“At some point just before midnight, I realised that we would never again be in a setting like this to celebrate the new year,” remembers Loïs. “Our friends will get married in the spring and move to the USA. Our other friend just got divorced from her local non-believing spouse and will, together with her son, move back to her family in another country. Again a year of goodbye’s.”

“I do not recall wearing many different hats ever. I only used them while travelling in some hot countries…” shares Loïs. “These days I only count one hat in my wardrobe. Nevertheless I have the feeling that I am changing hats all the time. My different roles make me do so.”

“I remember when our boys were younger you could just see their tiredness in everything they did, but they still didn’t want to go to bed. ‘I am not tired!’ But the moment they lay down, they slept. Even for us as adults, to rest can feel like a punishment or a sign of weakness,” shares OMer Loïs. “But there is no need to feel like that. God Himself created a day to rest.”