Det er moro og bra når bibelskoleundervisningen blir så praktisk at læreren bruker en hel skoletime på å gjennomgå en kort instruks for bruk nøkkelkort, ved at det hele blir en spontan undervisning om det å bygge karakter og å tjene Gud og hverandre.

Dette skjedde i forigårs, men er ikke utypisk for den bibelskolen jeg nå har gått på i en uke. Jeg digger måten kunnskap om Guds ord og visdom blir gjort til noe praktisk, gjennom lærernes undervisning. Det blir levende. I dette tilfellet handlet det om Guds standard og å tjene fellesskapet. Han kunne ha lest igjennom instruksen i løpet av to minutter, og kanskje forklart litt rundt punktene, for så å begynne å snakke om Gud og det som har med Gud å gjøre, men i stedet var det helt naturlig for han å inspirere oss til å bruke vår tilgang til lokalet på en måte som tjener fellesskapet, miljøet og pengene (som vi heller vil gi til å spre Guds rike enn å betale strøm). Også dagen etter da vi gikk igjennom reglementet for bibelskolen, fant jeg nedskrevne punkter som fikk meg til å glise bare fordi det reflekterer et syn på Gud som sier at Hans eksistens og nærvær er naturlig og reelt i alle livets aspekter. Måten læreren snakket seg gjennom punkt for punkt på utfordret oss på en veldig god måte, med Guds rikes standard, tjene hverandre, karakterbygging og forvaltning som stikkord. Vi er del av et annerledes folk. Guds folk. Det er en del av vårt vitnesbyrd å vise verden en annen standard enn det som er vanlig. Det er utfordrende, og kanskje til tider vanskelig, men det er ok. Det er selvsagt masse nåde og hjelp fra hverandre underveis.

Det er noe helt annet enn det resten av verden snakker om. Det sier noe om helt andre verdier, når noe så praktisk som nøkler og skolens reglement blir satt inn i en overnaturlig sammenheng, og jeg føler meg inspirert til å vaske dassen på skolen...

The girls here in the apartment had already gotten to know some of the neighbours when I arrived here in Bergen more than a week ago. They had even went to the movies together to watch The dark knight. Anne-Guro and Renathe told me what great dreams God has given them for our neighbours, and they turned out to be right after my heart. I am so excited about what God will do among our neighbours.
Renathe had a chat with the lady next door the other day. The lady told her that her leg was really painful and hindering her in doing things she normally does. Renathe responded by telling her that she knows Jesus, and that He can heal her leg. The lady was ready, and Renathe laid hands on her and prayed for her. The lady surprised Renathe by agreeing to everything she said. She had already said that she didn’t know or read the Bible, so how could this be? This made Renathe curious, so she had to ask if the lady knew Jesus.
“Yes”, she replied.
“Do you really know Jesus?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know Jesus?”
“I dream about him when I sleep.”

It’s amazing how God works with people.

Settled in Bergen
After four days in Bergen I feel like I am pretty well settled in the apartment. We are now four girls living here, expecting the fifth during the weekend. I’m impressed with the work Anne Guro and Renathe have done here before I arrived. They have painted walls and cupboards during the first week here and now it looks really nice. The apartment is a lot bigger than I am used to from Oslo. There are four large bedrooms, a big livingroom, an ok kitchen, a spacious hall, and of course a bathroom and a couple of small storage rooms. Even my bed room which is the smallest is quite roomy with a big window.
I’ve already spent a few hours reading in my room. I love to be able to close the door behind me and be all by myself reading a book or being with God. But that’s not the only thing I’ve been doing so far, and I’m not only sitting in my room, as some might exaggeratedly assert, since I do like to be alone to some degree. Heehee. Yesterday we hosted a little surprise birthday party here, which was very nice and a good opportunity for me to get to know people here a little better. I have also been trying to get a general view of the town, going for walks. I went to the movies by myself (since the girls here were busy) on tuesday night, watching The dark knight. I enjoyed it very much.
The weather has also been nicer than I expected. There has been some rain every day, but also some sun, and on tuesday night the sky was all blue and beautiful. I am encouraged. We’ll see how long it lasts. -The nice weather, I mean.

Time to leave the peaceful open landscapes of eastern Norway and head for the wild and stunning scenaries of western Norway. We are leaving early in the morning, and have a long drive ahead of us. Pray for our safety on the road.

I'm packing my bags.
It really takes a lot of time and effort moving! Fortunately I'm not bringing all my stuff to Bergen. I'm leaving lots of books, dvds and cds behind along with old clothes and other "junk". Dad has rented this big hanger, much bigger than necessary. It is good to be able to bring whatever I want. Heehee.
I have pretty much finished packing. Now I only have left to clear the floors and tidy up. Sorting things makes a big mess. Hopefully it won't take all day, because the forecast predicted sunshine for tomorrow. I really hope so, because we've had rain for more than a week. I'd like some sunshine on my last day here in the eastern part of Norway. Early sunday morning we're driving west to rainy Bergen.

I just thought this view had a piece of eternity in it...

August is definitely a summer month. It's the month of ripe blueberries in the woods and golden fields. It's the perfect month for hiking in the mountains, because the snow from last winter will for the most part have melted by then. The lakes have had time to warm up to a pleasant temperature, which makes any sunny day perfect for swimming. It's the month for garden parties, serving strawberries, raspberries, currants or apple pie with cream or vanilla ice cream...

We're only in the beginning of August, but I feel like the summer is almost over. I know it is only in my head. The fact that I'm moving to rainy Bergen in less than a week, and starting school in two weeks hastens the fall, I guess. Don't get me wrong. -I've been looking forward to this fall since January. I am very excited about the fall. It will be a great fall. Even in rainy Bergen. Actually it will be best in Bergen, because that's where I'm going to be, and I really like to think that I am at the best possible place at the best possible time.

Anyway, I thought I'd wrap up this summer with a few pictures.

Here we had my aunt and uncle visiting us in Risør one day. We decided to barbeque. It was of course my suggestion. Love barbequeing.

This is me eating burnt pizza at Stangholmen, Risør. Eccept from burnt food, Stangholmen is a wonderful place where I have went sunbathing and swimming several summers. I also attended a concert with Sondre Lerche there once. Very good.

My grandma turned 90 in June. We went to Risør to celebrate her together with my aunt, grandma's sister and brother, and her neighbours through thirty-fourty years. I think she had a really good time even though she didn't remember it was her birthday, and didn't recognise me.

I guess I should have had my picture taken in my work outfit at ICA Theresesgate. After all it is inside of that store I have spent most of this summer.

Edinburgh5

I have a bad habbit of being too ambitious about taking photos on trips like the one to Edinburgh. It often results in taking tons of pictures the first couple of days, and none on the following, as it did this time. Luckily my dad has better judgement of what's worth shooting, so after looking through his pics, I took the freedom of stealing some of them to blog with...

I can't say I'm a royalist, but I nevertheless found it interesting and fun that the Queen was around while we visited the city. Mom and dad even got to see her and her husband while they were driving down the royal mile. There was this big parade and lots of people there to watch.

Edinburgh has a botanic garden, which we made sure to visit. It was big, beautiful and a perfect place to relax.

Here's Einar and I on our way up to Arthur's seat.

This is on Calton hill.


And to the right there's me on my way up to the castle.

Edinburgh4
I really liked Edinburgh. Really, really liked it. There was something about the atmosphere in the city making me feel at home. Not that it reminded me of my home in Norway, but I could easily make myself feel at home there. I was there for only four days, so of course I can’t know for sure if I’d like living there, but it made me want to go back.

We only had time to see the typical tourist attractions. Actually there were many attractions we didn’t have time to see, which I thought was kind of sad. I think I could have stayed for an entire month without getting bored. I really enjoyed just walking around the town looking at people, buildings, pubs and shops… We also went up to Arthur’s seat, which I really enjoyed. I have never went hiking with shopping bags and a purse before, and felt kind of stupid bringing it all, but as my dad said; this is such a small mountain from a Norwegian point of view, so we don’t even consider it a real hike. After all they call it the city park. I guess I’m excused if I looked a bit like I didn’t know what I was doing. Heehee…

I also had the best milkshake ever at a hamburger restaurant in the royal mile, called Wannaburger. They had really good burgers too. (I guess burgers and shakes aren’t what I should be reporting from Edinburgh, but I enjoyed it very much. *grin*)

Of course we went to see the castle.

We also took a sightseeing bus, and learned a lot about Sean Connery… I do like to watch James Bond, so I didn’t mind. Einar and I went for two ghost tours as well, which I had been very sceptical to, since I hate horror movies and similar things, and consequently never watch anything like it. My brother likes watching horror movies, and maybe this was the reason why he found it scarier than I did. (Neither of us thought it was very frightening anyhow…) It was actually a bit fun. We also saw Mary King’s close, which was more interesting. It was like a very interesting history lesson full of superstition. ;)

Oh, and I also had one of the best desserts ever at Maxies bistro and wine bar at Johnston Terrace. It was some kind of chocolate fudge cake with ice cream and cream (not whipped as we thought it would be, but that was even better.) Any chocolate lover visiting Edinburgh should go there and try it. ;)

Today I had my last day of work in the supermarket. I have been working there for more than two years, and have really liked it. Yesterday we had cake, as is usual when someone who's been working there for a while quits. It was really nice. But even though I have enjoyed it, I am very glad to have finished that period, because that means something new is about to get started! I am very excited about what plans God has for me in Bergen.

Edinburgh3

There was a great view in more than one direction from the top of Calton hill. Here are mom and dad taking pictures.

Then There's Einar studying the information board.

Edinburgh2
We went for a walk as soon as we could after arriving Edinburgh. As I didn't know very much about the city before I went there, I was surprised to find this greek looking monument on top of Calton hill. I have been to Athens once, and both Acropolis and Calton hill with their monuments and green spots made me feel like I was miles away from a large city.