The snow keeps melting, but there is a lot of it to melt, so it might be this yucky slush (“sludd”) for many more days. They use a combination of salt and sand on the roads here so all the mounds of snow along the roadways are starting to look a nasty shade of brown. The pristine can turn ugly with just a few degrees variation. It’s okay by me though, as we are now packing our bags and will soon be flying to sunny Rome! The entire time we are gone it looks like Aalesund is in for rain, but so far, the weather forecast in Rome is sunny and around 50 degrees. Yahoo. I’m ready for a little vacation because my Norwegian class is moving along at a pace faster than I can manage. I had zero motivation to get out of bed this morning and continue this torture called the Norwegian language. We had a test the other day and I didn’t know half the words on it, wondering where they came from, only to find out, they were our new vocabulary words which somehow slipped right past me. It must be the poor lighting on the bus in the morning when I’m doing my homework… I’m just losing it, I fear.
I checked my e-mail before I caught the bus this morning, and then felt compelled to answer a message from one of our tenants in Seattle, which nearly made me miss the bus. Kaleb ran out the door to hold the bus for me and just as the bus pulled out, he realized he forgot his swimming gear. He has swimming for PE every other week. I told him to get off at the next stop and go back and get it, and he said he doesn’t like swimming anyway because the water is so cold at the pool they use so he didn’t want to do that. He “forgot” his swimsuit the last time they had swimming too so I told him I was very disappointed in him for not being more responsible and that he couldn’t use any electronics today because he was choosing to miss his PE class when there was still plenty of time for him to rectify the situation. He got off the bus at his stop by the school and I waved good-bye and went on to my school. When I got home today he told me that he started walking toward school and about half way there he stopped and thought, “I don’t want Mama to be disappointed in me. I want her to be proud of me,” so he turned around and RAN back to the house (over a mile with a heavy backpack), to get his swim gear and then he caught the next bus and made it to school on time. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He swears his only motivation was to make me proud and NOT because he would lose the use of his Nintendo and laptop (he often doesn’t even have time to play with them), so that cheered me up like nothing else. I guess this is normal parent stuff, where the kid can go from driving one crazy to filling hearts with joy. I’m not sure I have a strong enough seatbelt for this roller coaster ride I’m on, but I’m thankful today was an UP day nonetheless.
Kory had his “Friday” today as he’s now off work for a few weeks, and happy about that. He gets tired, his body hurts, and he wants to be re-retired. At least he can sit and draw and that doesn’t wear him out. Tomorrow he goes in for a test on his heart, which I think has him a little worried. His cousin Odd (who is a doctor) has been pestering him since he got here to have a Norwegian doctor tell him if there’s anything wrong. Kory doesn’t trust American doctors because he thinks their number one priority is to make money, not do what’s best for the patient. It’s been nearly four years now since a cardiologist told him if he didn’t have surgery, he had a 30% chance of dropping dead of a heart attack within six months. We prayed about it and God clearly did not lead in that direction. Kory hasn’t had surgery, isn’t on drugs and is still kickin’, but he is getting tired of all the vitamins and his restricted diet (although he hasn’t been so strict since we’ve been in Norway, nor has he exercised one bit since we got here.) Kory knows God has healed his heart, to some degree or in some places, but he still gets angina pain if he exerts himself, so he knows there must still be a blockage somewhere. Before we came to Norway he had a heart scan and it showed one artery was 100% clean, which is a bit unusual for a guy his age, so he’s thinking that’s the spot he felt get healed once when he was being prayed for. I’m still believing for a total healing miracle, but the heart scan did show two arteries that are partially blocked. We will continue to pray for guidance and wisdom from God, no matter what the test shows tomorrow. Doctors aren’t God, only God is God, and we’d much rather take advice from Him. God can heal through a variety of sources, including doctors, but He just hasn’t opened that door for us. It takes a lot of faith to go against doctor’s advice, but God has never let us down. We refuse to make a “fear based” decision. Every decision we make, we must be at peace with, because the Bible says fear doesn’t come from God – so that only leaves one other source - and we’re not going there.
I checked my e-mail before I caught the bus this morning, and then felt compelled to answer a message from one of our tenants in Seattle, which nearly made me miss the bus. Kaleb ran out the door to hold the bus for me and just as the bus pulled out, he realized he forgot his swimming gear. He has swimming for PE every other week. I told him to get off at the next stop and go back and get it, and he said he doesn’t like swimming anyway because the water is so cold at the pool they use so he didn’t want to do that. He “forgot” his swimsuit the last time they had swimming too so I told him I was very disappointed in him for not being more responsible and that he couldn’t use any electronics today because he was choosing to miss his PE class when there was still plenty of time for him to rectify the situation. He got off the bus at his stop by the school and I waved good-bye and went on to my school. When I got home today he told me that he started walking toward school and about half way there he stopped and thought, “I don’t want Mama to be disappointed in me. I want her to be proud of me,” so he turned around and RAN back to the house (over a mile with a heavy backpack), to get his swim gear and then he caught the next bus and made it to school on time. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He swears his only motivation was to make me proud and NOT because he would lose the use of his Nintendo and laptop (he often doesn’t even have time to play with them), so that cheered me up like nothing else. I guess this is normal parent stuff, where the kid can go from driving one crazy to filling hearts with joy. I’m not sure I have a strong enough seatbelt for this roller coaster ride I’m on, but I’m thankful today was an UP day nonetheless.
Kory had his “Friday” today as he’s now off work for a few weeks, and happy about that. He gets tired, his body hurts, and he wants to be re-retired. At least he can sit and draw and that doesn’t wear him out. Tomorrow he goes in for a test on his heart, which I think has him a little worried. His cousin Odd (who is a doctor) has been pestering him since he got here to have a Norwegian doctor tell him if there’s anything wrong. Kory doesn’t trust American doctors because he thinks their number one priority is to make money, not do what’s best for the patient. It’s been nearly four years now since a cardiologist told him if he didn’t have surgery, he had a 30% chance of dropping dead of a heart attack within six months. We prayed about it and God clearly did not lead in that direction. Kory hasn’t had surgery, isn’t on drugs and is still kickin’, but he is getting tired of all the vitamins and his restricted diet (although he hasn’t been so strict since we’ve been in Norway, nor has he exercised one bit since we got here.) Kory knows God has healed his heart, to some degree or in some places, but he still gets angina pain if he exerts himself, so he knows there must still be a blockage somewhere. Before we came to Norway he had a heart scan and it showed one artery was 100% clean, which is a bit unusual for a guy his age, so he’s thinking that’s the spot he felt get healed once when he was being prayed for. I’m still believing for a total healing miracle, but the heart scan did show two arteries that are partially blocked. We will continue to pray for guidance and wisdom from God, no matter what the test shows tomorrow. Doctors aren’t God, only God is God, and we’d much rather take advice from Him. God can heal through a variety of sources, including doctors, but He just hasn’t opened that door for us. It takes a lot of faith to go against doctor’s advice, but God has never let us down. We refuse to make a “fear based” decision. Every decision we make, we must be at peace with, because the Bible says fear doesn’t come from God – so that only leaves one other source - and we’re not going there.
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