Skip to main content

Home for Christmas...

I realise I haven’t written since Kansas City. The good news is it isn’t coz I got stuck for days at an airport because of the snow chaos we’ve had in Europe the last week or so. I arrived last week Tuesday to a grey and rainy afternoon. The snow arrived the next day and has stayed since. It’s nice to have a white Christmas, especially when you can have a fire lit in the fireplace and plenty of blankets to keep warm.

It was lovely to see family again. The children have grown so much and wee Julie (my youngest niece) is beautiful. It’s great that she lives upstairs so I get to see her a lot. And I had a lovely evening baking vegan gingerbread cookies with friends.

I am so thankful for family and friends!

Adjusting and being back in Norway has had its ups and downs. Lots of jetlag (when it’s 2 am and you’re wide awake, I think you can define it as jetlag). It was slightly adjusted when I had an early morning dentist appointment, but I’m still getting to sleep really late. So much for the morning person doing 6 am starts back in KC. I am now a night owl. I imagine it’ll adjust itself once normality hits... whatever that will look like.

I am thankful to be able to sleep and not be rushing around and being so busy. Holiday is supposed to be restful.

Culture-shock. I guess it’s unavoidable really. When you uproot from one “home” and have to resettle somewhere else, there are adjustments to be done. But my question is: is it culture shock or reverse-culture shock I’m facing? I don’t really know where I feel most at home anymore, but I am feeling the culture shock whatever type it might be. Missing Kansas City and the knowing that I am part of something and have a “day-to-day” to go back to when Christmas is over. Miss having something I am “doing”... and find it hard not knowing what lies ahead. I have had some “brave” moment feeling full of faith and trust and even excitement. But also some “lower” moments in tears, worrying and feeling very alone and lost. It truly is a journey, and Jesus never said it would be easy. But it’s my journey with Him, and I keep reminding myself of how I’ve chosen this path and I’ve come this far, and I know He is faithful to continue to be my Shepherd and Guide and Friend, the One who is always with me wherever I go and end up. So when the waves of culture-shock hit me...I just let them flood over me, knowing that it’ll pass. It always does, and it will get easier with time.

I am thankful that I can be on a journey with Jesus, who is my Shepherd and Friend.

Christmas. Today is the day before Christmas. I’ve got my presents bought. Shopping was overwhelming this year. What do you get people who have most things? It’s so easy to feel the pressure of not having bought enough or something expensive enough. The truth is that it is the heart behind the gift that counts, and at the end of the day Christmas isn’t about the presents we receive or give, it’s about Jesus coming to earth.

I am thankful the preparations for Christmas are done and now it’s all about enjoying family and celebrating Jesus.

Start of January I’m off to the YWAM base for the national staff conference. I got a few emails this week about it, and suddenly it dawned on me that there’ll be lots of people I don’t know and a setting I’m no longer familiar with. It’s a bit daunting. Big gatherings overwhelm me. But I am also glad to be able to see some people I know and talk to them and the Lord about the way forward and hopefully get some more clarity on where this journey I’m on is going.

I am thankful the YWAM base has a prayer room 24/7 I can go (or “retreat”) to.

That’s it for now. It’s late and tomorrow is Christmas Eve (the day we celebrate on here in Norway).

I think it’s going to be a lovely Christmas.

Popular posts from this blog

Small moments that mean a lot

Walking home on the crunchy snow that lights up a December evening,  I felt so thankful. The revelation that fellowship and being together is the best gift you can give someone, and realising that although it might seem small, it can turn into something big when a person feels seen and valued.  Yesterday I helped out with a crafts workshop for a group of lovely women volunteering for Crux where I worked before (well, in all honesty: they were making angels while I ate Christmas cookies, Quality Street chocolate, and chatted). I love walking alongside people in conversation, and realise sharing life for 2 hours can last so much longer in value and experience.  This evening we had our Christmas dinner for volunteers and people who are part of my current job. It was a delightful evening with many nations gathered around the same table…. eating the same food… and for a few hours creating a small fellowship moment that will become a good memory for the future. Often in my job ...
Read more

Taking in the familiar and a heart connected.

Amsterdam. It still has that muggy feeling in Summer, and a constant flow of people which if you stop to think about it, it's quite amazing that there would even be space to accommodate them all. But then I guess they are not all staying. Just passing through on their way to or from somewhere. It's always good for the heart to visit somewhere that was once home. The familiarity of streets and customs makes it easier to embrace what might be new as well as the joy of being reacquainted with old friends. Friends. So many of them to be found in this city, ready with hugs and good words that are uttered when seeing someone who was away again. Friendship. A treasure that cannot be bought. Cobblestones trodden by many, including myself. Sitting on a bench. Praying. Remembering the first time I stumbled upon this area lined with windows with red lights and curtains. An area which has come to represent no longer windows, but people to me. Some still behind a window. Others who have ...
Read more

So what is new in Kansas City?

“Not much”, I think is the answer. Although, that’s not quite correct, I’ve had quite an adventurous weekend (in the mildest sense of the word). Let me see, where do I start? Well, Thursday when I last wrote was really good. I got to join with a team for a bit in the evening, which was really good fun and it lifted my spirits as I am totally a team person! The whole week had been quite tense because of adjustments with our household and people coming and going. On Saturday two of the girls I shared with were moving out and since Friday night they were packing, my other housemate and I went shopping. We figured it was easier to not get caught up in the chaos that packing to move houses is. It was fun to go shopping, even if we only went to Wall-Mart and HyVee (big grocery and other thing shops). We got a few bits and pieces for the house to make it more homely and generally just had fun looking at all the stuff they have. We’d decided that when the other girls had moved we’d do a big cl...
Read more