Love and Loss

Niels and I are approaching our three month anniversary! We love being married and are so happy that God has brought us together, though it would have been nice if He would have done it about a decade earlier! We've become homebodies, with hardly any of the travel that defined our courtship days.

We view our first year of marriage as sacred as we are learning what it means to be one and develop our own family rituals and traditions. One of our favorite rituals happens at bedtime. Niels' dad gave Jen a Dutch children's Bible, mijn eerst bibel. Each night we've read a chapter in the Bible, allow Jen her daily Dutch lesson, as well as ending the day with God's word. Then Niels gives Jen a top 5 list of things he appreciates about her. (Jen's friends will recognize this exercise as she has often asked them to list a few things they appreciate about their spouses). And then we pray together and share our day. Last week, we finished the children's Bible and started the "real" Dutch Bible. With Niels' parents coming in December for their first American Christmas, I'm hoping to be able to carry on a more significant Dutch conversation than "hello" and "good night!"

This past week, we've also faced our most difficult challenge as a married couple. Before we had a chance to formally announce our pregnancy, Jen miscarried on Monday, the 15th. It's been a painful week, both physically and emotionally, with some additional complications that are still being addressed. We were looking forward to our June baby, but we trust that God is taking good care of baby DJ for us.