I’m back blogging, realizing it’s been a long time since my last post. Right
now I’m sat in Norway and yesterday I actually wore shorts. We had a nice sunny
day with an amazing temperature of…. 16 degrees Celsius. I must admit it was a
bit chilly, but I had some nice hours sitting in the sunshine at our cottage at
Hellestø, which is one of the beautiful sandy beaches here. I love the beach.
And I am yet again convinced that I was created to live in warm, sunny places
(which makes me wonder sometimes how I ended up in Amsterdam which is quite
cold and rainy a lot of the time). I even think I got a bit of a tan, which is
nice. Bring on those vitamin Ds.
I’m back in Norway for a week to go to my niece’s Christening and my
brother’s wedding, and in between having some chill-time at my parent’s house. It’s
nice to have a break. The last month and a bit has been quite challenging. After
coming back from the Ukraine I started the process of looking at leading the
Lighthouse project. After many meetings the decision was made and I am now
leading a small team of 6 of us, trying to figure out how to bring God’s
Kingdom to the Red Light District of Amsterdam and beyond. For now our strategy
is shifting to an evening and nighttime schedule, and then we’ll see how God
leads us from there. It’s an exciting process!!
Life in Amsterdam is always full moments that make me smile. One day I was
on a walk in the city and as I passed one of the cinemas I saw many dressed up
people and a black carpet and reporters and people being interviewed. I soon realized
it was the Dutch premiere of “Men in Black 3”. I must admit I went up close to
see if I could spot any celebrities I recognized, but they were all unfamiliar
to me.
And last week I was sitting in the library writing my newsletter when
some teenagers on another table started screaming and making lots of noise. Turns
out they’d spotted a mouse scuttling around the library (Amsterdam has quite a
few rodent inhabitants). They ended up moving to another area (or leaving) and
there were only 5 of us remaining. From time to time we’d see the tiny little
mouse (that looked very malnourished as I think I could see little ribs
protruding in its starved body) running from one side to the other. Mice don’t
really bother me, although I don’t really want to touch them. So I put my feet
up a bit and continued writing. Only in Amsterdam, or maybe this happens in
other cities too.
Biking in Amsterdam is definitely an adventure. I have now become much
more confident as I race along on my brown bike which a friend of mine got from
her landlord who was going to chuck it. It’s an old bike, brown (with some red
spray paint in some places, and orange rust in others), but a real blessing. I am
getting more skilled at riding with no hand brakes, although it’s a challenge
to make an abrupt stop as I have to kind of jump off the bike to get it to a
standstill (it’s a wee bit high for me so I can’t touch the ground with my feet
when sitting on it). But it’s a skill I am learning and I don’t know how I had
time for anything without it! Still want to master the art of biking while
holding and umbrella as I think that would open up so many more “bike-friendly”
days. I still don’t like biking in the rain and getting soaked.
I am sure there are many more things to write, but for
now that’ll have to be it. Today I’m getting final bits and bobs done before my
brother’s wedding tomorrow. We are hoping for nice weather so the ceremony can
be outside, and hence have been checking the weather constantly. So far it’s
looking promising, hopefully the forecast won’t change and stay dry.