Fairy Tale Day

We had our first big outing with the Americans today – heading out early this morning to drive over to Molde (see photo below), the town where Kory was born, but also the town near where Stuart’s relatives lived.  Many decades ago, a few spinster cousins of Stuart’s dad left him a little money in a bank account, and today he withdrew that money and closed the account.  I think they would have been pleased that he’s spending the money in Norway.  He gave some of it to me for his expenses, so I’ll be happy to use it up for him.  We bought him lunch out at a unique restaurant (with his money), and that already took care of a good portion of it.

Before we left Molde we visited the second hand store and dropped a good bit of money in that place, finding treasures of various sorts.  Then on we went to an area nearby called Hovdenakken, where these spinster cousins lived. Stuart has a photo of these ladies he’d never met, in front of their house.  He had great interest in finding the house, so we drove on over there to see what we could find.  The first thing we found was the cemetery and their headstone.  It was rather emotional for him to even see that place.  It was raining slightly and it added all the more to the mood of the sadness he felt over not coming to Norway sooner so he could have met them when they were still alive.

I went into a nearby store and asked the woman working there if she knew where Signe and Marte lived.  She said she knew them very well and used to work with one of them.  She told us how to get out to their place.  She offered to call ahead and let the neighbor know we are coming, but she warned us, their house had been torn down and a new house stood in it’s place.  After a few wrong turns we found the place, which was like a setting for a fairy tale.  The house had been torn down three years ago and the neighbor’s son had built a new one in it’s place, but the original barn and outbuildings still stood. 

Signe and Marte’s father was a boat builder, and half of his “shop” was still there at the water’s edge.  One boathouse, where the sisters later had a weaving loom, also stood (see photo above of Stu standing in front of it).  The neighbor (above) told of how Signe and Marte did everything the old fashioned way.  They had one cow, which they milked and made their own butter and cream.  They made their own clothes and grew all their own vegetables.  He said it was funny to watch them harvest the wheat, with Signe, the strong one pushing the huge wheelbarrow, and Marte, always thin and frail, pulling on a rope in front of it in order for the two of them to haul it up the ramp into the top of the barn (below). 

The neighbor guy we talked to grew up right next to those two sisters, and he bought their place once they died in the early 1980s.  The stories he told made them all the more real to Stuart.  It was a more than an idyllic setting and surely, if Stuart had made any contact with them, he might now be the owner of that land.  I think he’s feeling a bit guilty about that, as he was their only other relative.  He hadn’t kept in touch in their later years, and when they died, they left their money to the local government to build an old folks home (they had a lot of money).  We found that place, too.  We could have spent all day in that area, but we had to get back on the road as we had other places on the agenda.

A friend of mine suggested we should take a little boat trip out off the coast north of Molde and go have fish soup at Haaholmen (above),  a 300 year old fishing village.  It could have been better weather, but the gray skies and sea made it all the more of an authentic Norwegian experience.  It took a while to drive to the boat launch because we kept stopping to take photos along the way, as the scenery we were driving through really was spectacular (example below). 

We arrived at the boat launch just as a tour group was leaving the island and disembarking from a big Viking replica boat.  I thought the boat ran every hour, starting June 1st, as their website said, but in fact, it is still only running by appointment only.  I asked the skipper of the boat if there was a chance we could go out to the island and have some fish soup, since we were cold and hungry and we had Americans with us on their first trip ever to Norway.  He called over to the island and asked the chef at the restaurant if he would keep his place open for us, and next thing we knew, we had the Viking ship all to ourselves, heading out to this other fairy tale place.

The inn where we had lunch had only four places set when we arrived.  They were obviously expecting us.  They brought us a tureen of fish soup and some fresh bread.  Judi didn’t even get after her father for eating bread (she keeps track of his diabetes with an iron fist.)  We all chowed down a couple bowls of this soup (with a delicious bisque type broth) and then enjoyed a quick cup of coffee afterwards.  It was surreal to have this special place be so accommodating to us.  Judi and Stu were just shell shocked by the whole experience.  Every photo I took of Stu today, his mouth was open, jaw dropped in awe of all we saw and did. 

I joked while we ate the soup, that yes, it was an incredible experience, but they might not enjoy it so much if they knew a bowl of soup costs $50.  I had no idea how much anything cost at that point, but it turns out I wasn’t far off.  I went to pay before we got back on the return boat, and sure enough, it was $48 each.  I had to laugh.  I’ve yet to tell them how much it was, so as not to dampen their experience, because that’s just what prices are in Norway.  It also included the boat ride, so it wasn’t TOO bad, and I’m sure after that whole experience, we would all do it again even if we knew ahead of time we’d be paying fifty bucks for a bowl of soup.

We took a scenic drive home, but the rain kept it from being as scenic as it could be.  There was another thrift store open in a town we passed through, so we stopped there just a few minutes before they closed – at nine at night!  I found the most treasures, but Stu and Judi each found a few things they also liked just fine.

We got back late and Kaleb enjoyed his time being home alone.  He had to get his own dinner, but he sure wasn’t complaining.  He’d spent the afternoon at Henrik’s house and said both Andre and Henrik kept telling Toban today what a great time he missed this weekend at the cabin.  Toban felt even worse about being sick and missing it, but it was nice to hear the other boys had a good time.  I’m sure Stu and Judi feel the same about today.  It sure was something special.

Jesus Women

I was with Jesus Women all day today. When Kory told his cousin Odd that I was at a Jesus Women conference in Oslo, Odd said, “Is there something called THAT?” And the answer is yes, there is. I’m not sure how many women were there, but they came from all over Norway and Sweden to gather together to sing songs to Jesus, hear women talk about Jesus and to pray to Jesus. I’d say they were Jesus women alright.

If there was just one message that came through loud and clear today, it was that we must PRAY MORE. It’s kinda funny because Kory told me shortly after we met twenty years ago that whenever he would go to his mother with any kind of problem, hoping she’d impart some worldly wisdom to him, all she would ever say is, “Kory, you need to pray more.” No matter what the problem was, that was her standard reply. It was the dreaded two word response he hated, but now realizes how right she was.

The first speaker we had today was Georgina Dufoix, the ex-health minister of France. She spoke in French, which was then translated to Norwegian, and then in my brain, translated to English… but her message was very clear – pray for our politicians! She gave her own “testimony” of how she became a Christian while holding a political office, and all the spiritual attacks that came right along with it. She holds out hope that her homeland will turn back toward Jesus, as they have such a rich history of so many important spiritual things happening there, but currently, they have their backs turned away from God. She told us how we should not be critical of those in authority, but just pray for them, whether we agree with them or not. God is bigger than they are and He put them there for a reason so we need to respect that. She was an impressive woman and I could totally see her running for the position of Prime Minister of France someday – who knows. That would certainly shake things up a bit there. I liked her a lot.

We had two speeches today from Fern Nichols, the founder of Moms In Touch – a Christian group that organizes moms to pray for their kids and their schools. Fern is one tough prayer warrior. She’s a funny lady, especially when she started wielding a sword. She told all us mothers that the Bible is a sword and when we pray prayers for our children using words right out of the Bible, it’s like coming at Satan with a weapon. She acted out the part and hacked him into pieces while yelling at him to stay away from our children. It was easy to see the mother bear in her, protecting her young. And that’s how she looks at spiritual warfare and she fights the battle with the word of God, and prayers prayed with other women. She also told us why we should pray, how we should pray and what we should pray. It was all pretty basic stuff for me, but she made her point. I liked a picture she shared of many kinds of powerful military weapons, and then one mother on her knees. The caption of the photo said, “Which has shown the most impressive display of power?” How can you argue with the power of heaven and earth unleashed in a mother’s prayer. Point taken. I guess I need to pray more.

We didn’t have much free time today because all the seminars ran at least an hour over their scheduled times. There is something about getting a bunch of women together in one room and when they start talking… well, it’s just hard to get them to stop, I guess. But during the afternoon break Kari and I walked around town a little and then on down to the new opera house by the fjord. It is such an incredible piece of architecture and even more impressive when standing next to it, on it, in it. I don’t know how people come up with these ideas, but this one is a doozie. It’s along the same lines as the Sydney Opera house in terms of the impact it makes to the landscape. We didn’t have time for the full blown tour but we walked around it and in it and up on top of it. It’s pretty cool, literally, as it’s all white marble and it looks completely different from every side. What a task, building that thing (see photo).

Kaleb woke me up at eight this morning, wanting to know how much time I’m using on his computer so he can adjust the costs he’s charging me accordingly. Now if I asked him how much time he’s going over his allotted one hour a day on his Nintendo all I’ll get is the standard, “Time flies when you’re having fun” response. He spent the day with his friends and is on a sleepover tonight so I’m pretty certain he’s not keeping an eye on the clock, as he expects me to do.

Kory was invited over to Odd and Turids for dinner tonight. He said he spent the day packing up a few things, as well as cleaning house and grocery shopping. I guess all those prayers I said for him really hit the target! God is good- all the time. And all the time – God is good. Hallelujah!