Blessings

The storm has passed, but the rain has not.  I guess that would be a good analogy for how it’s going with all of us, too. 

Kaleb went to school today and seemed to have the best time yet.  He got to have three hours of chemistry, partnering with his friend, Toban (who is too busy outside of school to spend any time with him), so he was happy when he got home.  He said it’s still too boring and he doesn’t want to go back, but I told him I’d ask the principal if he can bring his laptop and do some of my school work for him, then he agreed to go for the month, if he’s allowed.  This is a huge break through for both of us, as I really do need the time away from him, and he really needs the time with friends at school.  God is good. 

Kory spent the day playing with his artwork.  Cousin Turid is going to a street fair in a few weeks and wanted to know if Kory wants to try and sell copies of his artwork.  She will work the table, so it doesn’t even require our time, which is good, so Kory spent the day framing things and getting stuff ready for that.  Maybe he changed a light bulb or two, but that was about it for work done on the condo.  The list isn’t getting much smaller.

I had a wonderful visit with a couple of friends from Agape Church.  I’d invited them over for lunch and afterwards we sat and talked about how isolated we are each feeling and how good it is to be together.  Kinda funny we had the same feelings going on, for different reasons.  So we will be meeting up again next week, which gives us something to look forward to.  It was nice, just talking about life in general, our kids, and how times have changed. I so needed that. Kory even left for a while so we weren’t interrupted.  Woo hoo. 

(Our condo is in the building on the far right, above, as seen from the church, next door.)

One of my friends is legally separated from her husband, and while she was here, NAV, the governmental agency that is similar to our Social Security sytem, called her to tell her that her husband quit his job today.  I thought that was so bizarre.  She isn’t communicating too well with him, but because his income affects her and her children, I guess the government felt the need to keep her in the loop.  Something like that would NEVER happen in America!  So strange.

(Photo below is of the church next door, as seen from our condo.)

I had another “God thing” happen today as I asked my friends if either of them needed a TV.  Tante Ruth got moved into a smaller room at her care center, and there’s no room for her big flat screen TV.  Kory brought it home and it won’t fit anywhere in our place, and no one else in the family wants it.  Even the thrift store won’t take it because it’s “electronic,” so it would be a shame to throw it in the trash.  As “luck” would have it, one of the women has really been wanting a new TV but couldn’t afford it, so she threw her hands up in the air and shouted HALLELUJAH!  So cool.

After my friends left, the three of us went to visit Tante Ruth.  We took the rest of the furniture she needed to get rid of down to the thrift store, since they were fine with taking tables and easy chairs.  It was a big burden off the rest of the family since no one has a vehicle big enough to transport that stuff.  We were happy to help.  And Ruth is doing great – better than ever.  She was thrilled for the visit, as she was sure we’d gone home by now.

I went for a short walk outside when we got home because the rain let up a little.  There was a blue spot in the sky, which in parts of Alaska is called a “sucker hole” because if you believe it is going to clear up – you’re a sucker.  I guess that applies here, too.  I at least got a few minutes of fresh air before the rain started again.  I headed for the mall to keep on walking, but everything was shutting down and no one was there, so that didn’t last long.  The clouds cleared enough to see SNOW in the mountains!

Sometimes when I’m at the mall so early in the morning to buy groceries, I feel like it’s my own personal space because I’m the only one there.  It feels like that movie that Tom Hanks was in years ago where the guy lived at the airport.  I feel like I live at the mall and all those stores are just part of our condo.  It’s so weird to be attached to something so commercial, but it really is handy and I can see why these places sell for so much.  The condos in our building are the most expensive real estate in the area.  Just a few weeks ago one of the units below us (a bit larger than ours) was for sale, and the listed price was 2,900,000 kroner ($483k).  There was a bidding war, so the final sale price ended up being 3,600,000 ($600k).  It sold for 20% more than they were asking!  Totally crazy, but people really want to live here because of the convenience.  I feel terrible that it sits empty so much of the year and that there is no real reason we should be living here, but until God directs us otherwise, or until it costs us too much to keep it, then we are here, blessed by God with an investment He forced us into buying when we had no means to do so.  Go figure. 

The field between us and the church next door will soon become a place to bury ashes.  So funny we live next to a cemetery in America, and now they are putting one next to us in Norway, too.  How convenient.