Have you ever met someone who had a fixation with diet, fitness, shopping, or shoes, for that matter? People with an obsessive interest in something. All they can think about, talk about, and spend money on is the very thing they have an obsession for. It can be funny, it can be worrisome. I am not pointing fingers, we all have been there in one way or another. Nowadays, fixation goes much further than wanting a certain pair of shoes. It plays out on a grander scale, a global scale even. Obsession with political and socio-economical matters, the climate, world population, ideologies, wars and ..read more

Fashionable words, we all know them, don't we? They pop up like mushrooms in newspapers, magazines, and online. You don't remember reading or hearing them quite as often before, but suddenly they're trending on X, and using them in any essay or article guarantees a successful reading. Such a word is 'sustainable'. There is sustainable energy, sustainable fashion, sustainable development, and sustainable economic growth. I am sure you can come up with more. I remember I had to look up the meaning of the word 'sustainable' when I first read it (as English is not my first language). It means as ..read more

Job seekers, thrill seekers, freedom seekers, truth seekers... they are everywhere. What about treasure seekers?  There was a time when we were backpacking all over the world. I found joy in collecting rocks, stones, and sea shells. I would fill my backpack with such treasures and then complain that it was too heavy to carry ? Most of the time I ended up tossing my treasures, lightening my load, and realizing life was easier that way. I know, I know what the Bible says about collecting too much stuff: Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them ..read more

Isn't it wonderful, all the Valentine's Day messages we get to see on social media today? Hearts, chocolates, and of course lots of red and pink. Why not a blue or green heart, I sometimes wonder. Let's not limit our love expressions to red. After all, love is infinitely great. Yeah, and at the same time, as we all know, human love is limited, it is not faultless, and certainly not always reliable. On Valentine's Day specifically, many people feel sad because they have not yet met the love of their life or because their love has left. There is grief over unfaithfulness, divorce, as well as lo ..read more

Last week I posted two pages from chapter one of my new book 'No other gods' on Facebook. Why? First of all, to kindly introduce potential readers to my not-so-complicated writings ? Second of all, to give potential readers a taste of the journey they will travel when reading that book. Each chapter in 'No other gods' starts with a memory from my own travel experiences over the past decades. India, Thailand, Egypt, Peru, and Bolivia.. each country with its own specific culture and religion (s). And then there's the Bible. A book that describes a lot of traveling as well. Travels of the anci ..read more

Let's start the new year with a giveaway. Why not? Hopefully, it is on your wish list for 2024 to read more books ? Why not read my latest release 'No other gods', especially now that you have a chance to win a free copy. I think a new book release is not complete without a blog giveaway, so let's do it. Last month 'No other gods' hit the shelves. It is the tenth and final book in a series (all books can be read separately) about the Ten Commandments in the 21st century and it is based on the first commandment: You shall have no other gods before me. ‘You shall have no other gods before me’ m ..read more

Somewhere at the beginning of December, while journaling, I got the feeling that my #oneword for 2024 was going to be EXPAND. Yeah, expand as in the prayer of Jabez. He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And then the Bible says: and God granted him his request. (You can read that in 1 Chronicles 4:10). Expand it will be. But also expand as in Psalm 119:32, I will pursue your commands, for you expand my understanding. I love the fact that v ..read more

Nothing beats the comfort of a baby in the arms of its mother. Peace, safety, warmth, and love, no matter what goes on all around. Jesus in the arms of His mother Mary, receiving the very comfort He came to give to mankind. That is what most nativity scenes remind me of. When I look around me in the world, I see so much need for comfort. No, not the comfort as in sitting in front of the TV with a bag of chips, but comfort as in solace, relief, encouragement. There is so much suffering, so much loneliness and pain. There is chaos and disorder. To be honest, I wouldn't know what to do or where ..read more

With the publication of 'No other gods', the book series I have been working on since 2004 has been completed (yeah!) Ten books, each book dealing with one of the Ten Commandments. While working on 'No other gods' the idea came to me to compose a set of ten core values, based on the topics of my books. You can find them in the back of 'No other gods'. I have called them the Ten Core Values of a dedicated and fruitful Christian life and of course, they can be summed up in one word: LOVE. I believe these values sum up what it means to fulfill the Law in love. Mind you, we don't live by rules ..read more

It was on a summer's day, back in August 2004, that I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me about writing a book series. It wasn't an audible voice but at the same time, it was loud and clear. We were living in Southern California at the time, on a beautiful ranch where my husband worked as a racecar technician. Just a few years earlier we had come to faith in Jesus Christ. An event that radically changed our lives. The fact that it was possible to hear God's voice had never occurred to me. I am forever thankful that He spoke exactly the way He did because I never doubted what I had heard. I was ..read more