A Rainy Day in Norway

Kaleb wasn’t able to go to Skothaugen today to play with his friends from school because of his actions yesterday, but he didn’t suffer any as a result. Tobias called and asked him to come over for the day so the two of them were cooking up a storm over at Tobias’ house. After several hours, Tobias’ mom drove them over to us with a plate full of warm Svela (they look like pancakes but they are different - they are eaten rolled up like a burrito with jam or sugar or goat cheese inside.) And as fast as they arrived, they left again to go bake a Snickers Cake. Tobias has been wanting to bake us a good-bye cake so Kaleb was happy to help with the process. He didn’t get home until 9pm. I think it’s so great they both love to cook. It’s probably the new male bonding thing for the upcoming generation in Norway, as this land is so into equality. But the older generation will probably never change, as Turid was at work tonight and I made dinner for Odd and Kory and both of them immediately left the kitchen to “slappe av” (relax) after they ate, leaving me to clean up the mess. So much for equality. But I don’t have a broken back, nor did I work hard all day at the office, so such is life.

After finally finishing the photo book for our road trip, I made a second attempt at relieving my stress today and went to get another massage, but it was with a woman who also does other forms of non-traditional healing. She wanted to give me acupuncture, but she could tell by my reaction to that suggestion that maybe it would cause a little more stress than I was already experiencing. She did something, I’m not sure what, but when I left there I felt like I was floating. Strange. My neck is still sore, but my back feels great. She was a little spooky as she just felt different parts of my back and started telling me things like I eat too much bread and I shouldn’t eat chocolate when I’m stressed (how did she know that?) She also said I don’t drink enough water and I don’t take enough time for myself every day (she was correct about that, also.) She told me I need to do a three month detox when I get home which should include a cup of ginger tea every day. Ok, then. As she was massaging my back I thought it was rather ironic that Kory is the one with the back injury and I’m the one seeking help. This is how the “two shall become one” thing plays out in our marriage. He gets injured and the pain transfers over to me rather quickly.

Kory was pleased to get out of the house again today as Synnøve, the leader of our small group at Agape Church, invited us over for a little farewell luncheon and prayer meeting. She wanted to pray for Kory’s back so she invited her mom, who is an incredible prayer warrior (and also the woman who has a spot on Christian radio here), and pastor Mark and his wife, Unni, (see photo) and Bente, another woman from our small group. It was a wonderful way to spend a few hours and Kory felt much better afterwards. (He was in a lot of pain last night and this morning because he walked too much yesterday.) I can’t say enough about the wonderful people we have met here in Norway. It’s also so encouraging to be around people who love God so much and who are completely sold out for living their life for Him. That’s the cool thing about the family of God – we can go anywhere in the world and find relatives (as if all the cousins in Norway aren’t enough.)

Kory has spent a great deal of time trying to figure out why we are still here. It’s a mystery to me also but I’m sure there’s an explanation. If Kaleb breaks out with Chicken Pox before next Monday when we are supposed to fly home, and the airline won’t let us on the plane, Odd says it’s a sure sign from God we are NOT to leave Norway. It would certainly make one wonder if that’s not the case.

Gone Fishin'

I felt so much better today after I finally gave up trying to find all of Kory’s things that are in locations he no longer remembers. It’s one thing when I forget where I put something, but it’s a whole other thing to try and second guess a spouse. Talk about stress. But today there was none of that. I was a free agent. I finished my big photo book of our year in Norway and got it ordered and then began the impossible task of filling out insurance forms for Kory’s accident (I’m hoping we get money back for our unused airplane tickets.) I also did a little grocery shopping and ran a few errands. It was good to have some time for myself. Kaleb was with his friend Toben all day and Kory was horizontal, except for the few minutes he dared to go for a walk to see his limits and when he found them he spent the rest of the day in bed.

When I left the house this morning I waved to Kory’s (ex)boss’ wife walking along the sidewalk. When I got to the library I ran in to Tante Kari and visited with her a while. When I was in the mall I ran into Tobias’ mom and Bjørn (Kory’s second cousin). They invited us to go fishing tonight out on their boat, so that was something to look forward to. When I was downtown I waved at someone else I knew and when I stopped at the grocery store I visited with a guy I went to school with. That’s how it is around here. There is no way to go anywhere without seeing a handful of people that require at least a “Hello” if not a full blown conversation about what’s happened since the last time we met. And there’s no rush. It feels like everyone has all the time in the world to just chat and catch up. I love that.

When I got home I called up to Toben’s house and left a message I’d pick Kaleb up earlier than expected because we were invited out on a boat trip. When I arrived at the prescribed time, Kaleb was incredibly upset with me that I came to get him before the day was over as he was far from done playing with Toben. I understood he had expectations of being there all day, but I didn’t expect him to act so disrespectfully to me in the process. (I don’t even want to write down what he did because I’d just as soon forget it, but needless to say he won’t be going to Toben’s house tomorrow as a consequence for his behavior.) He gets so focused on what he wants sometimes, he completely loses his good sense to act proper. He apparently needs a little more training on what to do when the apple cart gets upset. I was quite disturbed by his behavior and even more so that Toben’s mom witnessed it all. Uff da.

After dinner Kaleb and I went down to Tobias’ house to go for a ride in their boat. Poor Kory wanted to come along but that would be about the worst thing he could do right now so he had to be satisfied with seeing the pictures when we got back. Kaleb surprisingly caught the first fish – a mackerel. He didn’t even know he had it on the line as he thought his line was caught under the boat. Another time he had a huge fish on his line and was screaming for help because he was worried he’d lose his grip on the fishing pole, but that fish got away. That’s the story he talked about the most when the day was done. I had my line in the water the whole time but only got one bite, and no fish. Tobias’ mom caught the biggest fish and the most fish and Tobias didn’t fish – he just wanted to be the terminator. He had a knife and he knew how to use it. Bjørn didn’t catch anything either, so at least I was in good company.

The coolest part about the whole thing was being out in the middle of the fjord, watching the boats go by (big and small). It felt a bit like sitting in the middle of a freeway but with the bonus of some nice rolling waves every once in a while. The clouds were already hanging low when we began the trip but slowly they ate away at the mountains and one by one the mountains disappeared as the rain clouds moved closer and closer. There were more shades of gray than I thought were possible, so the whole thing was very dramatic and haunting. Finally when the rains came, Bjørn just put up the cloth cover and we continued on fishing with our poles sticking out of the back of the boat and us nice and dry and warm inside. It was all very cozy and we could have stayed out much later than 10pm but Kaleb was getting stir crazy (see photo of the ride back with him standing on his head and Bjørn sticking his head out of the boat in order to see where we were going). It was all quite memorable, especially since it was my first boat ride this whole year we’ve been here. I think we need more friends with boats!

It's Better Than Home!

We went to Filadelfia Kirke again this morning. It was a great sermon, given by the secretary of the church. I guess in the summer time they rotate who preaches so the pastor has time off. She used to be a missionary in Chile so she speaks perfect Spanish (and English), but her Norwegian was so fast I only understood about half of what she said. I could tell it was good though because she was talking about the power of the Holy Spirit and I could feel it in my bones.

After church was over a woman came up to Kory and I (we met her soon after we got here) and she asked us to pray for her. She didn’t say what the problem was but that didn’t matter to God as we joined with cousin Axel and Kari (and the woman that preached), and we had quite the prayer time right there in the aisle. I could barely stay vertical as I felt God moving on that spot. I’m anxious to get a report back from her on what God has done as I know it was something good!

We rushed home to get something to eat before heading out to pick berries. Before we could put one bite in our mouths, some cousins had gone on a bike ride and came by to see our place (they don’t live real close to us), so we had a nice visit with them (and Kaleb offered them a cup of tea.) Just as they were leaving, Odd and Turid and Hege came by to see how things were going for us. We never get this kind of attention at home! We had the opportunity to tell of our miracle last night with the house not burning down, and even those who may not believe in miracles, raised their eyebrows in amazement.

We finally got to go berry picking around four o’clock and I was glad to get at least three cups of blueberries, because Kaleb must have eaten twice that amount, as well as handfuls of raspberries, red currants and gooseberries. The wild berries here are like blackberries in the northwest… it’s hard to keep them out of any vacant land and there’s plenty of vacant land in our neighborhood. We’re in heaven (now I see why Kory jokingly calls this place “the holy land.” I froze some of the blueberries for later but I promised Kaleb blueberry pancakes with bacon for dinner tomorrow. It’s very Norske to have pancakes and bacon for dinner and they can’t get over the fact we eat it for breakfast.

On our walk, we ventured past our “point of panic” on the peninsula along the Vegsund Fjord where we were last night when we got the news from Kaleb about leaving water boiling on the stove… and we were even more impressed with “our” beach! It’s beyond all expectations in terms of beauty, serenity and privacy. We were the only ones there for a long time (maybe the fact that Aalesund’s soccer team was playing a game during that same time had something to do with it?) There are several picnic tables along the shoreline so we’ll enjoy many a lunch there in the next year and it’s a fantastic place to take any visitors. (It’s a view that’s guaranteed to beat anything we have back home.) We are in paradise here! I told Kory (that’s him in the photo) I never wanted to leave, and Kaleb said (as he was throwing rocks in the water), “Well, we could go home every now and then for a visit, but I wouldn’t mind staying here either!” (Remind us of that in the wintertime….)

Tonight we went to an evening service of the Agape Church, which is right in our neighborhood -- lots of young people and energy and the power of God. Kory shouted HALLELUJAH several times and I’m not sure anyone even heard him as they had an all out rock band and they were rockin’! There was only about 50 people there (not counting the kids) but I guess that size church is normal around here. I’d like to go back. Kaleb just told me (as I was writing this) that he really, “felt the spirit of God in that church we just went to.” He said he’s only been to two churches where he felt the spirit in such a powerful way (“it’s like a warm, tingly feeling inside” he says) – this church and the Russian church in Mt. Vernon. He surprised us tonight as he was entering into worship with his arms raised to heaven, eyes closed, singing and praising God (some of the songs were in English). He usually sits in church and reads books, so I know it had to be the power of God to get him to put down a book.

Oh, we are so blessed.