Finding Purpose - Song of my Life - Kristine van Dooren

The first fun change for our family was moving out of our bedroom at the Big House. Two rooms, a small living room and upstairs

Her first birthday was coming soon, and my parents and youngest sister, were already making plans to visit us. It was the weekend of the 18th of May. For Thomas and I, it was also our spiritual birthday. We would be celebrating the beginning of our new lives with Jesus, and remembering how God saved Thomas out of the ocean, the day Naomi was born.

I was looking forward to seeing my family, and also asked mom, if she could bring some of my stuff that was still in my old room. Things like pictures, embroidered table clothes, lace curtains, homemade pillows, an antique mirror, vases, carved wooden boxes, and a macramé wall hanging that my sister had made. I couldn’t wait to decorate and make our place feel homey.

Our new living room had a built-in couch, and a separate door that led to the garden area and path to the field. We felt we had

Back to our routine at Living Waters!

We had missed having time by ourselves, after spending three intense weeks with our family.

Thomas would get out his guitar and we sang with our whole hearts the words of Jesus, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Singing this scripture helped express the longing we both had. To seek God, to trust and to

We never wanted to go back to our old lifestyle where we followed our own hearts and desires. Now we experienced a deeper unity, that was beyond ourselves. We were looking to God together, to find his will for our lives.

Our regular Bible studies, no matter what the subject was, emphasised that we are disciples. We had decided to follow only Jesus, and were willing to lay down our lives to serve Him. We had already experienced in many difficult situations, that His grace was sufficient, and His blessings

We sensed that the “times were a changing” at Living Waters. There weren’t as many hitchhikers coming in, and many of our friends,

#kristinevandooren #findingpurpose #hippielife #autobiography #songofmylife   

Welcome back friends! 

Thank you for all of your encouraging messages! I am glad to hear that you are enjoying my podcast "Finding Purpose," and our mother/daughter talks here. My daughter, Naomi van Dooren, thought it would be fun to ask me some more personal questions about my story. This time we talk about the Summer of Love; which I experienced first hand, growing up in the 60's and living near San Francisco. Watching all the rock bands at the Fillmore concert hall was a must, which eventually led me to Europe, in the summer of 1970. That's how my podcast story begins, "It's all about the Music."   

You can also watch this video on my Youtube channel; Kristine van Dooren under the title "Summer of Love"

Maybe you have friends that prefer using Youtube so please share it with them!

There was no turning back now for Nadja. She was on cloud nine, she had found joy!

This is what I was talking about in the introduction to my podcast. It doesn’t matter how old you are, or where you live, or how many roads in this life you have already travelled. Happiness and contentment, and purpose, is what we all hope to find one day.

And similar to Thomas and I, her life had taken an unexpected turn, when she came to California and ended up in the Redwood forest of California. This is where she found what she was looking for. All of her longings for love, and for peace, in her heart had been fulfilled. She was no longer bound to her past, her pain, her loneliness, she had found the answer, the path to freedom and joy.

The answer was nothing like she had been looking for. She had not found it in empty philosophies, or even by looking to the stars for direction. She had found the answer in the living God, now she would never have to search again.

She was 48 years old and had made the decision, to follow Jesus, who is the light of the world. Standing in the creek that day at Living Waters, she had confessed that she was a sinner, and believed that Jesus was her Savior. She was baptized in front of us young people, out in the middle of the forest, in the same place, where Thomas and I, were just a few months before that.

With the clear blue winter skies above us, we sang together, songs of praise and rejoicing. Nadja would have gladly stayed there all afternoon singing, but we had to encourage her to get back to the house, and put some dry clothes on.

In was like what she had written on her baptism photo many years later; she had experienced the joy, that caused the darkness in her soul to flee. She had a brand new life in front of her, and was thankful, that she could share her excitement with all of us.

   The trip so far, had been a great opportunity, for Thomas and I, to meet different kinds of Christians. We met my parent’s friends and pastor in the Methodist church, plus we discovered a new bond with our German neighbour lady, Elisabeth.

   Another highlight was walking around our old neighbourhood and realizing that we had been delivered out of that dark world. We rejoiced in acknowledging that God our Father, had given us a new life in Jesus.

   It was really special listening to my dad and Thomas talking to Nadja about the Bible. I had never even heard dad having a conversation in German, let alone with his son in law! Nadja had a wonderful time with my family and was gradually opening up to us about her life. It had been a big step for her when she prayed with us. This was the biggest reward so far of our first vacation week.

In closing today;

   I feel like, I have gotten to know my mother in law much better, since writing about her. I met her when I was 19, and grew into adulthood, with her being a part of my life. I knew her before she was a Christian and watched her change and blossom into a woman of God. We shared many wonderful, fun, sad and dramatic experiences throughout our lives.

   I will always remember her, sitting by her pretty glass table every morning, drinking Yerba Mate tea and reading her Bible. She was my Mutti, my sister in the Lord, a prayer warrior, and a loving and supportive grandmother to our five daughters. We had become the family, that she never had, growing up. Her life, like Thomas’, was proof that Jesus is alive, and that He saves all those, who call upon His Name.

   Onward with the story of Nadja’s California adventures. She had come with certain expectations, plus she had some reservations, because of the things Thomas had written to her about. She had only been with us for a few days, and already her world was being shaken. She had been impressed by two experiences that she could not so easily brush off. She had witnessed her son’s transformation, both inwardly and outwardly. She said it could only be described as a miracle.

  Thomas had been warning her about following deceptive religions and philosophies. He had written specifically saying that they teach a false Jesus. The second experience was when she was talking to my dad and listened to him explain to her, that the religion she believed in wasn’t the Truth.

   She had gone to bed that night, quite disturbed, about that statement. She had read many Bible scriptures in Thomas letters, where he described the difference, between lies and truth. But now she was even more curious to understand, and ask the question for herself; “What is the Truth?”

   Now this trip to California, would be a long travel day, but she was anxious about meeting her son again. She must have been torn between her joy, and the sad memories she had, when he said goodbye in West Berlin. Thomas had tried to share his hash pipe with her, thinking it would be a symbol for a peaceful farewell. For some reason though, he felt it was necessary to tell her that she had failed him as a mother. She left in tears, feeling condemned, and feared that she would never see her son again.

   But then she started receiving friendly letters from him about our life in California, and they actually became “pen pals,” writing about their views on spirituality. This was a new development for Thomas, as he began going deep into the philosophies of the hippie movement. Through their letter exchanges, they seemed to be finding some common ground, so Nadja was pleased about that.

   At the same time, these ideals were moving Thomas, farther and farther away from my parent’s Christian perspectives. My mother had been relieved, that I had come back to California, but my father was upset, as he had to witness my German boyfriend leading me astray.

   Just when Nadja was thinking that her son was on the right track, she received an unexpected call from my dad, informing her that he was in jail. She had not been aware, that Thomas’ use of psychedelic drugs, had increased since hanging out with our hippie friends..

Surprise ! Our second video podcast just for you!

Thank you for all the nice comments about our very first video podcast.  Here is my second video conversation with my daughter, Naomi van Dooren.  We talk about what it's been like for me, learning to make a podcast. It's sure not something I imagined myself doing, even a year ago!

In writing my story, I have tried to remember the crazy, fun, and scary things my husband and I went through.  Sometimes it has felt like an emotional rollercoaster ride. But on the other hand, its been amazing to realize how God, had His hand on our lives all along the way. I hope you enjoy our "mother - daughter" talk.

Take care and bye for now!

You can contact me either on Instagram "vandoorenkristine" or on Facebook "Kristine van Dooren" 

Please share this link to anyone you think would enjoy it!  *** Check it out on my Youtube channel: Kristine van Dooren

    We were surprised to receive a quick note from Nadja that she had booked her flights. She would be arriving on January 18th and staying until February 11th. I called my parents from the dome at Living Waters to give them the good news, and then we   could all start making plans for her stay. Thomas had promised that we would be waiting for her at the airport in San Francisco when she arrived.

   She was apprehensive about flying to the USA, all the way, from the walled city of West Berlin. But since her husband had not been in good health for many years, she was used to traveling alone. Of course it was also a big financial investment, but it was worth it to her, because she longed to see her son again.

   I would like to share with you Thomas’ last letter before she left. As I have attempted to translate this long German letter, I am fascinated by his honesty, and how he openly confesses to her, some of the terrible things that he had done when he was a boy.

   In this letter, he talks about the subject of “spirituality”, because this is what he had in common with his mother. But gradually their relationship, and the topics of discussion, had dramatically changed.

   I think there are many points that he makes, that other people can relate to. Sometimes their communication is heart breaking; to hear of her struggles, and his longing, to reach out to her. I think their letters were very unusual, especially, considering that he was only 23.

I hope you enjoyed my surprise video podcast. Since my story, has included my daughter Naomi’s beginnings, we thought it would be fun, to give you a peek into our lives today. We have created a series of video interviews, titled “Conversations with Kristine”. I hope you enjoy our “up and coming” discussions, that will be interspersed between the normal episodes.

   As a reminder to where I left off in Episode 37; I was talking about our first visit, back to our roots in the Bay Area.

After our four day stay with my parents, we drove away with full hearts, amazed at how special our time was. Since we had a  long trip home, we had plenty of time to reflect on our experiences of the week.  

   What had the biggest impact on us that week, was visiting our hippie friends. We were surprised ourselves to see how much we had changed. The last time we had seen them was at our farewell party in Hayward. We had made a circle of helium filled balloons with crepe paper ribbons and drove up into the hills. There we let it fly, up to the spirits in the sky, to represent our love and unity.

We realized that we didn’t have much in common anymore with our old friends. We saw the sharp contrast, compared to our new friends, at Living Waters. Most of us, had similar backgrounds, of coming out of the hippie mentality. Our lives, our goals, and our minds had been renewed.