Hi, I'm Danny.

New king! New king!

So today we have an incredibly laid back, toilet-throwing king and a beautiful beautiful new queen of the Netherlands: King Willem-Alexandar and Queen Máxima.

Ofcourse it is all quite a show and everybody knows how a constitutional monarchy goes with the real power not really resting on the shoulders of the king anymore. But what a day it must be, April 30, for everybody in the Netherlands. 

Here’s the song that was written and dedicated to the new king, entitled “Koningslied by John Ewbank” (King’s Song).

And yes, despite all the controversy and criticism of the song being too Disney sounding .. .the much-a-do-about-it-all complaining for nothing is just a reflection of what I’m still learning: That the Dutch just being typical Dutch complaining and all. It’s a national sport you see.

But if, for a small moment, you read these lyrics like a child watching a Disney movie.. it does all the more warm the heart doesn’t it (see below).

My favorite line:

Ik zal waken als jij slaapt

Ik behoed je voor de storm

Ben ik je baken in de nacht

Ik zal strijden als een leeuw

In English (I’m pretending I know my Dutch haha)

I will watch as you sleep

Saving you from the storm

Be your beacon in the night

Fighting like a lion

You think of the lion and you read Revelation 5.5 and what an incredibly heart-warming thought it is.

Perhaps John Ewbank had something subliminal in his mind by ripping off of Matt Redman’s 10,000 reasons. 

The big plus in my opinion is that the “Koningslied” having gone to the top of the Dutch iTunes charts just all of a sudden made “10,000 reasons” a little bit more famous too. Sneaky, subliminal, fantastic. In the midst of the plastic orange crowns, the reverly, and the pragmatic political correctness of all the hullabaloo of it all: We have 10,000 and more reasons to make our king of kings famous anywhere and everywhere.

Willem-Alexander is gona do a fabulous job cutting ribbons and building toilets. I know he will.

Jesus bless him,  his family, his three daughters. And say a prayer for Friso too.

Everybody’s gona love this new king and queen.

Proud to be Dutch today.

Koningslied (King’s song)

There you are

You saw this moment so many times in your dreams

And then there it is

The day that you knew was coming is finally here

Are you ready?

Can you ever really be?

There you are

Every man has a task in this life

Everything done to prepare for

There it is then

You promise that you will give everything

Every step you took that led you here

And look around you

We walk with you

Through the rain and the wind

I will stand beside you

I’ll protect you against anything that comes

I will watch as you sleep

I am saving you from the storm

Keep you safe as long as I live

A battle, two lives

We face each other, not to break

A flag, two lions

With each other in the sun and rain

Side by side, chest out

Proud as a peacock, this is our sound

And how small we are

Our achievements are

Go not void

For you, my child

For my dad, for my mom

Walk for you through the wind and rain

And will stand behind you

I carry a banner with your name

Believe in you as long as we exist

I’m building a dike with my bare hands

And keep the water away from you

Let me know what you dream

Where your heart longs

I will not rest until it has become true

And if you ever lose your way

I’ll be your beacon in the night

I refer you to the harbor in the darkness

I will fight like a lion

To you for nothing lacking

Keep your safe as long as I live

The W of William

Three fingers in the air, come on, come on

The William W is the W we

Very Orange buffs head to

W of the water where we did not deviate

We explain the dry and build dikes

The W welcome in our midst

To which God you may pray

The W of William

The W of waking, eating stew

Millions of coaches who know better

The W always want to win

Whatever it is that we begin to

The W we are one with each other

With the shoulders next to each other

And so we call today

Through the rain and the wind

I will stand beside you

I’ll protect you against anything that comes

I will watch as you sleep

I am saving you from the storm

Keep your safe as long as I live

Let me know what you dream

Where your heart longs

I will not rest until it has become true

And if you ever lose your way

I’ll be your beacon in the night

Assign the port you in the darkness

I will fight like a lion

To you for nothing lacking

Keep you safe as long as I live

Original lyrics in Dutch are here

I will maintain

“Je maintiendrai”

I’d honestly never really noticed this phrase before.

Probably because I could never ever get over properly pronouncing “paspoort” or better yet “Koninkrijk der Nederlanden”. My eyesight goes all fuzzy trying to deciphere that kind of code.

But I saw the phrase “Je maintiendrai” in big bold letters at the Dutch embassy this morning and I saw it again on my passport today. I was thinking to myself “this has gotta be a French phrase”.

With my very (very) limited Dutch, I knew this wasn’t an actual Dutch phrase. “Je” in Dutch would probably be pronounced “ye” and mean “you” or “yo!” or something like that. Plus you’d need a chicken bone stuck in your throat to speak in proper Dutch and the lettering for “Je maintiendrai” is just too smooth for chicken bone language. Yes, it had to be French.

But why was it on the coat of arms I wondered? And what in the French-earth does it mean?

Come to the rescue Wikipedia ofcourse! Well, Google first, then Wikipedia. You can read all about it here.

Turns out, “Je maintiendrai” simply means “I will maintain”. (Duh, ofcourse I knew that)

It is a phrase that dates back to the kings and queens of old and historians can trace it all the way back to the good old cozy House of Orange.

“I will maintain”

Totally makes sense doesn’t it?

No? Why not? Because it’s French and not Dutch? A Dutch motto in French? Huh?

Ofcourse it makes sense! That’s typical Dutch really, they borrow everybody else’s ideas and claim it be to be there own. You do know that those famous Holland tulips originally came from Turkey. : )

This year, remarkably, Queen Beatrix (photo above and in the beginning of this blog), our beloved queen of the Netherlands has announced that she will abdicate her crown and the Netherlands will enjoy the next few decades with a brand new king. Her son, Crown-Prince Willem-Alexander. 

Queen Beatrix is the most loved queen on the planet. Everybody loves her!!! She is the people’s queen. Just look at her and you’ll say “oh wow I wish my auntie was Queen Beatrix”. Doesn’t she look like she can bake wonderful cookies for your kids? 

But she’s 75 now and wants to retire.

Here’s a photo of our now crown prince and very soon to be king, Willem-Alexander.

This is him throwing a toilet at a crowd last year. Stop laughing he had a remarkable point to make.

He’s going to be king of the Netherlands soon, and yes, he will be helping the world build many many more toilets.

But before I end, read on, because this is really the whole point of my rare blog:

Talking about kings and queens. They will retire. They will go and new ones will show up. Some in the faces of darling beauty queens. Others in the faces of horrible tyrants. 

My point is this: In essence, we all are little kings and little queens of our own little kingdoms with the people we interact with on a day to day basis.

It doesn’t matter if you are Dutch or Filipino or Nepalese or Indonesian. In this day and age when the whole concept of kingdoms are as fuzzy as ever, ask yourself:

“Who are the people in my little kingdom that matter to me the most?”

What are the key relationships in my life that I am maintaining? Are they healthy ones? Are they going to destroy me? Or are they going to make me thrive and last for years and years ahead?

Blogging about a tiny little Dutch kingdom just gives me a little glimpse that opens up my eyes to the kingdom of kingdoms that is real and that is forcefully advancing.

There is a king of kings who lives today and his name is Jesus. He brings salvation. There will be order. There will be justice. There will be mercy. There will be love all over, and the poor in spirit will not go hungry.

Choose today and say this to yourself: “I will maintain my relationship with Jesus, the king of kings.”

This is my blog. This is my declaration to the world.

I will maintain (this blog).

Pangarap ko for 2013

1. Grow a littler taller.

2. Buy new pants.

3. Maybe a new shirt too.

4. Pray more

5. Sleep earlier (to grow a little taller)

Thank you for a wonderful 2012!

Happy new year!!!

BELIEVE!!! Merry Christmas!!!

Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you; BELIEVE in the one he has sent.” - John 6.29

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!! 

Here’s a glimpse of what Christmas eve dinner looks like for us in our part of the world.

* Note: No family members were harmed in the making of this video.

Pasko Ay Nandito Na (Christmas is here!!!)

Download this song for free from http://www.acelmusic.com

Lyrics and English translation