Finding Money

De Tijd Vliegt = Time Flies
Monnickendam, Netherlands

Whether it's a windmill, a lighthouse, a weathervane, a water tower...or as in this case, a gable stone on the front of a brick building...whenever I find one, I feel like I've just found money!

Just like I still feel whenever I find a penny on the sidewalk!  [And yes, I still embarrass my kids when I bend down to pick one up.]

Years ago when then-husband and I were in ministry to college students in Southern California, they gave us a metal detector just for fun.  Actually, I think it was for Bill's birthday.  They knew we loved taking our 2 kids to the beach every possible weekend, summer or winter, to fly kites and body-surf the waves.

Picture it now:  first Bill, then me, then the kids, one by one, all searching for treasures hidden in the sand.  We knew you could find rings and watches and whatever...and coins, of course.  Each of us had our own fantasy of hitting the jackpot.  But who would hit it first!

What is it about that EUREKA hope of finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Now that St. Paddy's Day has come and gone, many will have had their visions of finding treasures untold totally dashed...never really believing their gold was right there in front of them all along.

And sometimes it's not just money.  It's better than money!

Of all the things I "collect" with my camera here in the Netherlands, gevelstenen (gable stones) rank right up there at the top.  Lucky for me, they can be found in the city centers of almost every Dutch village or city, just waiting to be found.  I look up all the time on those photo hunts, holding my breath...expectant with childlike bliss to find whatever trinket is there just for the taking.

Now here's where the fun takes off.  There are Dutch databases for windmills (1173+) and lighthouses (40) and water towers (175)...AND FOR GABLE STONES (a gazillion)...to help you find where they are. 

As for gable stones, there are so many all over the Netherlands, you have to click on a city in the database to find out exactly how many and on what street.  In Amsterdam, for instance, there are over 800.  When I lived there half of every month for two years, I "collected" over 500 of them.  Talk about a jackpot!  Here in Gorinchem where I live now, there are only 36.  But all are treasures, as good for me as money!

In Monnickendam, which we visited a couple weeks ago, there are 60+ gable stones.  In the 2 hours we were there, I "collected" 33 of them.  The one above is my favorite and is the one where I immediately thought of us women here at V&V.  Once home, I went to the database and found it is a young whipper-snapper from 2003...compared to one I found from 1611, for instance.

"Finding money" means different things to different people, of course.  It certainly says a lot about us what we even call "money" or treasure.  But I can tell you this, when I find it, whatever it is, time stands still...even if it's trying to tell me otherwise.  And even if I can't take it with me!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

...for tomorrow we die.
[Ecclesiastes 8:15 and Isaiah 22:13]

Lately I've been trying to pay attention to this thing called Life...and what it means to live, in spite of the economy or my wallet.  Years ago someone told me to live as though there were no tomorrow but to save as though I'd lived forever.  But often to my own shame, I have worked hard on the latter at the expense of the former.

How does this happen?  To have money in the bank but to think twice about spending it on a café coffee while walking out-n-about any weekend afternoon?  That's easy, you say:  it's because of the economy right now or because you came out of a conservative preacher's home.  But not all my brothers and sisters are that way.  Why am I?

Astrid and I live in a senior-living complex here in The Netherlands (minimum entry age is 55) where we are surrounded by residents who are in their sunset years, as we say.  It's not earth-shattering whenever we hear that Mevrouw So-and-So has just died.  It's the reality of this place.  And yet, at the same time, it's nothing for us all to get together once a month and live it up, eating, drinking and having fun.  I LOVE IT.  Watching 60-, 70- and 80-year-olds letting down their hair and laughing a lot.  I sit there trying to catch all the Dutch I can pick up...and laughing right back.

Eons ago when Bill and I were 'missionaries' to college students and had little money, he'd sometimes say, "Let's go out for an ice cream!" I'd immediately say, "Do you think we can afford it?" For God's sake, Ginnie, they only cost 5-cents a scoop back then.  Shouldn't I have asked, "How can we NOT afford it?!"  We always went, of course, because I talked sense into myself, but I'm so ashamed when I think of that memory.

The rare times we took the kids to a restaurant, maybe twice a year on their birthdays, they'd always choose the most expensive entre on the menu.  I got smart and quickly made the policy they could choose anything up to a certain amount (that I had fixed in my head).  WHY?  Since it was a rare thing, why couldn't I just say "To heck with it.  They can have anything they want!  It's their birthday, for God's sake!"  Why didn't I trust the way Life works.  Why didn't I accept the ebb and flow, the give and take, the saving and spending, the living and the dying?  Both and.  Why didn't I talk sense into myself!

While I still have a lot to learn on the subject (surely most of you are way ahead of me!),  in my own way I'm making headway.  The older I get, I don't weigh and measure and calculate every single thing anymore.  I'm more willing to take my chances and trust the outcome.  What is it we say...moderation in everything.  If we're not guilty of the alternative, why worry about tomorrow, which may never come anyway!  Besides, I don't have to leave ALL my money (what I have of it, that is) to the kids.  I can enjoy my own life for a change, right?

So, hang on a sec while I go get a bottle and a couple of glasses.  I can hear you saying "I'll drink to that!"  Please do and PROOST, as we say here in The Netherlands!

Eat, drink and be merry...for tomorrow we diet!
[2001 New Scientist 22/29 Dec. 45]