A Sunny Sunday

We attended Agape Church this morning, but without our neighbor. He said he was busy today, but would go next Sunday. We’ll see. Kory was a little disappointed, but not surprised. Oh well. On the upside, there was a baby dedication at church, which is a HUGE thing here in Norway. I think when the State church baptizes (sprinkles) babies, they believe it’s the assurance that kid is going to heaven, no matter what. It’s not quite the same belief with Pentecostals here though, as they believe a person must come to faith and get baptized when they are old enough to make those kinds of decisions themselves. But Pentecostals do dedicate their babies to God just as Jesus was dedicated in the temple as an infant. But the Pentecostals here still hold out the full State church baptism tradition though in that they invite the entire extended family (and they darn well better show up whether they are Christian or not), and then they have an all day feast and party afterwards – and it’s all very formal, like a wedding. So this morning I was sitting next to three rows of the baby’s family members and they were all decked out in their bunads for the occasion. It was so beautiful.

Bunads are the traditional costume of Norway and each area has their own special design. Bunads are just worn for formal occasions – weddings, confirmations, baptisms, and of course, the 17th of May (Norway’s Independence Day.) Nearly every girl in Norway gets her bunad as a Confirmation gift (when she’s about 15 years old.) If the whole thing is purchased – already made - it costs around $10,000 (with all the trimmings), but with a relative making it (usually the mom or grandma), it’s about five grand for everything. They make the dresses in such a clever way that it can “grow” with the woman throughout her life. I’m sure someone could weigh a good 50 pounds more than they do at their confirmation, and still wear the dress. They put pleats in the back and the shoulder straps can be adjusted, etc. The blouse that goes with it is very billowy so it’s a one-size fits all kind of thing made out of linen. The bunad for women that live in Sunnmøre (the area where we live) is one of the most beautiful in all of Norway (see photo I copied from the internet). I wore Kory’s mom’s bunad for a wedding dress when we got married. The men also have a tradition bunad but it’s not as commonly seen. Boy’s don’t get bunads for confirmation like the girls do because girls are generally done growing height-wise, by that age, but not the boys. Parents will buy the boys a nice suit for confirmation, but that’s only a fraction of the cost for a formal men’s bunad, which includes wool knickers, and a very fancy vest and jacket. There were several men today wearing their bunads and nothing looks sharper than that – not even a tuxedo. But the design for the bunad for men can’t be lengthened or widened so most men don’t ever even get one because by the time they are done growing, they’d rather spend the several thousand dollars on something else.

We stayed for coffee after church and Kaleb’s Sunday School teacher made a point to tell me how impressed all the leaders were that Kaleb knew every detail about communion when they talked about it today in class. She said he pretty much quoted the Bible word for word on its meaning, but also explained it shouldn’t be taken if there is any sin a person hasn’t yet confessed. I’m always proud of him when I hear stuff like that.

After church we all went for a long walk as we wanted to make sure Kaleb knew the path to take to school and back from Odd and Turid’s house, since he’ll be there for three days this week while we are in Trondheim. It was a gorgeous spring day again and nearly 60 degrees – woo hoo. Kaleb was over at Tobias’ house all afternoon playing with him so Kory and I took a nap, as we were up too late last night. Tobias has a remote control car that can go up to 45mph and is just incredible. He brought it over to show us and he had it just screaming all over our yard doing flips and jumps and all kinds of things. What a kick. He stayed on and had pizza with Kaleb when Kory and I left to go to the last meeting at Filadelfia Church tonight by the TV evangelist. The preaching was again on the story of the Prodigal son, but this time it was about the father in the story. It was all so good. I see why he’s a popular guy. Afterwards Kory went forward and had two pastors pray for him and his trip to Trondheim. Mostly they prayed for peace, which is what we need more than anything. But we also would love it if God would just perform a miracle and clear up the clogs. Short of that, we don’t know what to do. We are mostly going to Trondheim for cousin Odd’s benefit, but Kory wants to know too what his arteries look like on the inside, so we just trust God nothing will go wrong in the process. We have a mighty God but He speaks so softly sometimes that we want to be sure we are hearing Him as He leads….