Friday’s Fave Five – Five Things I Am Thankful For

Today I am joining Friday’s Fave Five again: a little pause to look back and gather five blessings from the week.

It wasn’t exactly a calm and cozy week... life clearly had other plans. But even in between the hard things, there were still small gifts to notice. So here I am 😊

1. A thunderstorm in the woods

On June 8, I went for a walk in the woods and was suddenly overwhelmed by a thunderstorm. It was frightening. 

Thankfully, I knew what to do and tried to sit as safely as possible until it passed. And while I was sitting there, rather wet and not exactly relaxed, I prayed, “Into Your hands I commit my spirit... and also my body.”

I also thought of someone we love, who is staying in a hospice, and quietly placed that too in God’s hands.

It was scary, but also strangely good. And then, as if the woods wanted to apologize, the sun came out again... and I could still enjoy the rest of my walk.

2. Herbs growing well

My herbs are growing beautifully. It is such a small thing, but I love seeing green life on my windowsill or in the garden. They remind me that life keeps unfolding, even on difficult days when life feels like it has been put on hold.

3. A short walk with flowers

June 11, I went for a very short walk. Even that little walk brought beauty. I saw many flowers, including this beautiful one. I always enjoy noticing wildflowers along the path. They make an ordinary walk feel like a small treasure hunt.

4. Coffee in pretty mugs

I also enjoyed drinking coffee from pretty mugs this week. Not a big blessing, maybe, but a real one. FOr me, a quiet moment, a mug that makes me smile... it is exactly what helps a day feel a little softer.

So here one of my mugs

5. A beautiful book to begin the day

I am reading a beautiful book by Stacey Pardoe. Every day there is something in it that gives me a good thought to begin the day with. That has meant a lot this week, as someone close to us is staying in a hospice. The days were not always easy, and I am thankful for words that help me begin the morning with a little more steadiness.

These were my five blessings of the week.
What was something that made you thankful this week?

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When Morning Is Coming

Everything becomes relative when someone you know well is in hospice.

Your view becomes smaller. It is no longer about the coming month, but about this week. Sometimes even about this day.

She is in hospice.

Not my mother. My husband’s mother. That makes a difference, I think. Sometimes I feel like a bystander. And that is okay.

Between her and me, it is good now. For a long time, it was not. And exactly now, things are happening that I did not expect, but that I did pray for. For thirty years. It does not need to be explained in my blog.

I only want to say: this is where we are.

Waiting while someone slowly grows quieter. Eating less. Drinking less. Sleeping more. Becoming more fragile.

And in that waiting, my word for this year keeps coming back to me: patience. Not as a nice idea, but as something very concrete. Waiting with what I cannot hurry. Watching what I cannot change. 

Waiting for the last goodbye here

Tomas Sjödin writes that life does not end when we turn out the light and say good night. After sleep, we wake to a new day. He connects this to the rhythm of Sabbath: evening first, then rest, then morning light. Dying is not the destruction of the light, he says. It is turning out the light because morning is coming.

That thought stays with me now.

I never expected that, at the end of someone’s life, there could still be so many glimmers of grace.

— ✦ —

 I write this as an encouragement for someone who has waited for many years, like me. We cannot change people. But God can. What is impossible with man is possible with God.

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Photo credits: Olenchic

Linked to: Paula's Sweet Tea June Link

Friday’s Fave Five – Five Things I Am Thankful For

Today I am joining Friday’s Fave Five: a moment to look back and count five blessings.

It was quite a week... no voice, coughing fits, my mother-in-law’s surgery, an inflamed insect bite, and far too much heat. 

But today I’m choosing the nicer list: the blessings. 😊

1. Beautiful skies outside my writing room

This week the skies outside my writing room were so beautiful. Sometimes I only had to look out of the window to be reminded that there is still beauty around me. My writing room has its own little window of wonder.

The photo was taken with my phone, so the stars are a bit blurry. But hopefully it gives you an idea of how beautiful the sky was.

2. An early walk in the woods

It was very warm this week, but I still went to the woods for a little while. I went very early, before the day became too hot. The quiet, the trees, the morning light on the grasses... it all did me good.

Below is my favorite tree-lined path. If you're there early enough, and the light cooperates, you'll see a bright light at the end of the tunnel. No, not that kind of light! It's simply the rising sun. Isn't it beautiful? ☀️🌳

3. Continuing my study of Acts

I continued my study of the book of Acts. I read slowly, but maybe that is not a bad thing. Slow reading can also become deep reading. 

My Insta 👉 𝙱𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚜 & 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜

4. Writing, blogging, and a small Vinted find

I wrote a few blog posts this week, and I hope to add the links here. Writing helps me to think, to notice things. I also bought something lovely on Vinted for my writing room. Just a small thing, but it made me very happy.

• Zonnebloemen en de sandwichgeneratie (about sunflowers)
• My author blog
  
• My Photo Journal
  

5. My daughter’s wedding dress

A very special moment this week was going to the bridal shop. My daughter’s wedding dress had arrived, and we went to see what still needed to be altered. The dress was pinned and checked, and suddenly the wedding felt a little closer again.

It was also a tense day, because my mother-in-law had surgery. So joy and worry were very close together that day. Maybe that made the beautiful moment even more precious.

These were my five blessings of the week.
What was something that made you thankful this week?

Join Friday's Fave 5

If you are in a hurry, patience is the fastest way

 My One Word is Patience.

This week my husband told me (again!) that I was being impatient with myself. He often reads little quotes from his calendar to me. They are usually the kind of sayings that make you stop and think.

This week's quote was:

"If you are in a hurry, patience is the fastest way."

I took a photo of it because it fits my One Word perfectly. The funny thing is: I'm not sure I fully understand it yet.

I've been coughing and dealing with a sore throat for two weeks now. I would really like to be better already. So how can patience possibly be the fastest way?

Maybe the answer is that impatience doesn't actually make healing happen faster. It only adds frustration to the process. If I keep checking whether I'm better yet, counting the days, and getting annoyed with myself for not recovering quickly enough, I still won't heal any faster.

Patience doesn't speed up recovery. It just removes the extra burden of fighting reality. Or, as ChatGPT would probably tell me:

"When you're in a hurry, impatience makes you run circles around yourself. Patience simply lets you walk straight ahead."

 

I'm still thinking about that one. 

Do you understand the quote?
I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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PS Read other blog posts about One Word: One Word 2026 May Linkup

Five Minute Friday-Sustain

This week’s FMF writing prompt is: SUSTAIN

SUSTAIN

Oké, oké. But that word sustain… it was actually a totally unknown word for me. I know quite a lot of English words, but sustain? No idea.

So I looked it up. First I found the Dutch word onderhouden, but immediately I pictured a man with a gereedschapskist (toolbox) coming to check the cv-ketel... oh that's a boiler, you know.  Not exactly inspiring for a Five Minute blog. Then I found the Dutch word in stand houden. But that sounds more like keeping an old tradition alive or protecting an old building.

Ondersteunen maybe? I didn’t know.

Funny how one little word can have so many layers. What does it mean exactly? This English word simply refuses to cooperate. And now I already wrote for five minutes, so I guess this little blog is finished.

-ˋˏ ༻✿༺ ˎˊ-

Ten minutes later...

I found it in my English Bible: “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee.” And in Dutch? It says onderhouden. Apparently sustain has about seventeen meanings and my brain understood exactly none of them. So I needed Psalm 55 to explain it to me personally.

Ssssst… this does not count for the five minute prompt.