see-through faith

Liege from Turku - we did 3844km (2400 miles) in 8 days! But the trip was a lot of fun

the highs included

• the wedding itself - a fairytale with God set firmly in the centre! The bride is like a daughter-cum-friend and while she will now live a long way away, I feel I have gained a son-cum-friend who loves the Lord and who compliments my friend and brings out the very best in her in a million different ways
• the service on the Sunday - so full of God, and a living reality of what it means to be a house of prayer for and to the nations
• seeing DD shine - I haven’t seen her laugh so much in a long, long time. I believe it’s rare as a mum to be privy to this, and my heart soared as she made friends, and stretched her wings a little.
• visiting people and places enroute -we slept in the methodist church in Copenhagen and explored the riverside /new harbourside - and ate pizza; on the way back we stopped in Lund: visiting my friend’s aunt and family and the next day her friend’s cottage in Örebro (Sweden)
• Liege too was a lot of fun! And even the towing fee - in retrospect - has become a highlight - something I’ll remember forever probably, and tell people about for years!
• spending time with my friend on the way home, lots of super conversations! We spent the last night sleeping in the car in Stockholm harbour - before that we sat in the boot, legs dangling, reading Ephesians 5 outloud and praying amidst lorry drivers and caravaners.
• the French-speaking friends we made

The lows included

• Saying goodbye to our friends … or actually au revoir - we’ll see again sooner or later!
• the German autobahns - the roadworks went on and on and on!  Passing lorries on extremely narrow lanes was challenging and exhausting! We avoided the worst of them on the way home by taking an alternative route via the Netherlands and a non-motorway route that was sadly used by a lot of lorries, but which went through some fabulous countryside and smaller villages and towns  in Germany
• Putting on 3kg. We didn’t eat much - but what we did eat was mostly junk or fast food and the lack of exercise wasn’t good either

BTW Photos will come later. I gave DD my memory card and batteries as back up for her trip to Scotland. But my friend has promised to email me some of the better ones when she has a chance. (Those of you who have facebook will also be able to see some pics from the wedding posted by DD’s friend. There’s even a video of us dancing!)

I’m home now, for a couple of days at least. Laundry, housework and chores call. TS and his girl will go to Ruis Rock this weekend, but hubby and I will head up to his parents’ cottage on Friday afternoon and then I’ll skip off (by train, I’ve had enough of driving for a while!) on Saturday to go to a revival meeting with a friend.

Next week  (from Weds on) is New Wine Finland, which I’m very much looking forward to! But before that some R&R … it’s been a pretty hectic summer so far! It’s going to be a relief to knuckle down and start writing my thesis later this month!

(writing this on a German keyboard - so almost everything is in the wrong place!)

We attended the most wonderful wedding yesterday - in a castle no less! -  zhere God was firmly put at the centre qnd we and had the most marvellous time with friends new and old!

And this morning went to a spirit-filled church service, with a hearth for the nations and afterwards went sightseeing in Belgium. Its a lovely city, but disaster struck! When we were done, went back to the car only ze couldnt find it! it wasnt there - I thought it had been stolen as the police we flagged down couldnt trace it - turned out it had been towed away at the request of the police! Our French speaking host qnd friend travelled across town by bus with us to pick it up from a compound in a shady suburb - but it cost me 135 euros!!! ouch

Love it here though and its good to be on holiday

Belgium calls!

I’ve never really been on a road trip before - certainly this is the first time I’ve driven to mainland Europe from Finland. I’m excited and a bit apprehensive.

Today we (DD and I) drive to Helsinki, pick up our friend and take the ferry to Stockholm (Sweden). It leaves at 5:30pm.  Since the weather is gorgeous I’m planning to sit out on the top deck for a while and catch some rays. Later we’ll eat dinner on the boat.

We don’t have a luxurious cabin - one of the cheaper ones - but I’m hoping we sleep well, because tomorrow we drive and drive and drive. All the way through Sweden and into Denmark. The border crossing there Oresund Bridge and Tunnel (no passports needed because of the Shengen agreement) is the longest in the world and it’s probably the most expensive too (about 40€ each way). It looks stunning as you can see some from here.

We will spend one night in Denmark and on Friday continue our journey down to Liege in Belgium, where our friend is getting married on Saturday.

It’s going to be a lot of fun. No idea what languages will be used at the ceremony. You see this is a young Finnish woman marrying a French Speaking Belgian, but she’s spent much of her life in the UK (missionary kid) and he’s from Italian descent with Italian (only) speaking grandparents on both sides! Plus the bridesmaid is a Swedish speaking Finn. Interesting!

Sunday is free (after church).

No doubt shopping is on the agenda if the two women in our car have any say in the matter. But, I was looking at the map and there’s a national park near by … maybe a picnic calls? Let’s see!

On Monday we drop DD off at Brussels airport (she’s off to the UK for a couple of weeks) and my friend and I head back off to the bridge. We’ll stop the Swedish side of the border that night and stay with her aunt … then have about 24hours (luxury) to get back to Stockholm for the morning ferry back to Turku.

The plan is to have a leisurelystart, then drive through Sweden until we find somewhere  nice to stop. We’ll rest - maybe take a nap in the sun -  and then in the early hours of the morning continue to the ferry. It is the time of the midnight sun afterall and coming back through the Finnish archipelago on Wednesday on the day boat will be lovely (assuming the sun in shining). Taking the daytime ferry is much cheaper too, so that was also an influencing factor in our choice, but I believe it was a good one.

All this to say there will be no blogging for a week. I’m not taking the laptop, don’t expect to use anyone else’s when I’m away, and believe that time off from facebook, blogging and the internet in general will be very good for me! Keep us all in your prayers!

If you / your church follows the Revised Common Lectionary then last Sunday you’ll probably have heard a sermon based on Mark 4:35-41.  It’s a very familiar passage about Jesus calming the storm.

Yesterday I read one sermon based on that text . You can read it for yourself here. Please check it out. It’s a very different take on familiar passage and as I read it I felt wonderfully challenged! I guess it’s not only a sit up and think sermon, it’s a ‘pick up your mat and walk’ kind of one

This sermon comes on the back of a wonderful word given by the newly elected bishop, Christian Alsted, which I heard at the annual conference of the UMC in Ekenäs earlier this month. He spoke to us about the Great Commission: told us that Jesus’ command to his followers (i.e. us) was to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the earth, and reminded us that Samaria represents the people who are not like us, the ones we dispise and really don’t want to be with. Ouch!

I’ve been pondering that ever since.

I’m reminded that throughout His ministry Jesus not only hung out with prostitutes and sinners, publicans and tax collectors and all kinds of undesirables, but he visited them in their homes and ate with them. He was never afraid of sullying his own reputation by the company he kept; so why are we?  I find myself wondering what He’d make of our desire for middle-class respectability, our ‘come to us’ mentality, our fear of those who aren’t like us that keeps us far away - all of which prevents (or can prevent) us from going about Our Father’s business!

A friend of mine in her facebook profile states that she “fights for the forgotten and marginalised” and I’m reminded of that this morning. That’s what Jesus did - and does today. He isn’t judgemental and condemning - and from His perspective no-one is ‘too anything’ to fall outside of His grace.

Of course as we meet with Jesus - really meet with him - we are changed. Zacchaeus gave back the money he had stolen. The woman caught in adultery went away and presumably gave up the relationship.  Paul stopped persecuting Christians. But it all started with the Jesus meeting them where they were, building relationships with them on their home ground.

Jesus became one of us, and, as the message puts it, moved into our neighbourhood. Surely it’s time we did likewise … and as David challenges us  ‘crossed to the other side’ ?

see the banner above this post? That’s the Edge, looking down onto Cliff college in Derbyshire. Part of my heart is there.

This coming Saturday some of the friends I’ve made over this past year will graduate. Some will receive their MA, some their BA, others diplomas etc. I won’t be there - I will be in Belgium celebrating the wedding of a dear dear friend instead, but that part of my heart that has buried itself in Cliff College will be cheering on my friends and they too will be in my thoughts and prayers next Saturday.

The Edge.

As I woke this morning I was reminded of a fast-paced worship song that I first heard at TACF almost ten years ago. It’s by owen hurter (can’t find it on utube!) and it talks about being on the edge, looking down, and having to take a leap of faith and jump into what God has prepared for us.

My prayer for all of us, but especially my friends who will graduate from Cliff this coming weekend, is that while the future may look uncertain and scary, I pray that each of them - that all of us- can take a leap of faith - like in Indian Jones - and find that the path that God has already prepared for them/us opens up. He offers us a glorious future, with twists and turns everystep of the way, and there are a lot of unknowns and a lot of uncertainty, but one thing is certain - He is with us, every step of the way. May you all be richly blessed, and may you hear the shouts of acclamation at your achievement!

For the past couple of day sI’ve been trying to create order out of chaos in my office … filing things that should have been filed a long time ago, and putting things in place.

After my trip to Belgium I’m going to re-order my bookshelf. I think I’ll enjoy doing that. I haven’t been bookcrossing recently, mostly because I haven’t been reading much - and it’s time to let a lot of novels go, I have a lot of theology and Christian books to read and I much prefer those anyway, though light literature is a good way for me to unwind!

As I was tidying I came across a small card - given to me by a friend a long time ago now. It reads:

May God’s smile
shine on every path you take
and
may every turn in the road
bring new blessings

I like that.
A lot.

For the past two - maybe three years - there have been many twists and turns along the way as I’ve journeyed to the heart of God- but today I am reminded of a prophetic dream I had while still at seminary in Tallinn. In that dream God showed me that even if the way ahead seemed dark (like a twisting tunnel/labyrinth where I couldn’t see the way forward) I could hear His voice and that would lead me in the right direction.

Since then my journey to the heart of God has changed, not in direction per se, but in intensity. I’ve learnt to trust that small voice better. It’s brought me to where I am today. And it’s wonderful.

I believe that I am exactly where God wants me to be right now, though to be honest it isn’t where I expected to be myself. That’s hard sometimes, but yesterday, as I prayed with two African brothers-in-the-Lord, I was reminded that when God opens a door -even just a crack- and we walk through it in faith - all things are possible. They reminded me of Elijah and how when he prayed for rain, he sent the servant to look for a change in the sky. Then a small cloud first appeared - and from that the floodgates of heaven opened! In today’s context I think that means that, like Elijah, we have to pray the prayers of the righteous men and women we are, and keep on the outlook for any sight of breakthrough! Then, when we see the small sign of change we have to run with it!

As the old song goes, It only takes a spark to get a fire going. That is how it is with God’s love. Its spark sets the world on fire, me and you included!

Christ our hope of glory.

It’s such a funny expression don’t you think? Yet its truth encourages me no end. If I look at myself, do a mini SWOT analysis on myself if you like, I know that I am capable of many things. I do, afterall, have natural talents and giftings. But there is an awful lot that I am simply incapable of doing. For me that’s a reminder that I need other people.

A simple example of this. Everyone - even DD - is taller than I am. There are shelves that I can only reach - even when standing on a stepladder - with a lot of difficulty. So a frequent request in our house, particularly in the kitchen, is ‘can you please reach up and get that for me!’ There’s generally a lot of good-natured teasing about my lack of essential cm/inches, but the members of my household (whoever happens to be in the kitchen at that time) help me, and I’m grateful.

This morning as I lay in bed I was thinking with God (I think that’s what Paul meant when he talked of praying without ceasing!) and I found myself thinking about the expression hope of glory.

Christ, our hope of glory.

I love all the talk of God’s glory in the Old Testament don’t you? I love it that Moses’ face was transformed by that glory. And one of my favourite passages has to be when Isaiah gets swept up in a vision of the glory of God (Isa 6).

I love God’s glory, but I don’t really understand it.

Recently I’ve been listening to a CD made by a friend of mine - she sings “I can only imagine what it will be like when I’m standing in the Son” … it’s a great song, because it opens up a vision of heaven. I don’t know what it will be like - none of us do. I don’t know if I’ll be struck dumb in awe, or if I’ll dance with Jesus - in step with the Spirit at last, or whether I’ll jump with joy - but I do know that it will be marvellous. That’s God’s promise.

I know too that Jesus was very clear that we are not only to focus on the life after this, but also to build his kingdom on earth, to bring his glory down to earth if you like. To me that’s what being church (as opposed to attending church) is all about. There is something extra-ordinarily special about being built up together as Christians, of becoming little pockets of grace, in which Jesus abides in such a way that everyone can have a taste of what it means to be in his glorious presence! I love that - because it is his glorious presence that changes us. When we come into contact with the real thing, we can no longer stay the same. All selfish ambition, all deceit, all tendancy to do-it-alone, flies out of the window.

Christ our hope of glory, reveal yourself to us today!

Midsummer is not my favourite Finnish holiday. In all the years I’ve lived here in Finland I’ve managed to be abroad for a lot of them, by choice. Finns celebrating the midnight sun wouldn’t be such a problem for me, if for most it wasn’t just an excuse to go mad with alcohol and if it didn’t involve eating revolting food like rollmops (herrings in brine) and new potatoes ~~ shudder

This year hubby wanted to go to his parents’ summer place. I agreed - reluctantly! His older brother and partner were planning to camp there, along with TS and his girl, and of course my in-laws would be there. It is their cottage afterall. But it’s a tiny cottage -only two rooms plus kitchen, no running water, no inside toilets, and the weather forcast was lousy too - and my heart wasn’t really in it. I just wanted to stay at home!

God heard my cry of dispair I think. When we took Mindy to the vet’s on Tuesday to have her impregnated the vet recommended that Mindy didn’t go swimming in cold water for at least a week. Yes, that meant I could volunteer and stay home with her, as it’s nigh on impossible to prevent her from swimming up in Merikariva as the cottage is right on the river! Additionally she has had a bad paw. So a couple of days rest and relaxation at home (for both of us) has been the order of the day and it’s been great.

I’ve been reading again - a light novel by a favourite author - as well as a yet unpublished book on Ephesians by a friend who wanted my comment. The downside of being alone at home though is that I’ve started to try to create order out of chaos I call my office (I haven’t done anything here since mid April when I left for the UK so it’s all in a huge mess and in particular there’s loads of filing of bank statements, credit card bills and other admin tasks to do)

And a prayer request.

I can’t find DD’s passport anywhere (hoping she has it!) - we need to find that asap i.e. now! It isn’t where it should be (with hubby’s) - or indeed lurking with mine and TS’ passports (which still haven’t been put away from our latest travels, but at least I know where they are!). I /We need some of God’s order to descend on our household - particularly in the paperwork/organisation/admin department!

It’s been a bit more than two weeks in coming … but finally photographic evidence (thanks David!) of the boy in his graduation cap!

We are proud of him - and all of us really enjoyed that whole day. The party was a lot of fun - though it seems a long time ago already!

Like most youngsters TS’ future is rather unknown right now. He hasn’t taken any entrance exams this year as he really doesn’t know what he wants to study - or indeed if he wants to study at all. The next stage in his life is the compulsory military service which begins in January - that’s half a year away of course, so before that he’ll try to find a temporary job.

But now it’s the highlight of the summer - Juhannus (Midsummer’s Eve) and all eyes are on that. TS and his girl, hubby and Misty will head off to the Koskela summer place, along with hubby’s brother and lady, and hubby’s parents.

Me? I get to stay at home. I’m really happy about that - the cottage is tiny and midsummer is not my favourite Finnish holiday.  I won’t be alone though - Mindy will stay here with me.  She was impregnated two days ago and we need to keep her away from water for about a week - that’s easier at home than at the cottage.

DD will also be in town. Being close by -albeit without a car -helps me breathe a little easier too. Oh and a young friend is swinging by to see me on Saturday which will be lovely! We plan to walk into the city (no busses or any other public transport at all at midsummer - and almost all restaurants, cafes, and even the cinema are closed for two full days).

We’re planning to check out the deserted metropolis called Turku /Åbo. It surely will have a different atmosphere when no-one is around (not that it’s ever that busy to be honest!) I just hope the weather stays dry. It’s been a lot better since my friend jumped on the plane back to England! So sad!

And just so that the boy doesn’t think it’s all about him - a picture taken in Ekenäs (Raseborg) at the annual conference of DD.

Yeah I have GREAT ‘kids’ who are growing up way too fast!

Pondering how to redeem my blog again … I’ve got a bit ‘out of it’ recently because I’ve been so busy - and I really don’t want to fall into the trap of just writing trivia or me, me, me introspection

This cartoon sums up my dilemma really!

Cartoon by Dave Walker. (You can find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons)

Truth of the matter is though that God inhabits the praises of His people - and no matter how dull my life sometimes is or seems - He is here in the midst of it, if I just raise my eyes and look!

I was exhausted yesterday and fell into bed not long after 9pm.  Usually if someone wakes me within the first hour of sleeping I find it almost impossible to go back to sleep. Last night I was woken twice - first by DD who didn’t know I was in bed, and then by a friend who called. Actually I think TS also sent me a text message - but I fell asleep after each of these distruptions and managed to sleep right the way round until 8am today, so I must have had about 10 hours of undisturbed rest!

That’s good - and that’s God’s hand on my life!

I did wake up a little dehydrated - a reminder that I also need to get back into the Word so that God can fill me with fresh and living water and meet my spiritual needs too.

It’s going to be a good Wednesday - and the sun is already shining!