Voldoende!

When we returned from our trip there was a letter in the mail with the results from Steve's Dutch Government exam. The exciting news is that he passed all four parts of the exam! This was such an exciting moment! I remember when Steve and I were just married and going through our things noticing that most of the books Steve had in his library were books on how to learn Dutch. He shared with me that he had even began to study the language at 12 years old! Our first year in the Netherlands we attended Dutch school together (I like to call it boot camp) we would have to learn over 200 new words per week and be ready for the exams on Monday. Grammar was another challenge. At the end of our year of language we took the final exams. Steve got his score back and found out that it was not enough to pass. It was heartbreaking. Instead of giving up, Steve ripped a small piece of paper out from his notebook and wrote his score on it and the date. He looked at me and said, "I'm going to look at this score everyday and let it motivate me to study everyday." In his office is a frame with the score and he has studied everyday since. This week there is a diploma coming in the mail declaring Steve is fluent in Dutch. Steve never gives up at anything he sets out to do. He is an inspiration!