Skip to main content

On the road again...almost.

Today is Norway’s national day and it was so nice to be in Norway for it. Got to wear my national costume, watch the schools walk in a parade, eat hot dogs and ice cream, wave my Norwegian flag, take my niece to watch the parade called “folketoget”, blow soap-bubbles with my niece and nephew on the veranda, see what the royal family were wearing on television, and have nice food and enjoy celebrating this wonderful country I was born in. It’s been a great day!

Tomorrow will be a busy day. Mainly packing and getting ready.... “ready for what?” you may ask. Ready to get on a plane Thursday morning back to Amsterdam.

After a lot of waiting and trusting and talking and listening I am now heading back to Amsterdam for a month to “spy out the land”. I’m going to join with the “Lighthouse” and “Tabernacle”, two ministries of YWAM Amsterdam and see how that goes. See if it could be and is the next place I am to stop and work in... see how God leads.

So tomorrow will be busy. I’ve had my “list” for a week now, but somehow I always end up with a bunch of things to do last minute. Things I could have done earlier, but just didn’t. The other day I was pondering this fact. I’ve been doing the travelling to and fro for years now, and the day before I leave is always the same- a day consumed with packing and finishing unfinished tasks. I always have great intentions of packing early and having a day of chilling, but it never works. I don’t quite know why. Maybe it’s because starting to get the list done puts me into the “leaving mode”, and I’d rather “be where I am” a little longer, than extend the travelling period? Whatever the reason, the conclusion of my ponderings was that it probably won’t change, and so I just need to accept the fact that the last day at home will be one of those days and go with it. And so I will. Tomorrow will be that day, the day to get through my list, ready to set off. I imagine it’ll be a tad stressful. Change and travel always is. Leaving my family again is always hard. But it’s part of the journey, and so I recognise it for what it is and just go with it, and try to encounter the peace of God somewhere in the midst of it.

All that said, it’s nice to know the next step of my journey, and (almost) be on the road again.

Popular posts from this blog

Getting to know the local culture.

Life is a strange thing. Last week went…not much happened, and then it was over. The weekend was quite calm without too many wild and exciting things happening. Except, of course, a wee outing to watch the National Championship for Veteran Ploughing. Now, like me, you might be sadly lacking an understanding of what this actually means. So I am delighted to be able to enlighten you in this respect. It’s basically (for the “farm-language-illiterate” like myself) a competition where you use old (hence the name “veteran”) tractors and ploughs, and plough up a stretch of field which is then evaluated and the one scoring the highest sum (accuracy, depth, how well the soil is turned is all given points) wins. I must admit that this information I got by eavesdropping on a conversation next to me where a man was explaining to some of my friends how it all works. So that was a fun adventure….although we only stayed for a bit. What is sort of occupying my mind at present is my upcoming travel abr...

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 ...

Tuesday children's prayer | Handing out shoes and feeding toddlers.

No day is the same here. After getting up early (which seems to be what I do here), and eating breakfast which was bread with butter (accompanied by an amazing cup of coffee given me by an American friend), I headed to the prayer room for children's prayer. This is a prayer time where the children come voluntarily to pray before school on Tuesdays and Fridays. Entering the room I was so impressed by how it was full of children eager to pray. There were probably 60 or 70 children there, and it was amazing to see one after the other choose to pray for their families and people who are sick, and other subjects on their little hearts. It was so great and an experience that I will carry with me for a long time. After prayer it was "Shoprite" time, which meant piling into a bus with other visitors and missionaries for the weekly shopping trip. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I had a few items to buy and hoped it would be a stress-free experience. As we drove along ...