a little christmas love

guess where i've been...

matthew and amanda fighting over a latte (he's not really hurting her. look, she's laughing!)

my cousin stanley and me

kansas sunset

my sister and her husband

vacation has been lovely. i've had a great time at home - traveled a bit, opened up presents (lots of cute clothes and good cds and dvds), watched movies (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Fun with Dick and Jane), visited with friends and family, and the starbucks quota has been met. it's been incredibly warm here - yesterday it reached 70 degrees (21 degrees celcius). not exactly a white christmas, but enjoyable nonetheless.
i'm off again on saturday, spending new year's eve on a plane. maybe i'll venture out a bit and see a bit of london on my layover and then it's off to hamar on monday for our worker's gathering.

after the longest 2 days of my life, i'm home. seriously, i don't know if i could've been any more tired before leaving and spending the night in the airport, and sitting behind and in front of screaming children (seriously, if your child is screaming for 4 hours, wouldn't you try to do something about it?) for 2 of the 3 flights didn't make anything better. but what did make it better was the non-fat, extra hot gingerbread latte and eggnog latte from starbucks in london and chicago. i was so out of it when i got home. i did stay awake long enough to show my parents the video erlend made for me - "if you're not the one" by daniel bedingfield. i've never heard it played in the states before, but as i was driving up from the driveway this afternoon (had to break the ban on walmart and stock up on big american-sized toiletries), it came on the radio. i began laughing so hard. i actually had quite a difficult time leaving norway - a bit sad, so that song made it a bit better. good memories.

coming home (although i haven't really lived at "home" in almost 7 years) is always nice, although i think it gets a bit more difficult after living away longer. i have my own home in skien, my own friends, my own life. last night i was so confused when i couldn't find the recycling bin (we don't recycle anything here), the toilet seat was lower than the one at my apartment, everyone around me at the airport was large and loud. i went to walmart - which is probably the worst place anyone could go after being away from america for an extended time - and took such a long time just looking and touching everything. everything was so cheap and so large and there was so much to choose from! it's just strange, the life i lead. i don't really have my own life here in the states, yet i'm still a bit of an outsider in norway because i'm not norwegian. it gets tiring at times, going back and forth, trying to understand what's going on around me, who i am in each of these places. welcome to missionary life.

this morning i went to my old high school to talk to the junior and senior high during chapel. i spoke a bit about the dts and then about having an honest, personal relationship to God. even with the norwegian accent and messed up grammar, it went quite well. a couple of the girls talked to me about dts afterwards and one of the staff said what i said was exactly what God has been teaching her. i also talked to my mom's 2nd grade class and answered questions like "how do you say boy in norwegian? how do you count? do you live in a house or one of those 'things'?" (meaning a hut). it was much fun. my mom is so intentional in what she teaches and many of them already have a heart for missions. incredible. tonight it's off to a high school basketball game. now it's time to catch up on sleep.

things i love...

what i love about winter/christmastime in general:
tall, nonfat, extra hot gingerbread lattes with whip
brownies and peppermint ice cream
christmas music (are you up for a little mariah carey, bethany?)
snow!!!
"holiday inn," "white christmas," and a true classic - "national lampoon's christmas"
hot chocolate with lots of marshmallows

what i love about winter/christmastime in norway:
overpriced mochas
large christmas trees in every parking area
live music in the walking streets
snow on the mountains
watching the kids sled
ice skating
the cosy fireplace at the base
advent
glogg and pepperkaker

welcome to my life.

picture of me and karen amalie (one of my students)
the graveyard and mountain outside the state church in flatdal, norway

buns away

just have to share about my last week. i co-led a team to seljord, a small town about 2 hours away from skien last week. i was so nervous and worried before we left, so scatterbrained that i left my phone at home. but man, the week was so good! just a couple of funny stories...

we worked with a pentecostal church and although many of our team was use to that, some things were done a bit... differently. one night we went to different cell groups and later that night met up to share about our experiences. one man in a cell group kept shouting, "the blood, the blood, the blooood!!!" over and over again and the students had such a hard time not laughing. maybe we shouldn't have laughed, but it was quite funny at the time.

one of our tasks was to have an open house at the Jesus House, a house that the church owned and the place we were living. we decided to watch a movie, play games, have a jam session, and have a room where we could just discuss God and spirituality. we went out that afternoon and handed out flyers and had invited students the days before. i spent several hours making bolle (buns) with chocolate inside - i made over 100. at 20.00 we opened the doors for the students and waited... and waited... and waited for people to show up. 3 hours and 1 person showed up. do you know how many buns are sitting in the freezer now? we had quite a laugh on that one as well.

one last story... it was thanksgiving and although it's not my favorite holiday, i love being home at this time of the year. plus, all my friends and cousins are having babies and it would be nice to see them. anyway, i shared with my team that it was thanksgiving on thursday (and for those of you who might be a bit behind on things, thanksgiving is not celebrated in anywhere else but the states) and that we usually eat turkey and pumpkin pie and watch american football in the afternoon (or a nice ncaa basketball game, in my case). i didn't have time to call my family (plus, i forgot my cell phone) and didn't have access to email that day, but didn't think about it too much. that night we went to eat with a woman from the church and what did we have? a turkey dish and pickled pumkin! i felt so blessed to have my own version of thanksgiving in norway. and the great girls on my team also bought me a turkey sausage. =)

confessions of a represser

i always wonder what to write, especially knowing that this blog is read by so many different people. "how much should i share?" "how personal should i be?" i always wonder what people think when reading other's blogs.
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it's been a crazy week. God is teaching me so many things. before i begin though, i must recommend "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldredge. i am re-reading it now. i read it earlier in the summer and loved it so much that i read it as fast as possible. but now i'm reading it again so i can catch everything. it's about regaining femininity - what it means to be a woman, how to express yourself as a woman, how to be treated as a woman. it deals much with the heart, overcoming your past. gosh, it's good. all this to say... God has been healing my heart in different areas and showing me many areas where i still don't give Him total control - areas where fear still rules my decisions. it's a bit scary actually, seeing the decisions i make (or don't make) because fear is so big.
i was talking to my roommate the other day. people tell me "lyndee, you're so strong. you're able to handle so much." sometimes i just want to stick my tongue out at the people who say that. i really don't feel so strong. i've also seen that when people have said that to me, i've allowed myself to think that because people think i'm strong, i'm not allowed to show my weaknesses. i've also let it teach me that i just need to move on from the hurts in my life. that's correct in some sense, but in another, those hurts need to be dealt with before moving on. anyway, i was telling my roommate that sometimes i think that if i cry, it means that i'm dealing with situation. but in reality, i believe that the tears are just the surface of pain. dealing with hurts means that i have to take time and think, feel, process, even talk through things - with God, people, myself. so much to learn! i really want to learn to be honest with myself, with God - learn to share everything i'm feeling.
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on to another topic... after being here (illegally) for almost 3 months, i now have my visa! finally. and a great unexpected bonus - it's a 2 year visa! i was told i could only apply for 1 year at a time, but i threw caution to the wind and applied for 2 years and received it! i saved 800 kroner ($120) by doing that.
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i spoke this weekend at a youth night. i was suppose to share in 3 minutes an instance where i experienced the goodness of Jesus. i know Jesus has been good to me, but to have 3 minutes... that's hard (for me). i was so frustrated as we got to the meeting, think i was also frustrating those with me, because nothing was coming to me. every time i have spoken, God has always given me the words to say. i don't know why i get so stressed. once again, He gave me the words. trust lyndee, trust.
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so there it is... my life in 4 paragraphs.

pride goes before the fall

yeah, yeah, yeah, sara. here's a new blog: =)
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so, i'm living in norway and that means i need to get in touch with my adventuresome, outdoorsy self. as you all know, my adventuresome, outdoorsy self enjoys sitting (outside) a starbucks at the summit in louisville or if i'm feeling really crazy, even walking down my driveway in kansas to the mailbox.
okay, it's not that bad. i enjoy being outdoors, but i've become much more an inside, slightly boring person as of late, so i decided to leave it all behind and be one with the nature in norway.

if you also know me, you know that i am an extremely stubborn person and tend to want to prove myself. this is the situation i found myself in as i was walking up a mountain at 7 in the evening last friday. i have been "mountain" climbing once in my life and seeing that i'm surrounded by mountains, i willingly went with two friends (males - yikes!) who are also quite stubborn in will. my goal - to not slow them down (may i mention that it had rained the day before, it was dark outside, and we were only going to use the light of the moon while walking?) and not make a complete fool of myself in the process. that lasted all of 45 minutes. i hate to make mistakes, especially in front of others, but as i fell 7 times going UP the mountain, there was no choice but to laugh. i fell less going down the mountain though, i might add. it took us a little less than 5 hours to complete our trek and i have to say that i have never felt so old in my entire life. my knees screamed at me, my butt was sore from falling so many times, and my back hurt. we've all heard the old adage, "grow old gracefully..." well, that's out the door for me.

but, i did it. and i didn't even break anything.

the most beautiful word in the norwegian language

i really hate that word, pooped, but i couldn't think of any other word to describe how i feel. i am pooped. what an exhausting week in every sense of the word. it's 9 o'clock now and today i have been (surprise upon surprise) in the kitchen most of the day - doing dishes. i also had Bible study and i hate that sinking feeling that more often than not arrives in my stomach after i've taught, causing me to evaluate everything that came out of my mouth. anyway, it's over with, hallelujah. monday we have a lovefeast for the students so another staff, thomas, and i walked around town asking asian restaurants if they wanted to donate anything for our asian themed party. in the process, i found a pretty cheap restaurant ($14 a meal) and shared dinner with two other for-en-ger (as we're often called, aka foreigner) friends, played cards for a couple hours, and am now getting ready to watch a movie.

i have to admit, i'm extremely prideful. i know. i don't need anyone to tell me - i think about it quite often. but i'm learning that my pride has got to leave. i left team expansion 2 years ago burned out and depressed because of my pride, because i didn't want to admit i couldn't handle everything on my own. this whole kitchen thing (have i said that i'm now known as "the kitchen girl?" disgusting.) has left me never even wanting to be near food (my children will be born self-sufficient and we will only eat food that comes straight from the ground, cooked over an open fire in the middle of a field. they will never even know what a kitchen is.) and also really drained. i don't want to be drained. i want to have energy to hang out with the students (by the way, i have the two best girls - karen amalie and marianne), time to spend quality time with friends, and i want to actually be home once in a while. so, all that to say that i'm learning to cut the pride and say "nei."

blown away

i know i posted a blog just a few days earlier, but that's the great thing about this... i can post all i want!
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i love how God surprises us. i have to admit though, sometimes i keep such a tight rein on my life that God doesn't have the opportunity to surprise me. what i'm about to talk about might raise some eyebrows and you may not even agree with me, but what i'm about to write happened to me, it's personal, and i know in my heart it's truth for me...

i've had a really difficult time lately hearing God's voice and since i work with an organization that is run by the principle that God speaks to us, i've been a bit confused and frustrated. last sunday was a turning point and i really just let loose on God and He answered that very night - and continued answering me last night.
i came to work yesterday and found out that we had a surprise mandatory meeting from 19.30-21.30 that night, which meant i was going to be at work from 8.00-22.00 yet once again. the day was awful - i wasn't able to sit in on the teaching, talk with my students, i even showed up too late to eat dinner, and was yelled at - twice. i also didn't have time to work on my newsletter which is a month a half late. all in all, i was feeling tired, overworked, and quite guilty for not prioritizing as well as i should have.
so, i walk to the meeting, confessing to God all this, telling Him i was open to Him speaking to me. the meeting was a workshop with a man from england, jan nicholls, who was teaching at another school the same week and just wanted to share with us as DTS staff. keep in mind that i've never met this man, but almost as soon as we sat down, jan looked at me and said, "You're Lyndee, right? and you went to Bible college?" "Uh, yes," i replied. i was a bit confused and he said, "i'm quite prophetic." i was scared.
we broke into small groups to discuss different case studies and throughout the next two hours, jan continued to prophesy over me. i just sat there and cried. he told me that God was telling him that i shouldn't feel guilty for not getting my newsletter finished, that i shouldn't feel guilty that i have more money than other missionaries... it continued, deeper and deeper into my heart. God told him things about me that i had only told God, dreams i don't even dare to dream because they are too big.
i know the idea of prophecy is scary to many and ignored by even more. but i know that God can speak to us through it, if only we're open. the purpose of prophecy is to strengthen, encourage, and comfort (1 Corinthians 14) and all those things happened last night.
i want that boldness! i want to be so bold to speak the words God tells me, to have enough confidence in the gifts He's given, to speak His truth into people's lives.
He is an unordinary God and He often speaks in ways that seem way out there, even unbelievable, but if they are truth to a person, we have to listen.

pics

my roomate kristin and i in italy

man cannot live on bread alone

time flies. the first week of school is finished and i am exhausted. in every way. we had teaching about "the father heart of God." i wish i could have been in the classroom more, but was instead running around, trying to figure out what in the heck i'm doing in the kitchen. our kitchen is run by people who have never run a kitchen before, so cooking for 70 people can be interesting. and the girl who is running the kitchen just realized she was leaving for holiday... today, which means i'm in charge. God help us all.

maybe a little funny news from the kitchen might liven this blog a bit. so, one of my tasks is to go grocery shopping. the problem is that we live in a small town, which means there aren't big grocery stores, which means we have to travel to 4 different places and hope they have what we need. more often than not, we're running back and forth to grocery stores throughout the day. today i was pushing a cart of 50 loaves of bread up (notice i said "up") the cobblestone street (carts on cobblestone streets make a lot of noise!) to our base with my friend and co-worker, janne, and as we're unlocking the gate, i'm trying to keep the cart from rolling down the hill into oncoming traffic. as the cart began to roll, i sacrificed myself and ended up smashing my body in between the brick building and cart. i was stuck, but i was laughing so hard we couldn't get me out. we just stood there, a cart full of bread, me with my head stuck, oncoming traffic staring at us, laughing until we cried. but the bread was saved and we can all eat knowing that i almost lost my head for the sake of my students.

i'm better now

so, maybe you might think i sounded a little stressed or tired in the last blog... you were right. but, i´m better now. thanks for your concern.
wow. it´s getting cold here in skien. one day last week i actually saw my breath as i walked to work. i didn´t bring my winter coat with me because i was going to but a more suitable one this year and i´ve been shopping and i found the perfect one. it costs $250 (don´t worry mom. i didn´t buy it). welcome to norway.
a little news about life here. this week was election week for a new party leader in norway. for those of you who don´t know, norway has a king, so this election was a bit like electing a prime minister. a big deal, in other words. but the man we were praying would be voted in lost and things are about to change. the man elected is hoping to take away all financial support from private schools and allow abortions later in pregancy. and until now, people were given a yearly allowance (pretty sizeable) for each child they had, but the new leader also wants to throw that out. to put in the words of a friend, "norway has no moral foundation left." honestly, it sounds like a lot like america and that´s scary on many different levels.
norway was just voted the best country in which to live. sweet. i never thought God would send me to a place that was voted the best place to live. i also think it´s a bit ironic that we were voted the best place in which to live and now things are about to change.

ranting and raving

what is annoying me now (know that this will probably change in the next 30 minutes):

* italian women
* the pesky "sniff" that is followed by the lack of energy due to the cold i've had the past week
* stupid boys (not all boys, just the stupid ones)
* not being able to find the best fitting word (see what i mean?)
* being cold all the time, knowing it's much warmer in other places
* not being able to communicate what i feel or think
* not being able to get past the "thinking" stage to the "doing" stage
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okay, enough of that. let´s talk about language learning.

i think language is like a bridge. for me, english is on the nice cosy side of the bridge and norwegian on the ominous, unknown side of the bridge. where am i (lyndee)? is what you might be asking yourself. well, i am on the bridge. actually, i´ve fallen off the bridge and am dangling on a threadbare rope. what do i mean by all this? i mean that i´m in the place where i am slowly understanding a bit more norwegian, but as i´m understanding norwegian, i am losing my english, thus making me a bit more mute than normal. i think i need to begin lifting weights or something to hoist myself back up to the bridge and march on across. this dangling place isn´t so comfortable.

more of life here

this is the view of the state church as we're walking to work, along Snipetorp road.












jay and ingvar.








this was taken in our basement (hans, soren, sindre, evan - all staff this year) at a going away party for a friend, ingvar, who is going to ethiopia.






this is the view of our base (school) where all the magic happens.

new beginnings

so, the other day i decided to adapt a bit more to norwegian culture and went biking and hiking in the mountains with friends (l to r: janne, elisabeth, erlend, jay). the view from where they're sitting overlooks our city, skien.










this is salome, the daughter of my landlords. isn't she a cutie?!














so, as you can see i'm back in norway and really enjoying it. when i get time, i'll take more pictures around my apartment. the street we live on probably has the prettiest view of the city and i love the walk to work in the mornings. i leave around 8.15 and walk the street with the cute, blond scandinavian kids on their way to school. so far we've been busy during the day painting, repairing, cleaning our base. a big job, but we're excited to see the changes. the students begin arriving september 19th and we have much to do before then.

vi snakkes,
lyndee

walmart madness

today i decided to boycott wal-mart. "how anti-american is that?" is what you're asking yourself right now. it's hardly anti-american. i am simply exercising my rights.
i went in this morning to get my prayer card printed at the photo center and an employee told me that they wouldn't be able to develop the picture since i didn't design it. i listed off numerous reasons why that didn't make since: i leave to go overseas in a few days, i don't have time to mail and have returned a copyright release, a friend helped me, and it wasn't professionally done.
to this she replied, "well, i can't help you until this release is signed."
"you've got to be kidding."
"nope."
"can you at least tell me some different options?"
"nope."
to this i replied (just remember that i don't handle conflict very, well... i don't handle conflict at all), "this is retarded," and walked out the store.
i drove home, music blaring, headache beginning, and called the store manager to file a complaint and to tell him i won't be shopping at wal-mart anymore.
it was all a bit liberating... another step further into adulthood.

random beginnings

i know i have another blog, but decided i was feeling a little "cramped" in my ability to share life as i see it. so, this blog will just be for those i can trust (ie, won't be offended by the things i write about, share, etc). not that i intend to offend anyone, but i can be a little more me here. plus, i can share pictures now!

i went to kansas city this weekend with a good friend whom i haven't seen in almost 2 years. it's crazy how life can do that to you. we went to jacob's well, ate, shopped, hung around the plaza fountain and smoked cigars. i never know if these little mini-vacations are going to be stressful, but this proved to quite an enjoyable romp around kc with a good friend.

i head back to norway a week from today. it's a good feeling, but i woke up several times last night with that panic feeling: "have i paid my bills?" "when is my visa going to come?" "do i know where my passport is?" never mind the feeling of knowing how little i still understand norwegian. the goal of truly practicing language during the summer is still as elusive as ever.