I had to redeem the feeling that I can’t afford to buy anything in Norway, so I went shopping today at three different second-hand stores. I got so many lovely things for such cheap prices, it was a fine day for me even though it rained non-stop. I so love buying all the handmade Norwegian “pynt” (decorations). I even scored on a 19” second-hand flat screen TV. It wasn’t at one of the stores, but was advertised in Norway’s version of Craigslist (finn.no). I paid less than a hundred bucks for it and I couldn’t be more pleased. Now assuming tomorrow we get it hooked up, we can watch the final competitions for “Alt for Norge.” I’m not much of a TV freak, but that show has me hooked.
Before I headed into the city this morning, I managed to unpack a few more boxes I’ve had stuffed down in our storage unit. I still have plenty of boxes to unpack that are earmarked for Kaleb’s room, but his space is limited, so I’m not sure how we’ll handle that. Perhaps our storage unit can become his annex.
I had a few things to do downtown, so I spent the afternoon there shopping, having coffee with The Good Teacher Inga, and going to the bank. It was great to see Inga again. We only had an hour together, but she invited us over Sunday for dinner, so we’ll have more of a chance to catch up then. Her life is pretty busy, and today she had an appointment to be Vestina’s model for a haircut. Inga loves to keep tabs on her students.
Kory worked on house projects all day. He got some of the trim up around the new wall and he met with an electrician (his cousin, Ketil) to figure out why our bathroom floor doesn’t heat up. Turns out, it was a bum control panel. We are thankful for Ketil’s expertise in the matter and his ability to buy the new part at wholesale prices for only a hundred bucks. He did the work for free, but Kory promised him a good dinner before we leave. Fair enough.
I only saw Kaleb for a total of about ten minutes today. He got up late for school and ran to the bus stop, then came home while I was away, and went right back to his friend’s house. He didn’t get home until after ten tonight because I had a Bible study at our condo, so Kory and Kaleb needed to be gone. Kory went to a men’s small group meeting and Kaleb went to Andre’s house, since Andre’s mom was at the Bible study with me. He’s going to be super tired tomorrow but he sure loves hanging out with his friends.
At our Bible study tonight I asked the women what it meant to have “childhood faith” (barnetror). It’s a common expression around here that I’ve heard a few people use and I didn’t fully understand its meaning. I’m not sure I even understand it now, but it was a good discussion. Tante Berit, in Spain, was talking about her husband dying two years ago and she sounded almost proud when she said that, “He never lost his childhood faith.” Tante Kari said almost the same thing about her daughter that died over fifteen years ago. Her daughter was not in a good place with God when she died, and Kari has been haunted by that a lot, but her son, Odd, reminded her that his sister “still had her childhood faith” when she died.
Basically, what the women at the Bible study told me, was that people are looking for some way to be comforted in their grief. They know that each child raised in Norway, attending public schools, has been taught that God created the universe and then sent His son to die on the cross as forgiveness for our sins. They were taught that, therefore, it’s assumed they believe that, and having that knowledge, somehow makes them think the deceased are now in heaven. Weird. If that’s the case, then every person lucky enough to be born and raised in Norway, is in heaven, but unfortunately, that’s not what the Bible says… so I was even more confused after the conversation. I guess those grieving are just glad someone told the person who died, about God. Whether they had a personal relationship with Him or not isn’t really the point, it’s that they died, knowing there is a God who loves them. Okay, then. That’s not a bad thing to focus on - God loves everyone - but what we do with that love, is the point. We live with all kinds of choices, but when we die, there are no more.
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