are taking on more and more of an American flavor?  Does this mean that our family has taken on more and more of a Dutch flavor?  Or have we found a way to blend holiday traditions that allows us to meet somewhere in the middle?  To a certain extent, I think all three of these possibilities might be true.

I genuinely believe that Dutch Christmases have become noticeably more "American," since we first moved to the Netherlands.  Christmas decorations are more abundant and more available than when we spent our first winter here.  Things like Christmas shopping and Christmas music seem to have become a bigger deal to the population at large.  The city has more activities like the Rembrandtplein's "Winterland," and they start earlier in the month.  And it also makes a big difference that the winters have been more "wintry" -- with a lot more snow and ice over the last three winters than anything that we experienced in the first five winters that we spent here in Amsterdam.

Our family has also adapted to celebrating the holiday season in this part of the world.  We've figured out places where we can acquire specialty items like saffron and cardamom (to make Lussekatter for Santa Lucia Day)... and the kind of pumpkins that can be made into pumpkin pie... and Christmas decorations (I highly recommend the Intratuin on the Nobelweg for any Americans seeking to deck their proverbial halls).  And we've come to enjoy the unique aspects of celebrating Christmas in this part of the world -- with all the olibollenkramen (mobile bakeries), cozy little brown cafes, and sparkling lights on long, dark nights.  I'm guessing it also helps that our family has grown considerably in the years since we first moved to the Netherlands.  It feels a lot different to be celebrating Christmas with two adults and a small toddler (like back in December 2003) than it feels to be celebrating with three noisy children filling the house with their songs, shrieks, and laughter (Have you seen the YouTube clip of our kids dancing in the Christmas Spirit of the 1980s?  It would definitely give you an idea of what the kids bring to the holiday celebrations!).

In any event, we're enjoying this holiday season.  Yesterday evening, we had a party / open house for people from our church, and it really ended up being a lovely evening together with friends.  To me, it felt like a blending of worlds.  American traditions blended harmoniously with European traditions -- hot apple cider and Moldovian wine... Singing Christmas carols and engaging in deep, thoughtful conversation.  I don't know how else to explain it except to say that I felt like singing "There's no place like home for the holidays."

I'm down to the last month in my Proverbs 365 project!  The truth is that I'm going to be genuinely glad when I'm finished.  It's a lot of work to try to do anything for 365 days in a row!  Consequently, there is a part of me that will breathe a great big sigh of relief when this last month is finished.  I'll be glad to be able to pick up other reading and writing projects again.  I'll be glad to rid myself of the pressures of constant content creation for awhile.  Even so, considering the fact that I'm down to the last month of my Proverbs 365 project, I also realize and appreciate how much this focus on the wisdom of the Proverbs has enriched my life.  I've learned a lot about the power of my words, the patterns of my actions, the pitfalls of pride, the lessons in leadership -- and the ways that life, love, and faith truly work themselves out in my heart and in the world around me.  I still have a lot of questions, not just wise answers; but I also have a deep appreciation for the clarity, consision, and wisdom that the Proverbs have to offer.

Because another month has recently passed, it's time for another review of the project.  Looking back over the month of November, I notice a very wide range of different types of pieces with markedly different themes.  My best writing from the last month, however, is the writing in which I probe some of my own memories and experiences -- stuff that's still unsettled, stirred-up, and still very much in process, within my life.  I don't know for sure if it ends up being the most satisfying reading for others -- but in any event, it's cathartic for me!  Seriously, though, I expect that the most personal stuff is also the most accessible stuff for others, too.  So here are what I consider to be my top three posts from the month of November:

One of the most powerful Proverbs for me this month came from the second chapter of the book -- the 19th verse.  At first glance, Proverbs 2:19 seems pretty extreme.  It says, "None who go to [the adulteress] return or attain the paths of life." Wouldn't you agree that it sounds exagerated?  Overblown?  Extremist?  But as I thought about this verse, I realized that I saw this very thing happen once, right in front of my eyes -- and I've been permanently impacted by the experience, in a way that's still working itself out in my life and ministry today.  I wrote about my recollections in P219 - Intervention.

On a different note, I also had the opportunity this month to explore my relationship with my mother and father.  For most of my life, I've been a pretty conscientious and compliant son.  As such, it would seem like the warning Proverbs 15:5 doesn't apply to me so much, when it says, "A fool spurns his father's discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence." However, as I reflected on this verse, I was reminded of this one instance when I was growing up, where I directly disregarded my father's advice, and I spent the following decade dealing with the consequences.  In a lot of ways, I'm still dealing with the same issues today.  But God is working on these things in my life!  I wrote about it all in P1505 - Dealing with Crap.

Thirdly from November:  a broader social issue.  Homelessness is a real issue in most urban areas -- including Amsterdam.  But I never know exactly how to handle requests from strangers who are begging for money.  I want to be generous, but at the same time I don't want to feed into problems of addiction or apathy!  So over time, I've come up with a way of dealing with requests for money that's roughly based on Proverbs 17:16, where it says, "Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?" There's no perfect response in dealing with homelessness, but for whatever my experiences and convictions might be worth, you can ready about my standard response in P1716 - Beggar's Choice.

Finally, for a complete listing of November's content, here are the titles of all 30 entries, along with direct links to the rest of the content:

• P111 - Who Really Says That Kind of Thing?
• P219 - Intervention
• P321 - The Babysitter's Charge
• P410 - Learning to Walk
• P515 - Cisterns
• P612 - King Mixer
• P722 - Bird-Brained and Dumb as Oxen
• P817 - Wisdom Personified
• P912 - From the Diary of a Fifth-Grade Bully
• P1017 - From the Diary of an Idealistic Young School-teacher
• P1114 - Polder Model
• P1219 - The Vexation of the Vikings
• P1310 - Since Time Immemorial
• P1407 - The Wolf Who Cried Boy
• P1505 - Dealing with Crap
• P1624 - Pleasant Words
• P1716 - Beggar's Choice
• P1806 - Mouth McMillan
• P1927 - Drop in Signal Coverage
• P2013 - The Wakeful Way
• P2119 - From the Desert to the Green Spaces
• P2228 - Messing with Tradition
• P2309 - Ignoring the Bait
• P2401 - Unenvious
• P2520 - Mad Scientist
• P2627 - Booby Traps
• P2706 - Straight and Quick
• P2819 - Don't Quit Your Day Job
• P2917 - Tricky Distinction
• P3020 - Nothing Wrong

I'm super-excited to be down to my last month (actually, now more like 25 days!) of this project.  Following the conclusion of my year's worth of daily blogging, I'm looking forward to some interesting applications of this material in other contexts.  But I'll have to tell you more about that as plans develop and the time approaches.  In the meantime, please feel free to enjoy the concluding days of the project at Proverbs 365!

I can't speak highly enough of Marco Pauws Photography.  Not only is Marco a great guy (who I count as one of my closest personal friends) -- he's also a gifted and dedicated photographer, who has a demonstrable skill for portraiture.  Last week, we hired Marco to shoot some family photos, and this week we got the proofs back.  We were extremely pleased with the results.

This year, we decided to do our photo shoots within our own home -- trying to capture not just the essence of our individual personalities, as seen within our faces, but also the context of our daily lives as well.  We took pictures in the places where we work, play, and prepare to venture out into the rest of the world.  And while I can't completely quantify explain what it is or how it is that Marco managed to do this in our recent photo shoot, I think that he did it beautifully.

As with any kind of photo shoot, the kids (especially Cor) got tired at times -- but we got some fun pictures out of those moments, too, and the nice thing about doing a photo shoot at home is that you've got more flexibility for diverting and dealing with cranky kids.

In case you're interested, more pictures from our family photo shoot can be seen in the Family Pictures section of the website... And if you ever need a good photographer, I highly recommend Marco Pauws Photography.