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Observations and meditations of a young teacher living in Norway
Friday, December 31, 2004
Christmas season
Leaving for Christmas holiday in Bergen
I had a nice time in Tromsø in December, and one of the things I did before I left for my Christmas holiday was having a combined moving-in-and-birthday-party. Some of my friends from church came; some of my new Liberian friends came; and my cousin Jonny, who is a clever law student, came to be with me. I was happy to have them all as my guests, and we had a nice time together. Some days later I had to pack my luggage and get ready to leave for my Christmas holiday...
This year I was able to take a long holiday in Bergen, and that was very nice. I also did something new and travelled all the way from Tromsø to Bergen by bus and train, spending two days and one night on the travel. It was a very long journey, the longest I've ever had, and I didn't get so much sleep, but all in all I had a nice travel - the first part joined by a friend. And it was also a cheap travel, because God fixed it so that I only had to pay 150 Norwegian kroner for it.
I reached Bergen the 16th of December, in the late evening, and since then I've been here and had lots of time with my family and some time with some of my friends. A very nice experience was to visit my brother Josef, his wife Liz and their children the 18th of December. Then I hadn't seen them since June, so I was very happy to see them again. And it was so nice and fun to be with my sweet auntie kids and hear them say "tante" (auntie) over and over again. After a while we went out and had a very nice time in the snow, sledging and laughing. The next day the whole family sang "Happy birthday" and gave me nice precents, since it was my birthday and I turned 27.
I continued my birthday the 19th of December with a very good meeting in Kristent Fellesskap in Bergen. We had a wonderful time of worship, prayed for children to be blessed, and we listened to a really good speech by Per Arne Gjerde. He gave us seven advice for becoming happy. After the meeting I spent the day at my parents' place, eating a good dinner with my parents and later on eating marsipan cake, especially made for me by my kind mother. Now and then someone called me to congratulate me, and that was of course fun for me. In the evening I relaxed and watched a film with my dad, and that's something I like to do.
Christmas celebration at Gullbotn
This year my whole family gathered on Gullbotn conference center to celebrate Christmas together. Because we are such a big family we seldom meet all of us at the same time, so this Christmas was a very special time for us. We hadn't celebrated Christmas together, the whole family, since 1998. And last time we all met was when my dad turned 60, two years ago. Now some of us arrived at Gullbotn the 21nd of December, my dad's birthday, and the rest of the family came the next day. My brother Karl Enok came with his wife and two children, all the way from Tromsø, like me. My brother David came from Stavanger with his family, but his step-daughter couldn't come this time. Josef came with his family from his home at Toppe in Bergen. And my sister Hanna came with her family all the way from Leicester in England.
For many days and nights we were all gathered, and we had a wonderful time together, celebrating the birth of our Saviour and Kind, Jesus Christ. I love Him! I love my good friend Jesus. He is my best friend, and He is so good and kind to me. When I met my whole family and celebrated Christmas with them this year, it was a prayer coming true. I had prayed for it to happen, and I'm happy and grateful to God that he let it be the way I hoped for and prayed for. It was so nice to be gathered with my whole family and to spend time with them all, both the grown ups and all my nice auntie kids, that are so sweet and played together so well.
One day I played quite a lot with some of my auntie children, and to my joy I also managed to make a little pyramid with some of the children. Three were sitting like a dog on the floor; two were on top of them, and then one were on top of those two. Many took a photo of it, and I think it looked good. It was very fun to do things like this with the children that I'm a auntie for. And it was nice to watch them play, talk with them, be with them and play with them, hug them and have fun with them. I'm also very glad that they were happy and enjoyed them selves together and became good friends with each other. I know they are cousins and that some of them don't meet very often, so I think it was very nice that they got this occasion to be together and get to know each other more.
It was also nice to spend time with the grown ups in my family and find out more about what's going on in their lives. Sometimes I had nice chats with some of them, and we all enjoyed our selves together, both when we were serving in the kitchen, watching tv, eating nice food, unwrapping presents or doing something else together. Unfortunately, I became sick and had to throw up on Christmas Eve, that is the day when we Norwegians celebrate Christmas, but the good thing was that God let me become better, so that I in the evening could be with my family for most of the time when we were giving each other presents. The next day I became well and started eating again in the evening. Praise the Lord!
The weather was beautiful while we were at Gullbotn, and that was a blessing from God. We were blessed with enough snow for being out playing and for having a nice, beautful view when we looked out the window. The last full day we spent at the conference center, the 26th of December, the sun was shining, and it was really very nice to be outside, even if it was quite cold. This day the parking place was filled with lots of cars, because very many people came to go skiing in the mountains near the place we stayed. This was a wonderful day for our family and all those other people enjoying the nice weather in Bergen, but now when I'm writing this, I have realised that it was a terrible day for many thousands of people that experienced the horrible tsunami that hit several countries in Asia and affected their lives dramatically.
Sorrow, pain and prayers
On Monday my big family said good bye to each other and went to different places. I went with my parents to their home, and so did my sister and her family. Since then we've all been gathered here. Yesterday I went to visit my good friends Veronica and Fred Ruben, and it was good to be together with them. It is nice to be with friends and family, but since Monday I have been watching the news on tv for a long time each day, and it has been very sad and painful to watch the news and hear the stories of all the people that have died, been hurt or lost their loved ones or in other ways have been affected by the enormous catastrophe in Asia. My heart is filled with sorrow, and sometimes my tears are running when I'm thinking of all these sad things that have just happened. I pray that all the survivors get all the help they need, and I pray that God will help both the survivors, those that have lost someone or is missing someone, and that God will help all the helping people that is giving their help to the victims of the catastrophe. Please, join me in prayer for all those that need help and comfort, strength and support, in this difficult situation! Let us all help them in prayer, and if you have the opportunity, it is very good to support the help organisations with money too. If you feel the need of reading some more thoughts on the catastrophe, I can recommend the blog of my father - erling.typepad.com - and the blog of my mother - erling.typepad.com/solveig/. I will also recommend a poem my dad wrote on his blog "To be somebody" - erling.typepad.com/somebody/. I recognised my self and my own experiences when I read his poem about watching a catastrophe on the news, and I think the poem is very good. Please feel free to read it if you want to!
New year's conference
These days there's a new years conference for young people being arranged by Kristent Fellesskap in Bergen. Last evenign three people received Jesus as their Lord. Halleluja! This evening I joined the evening meeting with my dad, and it was a very good meeting. The precence of God was there, and God spoke to us many times in a very clear way. My friend Silje was the one having the speech, and she did very good. My dad also contributed with some advice, when Silje had a little interview with him. Several people came with words from God, and many young people came forward to receive The Holy Spirit, and at least one person became a christian. In the end of the meeting God spoke a very good and clear prophetic word to us through my father, Erling Thu, who is a prophet. It is important for us to love the Word of God and to love The Holy Spirit, and see that the foundation is in place in our lives, because the Lord will use us to help people and bring them to Christ, and many of us will travel to nations and be used by God to change many nations for Him. That is a little summary of what the Lord said to us this evening.
New year's eve and Ruby Wedding Day
Now it's become very late, and I have to go to bed, because tomorrow is new year's eve and my parents' Ruby Wedding Day. We will have a family celebration here at my parents' place, and that will be very nice, and I'm looking forward to spending the day with my parents, my sister and her family and my brother Josef and his family.
I will try to come back tomorrow, the last day of the year, and share with you some of my thoughts and experiences on the special day that it is.
God bless you all! And thank you for your attention!
Best wishes - Ruth Kristin
I had a nice time in Tromsø in December, and one of the things I did before I left for my Christmas holiday was having a combined moving-in-and-birthday-party. Some of my friends from church came; some of my new Liberian friends came; and my cousin Jonny, who is a clever law student, came to be with me. I was happy to have them all as my guests, and we had a nice time together. Some days later I had to pack my luggage and get ready to leave for my Christmas holiday...
This year I was able to take a long holiday in Bergen, and that was very nice. I also did something new and travelled all the way from Tromsø to Bergen by bus and train, spending two days and one night on the travel. It was a very long journey, the longest I've ever had, and I didn't get so much sleep, but all in all I had a nice travel - the first part joined by a friend. And it was also a cheap travel, because God fixed it so that I only had to pay 150 Norwegian kroner for it.
I reached Bergen the 16th of December, in the late evening, and since then I've been here and had lots of time with my family and some time with some of my friends. A very nice experience was to visit my brother Josef, his wife Liz and their children the 18th of December. Then I hadn't seen them since June, so I was very happy to see them again. And it was so nice and fun to be with my sweet auntie kids and hear them say "tante" (auntie) over and over again. After a while we went out and had a very nice time in the snow, sledging and laughing. The next day the whole family sang "Happy birthday" and gave me nice precents, since it was my birthday and I turned 27.
I continued my birthday the 19th of December with a very good meeting in Kristent Fellesskap in Bergen. We had a wonderful time of worship, prayed for children to be blessed, and we listened to a really good speech by Per Arne Gjerde. He gave us seven advice for becoming happy. After the meeting I spent the day at my parents' place, eating a good dinner with my parents and later on eating marsipan cake, especially made for me by my kind mother. Now and then someone called me to congratulate me, and that was of course fun for me. In the evening I relaxed and watched a film with my dad, and that's something I like to do.
Christmas celebration at Gullbotn
This year my whole family gathered on Gullbotn conference center to celebrate Christmas together. Because we are such a big family we seldom meet all of us at the same time, so this Christmas was a very special time for us. We hadn't celebrated Christmas together, the whole family, since 1998. And last time we all met was when my dad turned 60, two years ago. Now some of us arrived at Gullbotn the 21nd of December, my dad's birthday, and the rest of the family came the next day. My brother Karl Enok came with his wife and two children, all the way from Tromsø, like me. My brother David came from Stavanger with his family, but his step-daughter couldn't come this time. Josef came with his family from his home at Toppe in Bergen. And my sister Hanna came with her family all the way from Leicester in England.
For many days and nights we were all gathered, and we had a wonderful time together, celebrating the birth of our Saviour and Kind, Jesus Christ. I love Him! I love my good friend Jesus. He is my best friend, and He is so good and kind to me. When I met my whole family and celebrated Christmas with them this year, it was a prayer coming true. I had prayed for it to happen, and I'm happy and grateful to God that he let it be the way I hoped for and prayed for. It was so nice to be gathered with my whole family and to spend time with them all, both the grown ups and all my nice auntie kids, that are so sweet and played together so well.
One day I played quite a lot with some of my auntie children, and to my joy I also managed to make a little pyramid with some of the children. Three were sitting like a dog on the floor; two were on top of them, and then one were on top of those two. Many took a photo of it, and I think it looked good. It was very fun to do things like this with the children that I'm a auntie for. And it was nice to watch them play, talk with them, be with them and play with them, hug them and have fun with them. I'm also very glad that they were happy and enjoyed them selves together and became good friends with each other. I know they are cousins and that some of them don't meet very often, so I think it was very nice that they got this occasion to be together and get to know each other more.
It was also nice to spend time with the grown ups in my family and find out more about what's going on in their lives. Sometimes I had nice chats with some of them, and we all enjoyed our selves together, both when we were serving in the kitchen, watching tv, eating nice food, unwrapping presents or doing something else together. Unfortunately, I became sick and had to throw up on Christmas Eve, that is the day when we Norwegians celebrate Christmas, but the good thing was that God let me become better, so that I in the evening could be with my family for most of the time when we were giving each other presents. The next day I became well and started eating again in the evening. Praise the Lord!
The weather was beautiful while we were at Gullbotn, and that was a blessing from God. We were blessed with enough snow for being out playing and for having a nice, beautful view when we looked out the window. The last full day we spent at the conference center, the 26th of December, the sun was shining, and it was really very nice to be outside, even if it was quite cold. This day the parking place was filled with lots of cars, because very many people came to go skiing in the mountains near the place we stayed. This was a wonderful day for our family and all those other people enjoying the nice weather in Bergen, but now when I'm writing this, I have realised that it was a terrible day for many thousands of people that experienced the horrible tsunami that hit several countries in Asia and affected their lives dramatically.
Sorrow, pain and prayers
On Monday my big family said good bye to each other and went to different places. I went with my parents to their home, and so did my sister and her family. Since then we've all been gathered here. Yesterday I went to visit my good friends Veronica and Fred Ruben, and it was good to be together with them. It is nice to be with friends and family, but since Monday I have been watching the news on tv for a long time each day, and it has been very sad and painful to watch the news and hear the stories of all the people that have died, been hurt or lost their loved ones or in other ways have been affected by the enormous catastrophe in Asia. My heart is filled with sorrow, and sometimes my tears are running when I'm thinking of all these sad things that have just happened. I pray that all the survivors get all the help they need, and I pray that God will help both the survivors, those that have lost someone or is missing someone, and that God will help all the helping people that is giving their help to the victims of the catastrophe. Please, join me in prayer for all those that need help and comfort, strength and support, in this difficult situation! Let us all help them in prayer, and if you have the opportunity, it is very good to support the help organisations with money too. If you feel the need of reading some more thoughts on the catastrophe, I can recommend the blog of my father - erling.typepad.com - and the blog of my mother - erling.typepad.com/solveig/. I will also recommend a poem my dad wrote on his blog "To be somebody" - erling.typepad.com/somebody/. I recognised my self and my own experiences when I read his poem about watching a catastrophe on the news, and I think the poem is very good. Please feel free to read it if you want to!
New year's conference
These days there's a new years conference for young people being arranged by Kristent Fellesskap in Bergen. Last evenign three people received Jesus as their Lord. Halleluja! This evening I joined the evening meeting with my dad, and it was a very good meeting. The precence of God was there, and God spoke to us many times in a very clear way. My friend Silje was the one having the speech, and she did very good. My dad also contributed with some advice, when Silje had a little interview with him. Several people came with words from God, and many young people came forward to receive The Holy Spirit, and at least one person became a christian. In the end of the meeting God spoke a very good and clear prophetic word to us through my father, Erling Thu, who is a prophet. It is important for us to love the Word of God and to love The Holy Spirit, and see that the foundation is in place in our lives, because the Lord will use us to help people and bring them to Christ, and many of us will travel to nations and be used by God to change many nations for Him. That is a little summary of what the Lord said to us this evening.
New year's eve and Ruby Wedding Day
Now it's become very late, and I have to go to bed, because tomorrow is new year's eve and my parents' Ruby Wedding Day. We will have a family celebration here at my parents' place, and that will be very nice, and I'm looking forward to spending the day with my parents, my sister and her family and my brother Josef and his family.
I will try to come back tomorrow, the last day of the year, and share with you some of my thoughts and experiences on the special day that it is.
God bless you all! And thank you for your attention!
Best wishes - Ruth Kristin
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