Reaching for the Heights

By Catharina Keyzer

Reaching for the Heights is a true story of a Christian mum who travelled alongside her son in his lifes journey as he searched for God and found him in Bolivia. It is a story of how God has led on paths through valleys which one would not have voluntarily chosen to go through. At times, the going seemed too hard, but God showed that he was right there, tenderly leading through an incredible odyssey here on earth. Evidenced in this journey is that when Gods promises in his Word are claimedwhether it is for salvation of a family member, peace of mind, courage, or provision of daily needsit is a voluntary commitment to his divine will and programming. Assuredly, Gods promises are backed by his wisdom, love, and power.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Mar 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781503503175

Book preview

Copyright © 2015 by Catharina Keyzer.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2015902955

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-5035-0315-1

                Softcover         978-1-5035-0316-8

                eBook              978-1-5035-0317-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica]

Rev. date: 03/12/2015

Xlibris

1-800-455-039

www.Xlibris.com.au

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Contents

Preface

The Dream

My Happy Childhood Years

A New Life in Australia

Family Problems

Family in Turmoil

Finding My Life Partner

New Lives, New Birth

Walking in the Faith

My Walk in the Wilderness

An Ever-Present Help

A New Direction, New Challenges

Back to School

Family Blessings

The Ups and Downs of Life

Pete Finding His Feet

A Twist in the Road

Pete’s Newfound Interest

An SOS from Pete

Though I Walk

through the Valleys

My Journey to Bolivia

Where You Go,

I Will Go with You.

Where It All Happened

God’s Special Touches

Forever Looking Upwards!

A Sunset in One Country Is a Sunrise in Another

I dedicate this story to my three granddaughters.

I also want to thank my dear friends Effie Munday, Betty Rankine, and Dawn Dormer for their faith in me. Without their encouragement and support, I would not have been able to write this.

Reaching for the Heights is a true story. A few names have been changed to protect the privacy of some people.

Preface

Are there riches in suffering?

It is written in the book of Isaiah:

I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by name. (Isaiah 45:3, NIV)

I see those words in the scripture as pointing to the fact that Christians can find riches in suffering! It had always been my opinion that no one in his right mind wants to hang out for a dose of suffering. Though while I do not expect life to be a continual walk in a rose garden, I certainly had hoped for a good life on earth while serving my Lord and lovingly guiding my family in the ways of God. This book is the story of my walk as a Christian wife and mother living in a non-Christian home. It had always been my heart’s desire for my family to experience the joy of knowing our great God. This desire was all I lived for as I trusted God to see my husband and sons come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

My life’s journey is a testimony about my Father God, who has never failed me. At times when I thought that the going was hard, he would show me that he was right there with me. Though at times when I was going through stuff, it was not always clear to me to see where his hand was leading. Yet my story shows how God had taken me literally by the hand and led me through an incredible journey here on earth. It is a story of his love and faithfulness where I have come to experience that life for Christians here on earth can take us on journeys where we do not always want to go. However, God’s continued assurances along my way have shown me that I can trust him with everything concerning my life. This had given me hope, a living hope.

However, my personality is such that when dark times come across my path, I have a tendency to just grit my teeth and endure it and then let out a sigh of relief when it is all over. But the lesson that I have learned here is that only through the pain, hurts, and sufferings can the full impact of God’s love and faithfulness be measured and treasured. It is often said that only in hindsight can a person see God’s hand in their lives, yet again I have learned through my life’s experiences that it is actually God’s desire for me to experience him while I am going through my trials because life is all about having an intimate relationship with him. It is then that I have experienced his enabling so that I could face the traumas that life would hold out to me and that, through it all, I could actually begin to thank him for these. It is only when ‘the rubber hits the road’ that I have been able to grow deeper in my walk with him and to experience that he is really there!

What this journey had shown me was that when I claimed one of God’s promises in the Bible—whether it was for peace of mind, courage, or provision of my daily needs—I placed myself in his hands and on his schedule. As I waited, it may at times have seemed as if the Lord was slow in responding to me. But I have heard it said that trust embraces the reality and that when I stand on a promise of God, he always remains faithful. The assurance is in my heart, and the timing is always in his hands. It’s good to remember that all of God’s promises are backed by his wisdom, love, and power.

The Dream

I tossed uneasily in bed. A dream had woken me. It was a strange dream about my son Pete that had troubled me and hence had woken me up. As I lay there with my eyes still closed, I could see Pete (a younger Pete because he had more hair) leaning over a railing and looking down; he had tears in his eyes. I could see vaguely the figures of a woman and a young girl, and they both wore a red Peruvian headdress.

Why was Pete so sad? I asked myself this question in my dream, and the answer that pressed upon my heart was that Pete was feeling very sad for all the lost people—people who didn’t know the Lord and who went to an eternity without God. This really woke me up with a start because I found it quite strange to dream like this about Pete.

Feeling uneasy, I got out of bed and walked through the house into the front living room. I stood at the front window and looked out on the road. It looked dark and cold, and I shivered. I went to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. I looked at the digital clock of the microwave; it was 1.30 a.m.

My Happy Childhood Years

Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast the sum of them!

Psalm 139:16–17, NIV

Looking back over my life, I can truly say that I had a very good childhood in the country of my birth—Holland. Although we were a working-class family, we were a happy family. My father (Pa) laid bricks in the summer months and fixed bicycles in the winter months. Home life was warm and safe. Mum was usually home. There were often aunties or neighbours visiting or just dropping in for a cup of coffee, and there would be laughter and happy chattering among them. My mother was a real homebody; she loved working around the house and looking after her family. She liked to sew dresses for her daughters and would embellish these with embroidery. I have an older sister, Anita, and a younger sister, Maria. I was born in a little town called Bussum. These times were at the start of the Second World War, and so I do remember a little of the war.

Pa knew a lot of people, which meant that he always seemed to have the right connections with farmers and business people, and therefore, we were not without food and had a secure home during the war. However, during the night, we were often reminded that there was a war going on because of the Allied planes flying over our region of Holland to bomb Germany. At times we could hear the bombs going off. I can still remember that my mother would stand in the middle of the living room with me in her arms, ready for flight.

There was a convent school at the end of our street, which during the war was occupied by German soldiers. Once, when the soldiers did a house search in our street, the soldier who went through our house left a cigarette on the shelf over the fireplace. He winked at my mother and said as he was leaving, ‘This is for your husband!’ The soldiers seemed kind to us, for they often gave some of the children in our street a ration of soup. During the war, my parents were very courageous since they hid many patriots who were on the run from the Germans. We lived near a railway line at