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.