Hi February!

It is already a new month! January seemed to fly by with all the home cure assignments, and now the calendar shows February. This month I look forward to visiting friends, seeing a couple of plays, one of them starring my sister, and celebrating with my Valentine. So much love (and so much cheesiness). I also look forward to spending a lot less time cleaning the house.

Industrial vibes

I got a new job last fall, but the news never made it to this page. After a little more than a year at a primary school, I am back to "cubicle life", working in an office. This time around I do administrative work for a small construction company in Skien. I really like the colors and shapes in these pictures taken at work this fall.

Life and reading

July was a month of reading, but I can not say the same about August.  Starting a new job means new routines, and some days it can be enough to figure out dinner when I come home for the night. Trying to get into "War and Peace" might not be the best way of relaxing either, but I hope to get there one day.

On the other hand, I have actually read a lot in the Bible, starting on all the Gospels in the beginning of the month. The reading list here on my blog can be deceiving, as it lists when I finish a book, which can sometimes take a day, other times months. (I started on Psalms last November and completed in July.) My reading plan is chronological down to the verse, so I've been jumping back and forth between Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Some days that results in reading the same story or parable two to three times, and while it can feel a little tedious, I think God has gotten the chance to really underline what I needed for a day! Chronological Bible reading is only getting better as I go. Right now it is combined with "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Henri Nouwen, and the two make a great pair.

The plot is thickening in the Gospels now. Pharisees and teachers of the law are planning to kill Jesus and there is a lot of tension and suspense. The disciples are noticing it too (Mark 10:32), but seem to have no clue that Jesus death is both inevitable and necessary. I look forward to reading the letters in a few weeks, when their perspective literally has a new dimension! 

Art: "Return of the Prodigal Son" by Rembrandt

A new job with a different kind of coffee break

This week I started my new job at a primary school. Those who read my newsletters know by now that I left Youth With a Mission before the summer, and was preparing to enter something new this fall. The job came to me a lot quicker than I thought it would, and I am incredibly grateful to not have to go job hunting for months from now!

My days so far have consisted of reading children's books, running around in the school yard, board games, and pretend tea/coffee parties. The last one has come towards the end of the day, when I desperately want a real, big cup of caffeine, and all I get is play dough mugs with beads...

Leaving YWAM probably hasn't sunk in yet. I attended parts of GOfest (the annual YWAM Norway festival) this past weekend, and it felt very strange to have people welcome me - I am supposed be the one welcoming people! With Mike still in the office I trust I will get a lot of updates on YWAM Skien's whereabouts, but with 8 years of investment in that place it is strange to not have any say in what goes on, or even be part of it at all.

So here's to a fall of new things! Good luck to you if you start school (again), have moved in with your spouse or started a new job. Change is good, right?