I concur with the sentiments of a passage in Charles Swindoll's book, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life, (Multnomah Press, 1983) that remind us:
Quietly, without flare or fanfare, God graciously moves upon our lives, taking us from season to season as He mysteriously writes his agenda on the tablets of our hearts.

To that, my wife, Nelina, and I say a loud "AMEN!" As together we look back over 60 years of married life we can see God's hand directing our paths. At the time, each experience looked merely like another unrelated circumstance. From this perspective we gladly acknowledge our Lord's sovereign presence and superintendence in each event.

How did I get into this editorial challenge? It all began one day when I asked Peggy, my oldest daughter-in-law, to do some small task for me. "Yes, of course," she replied, "but I want you to promise that you will begin writing down some thoughts for your memoirs. I want them for us and for your grandchildren."

So, to quote the poet Robert Service, "A promise made is a debt unpaid." I had been asked numerous times to pen the highlights of events during the past eighty-four years but had successfully avoided doing so until that day.

"Don't worry about grammatical errors," said Peggy as she handed me a large, leather-bound notebook filled with lined paper. "Just write whatever comes to mind. Don't erase anything." At the end of page one, however, my eraser was nearly exhausted. My thanks to Norm Rohrer for his helpful editing and to David Christy for the book's cover design and photo displays.

The tedious details of my parental roots are well researched by Peter H. Bogaard of De Meern, Holland, who has published two books about the Bogaard family reaching back 670 years to 1320 A.D. Several copies of this book, The Flowering Orchard, are in the libraries of our family. One is filed with the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. I'll leave to cousin Peter the handling of our family's chronology and dwell instead on the goodness of God in shaping our lives according to His will.

I lovingly recognize the parts my father, mother and four brothers and three sisters have played. They, all in their own way, had a part in shaping my life.

I must call attention to a picture that my grandfather, Dirk Bogaard, had taken of him and his family at the turn of the Century by a professional photographer in front of their home. He insisted on having the Bible in his outstretched hands, signifying the importance he placed on God and his Word. So when I speak of my parents and siblings having a part in shaping my life, I must include these old saints who acknowledged the importance of establishing their home and family on a firm foundation many years before I was born.

This information was passed on to us by my father who often expressed his gratitude for being raised in this kind of environment. At a recent meeting of all my brothers and sisters, we tried to recall some of our father's favorite expressions. We made a list and "Count your blessings" came out on top, hence the title of this book.

Count your blessings,
Name them one by one,
And it will surprise you
What the Lord has done.