Another Glorious Day

I didn’t even have time to post my blog this morning before I had to leave for a prayer meeting with The Praying Women.  There were five of us and we decided to “soak” for half an hour before we started praying.  We were “still” before God (I was on the floor), soaking in His presence – trying to hear His voice before we started in on our requests.  It was a powerful time.  The minute I was horizontal I felt like I was a slice of bread and warm butter just got smeared all over me, only it wasn’t butter, it was God.  It felt nice!  I just laid there in total bliss for what seemed like five minutes, but it was 30.  Sweet.  We had a very good time of prayer after that, and after that, some chit-chat, and of course, lunch. 

Kristin has a great view from her house (see top photo).  We had to pull the blinds because the sun was so hot, but I would have had a hard time concentrating on anything if I could have just been staring out her window at those mountains and that water. 

I got home just in time to make a pot of coffee before Roar Bjerknes came for a visit.  He used to be a local journalist and has been a writer his entire career.  I wrote a story about him in our local paper – how I connected him up with a guy from LaConner.  It was fun to meet him today.  What a nice man!  He’s had quite the exciting life, too, always seeming to be in the right place at the right time.  He was the only Norwegian in Calcutta when Mother Theresa got her Nobel Peace Prize, so he was the first one to get an interview with her.  He wrote many articles about her over the years and had nothing but nice things to say about her.  He was surprised by just how tiny of a woman she was. He was asked to write a book about her for a Norwegian publishing house but he declined, feeling like it wouldn’t do her justice because he didn’t know her THAT well.  I told him that’s how I feel about writing my column on Norway, but I do it anyway, whether I know what I’m talking about or not. 

He’s spent a lot of time in southeast Asia and married a woman from there.  After his divorce, he had quite a series of unfortunate events, as it were.  He got in two car accidents, and still has injuries from both of them.  His house burnt down when carpenters were working on the condo below his and caused a fire.  Recently he had  bypass surgery that went wrong and needs to be redone.  They also accidentally cut a nerve to his legs while doing the bypass so he has terrible pain in his feet all the time. He’s on so many pain meds he can’t think straight enough to finish up a book he’s been writing… but as he says, “I’ve only used up 8 of my 9 lives, so I still have one to go.”  He’s in his early 60s.  Kory and I prayed for him and I just have to believe he’s going to be free from some of this craziness of being in and out of hospitals trying to bring some relief to various body parts.  Poor thing, but he still laughs and carrys on and it would be hard to know he’s suffering so much if he didn’t say something about it.  I’m hoping he gets to meet Larry soon, his long lost friend in LaConner.

So that was my afternoon.  We didn’t even get our daily walk in until sunset as I had to do some meal planning and grocery shopping before the stores closed. 

Kaleb’s friend Daniel came over to spend the night (Tobas said he was going to, but then had soccer practice again so Kaleb got stood up once again.)  Kaleb and Daniel were outside until 10:30 tonight just hanging out at the nearby skateboard park, swinging on a swing by the church and checking out video games at the mall.  It was kinda cool for them to be so in control of themselves, and it was light outside until 11.

Kory and I walked down by the nearest beach and up into another new neighborhood.  It’s fun to find dead ends and peek into yards and houses.  I still can’t get used to the fact we can just cut across anyone’s lawn or walk through their backyard, but we can.  No one says a word, but I still don’t like to “trespass.”  Kory accused me today of being too American.  Ha!  I love the mailboxes people have painted.  It’s such a deviation from the “standard” dark green ones everyone uses.  And around here, anything that’s unique – really stands out!

A Summer Day!

I completely tuned out what was being taught today – it was something like past tense participles or something or other that I’m sure I wouldn’t even understand in English. I doodled a lot and wanted to cry when I heard that the best student in our group put herself back in the slower class, as she felt she wasn’t learning anything anymore because our class is going so fast. I guess that’s why she’s the best student – she’s smart. Why I continue to go to this class is beyond me – other than I love my pal Vestina and The Good Teacher Inga. Vestina hates it when I’m gone so I feel if nothing else, I’m helping her as she has a future to think about. She always has to explain things to me. I hope I can hold out.

On the bus ride home I sat next to the new guy in our class. He’s had Norwegian lessons before but dropped out when he got a job, now his work is slowing down so he came back to learn more Norwegian. He’s very industrious. His name is something like Mahn-my – that’s how it sounds anyway. He is a refugee from Burma (now called Myrnmar) with a never ending smile on his face. I asked him a lot of questions both in English and Norwegian and he was just as fluent in both languages and he’s only been here a little over a year. I was so impressed with him, but his story broke my heart.

Mahn-my was born in the countryside of Burma, where the government refused to acknowledge anyone outside the major cities as citizens. When the political upheaval and rebellious infighting broke out near his home (when he was 12) his parents left, taking his younger siblings with them, and sending him and his older sisters to a refugee camp. He wasn’t sure he would ever see them again, but in later years they were all relocated to a large refugee camp on the Thailand/Burma border, where he reconnected with them. Not long after that, both his parents died of malaria, as the conditions in the camp weren’t the best. Mahn-my has lived over 20 of his 37 years in refugee camps. He said when the fighting would slow down, they could leave the camp, but not for long, and then they’d be right back in again. Thanks to several different missionary works within the camp, however, he was educated in English. He said there are currently 60,000 refugees living in that camp – more people than live around this entire area of Norway. They all live within a large fenced off area (surrounded by guards) right on the border with Thailand. He said each refuge must stand in line every day to get their ration of food and they all live in small stick shelters with big leaves for a roof. It is in that camp he met his wife and got married. Because Doctors Without Borders from France set up a medical clinic there, all four of his children were born under the care of a doctor and received birth certificates. When he was born, out in the country, no one was able to read or write, so all the babies were taken to the local monk and he would write their name and birth date on a piece of bamboo stick that was kept in a safe place and used as a record of their birth. Recently he said, 20,000 people from his old camp were “set free” and relocated to the U.S. because they are fluent in English (thanks to the missionary schools.) I asked him if it was a boring life in the camp and he said it was, as they had no freedom and nothing to do. But now, he said, more and more missionaries are coming and teaching people how to do weaving and other hand work so they have a way to make money. Life is improving there, he said, but it can’t compare to life in Norway. He said when his children misbehave now, he threatens to send them back to Burma, and that puts an immediate stop to their bad behavior as they NEVER want to go back there. Neither does he. He realizes how good he has it, but his relatives that ended up in Bakersfield, California tell him it’s much easier to get permission to drive a car there than it is here in Norway. He can only dream of ever driving a car, as he is sure he will not be able to afford it here. I’m sure he will. He’s a go-getter. I've been thinking about him all day.

Kory spent the day over at Tante Ruth’s, making a cover for the awning he installed on the deck. He didn’t like the one that came with it, so he made his own. Tante Ruth is so happy to have that awning – especially on a day like today – it must have been in the 80s today. I laid out in the sun for just a few minutes and got a little burned. It was so warm, when a neighbor stopped by for a visit, we couldn’t even sit on the deck. I’ve been in shorts and a short-sleeved shirt all day. It’s summer! Hallelujah! And yet Kaleb just sat indoors and read all afternoon. He agreed to ride bikes with me down to Agape Church tonight however (Kory walked). They had their normal service tonight, instead of Sunday, because Friday is a holiday (National Labor Day), which makes for a three day weekend, and apparently no one will be around (except us). It’s strange that churches are actually closed some Sundays. I see the logic in it, but it’s still a little odd. I guess if God took a break on the 7th day, churches should be able to have a day of rest every now and then, too.