I set the alarm this morning after I got Kaleb off to school so if I fell back to sleep again while I was praying, I would at least wake up by 9:30. It was too nice of a day to sleep it away, no matter how tired I might have been. And it was a good thing I did that, as I did fall asleep, but only for a little while so I was well rested when I got up. While I prepared for my Bible study lesson the house was quiet and the sun was shining and it couldn’t have been a more beautiful day. I’m not sure if Norway has the same rules for Groundhog’s Day as we do in America, but if so, we’re in for six more weeks of winter - but if this is winter - bring it on! (I’ve heard it’s common to get snow here in April, so it might be a little longer than six weeks.)
After I finished my lesson, I actually did some homework for my Norwegian class. It’s been piling up and it took over three hours to complete it (Inga would be proud). I was a little stressed out however because I really wanted to go for a walk while the sun was still up, but I didn’t want to break my stride with the homework so I kept going. I had to look up so many words in order to complete the assignments that it took forever. Some of them were just downright painful, like “gjennomsnittlige” – which means “average.” You’d think there could be a shorter way to say that word. I finished my homework just a few minutes before Kaleb was done with school for the day so I laid down on the couch to pray a little more and wait for his bundle of energy to come bursting through the door. He rode his bike today so I thought I might have ten minutes to myself, but he walked his bike home to keep Tobias company, and he got home a half hour later than I expected. I got in a little nap during the wait, which felt just right, considering it was my day of rest.
Kaleb ate a few waffles I made for him as an after school snack and then I convinced him to go on a walk with me before the sun set. Initially he just wanted to get his homework done right off the bat and go play with Tobias, but when I pointed out the fact that I was going to go for a walk and when I came back he’d be gone and then I had Bible study and after that he’d be in bed and I wouldn’t have one single minute to visit with him today unless he went with me, he relented with a whiny “all right.” Guilt is a good thing. We walked over to the trail (a good 20 minutes to get there), and then went part way up the nearest mountain (see photo). I just wanted to get up high enough to get some good sunset photos and to see the mountains with a little snow on them from on high. The trail is normally very mucky, but this cold weather keeps it nice and frozen, so it was a pleasant path to take, and I needed the exercise. Kaleb entertained himself with running off the trail and hiding behind trees to see if I could find him, but since he was wearing a bright orange coat, he didn’t stand much of a chance, no matter where he hid. He liked the challenge nonetheless. I was glad for a little one-on-one time with him and we talked about what he’ll miss when we leave Norway and what he misses now back home. The only thing he said he misses about home is our actual house and all his books and places to play, and the neighbor dogs. I guess that was the bulk of his world before we came, so there is no surprise there.
We stayed up on the trail until the sun sank behind the mountains, and then we called Kory to come get us at the base because Kaleb needed to go to the bathroom. I was thankful for the excuse not to walk back home as I’m terribly out of shape right now and my body feels a bit creaky. I used to walk two miles every morning before we moved here, but I haven’t kept up that routine because of my school schedule, so I’m due for a little tune-up.
Tonight we had the Bible study in our home again for the English speaking refugees that attend Filadelfia Church. We are working our way through the book of James, and I just love all the insights they have into scripture. It’s hard to read something like James chapter 1 verse 2 though right after Lawrence, a 32 year old guy from Sudan, tells us that both his parents were murdered six years ago by the Muslim Jihad for being Christians. The verse says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”. I asked how he can even keep the faith after something like that happens and he said if he walked away from his faith, his parents would have died for nothing. They raised him as a Christian and he trusts God and believes every word of the Bible, and he knows he will be with them again someday. He made it clear he doesn’t like to talk about all the things he’s seen and been through, because he said, he gets too many “pains in his head” if he thinks about it, so it’s better for him to talk about something else. I wanted to cry.
After I finished my lesson, I actually did some homework for my Norwegian class. It’s been piling up and it took over three hours to complete it (Inga would be proud). I was a little stressed out however because I really wanted to go for a walk while the sun was still up, but I didn’t want to break my stride with the homework so I kept going. I had to look up so many words in order to complete the assignments that it took forever. Some of them were just downright painful, like “gjennomsnittlige” – which means “average.” You’d think there could be a shorter way to say that word. I finished my homework just a few minutes before Kaleb was done with school for the day so I laid down on the couch to pray a little more and wait for his bundle of energy to come bursting through the door. He rode his bike today so I thought I might have ten minutes to myself, but he walked his bike home to keep Tobias company, and he got home a half hour later than I expected. I got in a little nap during the wait, which felt just right, considering it was my day of rest.
Kaleb ate a few waffles I made for him as an after school snack and then I convinced him to go on a walk with me before the sun set. Initially he just wanted to get his homework done right off the bat and go play with Tobias, but when I pointed out the fact that I was going to go for a walk and when I came back he’d be gone and then I had Bible study and after that he’d be in bed and I wouldn’t have one single minute to visit with him today unless he went with me, he relented with a whiny “all right.” Guilt is a good thing. We walked over to the trail (a good 20 minutes to get there), and then went part way up the nearest mountain (see photo). I just wanted to get up high enough to get some good sunset photos and to see the mountains with a little snow on them from on high. The trail is normally very mucky, but this cold weather keeps it nice and frozen, so it was a pleasant path to take, and I needed the exercise. Kaleb entertained himself with running off the trail and hiding behind trees to see if I could find him, but since he was wearing a bright orange coat, he didn’t stand much of a chance, no matter where he hid. He liked the challenge nonetheless. I was glad for a little one-on-one time with him and we talked about what he’ll miss when we leave Norway and what he misses now back home. The only thing he said he misses about home is our actual house and all his books and places to play, and the neighbor dogs. I guess that was the bulk of his world before we came, so there is no surprise there.
We stayed up on the trail until the sun sank behind the mountains, and then we called Kory to come get us at the base because Kaleb needed to go to the bathroom. I was thankful for the excuse not to walk back home as I’m terribly out of shape right now and my body feels a bit creaky. I used to walk two miles every morning before we moved here, but I haven’t kept up that routine because of my school schedule, so I’m due for a little tune-up.
Tonight we had the Bible study in our home again for the English speaking refugees that attend Filadelfia Church. We are working our way through the book of James, and I just love all the insights they have into scripture. It’s hard to read something like James chapter 1 verse 2 though right after Lawrence, a 32 year old guy from Sudan, tells us that both his parents were murdered six years ago by the Muslim Jihad for being Christians. The verse says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds…”. I asked how he can even keep the faith after something like that happens and he said if he walked away from his faith, his parents would have died for nothing. They raised him as a Christian and he trusts God and believes every word of the Bible, and he knows he will be with them again someday. He made it clear he doesn’t like to talk about all the things he’s seen and been through, because he said, he gets too many “pains in his head” if he thinks about it, so it’s better for him to talk about something else. I wanted to cry.
