We're saved

"We are not saved because we're good.
We're good because we're saved."
~Rich Mullins

Who truly see

Huis Doorn

"We have to be in trouble,

before we remember for what is essential.

Those who truly see you, are the ones you need."

~John O'Donohue

I am

"Very truly I tell you," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"
~John 8:58

A larger hope

"The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected

with the greater pains of Christ.

Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow, and therefore a larger hope."

~Henri Nouwen

Something beautiful in your heart

  Kasteel Amerongen, my second home...

"In difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart."

~Blaise Pascal

Little things

"Little things comfort us because little things distress us."

~Blaise Pascal

Grow in the grace

"Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen."
~2 Peter 3:18

All the beauty

Kasteel Prattenburg, Utrechtse Heuvelrug

"All the beauty we have looked for in art or faces or places—and all the love

we have looked for in the arms of other people—

is only fully present in God himself."

~Timothy Keller

No rules of architectur

"There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds."

~G.K. Chesterton

Not all those who wander are lost

 "Buitenplaats Amerongen"

"There is some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for."
~J.R.R. Tolkien

"Not all those who wander are lost."

~J.R.R. Tolkien

You, who live in radiance

You who live in heaven
Hear the prayers of those of us who live on earth
Who are afraid of being left by those we love
And who get hardened by the hurt

Did You ever know loneliness
Did You ever know need
Do You remember just how long a night can get?
When You were barely holding on
And Your friends fall asleep
And don't see the blood that's running in Your sweat

Will those who mourn be left uncomforted
While You're up there just playing hard to get?

I can't see how You're leading me unless You've led me here
Where I'm lost enough to let myself be Led

And I know you bore our sorrows
And I know you feel our pain
And I know it would not hurt any less
Even if it could be explained

And I know that I am only lashing out
At the One who loves me most

~Rich Mullins

The storks

"There the birds build their nests; the storks nest in the fir trees
[sometimes on the chimney of a castle]."

~Psalm 104:17

So distant and different

"There is the solitude of suffering, when you go through darkness that is lonely, intense, and terrible. Words become powerless to express your pain;

what others hear from your words is so distant and different from what you are actually suffering."

~John O'Donohue

The truth is rarely pure

"The truth is rarely pure and never simple."

~Oscar Wilde

Kasteel Duurstede, Wijk bij Duurstede

We know with Whom

"Wherever Jesus may lead us, He goes before us.

If we don’t know where we are going, we know with Whom we go."

~Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Be forgiven every day

"Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly.

The hard truth is that all people love poorly.

We need to forgive and be forgiven every day, every hour increasingly.

That is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family."

~Henri Nouwen

All the way

Bantry House

2013

All the way my Savior leads me
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His faithful mercies?
Who through life has been my guide
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort
Here by faith in Him to dwell
For I know whatever fall me
Jesus doeth all things well
~Fanny J. Crosby
1867

A fool's paradise

"It is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool's paradise."

~Fjodor Dostojevski, The Idiot

Worden we nog op tijd Wakker in Europa?..!

Far better things

Muckross House

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."
~C.S. Lewis

The joy of thy salvation

Leamaneh Castle

"Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation."

~Psalms 51:11,12