I am a historian by passion, more than by formal education.  In school I very much disliked having to learn all those dates and names.  But here and there I had teachers who showed me how much fun history could be.  One who had recently been a pilot in World War II told us his experiences and made the history so real we felt we were right there in those planes with him.  Another told the stories of early California with an excitement that was contagious.  Yet another introduced me to the addicting adventure of analyzing the complex issues and motivations behind those names and dates.

Later our family lived in the Netherlands for three years, surrounded with ancient buildings, thatched roofs, and cobbled streets. I grew increasingly curious about what had happened in all those quaint old places before we arrived.  What made the Dutch people who they are today?

Back home, I checked out a book of Dutch history from the library and was soon hooked.  I spent many years reading everything I could find about 16^th century Netherlands. I found a wealth of old materials in a nearby university library and joined an organization of historians who took me in and taught me how to be one of them.  With their help and inspiration, I wrote a trilogy of novels about a couple of imaginary young people I met in my journeys through the shelves and a research trip back to Europe in search of all the remnants of the 16th century.  (click here to check out the Seekers Series.)
 
Later writing about Dr. Oma gave me the opportunity to introduce one of my favorite characters from the real history. (See review of Dr. Oma:the Healing Wisdom of Countess Juliana von Stolberg.)

Growing up in my boxes, I had always thought of history most pragmatically, as a valuable way to learn how life works and how to line my life up accordingly. Studying the sixteenth century world of Willem van Oranje and Juliana von Stolberg, however, became much more than a fact-and-lesson-finding mission. I dug deeply and gained not only a broadened view of my own roots and of people in general.  I also gained a whole new appreciation for those who call themselves Christians, even though they don’t always see everything in just the way I do.  But most of all, my eyes were opened to see how truly big God is in every era and corner of history. 

Finally, I’m experiencing the joys of keeping the dance alive. Once a year, my alma mater, Multnomah Bible College, and I give an award to one student with great promise in the history department.  At a spring luncheon, I meet the students and talk with them about what fascinating truth history is exposing me to today.  Then the winner’s name is engraved on a plaque and hung outside the Department head's office and the vision moves on propelled by the passion of one more generation.

History is a dance that never ceases  The music never dies
new steps prevent tedium
and the Dance Master superintends it all.

When the floor lies littered with rubble
and the music grows chaotic and dissonant

can we trust Him with the future?

For more years than most of my young readers have been alive, I have loved Juliana von Stolberg.  I met her in a dusty history book, after living in the Netherlands for three years while my husband was stationed there in the military. 

 She lived 500 years ago (1506-1580), actually in Germany. But her son, Willem van Oranje, became a prince of the Netherlands and she became the great Queen Mother of Holland. 

 A remarkable woman, I remember her for her courage as mother to 17 children—all born without anesthetics and all but one living to adulthood.  I remember her for her expertise as an herbalist.  Most of all, I remember her as a woman of strong and enduring faith in God—a woman who, through her sons, changed the western world.

 In this book, she gains an apprentice in her granddaughter, Maria who comes to live with her for ten years.  She teaches the girl the fine points of both herbalism and faith. 

To order, go to Amazon

Book also available in Dutch translation, under title:   Mijn schild ende betrouwen 

Dr.  Oma
may be available to talk to your school or your church.

Can speak to girls or women.

Excellent for a
Mother-Daughter occasion !

Contact me for further information.