So, After 1 month in Barbados, I finally get around to writing a blog post. Unfortunately I have no pictures for you, but many things are happening.
It has been a good time of re-connecting with people these past few weeks, though I have not met as many as I would have liked. I must also confess that the rain has messed with my beach plans these last few days. However I cannot blame only the rain.
I always find it funny how when it rains it pours, both with precipitation from the sky as well as with life.
Why is it that when one is busy, one often becomes more busy, and when one has little to do, nothing much happens.
Ok... so this next month will include visits from 2 scandinavian friends, with the first one arriving today. :)
However, I still need to take it a bit easy after the weird episode on Monday.
Hopefully some photos will be soon on their way!
J

Happy Birthday to Me!

A Valborgsafton fire can be even bigger than
this one

Today, the 30th April is celebrated as Valborgsafton (Valborgsmässoafton or simply Valborg) named after a saint. (from wikipedia: 'The current festival is, in most countries that celebrate it, named after the English missionary Saint Walpurga (ca. 710–777/9). As Walpurga was canonized on 1 May (ca. 870), she became associated with May Day, especially in the Finnish and Swedish calendars.')

Cows enjoy the first day outdoors in 2012

People in many places in Sweden will set their old christmas trees on fire (very carefully) and watch the fire and sing songs and have a lovely time with family and friends.
Tomorrow is Labour Day and I will stay away from the protest and enjoy the 'red day'  (aka bank holiday) in Sweden.
Last year we went to a farm to watch the cows being released for the first time for the year. They have been indoors all winter and were rather excited to run out and play in the grass and bounce around as if they were bunnies. It was fantastic! I hope to do that again tomorrow.!

King Carl XVI Gustav and Queen Silvia

It is also the King of Sweden's (King Carl XVI Gustav) birthday as well.

Oh I also know a couple that was married 2 years ago on this day. :)
So why is this day so significant to me you ask?
Well, it is the 2nd anniversary of the day that I arrived in Sweden, not as a tourist but as a person living here. I am not an immigrant, but I do live here. So it is my swedish birthday. :)





The last 2 years have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Many good time. Many terrible times. However it has been an awesome time.
I have learnt so much about myself and others. I have learnt alot about Yahweh and Yeshua. I have met so many people that I have forgotten names and faces without meaning to.
All in all, more than all that I have seen and done, Yahweh has shown Himself to be faithful. He is my Father, and Friend and continues to shape me into someone with more potential that I could have ever had on my own.
Thank you for these years Father.
Thank you Father for the people that you have placed around me. Thank you to the people around who have chosen to be friends. Thanks for all the chicken, and the movies and the laughter and the tears and for your love.
Happy Birthday to me!

Cycling in the forest, on ice... YEAH!

Jag och cyklarna

On Tuesday 16th April, I am my friend Josia, decided to ride our bicylces early in the morning. We met outseide Willy's supermarket at 06:20 ish... and after a little trouble with helmets and gloves, set off on our adventure.
I thought that it might be nice to venture over to the forest in which there is a nice little lake and dam.
Well, this was the first real time that I had ridden my bike since the first snow in November of last year, and it was clear that I had lost what little fitness had been achieved then.
We made it to the forest and stopped to take photos by the lake that we discovered was still very much frozen.

 

Frozen lake

We then rode through the gate to the field and after walking the bikes UP the wonderful hill, we continued to ride away on adventure.
OK, so I found myself in front, as Josia was busy taking photos while riding, and turned a corner and proceeded downhill. This was a wonderful thing until I realised that there was still ICE on the trail. Maybe this is a normal thing for some people, but I have NEVER ridden on ice before!
Anyway, the ice was soft so with a reasonable speed we both managed to get by it. We proceeded a little further and realised that if we continued on our path it would take a while to get back home and we both wanted to have the opportunity to have some breakfast before going to the office. With that in mind, we turned around and went back the way that we had come.

Riding on ICE on the way back

This turned out to be even more adventurous. There was a near collision on the ice. Josia rode next to me and slowed down at the exact moment that I needed to swerve to avoid sliding across the ice. In order to avoid a collision, I stopped abruptly, and put my foot down... on ice... and then began a little slide. It was fun getting back on the bike :)
The next incident came as I found myself riding in softish sand. While trying to get to the side that was actually more solid, my front tyre slipped, became stuck and I flew off the bike. I was fantastic. The only real injury was bruising received from the pedals or handlebars.
That was one of my best mornings. It is so nice and quiet early in the morning and being out in nature is one of the best ways to start the day. Skål!

Resurrection Day Weekend

It is the first day of spring today!
Well, no one is really sure if it is, but today the little machine came and cleaned the street. They removed all the little stones from the street. These stones have been there since late November when the first heavy snow came. They make it more difficult to slip and hurt oneself on the ice covered roads, though it is still very possible.

We have had some beautiful days recently. Lots of wonderful sunshine and warmer temperatures during the day, althought the nights are still quite chilly.


 I was blessed to be able to spend the Easter weekend with some friends-like-family in another city called Örebro. It was a lovely time of rest, food, and good chats.

Here is a photo of Uncle G walking on the water after lunch at the Nature Reserve. We needed the walk after that fantastic lunch.


 

I even had the opportunity to walk on water! Well the water was frozen and covered with snow, but that is not the point. It was still a first time experience. We went to a place called Kilsberg and walked across the lake and sat on mats in the snow and the sun and ate Fika.
This was certainly a different thing for a barbarian in Sweden to do. My other first that weekend was using the carpooling web group successfully. I was able to travel by train to one place, meet someone there and then get a ride to Örebro. It was kinda cool actually. Meeting new people and seeing slightly different parts of the country.
  

There were some ladies from Hong Kong visiting OM Sweden for an outreach last week who taught me to say 'The Lord' in cantonese.



Now I am back at the office. Many people are either taking time off or travelling for work.
I am looking forward to warmer days and the beauty of Spring.
Bye, bye Winter!

Letting Go

These last 7 days have been hectic to say the least.
We hosted an event for youth on the weekend, which was rather tiring but the youth seemed to enjoy themselves.
On Sunday the main speaker spoke about forgiveness in a different way. He mentioned a friend of his, whose story I had heard before, whose wife had been murdered some years ago as a political/religious type statement. While his friend was lying on the floor (held down by officers who wanted to prevent him from looking at his wife's dead body in the next room), the friend says that he heard God speak clearly to him about the need to forgive the people who had done that, rather than holding on to bitterness.
Can you imagine, no words or revenge or comfort, but words encouraging him to forgive, in an instance when he had good cause to be bitter and angry.
What does this say to us? I often am annoyed when God speaks this way to me about smaller, yet justifiable things.
In my heart however, I know that what God is saying is best for me in the long run.
Holding onto unforgiveness and bitterness hurts us more than anyone else. It poisons our very souls, and can cause us to be less of who we were created to be.

What are you holding onto in your heart?
Is there bitterness that you need to let go of in order to truly live!

photo:
"Silhouette Of A Man " by markuso

True verses REAL

Last night a groupd of us watched a movie from 2007, called Trade.
I encourage many people to watch it though it may not be suitable for children.
There is so much happening in this world that we kinda know happens, but we don't have to pay attention to it so we don't.
Most of the time we will only pay attention to things that directly affect us.
Gary Haugen, the founder and director of International Justice Mission, says even though we know that these things are TRUE, because they are not as REAL to us as the things and people in our lives, we are not truly moved by them.
When something becomes truly REAL to us, do we ignore the pain and disgust or annoyance that they cause us, or do we "breathe it in" (as W. Wilberforce says in Amazing Grace) so that we are moved to action?

I don't know exactly what action I (one person) should take in ending this great shame on humanity, but I do know that I must do something. This horror may not be reality for me, but it is reality for over 27 million people. That is more than 27 million people who cannot enjoy the spiritual and physical freedom that I enjoy. To THIS, I cannot turn a blind eye.
Can you?

'Happy' the Orange Snowman says 

Today, January 11th 2013, is Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Human trafficking is described as the illegal trade of human beings mainly for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor. Other purposes can be extraction of organs, or tissues etc.

There are many websites with tonnes of imformation about the plague that human trafficking is on humanity. Here are a few links for you.

www.ijm.org

www.un.org

 

Also check YouTube.

There are an estimated 27 million people affected by this problem.

Campaign Orange has been about using the colour ORANGE to bring attention to the subject.
People have been asked to wear ORANGE, today.
A few of us from work searched through our closets and took up that challenge.

 












This is my first week back in the office, after moving to another apartment last week. I am still in the process of unpacking, which is always 'fun' but rewarding.
Why is it so difficult to wake up in the mornings when it is dark outside? I think that it is more difficult than before Christmas.

When my alarm rings, I have to turn the energy saving bulb by my bed on... then when I am awake enough, I turn the second alarm off and then i get up and turn some other lights on. Eventually I figure out that I need to shower and get dressed and then find myself rushing around to get out the door.

This morning before showering, I looked outside at the depressing darkness (it was 07:30) and I longed for snow to bring some brightness to the place. At around 08:30 when I was leaving the buidling I was shocked to see the strangest looking snow on the ground... and it has been snowing steadily for a little while now as well :)
I am soooooooo very happy that the snow is back, if only for a short while.