On a journey...

As we were walking along the cobblestoned road with beautiful bushes and plants along the side in the village of Omodus, we spotted a little old man coming towards us. He was definitely a local and was carrying a blue bucket on one hand. As he spotted us, he reached into his bucket and took out a cluster of small, green grapes. When our paths crossed, he handed us the grapes. I thought he might be selling them, but he insisted it was simply a gift from him to us. Gratefully we received his generosity, and I think he was even more excited we had received his gift then the joy we had in getting it. After thanking him as best we could we all continued on our way. Us to our awaiting tour bus, him probably to his home in the village. As I savoured the lovey sweetness of the grapes later that evening, I was thinking what a privilege it was to interact with one of the locals here. And to get to receive what this man wanted me to taste as part of the goodness of the country. As a tourist you...

Sometimes it is so good to get on a plane and go somewhere completely different for the sole purpose of rest and refreshment. Yesterday I was walking home from work in pouring down rain with my raincoat tightly wrapped around me. Today I woke up to blazing sunshine. As the afternoon nears evening, the warm breeze and reflection in the blue pool water reminds me that this is just the first of many days of sunshine with no agenda. After a busy getting used to my new job, and finally starting to find a flow at quite a busy pace, it is so nice to have a break. Time to enjoy family, get recharged and reflect on the past 4 months of working with people whose lives represent challenges and journeys so different from mine. And yet at the same time it is possible to find a meeting point, because at the end of the day it is really just about me as a person meeting another person and hoping to see and bring them hope and courage to live and face life. After landing in Larnaca airport,...

It’s been a full day which has filled my heart. Getting to walk alongside different people, and through conversation discovering such treasure in them, is a privilege. Being invited into someone’s life and journey is a privilege. It is so interesting how an open question can lead to a specific conversation. How listening and accepting with no preconceptions brings a safety that unlocks a heart further. I love that we are different and that God created us so unique. I love relating to people whose lives are different from mine. And I love to see the sparkle that comes into someone’s eyes when they start to talk about something that truly makes them come alive. And in that there is so much beauty. At the end of the day I don’t think beauty is about becoming something determined by someone else, or even yourself. Beauty is on the inside, and it shines out when you discover the freedom of being who you are and doing what brings you most life. Being alive on the inside is what true ...

Finding home. To some it’s the clearest thing in the world: “home is of course where you live”. But is it really? Is it a physical place or a state of the heart? Does it have to do with location only or people as well? The term “home” easily becomes something not so straightforward when locations, places, people, and heart-connections have changed numerous times. It leaves you feeling like a little bit of your heart remains in every place where you lived; every place where you made your “home” for a season. And I think you can have many “homes”, yet there has to be one place where you’re settled, whether it’s just for a season or forever. Uprooting and moving is so much more than the physical relocating of oneself and ones belongings. It's like when you pull something from one place to another, it leaves a mark, and moving leaves a mark on those who go through the process. And sometimes it can take a while to actually “move”. Being back in Amsterdam this week was so good. ...

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 ...

Sometimes I wonder what it really means to live life in the moment. What it looks like to be present in the now without sharing ones attention with what has been or is to come. What does it feel like to be fully living what is being lived right in that moment, and would it be more joyous? Does joy come merely from what is being experienced right then, or is there a place where joy is also generated through the remembering and anticipating? And do events have to fit into one of the categories or is it possible that a single event could end up bringing life before and beyond it's moment? Sometimes I think we forget the joy of the moment. So often we are watching life through the camera on our smartphones, and miss those unique moments,  where the simple act of taking a deep breath as you watch something like a beautiful sunset or someone smiling, brings a sense of amazement. Amazement which is uninterrupted by thoughts of how and who will "like" the photo. Amazement which ...

It's a strange sensation to be starting my holiday time from my "normal" job. A slightly new sensation to have two weeks off and not have to think about what awaits and will be pending on my return. Strange to enter into the rhythm normal people in Norway live their lives by. I am not fully immersed, choosing two weeks as opposed to four, but it is a start. And that is why I find myself at the airport. Sat in a very comfy sofa eating a raisin bun and drinking a latte that was made by pushing a button, I am packed and ready to pop for a long weekend to England. Might sound very flashy, but it's not really. It's simply a time to visit a few good friends. As I sit here reflecting (airports are really good for that), I am thinking back to the past 6 weeks in what is now my permanent job. Six very good, but also challenging weeks.  A time of figuring out what it means to be allowed into the lives of those who are in vulnerable places of their journeys, and help them ...