Feeling Overwhelmed

I woke up this morning with a horrible sense of dread. With Kory out of commission, the reality of what I face when I get home was a bit too much to bear. The lawn will need to be mowed, all the luggage unpacked, errands run, groceries to be purchased, meals made, and two empty apartments to deal with in our building in Seattle. Cousin Odd says Kory can’t do a thing before October 1st so that also means we start home schooling with Kaleb and I’ll have the bulk of that task. I wanted to either scream or cry all day long and couldn’t have felt more burdened. And there is still plenty to do here before we leave that I’m stressing about.

Before we took our road trip we put everything in our little storage space at our condo here in Aalesund. We designated the space under the table for our six suitcases we’ll be taking with us back home to America. One of them was empty, anticipating we’d buy a few things on our trip. When I went to get them the other day I noticed that two of them were empty and Kory’s things were nowhere to be found. He was the last one in the storage unit and he swears he had everything in the suitcase when we left. That was pretty much the straw that broke the camel’s back for me because not only did I have no desire to go looking for his stuff, but I didn’t have the strength to move everything out and back in again. I lost sleep over the whole situation last night trying to figure out where in the world Kory’s things were. Finally today I insisted he go with me to the storage unit to try and find them, and sure enough, it wasn’t as he remembered. For some reason he’d unpacked his suitcase and stuffed things here and there and we only found about half of what he thought he’d be bringing home. I finally gave up looking as the reason I’d asked him to pack up the suitcase before we left was just for this very reason – that we wouldn’t have to go looking for things when we returned. It’s a seemingly little thing, but right now, everything is a big deal.

Yesterday Kaleb was over at Tobias’ house and Tobias called today saying one of his brothers woke up with Chicken Pox. If I do the calculations right, when we get home, Kaleb may be breaking out with Chicken Pox. It’s just one more thing to deal with, but that’s actually a good thing as I’ve been wanting him to get them for some time now, but the timing isn’t ideal (is it ever?) So my plate feels full as I still have all the insurance forms to fill out and a few more details to care for before we leave. (I need some cheese to go with this whine.)

While we were at our condo, Kory was in pain, but still wanted to go up and visit Tante Kari. They have matching crutches as she’s still hobbling around from her broken hip. It would have been funny if it weren’t so pathetic to see the two of them trying to get to the couch. At least Kory got out a little today, but he’s still so far from being fine.

I went to the evening service at Agape Church tonight and it was just what I needed. They sang “Uten Deg” my all time favorite song (“Without You I have no hope, but with You I have everything.”) While we were singing that song I thought about something that happened a few days ago. I needed to go to the “people register” office but as I drove near the office I just couldn’t turn in because the road I had to go in is very difficult to come out. I’m so worried about having a car accident and the only way to come out of that place requires turning left on to the busiest road in town. I didn’t have the guts to go the first day, but the second day I was running errands and I knew I had to do it. When I turned left off the main road I saw there were six cars backed up waiting to get onto the road I’d just left. I asked God if he could PLEASE provide a way for me to get out of there when I was done. I neither wanted to wait half an hour behind other cars, nor did I want to pull out fast onto that busy street to avoid a collision. When I was done at the office, I headed up the side road and there were no other cars waiting to turn - that was the first miracle. Then, as I approached the main road, a city bus that wasn’t in service was coming down the road on my right and the driver just stopped in the middle of the road, looked and me and motioned for me to cut out in front of him – thereby stopping all other traffic so I could get out safely. It nearly felt like God parting the Red Sea for Moses. I just had to laugh that God loves me so much that He made a way for me through that otherwise awful traffic situation and why would I think He wouldn’t do the same for me for all the other things that plagued my mind today. Of course He will make a way, and of course He will give me the strength when I need it. I then had to ask for forgiveness for my doubt and unbelief. God is good, all the time, even when we aren’t. (I feel so much better now – Hallelujah!)

A Few Surprises

We spent seven straight hours shopping today for things we need. Ugh. And we spent well over $1,500 on mostly little stuff… stuff I should have packed up from home (in retrospect). But we were surprised to find a few bargains out there… like some high quality folding outdoor chairs (that will work well indoors too) for 70% off (we only paid $16.50 each). Woo hoo. We went to the hardware store, the “Linens and Things” equivalent, the grocery story, the almost “Ikea” store and the closest thing to the “Dollar Store” Norway will ever know (but nothing is under $5). I bought most everything on my list and Kaleb even found a duvet cover with nothing but dogs on it, so he was thrilled. It was fun to see what’s available, should we ever have money again.

When we got home, the neighbor girl, Sabine, was waiting for Kaleb. She’s ten and speaks some English (I’m sure she doesn’t understand much of what Kaleb says because he won’t speak slowly enough), but they played for hours together anyway. She started teaching him some Norwegian phrases, which warmed my heart. They rode bikes through the neighborhood and went to her grandmother’s house and watched a little TV. They talked about Ben 10 and Pokeman and Kaleb introduced her to the neighbor dog, Alfred. Two peas in a pod. It was exciting for me to see him kick into this whole “kids to play with in the neighborhood” thing that he doesn’t have at home. (I hope dogs will become less and less important and real people fill the void.)

After dinner we headed out for a little walk to explore the neighborhood. Just as we were leaving, cousin Kari came by with Anne Lisa (the woman we were going to rent the house from initially). Kari wanted to show her how God provided for us so she could stop feeling so guilty about changing her mind. We had a great time showing her our place and telling her how it all came about. Kaleb put water in a pan on the stove to offer them some tea, but they couldn’t stay long. I turned off the stove and after they left, we headed out again.

We were completely surprised to discover a little cove about a five minute walk from our house that’s perfect for swimming, rock skipping, fishing and picnicking (see photo). There were wild blueberry, raspberry and gooseberry bushes lining the path to get there so we’re going back tomorrow to pick more berries. We kept wandering through some woods along a peninsula and discovered yet another beach opening up into the nearest fjord. It was breathtaking.

We were enjoying the absolute serenity of the scene before us, the colors in the setting sun (at 10:30pm), the sound of the fish splashing as they jumped out of the calm water, the quaintness of the little boats along the shore, the coziness of the boat houses with grass growing on their roofs, the invitation from the picnic tables along the beach… it was all more than we could take in. Kory and I were feeling so blessed as we realized that God gave us everything we wanted out of living in Norway – kids and relatives in the neighborhood, quick access to the sea, and mountains close by. We were almost giddy with excitement but we just wanted to take deep breaths and enjoy the moment. And then Kaleb piped up, “Good thing there’s hot tea waiting for us when we get home.” “WHAT!!?” We both asked. “I turned the water back on right before we left,” he said.

Both of us went from absolute calm to unbelievable panic as we were sure the house was now on fire. We had been gone from the house at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour while we explored the shoreline around this cove and nearby peninsula. You’ve never seen anyone scramble over slippery rocks and through wooded trails faster than Kory. I’m not nearly as sure on my feet as he is so I got slightly damaged in the process of trying to keep up. I yelled at Kaleb to run on ahead and see if he could beat Kory back to the house (then I wondered why I told him that because what was he going to do when he got there?) I started yelling out prayers of protection “In the name of Jesus!” Oh, how I prayed (while looking for smoke in the direction of the house.) I only had hope in the protection that God promises and I was calling down all the angels I could to put the fire out…. Kory and Kaleb got to the house at the same time and Kory found the oven on the HIGHEST setting under a 2 quart pan that had about five cups of water in it initially. There was still a small sliver of water bubbling (about 1/3 cup) in the bottom of the pan! I was a total miracle Kaleb even told us about it!

We had quite the safety talk with Kaleb after that about heat sources and that he should NEVER leave the house with anything left on. It was a lesson we hope he never forgets. Both Kory and I are so full of adrenalin that we can’t get to sleep now and it’s well past midnight. It’s a miracle similar to Hanukkah but instead of the oil in the lamp lasting eight days… the water in the pot lasted over 45 minutes. (You’d think we’d already had our share of miracles, but apparently not.)Aug 8, 2008