drawing the line

i had all thsese things i wanted to write and now that i sit at the computer, i can't think of anything to say. so, let's start with the new crazy cool green velvet jacket i bought. very nice. i also received two care packages this past weekend (thank you, arian and ruthie!). mail always makes the day a bit more fun, especially when it's from people who really "get" you.
oh yeah... here's something cool. last week a man called the base and said he had around a 1000 books he wanted to donate, 90 percent english. i went to go pick them up - we received them from a couple from ireland and scotland who are missionaries here in skien. i love to read and can rarely find english books to read (minus "rolling stone" at the library), so it was great to thumb through them and pick a few out for my own personal library. most were quite old, but i picked out a few elisabeth elliot, o. hallesby, and charles spurgeon. they will keep me busy for a while.
this weekend i had absolutely no energy, but we had people over anyway and for the first time this year, we didn't talk about work! it was great. we actually talked about homosexuality. even though it isn't a nice cozy subject, what a relief to talk about something that has nothing to do with my life that makes me think and want to grow as a person.
next monday evening i leave for finland. we drive to stockholm and catch a ferry over. i have no idea about anything remotely finnish. have a bit of work to do.
down to business... let's talk felicity season 2. some people call me addicted. they're crazy. i can stop watching whenever i want; i just choose not to. it's so nice to come home after a long day of work, carry my dvd down to hild mari's, drink good coffee in her warm home and wonder what mistake felicity is going to make today. but seriously felicity, how many times can ben break your heart without you putting a stop to it? like you told noel in season 1, you have to draw the line. so, i'm drawing the line...
lyndee

will the life lessons ever stop coming?

back from the cold north where we had our worker's gathering in hamar where all ywam norway workers meet together twice a year. it's always good to be inspired, catch more of ywam's vision, but it's so difficult being around all those people, especially since i just flew in the night before. i feel like such an unfriendly person at these conferences because there are just so many people around. but it was quite good nonetheless. one of the speakers talked of how christians are known for these 3 things:
we don't have goals
we don't persevere
we wait to long to take action
God has been speaking to me about this since before i left for christmas break. the past semester has hit me in the face and i've been sifting through what has actually happened these past 5 months. i believe God has worked through and in me, but i so often feel that i am just existing here, doing things that are done for the sake of just getting them done. i wonder how much of what i've done affects the kingdom. i see that most of my time is not spent using my gifts and abilities. i've been reminded of the parable where the king gives the servants different amounts of money and 2 of the servants invested their money wisely and saw a profit. the last servant got scared when given the money and just buried it. i think i've taken some of the gifts God has given me and i've been scared and i've buried them. it's a danger when God entrusts different abilites to us and we don't use them to His glory. there is a danger of God taking those gifts and entrusting them to someone else who will. i see areas where fear has pushed me not to have a plan, to give up when it gets too difficult, and in turn i wait too long to take action. i'm so glad God continues to speak even when it takes me so long to get it. all that to say, i want to have more vision in my ministry, i want to be a person who is known for persevering, a person of action. i want to see change in myself and in those around me. i want my passion for God, my passion for missions and people to grow. i want to be disciplined in using and growing in the gifts God has placed in me. He gives us gifts because He wants to be glorified because of what we're doing in His name. when it's put in that perspective, fear isn't even an option.

enough for now. i'm off to bed, knowing i don't have to work tomorrow, that i can watch season 2 of "Felicity," and i get to go ice skating saturday! woohoo! God bless our neighbor Enge who doesn't have a password for his network connections and unknowingly blesses us with wireless internet from home.

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.