Living Loved

I've realized I don't write so often. You may have realized this by the amount of time between my blog posts. The thing is it takes more energy to sit at a computer and write than writing in a journal. I often get distracted once I am on the computer. Do you? An hour later I get off the computer only to realize I never accomplished the purpose that got me on the computer to begin with. I want to improve in this area, so here I am writing a blog post today (and it only took me an hour to get started).

Today, I had the priviledged of sitting down to coffee with a wise friend, MaryJean. We talked of life, Jesus, future and truth. During our time together she said this simple phrase: "living loved" and it caught my attention and made me think. We were talking about our inheritence in God's family and about what Jesus says in John 14 about sending Holy Spirit as our Comforter/Guide, not leaving us as orphans. The Bible talks plainly about God loving us and choosing us. Think about this for a moment. What would your life look like; how different would it be if you lived loved? You are loved! I am loved! This is our reality even if we have trouble receiving or believing it.


If or when we struggle with believing we are loved we should go to the source: God's Word. What does God say? The most quoted verse, John 3:16, says it plainly, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." and in 1 John 3:1 is says, "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are." The Bible is filled with this truth.

I often talk about living free and I think living free looks very much like living loved. I'm going to practice living loved and I encourage you to join me in this. When times of doubt come, I'll ask God for help and I will read more of God's word to become more acquainted with the Truth written there.

Live Loved today - you are!

Finding Peace

Where do you find peace? Where does rest come easily to you? Often, I am most rested and at peace near water, there is something about a body of water that causes me to relax completely.

Yesterday, as I was spending time with God, I found peace in His omniscience. Omniscient means having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things. Now , if you are like me, I have things I have done that I am not proud of, things I do not necessarily want to advertise or even, at times, admit to. To my dismay, I still struggle with some insecurities and fears. Yet, as I was reading from A.W. Tozer's book "The Knowledge of the Holy" I found peace in the truth of the words I read.

"...how unutterably sweet is the knowledge that our Heavenly Father knows us completely. No talebearer can inform on us, no enemy can make an accusation stick; no forgotten skeleton can come tumbling out of some hidden closet to abash us and expose our past; no unsuspected weakness in our characters can come to light to turn God away from us, since He knew us so utterly before we knew Him and called us to Himself in the full knowledge of everything that was against us."

"For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.' (Isaiah 54:10)"

There is a peace that I cannot explain in being known completely and loved regardless. Peace in the fact that I do not have to strive, prove or explain myself, because He even knows my heart motivation, pure or not. Nothing is hidden from God. Yesterday, I had an understanding with both my heart and mind that I am known completely, in everything good and bad and also, loved completely.  In this, I found peace greater than any.  

It is safe to cycle again!

The snow has melted and the ice is finally gone - it is Spring! And I am extremely glad.  I have officially had 4 beautiful bicycle rides all over Skien.  Today was one of my favorite rides, despite the wind and also the hill I went down only to go back up again because it was a dead end. I set of with a friend (Erine) and we had a fun start until her bike chain broke in half.  Luckily, we were near a friends house and could borrow his bike so that we could continue on.  It was a great day!

I think Spring brings out life, not only the obvious life like flowers in bloom, but something inside of me comes more alive when the sun comes out. I want to experience life, be out and about; go on adventures. Yes, the rain will come during spring too (in fact, it already has come), but that only increases my joy for beautiful sunny days. In every joke there often is a little truth and the joke here in Norway is "enjoy the sun for the month that it is out". Of course, it does shine more than 30 days a year here, but often it feels it is true after the long winter and between the rain. Nonetheless, I am going to soak in every drop of vitamin D from the sun that I can, I so very much appreciate it.

Happy Spring to You!

I was contemplating.

"Why is it that the most beautiful animals on earth are hidden away from all humans except those wearing elaborate SCUBA equipment? Who are they beautiful for?  - Phillip Yancey

I am reading the book "I Was Just Wondering" by Phillip Yancey, a book of many questions and a few answers.  There are a couple of questions that I am pondering and as I watched a video (that really has nothing to do with nature), I had a "wow" moment.  My wow moment: It isn't about us.  I know this to be true in my mind, but it's hard to understand with my heart.  I know the world doesn't revolve around me, personally, but sometimes I think it does around us as humans.  Yet, we aren't the only thing in the world.  No, I won't become an extreme environmentalist, but I have more awe of God.  I also hope it will decrease selfishness and self centered perspectives in my life.  


Do you want to know the other quote that has me thinking quite a lot?

Why does man feel so sad in the twentieth century? Why does man feel so bad in the very age when, more than in any other age, he has succeeded in satisfying his needs and making over the world for his own use?  - Walker Percy

Juleferie day 3

I am sitting listening to the song "O For Grace" by Brady Toops and the words that stuck out to me are:

"When it's strong or when it falls through, Lord to know the answer is you."

A gentle reminder, an wonderful encouragement.

I pray your day is encouraged as well.
Blessings.

Juleferie day 1 (Christmas holiday)

I am SO blessed, I get to holiday in a Winter Wonderland. Today, I started my day with coffee and a great friend looking at the view you see in the photos. Then came a knock on the door and two cute kids (Hanne's niece and nephew) were asking us to come out and play. So out we went ready to sled down the hill by the house. I currently hold the record for the longest run, although Daniel came close to knocking me out of that position.

What a wonderful beginning to a lovely holiday time. Oh, an extra blessing of being here - I get to practice speaking Norwegian! Although the Trøndersk dialect is very difficult to understand (I cannot tell you how many dialects Norway has, but with each dialect they actually say different words, it is not just a different pronouncing of the same word. To say the least, I have to ask what the kids say often, the adults have mercy on me and speak Bokmål. Bokmål is the Oslo dialect and what they speak on tv new channels and is the dialect I am learning.)

Wherever this finds you today, I pray blessings upon you.
Jae

Last week in Hamar

The end is near...

Okay, maybe it isn't as dramatic as that, but my time in Hamar is coming rapidly to a close.  I will be sad to leave this "family" of mine, but now is the time to go back to Skien.  I look forward to seeing friends, talking to them in Norwegian and preparing for the DTS in January.  On the other hand, I do not look forward to packing.  

A friend of mine she said she enjoyed the pictures I put up, so I thought I would add some pictures and tell you more about my time while in Hamar. 

I live in a very Norwegian home, but they were kind to the American in their midst and we celebrated Thanksgiving. I cooked for 2 days, everything came out great except the pumpkin pie, to my dismay. We had a lovely time.  After dinner (middag @ 4:30pm) we went for a long wonderful walk, then came back to the house, ate pie and watched a movie. 

Norwegians celebrate Advent, it starts, I believe the first Sunday in December, but Christmas season starts December 1st, the first day you can have glog & pepperkaker (glogg is like a spiced cider drink with fruit and nut bits in it and pepperkaker are gingerbread cookies).  The four candles below are the advent candles, one is lit every Sunday while reciting a prayer.  The star above the candles is just an example of how Jenny & Ragnhild have made the house look nice and festive.  A side note: the color for Advent is purple - purple candles, cloths, etc..., but Christmas is decorated in red and I believe they change the colors Christmas eve.

We also had the town Christmas tree lighting.  It was really fun despite the cold.  At the end of the event all the people sang a Christmas song and went around the Christmas tree, so very delightful.  

I also, did something VERY Norwegian.  I went to Sweden! It was my first time to step foot in the country and I did it as a typical Norwegian would.  Yep, we went shopping.  The prices in Sweden are cheaper, especially for meat and since it is only 2 hour drive to the border, off we went.  There was an extra seat in the car and Eirik (the youth pastor) arranged for me to join.  So off I went with Eirik's mom, little brother and little sister.  It was so much fun.  We even had a little adventure - the car battery died.  The others in the car said they were very grateful that I was an outgoing American, I went around the parking lot for about 40 minutes looking for someone with jumper cables to help us back on the road.  Our angel's name was Ida.  We are back safe and sound and with bacon in the freezer!

Thanks for taking this journey with me in Hamar while I learned Norwegian.  Please pray that I continue to grow and improve in the language, especially as I go back to Skien.  Also, if you would please pray for my "family" in Hamar (Eirik, Karl Oscar, Jenny & Ragnhild), they are the youth leaders in one of the local churches and I am sure they would appreciate any extra prayer.  Thanks again.