We have seven inches of snow covering everything around here. And there must be at least an inch plastered to the west sides of all the buildings as well, as that’s where the storm came from. It took Kory several hours this afternoon to free our car from the aftermath of the storm. The snow is so beautiful in every direction and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky today - so that’s the upside. The downside is that the streets are solid ice with crunchy snow on top. It makes for quite the noisy walk and painful landing should one slip and fall (so says Kaleb). We walked to church this morning. Kaleb skied (see photo). I think his skis will become permanently attached to him this winter as he’s just loving his new mode of transportation. He plans to take them to school tomorrow too. Just as well for me, as it saves me two bucks for the bus fare. He skied all around the neighborhood –stopping in to see who was home. This afternoon he was out playing with Sabina and a friend of hers and he used his skis for a sled as he sat down on the back side of them and zoomed down a steep hill several times. He’s just loving this weather. I’m sure it’s in his blood.
We went to Agape Church this morning (I’m so thankful it’s within walking distance to our house.) The sermon was given by a woman that moved here eight months ago from Puerto Rico (she married a Norwegian she met at Bible school in Australia). She gave an excellent talk that I’m sure was just for me. She is feeling the same way I do about many things – the difficulty with learning the language and being able to understand all the dialects and how the language barrier keeps her from being used by God as much as she’d like. God told her to focus on making a difference in just one person’s life (she used to teach children’s Sunday school in Puerto Rico so she’s used to influencing many.) I felt fairly validated by that, and it was so good for me to hear it.
We went to Agape Church this morning (I’m so thankful it’s within walking distance to our house.) The sermon was given by a woman that moved here eight months ago from Puerto Rico (she married a Norwegian she met at Bible school in Australia). She gave an excellent talk that I’m sure was just for me. She is feeling the same way I do about many things – the difficulty with learning the language and being able to understand all the dialects and how the language barrier keeps her from being used by God as much as she’d like. God told her to focus on making a difference in just one person’s life (she used to teach children’s Sunday school in Puerto Rico so she’s used to influencing many.) I felt fairly validated by that, and it was so good for me to hear it.
I’ve been meeting with a teenage boy regularly and he calls me at least once a day for prayer. He has a lot of self-esteem issues to work out and he is struggling with “voices in his head” telling him bad things. But little by little, he’s getting stronger spiritually and is able to see God working in his life. He said last week that he was so frustrated with a bunch of kids at school and he asked God why they are so mean to him and God revealed to him the pain each one of them has and how they are just reacting from their own pain. He then asked God what the pain was that was plaguing him so terribly and God told him it was because he has no father (he’s illegitimate and he has no relationship with his father – who lives in Israel). I got to share with him how God promises to be a father to the fatherless and how God has fulfilled that role so well in my life. He just needs constant reassurance that God loves him, that he’s a child of God, that God has forgiven his sins and God only wants the best for him. One minute he can feel all that goodness and the next he is overcome with demonic thoughts that would scare anyone. Kory has agreed to start taking him places and meeting with him regularly to have some man-to-man talks with him (he’s 15). He does need male mentoring as all his mom’s family have pretty much turned away from the two of them because of the voices in his head and what they cause him to do. So, I was encouraged that working with this boy is enough, if that’s God’s plan for me right now. But I’m also convicted that I should be working harder to learn the language as I really don’t do homework every day and if I did, I’d be much better than I am at speaking Norwegian. (It’s just so hard!)
The bulk of my day was spent near tears as I’m so frustrated with my laptop I could scream. As much as I love technology and all that it brings, it sure can bring a level of pain not experienced in any other way. We recorded a video clip and I’ve been unable to e-mail it or condense it or upload it or anything. I tried everything but even when I read the help instructions it tells me to click on options that don’t even show up on my computer. Ugh. I needed to “lufte meg” (“air myself out” – as that’s how they say “go for a walk” here), so Kory and I tromped through the frozen snow over to Odd and Turids for a little visit this afternoon. The beauty of the walk was enough to get my mind off my troubles, but they were still there to greet me when I got back home. No solution is in sight. Double ugh.
After dinner Sabina, her mom and a friend came over for popcorn and cocoa and we played a few rounds of Golf (a card game). I think that’s what I love the most about living here in Aalesund – the close proximity to people and how free everyone’s schedule is to just drop by and visit. Life isn’t too complicated here and everyone lives so close. In a way, it’s like island living, because it’s on a peninsula and the next biggest city is six hours away, so there is not often a reason to leave. And why would anyone want to?
The bulk of my day was spent near tears as I’m so frustrated with my laptop I could scream. As much as I love technology and all that it brings, it sure can bring a level of pain not experienced in any other way. We recorded a video clip and I’ve been unable to e-mail it or condense it or upload it or anything. I tried everything but even when I read the help instructions it tells me to click on options that don’t even show up on my computer. Ugh. I needed to “lufte meg” (“air myself out” – as that’s how they say “go for a walk” here), so Kory and I tromped through the frozen snow over to Odd and Turids for a little visit this afternoon. The beauty of the walk was enough to get my mind off my troubles, but they were still there to greet me when I got back home. No solution is in sight. Double ugh.
After dinner Sabina, her mom and a friend came over for popcorn and cocoa and we played a few rounds of Golf (a card game). I think that’s what I love the most about living here in Aalesund – the close proximity to people and how free everyone’s schedule is to just drop by and visit. Life isn’t too complicated here and everyone lives so close. In a way, it’s like island living, because it’s on a peninsula and the next biggest city is six hours away, so there is not often a reason to leave. And why would anyone want to?
