sex god

"When I respect the image of God in others, I protect the image of God in me. When Jesus speaks of loving our neighbor, it isn’t just for our neighbor’s sake. If we don’t love our neighbor, something happens to us. And in trying to protect the image of God in them, we just might be protecting the image of God in ourselves in the process. Because with every decision, conversation, gesture, comment, action, and attitude, we’re inviting heaven or hell to earth."
Sex God by Rob Bell.

of almost car thefts

i live in norway, a quite safe place. we have quite a lot of drug addicts though and things are stolen occasionally. we think an addict found his way into the base and stole 2 computers, dvds, cameras. bikes have also been stolen. it's safe though, really. tonight though a group of us were getting ready to drive to a youth club when we walked out of the base to the car and there was someone inside it! stina threw open the door and (in english) yelled, "excuse me? this is my car! what are you doing?" the guy, totally confused, replied in norwegian-english, "uhh, i, uhh, thought this umm, was my car!" in english again, stina told him, "no, it's our car. get out!" nevermind that no one in his right mind would want to drive the car, much less steal it - it was in a major accident and the entire left side is caved in, the cd player was already stolen, and it's a hundred years old. but the guy got out, apologized, and then proceeded to light a joint. sweet.

a sunday morning.

my new best friend. a de-humidifier.

a cold winter's day.

a sunday morning. a long week, albeit a good one. we had teaching with ken helser and this weekend has been our annual ywam skien reunion. 11 people from my dts have been here - haven't been able to spend much time with them, but it's been good to see old friends.

i complained in the last post that i thought i'd lost my sense of humor. well, it's back. yesterday i was at the base talking with people and got ready to go to the shopping center to buy contacts. i put on my coat and looked everywhere for my scarf. couldn't find it so i borrowed one. after shopping for about 30 minutes, i caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. trailing behind me was a long, black, woolen tail. what is lost shall be found.

i will be in skien this week, helping out with a team week and hopefully sending in our visas for india. culture shock has hit the 3 american students, so we'll have an american night at my apartment - complete with chocolate chip cookies, starbucks, and "elizabethtown." wednesday is v-day (some of the funniest high school stories come from 14.02 - complete with pink eye and horrible dates) and a few girls are coming over for fondue, i believe. good times.

troon

me and elise

dean castle

scotland. it was lovely. refreshing. we spent two weeks knocking on a lot of doors, trying to talk to people on the streets, and praying. we also went to a prison one day - i know where to go when i'm ready for marriage! i think i've found several willing candidates. heehee.

it was so nice just to be away from the reality of my life. i often trick myself into thinking that where i am, all the time, is reality. make sense? as if life doesn't exist out of my little bubble here in norway. i know there is life other places - in the states, in all the places i love, but it doesn't seem like reality unless you're really there. my reality lately has been filled with lots of tears, frustrated cries to God, wondering what the heck i'm doing next year. but... i've been incredibly desperate for God and i love that. i think He likes that too. i feel more peaceful now after going to scotland - meeting new people, doing things i wouldn't normally do, being part of a different reality. i know that when it's time for me to know what's next, He'll let me know. i have a feeling i'll be totally surprised, but until then i'm going to continue being desperate.

i'm thinking now... i'd love to write a funny story, but honestly - nothing that funny has happened the past weeks. my humor is lacking and it worries me. oh wait - on my myspace i wrote an incredibly sarcastic blog about this man i found on the internet - thought he sounded pitiful. seconds after i pushed "post blog", he commented. aghh!! he thought the whole thing was funny, but it scared the crap out of me! but other than that - nada.
so - here's to the hope of rekindling humor. cheers.