LOVE is...

LOVE is... Picking up the hall.
LOVE is... Wiping off the bathroom counter.
LOVE is... Cleaning the kitchen.
LOVE is... long phone calls.
LOVE is... keeping your mouth shut when you're mad and about to say something regretable.
LOVE is... Helping with a smile, even when you'd rather be lazy.
LOVE is... Smiling to a person you don't know.
LOVE is... buying them hot chocolate.
LOVE is... The High King of Heaven born as a baby on Christmas Eve.
LOVE is... His pierced wrists and feet.
LOVE is... Snuggling up close to Him.
LOVE is... Praying
LOVE is... very very much.

Where do you see LOVE?
What do you do out of LOVE?
What is LOVE, to you?

When Christmas HURTS.

What is True,

yet so hard to remember,

just because it isn't really what happens to me?

.

When Christmas HURTS.

.

A lot of people are HURTING at the thought of Christmas.

A lot of people have lost someone they love,

and thinking of Christmas without them HURTS.

Christmas is a lot about family,

and some families HURT.

People who are HURTING

HURT others.

And When there is a lot of HURT in your family.

Christmas HURTS a lot.

Maybe you have no family.

Being alone could HURT too.

A lot of people,

might have been you one year in the past,

it might be you some year in the future.

.

A lot of people,

may be that lady in the store that looked grieved,

or who acted like she was in a bad mood.

It may be a child walking home from school,

with that sad look on her face.

.

So why should we remember?

There's nothing we can do, is there?

.

Well, we can PRAY.

We can SMILE FRIENDLY to the grumpy lady in the store.

We can HUG hurting/sad/even happy people we know.

We can TELL THEM WE LOVE THEM,

and we can be THANKFUL that Christmas doesn't HURT to us.

.

We can LOOK UP from our own little world and see the HURT in the eyes of others

(though you've got to look them in the eye to see it)

and LOVE them.

Welcome them,

care for them.

.

And maybe Christmas won't hurt quite as much this year.

Mental Journal of Joy

Thankful All Year

Found this very neat post at ylcf, it's worth taking a look at.
The introduction made me want to read it all. What about you?

"It's been years now
since I started keeping a mental joy journal
-a running list on the things in life that made me happy,
that made my cup overflow,
that brought my heart joy and made me thankful to be alive."

So I decided that one's worth trying.
So what, right now,
makes me happy?
makes my cup overflow?
brings my heart joy?
and makes me thankful to be alive?

*a letter I received lately, that made me laugh and cry from joy
*holding a baby
*the voices of dear friends
*the thought of seeing them again
*earøy mornings up in the field
*night under the stars, with friends nearby
*the sun rising
*a little girl falling asleep next to her big brother, safe
*knitting by the fireplace, praying
*the beauty of nature, all year round
*the beauty of God's love, His blessings
*waiting in anticipation to see what wonderful things He's going to do next
*making good food, eating it together with someone
*discovering ginger and lemon tea
*making yoghurt
*reading wise words
*writing this list
*being God's

What makes you happy?

åslaug

And... All is Well... =)

Mm, thanks a lot for

every prayer,

every *hug*,

and

every comment.

You all made me feel so much better.

But here's what happens:

Monday morning, I suddenly out of nowhere got a call from my mom,
she knew someone,
who knew someone
who needed help four days this week.
.
And I called up and got the job.
And I worked a little on Monday,
quite a bit on Tuesday,
and I have work on Wednesday
and Thursday,
and Friday.
And they might need help a couple of days in the future (as in"after Friday")
And that other work agency wanted to interview me after work on tomorrow!
Wow.
.
I guess they're very small things,
not like food for 5000 people or a hurricane calmed down.
But they feel big.
And I was waiting.
And I was confused,
and I was worried,
my heart was troubled.
.

But He had not left me.

He had not forsaken me.

He answered.

.
Even if my prayer wasn't for world peace =)
Such a great God to care for my tiny problems!

Wow, I'm loved!

åslaug abigail

'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus

So, well here's the news.

I came back from America,
I quit my job while I was there (to be able to take off time during Christmas/January which I needed to). I made a deal to work for one more month.

Now, Friday, that one month was over.
Monday I called an agency to be able to work in different kindergardens (they just call when they need you to work). I'm still working on it, and the process is way bigger than I thought. I applied for a police certificate today, but it won't be here until next week, and then we need to set a date for an interview.

Which means:
no job this week, no job next week, perhaps not the week after either.
And in the end of that week I'm already at the dates where I needed time off work.

I gave this over to God a very long time ago.
Ever since I started thinking about quitting.
And He has promised He'll guide me in the way I should go.

And well, this looks like God closing doors.
I'm starting to realise that God might not be planning on me working until the middle of January...
Um, I didn't think of that.

So here's my case.
I need money. And I need a job to get that money.
And God knows it.
I'm going to be given a hard time by people I know
about my irresponsible act of not having a job when I need money.
But God knows this.

And I am going to trust Him.
Even if, right now, I don't see where that path in front of me is heading.
But I'm going to trust Him.
His promise, that He won't leave and not forsake me.
That He loves me.
That He knows what He's doing.

'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

just to take Him at His word.

Just to rest upon His promise,

just to know: thus saith the Lord.

Jesus Jesus, how I trust Him,

how I've proved Him o'er and o'er.

Jesus Jesus, precious Jesus,

oh for grace to trust Him more!

I'm singing as loud as I can,
not to hear all the voices of worry shouting to be heard around me, in me.
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

åslaug abigail

Yoghurt!!

Guess who woke up this morning, carefully lifted one end of a dish towel hiding a bowl of milk, just to dip her finger in it to see whether it had the consistence of thick yoghurt or thin milk? And guess who was more than a little bit excited (and the proudest gal in the world) when she discovered it was YOGHURT!!!

Then she made scones for breakfast (but that's another story..)

So here's what she did with that yoghurt...
Last night, around 6 pm she heated 1 liter (4 quarts) to 40C and 140F

(you know when it's about bathing temperature =)

Then she added 2-3 tablespoons of store bought yoghurt (not the diet type) to it and stirred till it dissolved. Then she wrapped a bath towel around the container and put the dishtowel over the top, so that the mixture could get enough air without bugs or dust. And she went to bed.

And at 6 am this morning. She had YOGHURT!! =) =) =) =)

It looked perfect,

the consistence was perfect,

the taste was perfect.

It was PERFECT YOGHURT

(it's beyond me how it could develop from me doing practically nothing, though)

I'm thankful for yoghurt.

And for the Lord being good and working through everything perfectly,
despite me acting like a whiny kid...

åslaug abigail

Oh, and I used no metal utensils (except for heating the milk), but I don't know if that matters at all, just thought I should mention it... And the other thing, that I do know for a fact, if you want to use your own yoghurt as starter the next time, put a few tablespoons away before you stir it up. My starter is in the photo above. You might want to use a little more as starter of your own, than you do of the store bought yoghurt.

News From Sleeping Beauty

I'm back in my old kindergarden/day care center. The children seems to have been concerned about the way of sleeping arrangements "over there".

We were sitting by the table, drawing the other morning. The three little girls were drawing magic stairways and beds, so I was drawing a wooden bed with a quilt on.

A co-worker of mine (to the children):

Oh, åslaug is probably drawing the bed she was sleeping in in America.

A little blonde haired girl leans over to look at my drawing, her eyes big:

Woow, could you sleep over there???

ØØØØØØØØØØØ

And then yesterday one of the boys approached me, crawling all over a stack of mattresses:

On the farm (they know I stayed on a farm in America), did you sleep with the animals?

-No.

-Why not?

-Well, they had beds in the house...

-Oh.

Short pause while his little brain was processing this new information.

-Not even with the cow?

-No, the cow slept outside.

-Oh. And not with the dog?

I wonder what they've been told about farmgirls?

Working all the time, no time for sleep,

and if such a thing as a nap should ever occur it has got to be next to the cow?

I have fun talking to them though, they are SO CUTE... and, seriously concerned!

Well,

I'm going to bed,

I'm back to the life where it's all about

the battle for getting enough of this wonderful thing: sleep!

zzzz,

åslaug abigail