Happy Father's Day!

It’s not Father’s Day here in Norway, but I came prepared. Good thing I was packing up yesterday and going through some things, otherwise I would have never remembered where I put the card and the World Best Dad t-shirt I bought for Kaleb to give to Kory. Both of them had no clue it was Father’s Day so it took a lot of pressure off. Normally Kory would get breakfast in bed, but Kaleb was at camp, so that didn’t happen. Our life’s routines have been so messed up this year, but no one is complaining.

Kory and I walked to Agape Church for our last Sunday there. I brought my camera so I could take a picture of the awesome worship team they have there and the second I clicked the shutter, I broke out in tears. Oh, how I bawled. I wasn’t expecting that flood of emotion so I was completely caught off guard, but just thinking about not going back there for a while was too much to take. Maybe I didn’t get enough sleep or maybe I really am going to have worship withdrawls – I don’t know. The local newspaper described that church as a “happy clappy” church because they sure are. All the worship team bounces up and down on the stage and everyone is clapping their hands together singing very peppy songs – many of them from Hillsong in Australia. But I love the Norwegian songs the best. They sang my favorite song today, which made me cry all the more. I love the opening lines - “Uten deg er jeg uten håp, men med deg har jeg alt.” (Without You, I am without hope, but with You, I have everything.) Oh, it was tough to say good-bye. One woman from our home fellowship group couldn’t stop crying when she heard it was our last week here. Uffa meg. (Ugh.)

We also had our last guests come for a meal today. Atle was married to Kory’s cousin Kari-Anne, but Kari-Anne (Odd’s sister) died in 1994 so he was left to raise their three little children himself. He now has a wonderful woman he lives with so they both came today for lunch. Atle loaned us his moving truck last summer when we moved into our house and I’ve been wanting to have him over as a thank-you, but he’s a pretty busy guy and works odd hours as a fireman so it’s not been easy. Today was the last chance, so I’m thankful we got to spend some time with them before we take off. Kory was bragging about his dinner last night, how it was the first time he’d ever invited someone over for a meal and then cooked it himself. He said he felt a little strange about the whole thing even though it was just with his cousin. He said they had a nice dinner out on the deck, they drank wine, talked the night away then went for a walk together. It wasn’t the usual male bonding moments he’s used to. Building something up or tearing something down, followed by chips and a beer afterwards is more like the quality time he spends with other men. Last night was a new experience for him and he wasn’t totally comfortable with discovering that much of his feminine side. Too funny.

Kaleb came home from camp today (see photo of him with his buddies Daniel, Andre and Henrik) and couldn’t have been more exhausted and tired. He didn’t sleep much two nights in a row so he cried about every little thing. It took the longest time to find out he even had a good time because he was too busy crying about not being able to go over to Andre’s house this afternoon. We heard bits and pieces of this weekend’s events and it sounded pretty fun but it was hard to tell through all the tears. They did some kind of contest where they had to eat pickled herring, followed by two Fishermen’s Friends (a strong throat lozenge) and a Coke. Kaleb said kids were throwing up over that one as no one but him and one other kid would eat the pickled herring. He loves that stuff, so he scored a lot of points for his team, but he didn’t like the Coke too much. Funny. He was also pleased with a special certificate they presented to him, signed by all the Children’s Church workers from Agape Church, thanking him for being such a good kid, for helping them out so much this year and to say they will miss him. They also gave him a t-shirt signed by all the kids at camp – no one else got one so he was feeling pretty proud, but still so tired he was tough to be around. He was asleep by six. Thank you, Jesus!

Sabina came around tonight with a shopping bag full of wrapped items. She asked if I wanted to buy a gift. For ten kroner (about a buck fifty), I could pick anything I wanted out of the bag. I couldn’t resist. It was a bargain as I managed to score a small back massager. She said once a year she cleans out stuff she doesn’t use any more, wraps them up and goes around the neighborhood selling them. Very clever idea, I thought. Since they don’t have garage sales here it’s one way to get rid of stuff and make a little money on the side. I saw in the news last week the dump here in Aalesund is going to start selling things because they are tired of people throwing away perfectly good items they are sure someone else could use. Perhaps Sabina should take a summer job working the cash register there as she made a nice chunk of change today. I learn something new every day I’m here. I’m so not ready to go home.