Well, the title is really putting a positive spin on feeling unsettled! We have stuff now, but the unpacking is a form of taking things from boxes, creating chaos, and then slowly trying to decrease the chaos.
I have not taken any pictures the past two days, but I do have one from the delivery of the crate by one of the volunteers.
The width is the same as the breadth. It doesn’t look too big, does it!?! Especially when considering this is a major, long-term move. This big box, six 50-pound checked bags (I paid for 2 extra bags), and our carryon luggage is the material possessions from our lives in the USA.
I’m still trying to find our bath towels and the boxes are dwindling. What about the silverware drawer divider? Will they show up?
OK, I have to say it, and then I have to let it go. Often, I wish I had paid for the second crate, which would have been less than half price of the first crate. I can name the things that I would have put in it, and instead, I gave them away. But now it is water under the bridge, so I’m moving on. Sigh.
I did bring a large (2000 watt) step-down transformer. My host family in Norway (with a dual Norwegian-American citizen) had one, so it isn’t just missionaries in Tanzania that use them. I had plugged it in, after making sure the input was set at 240 volts. The power was off, and I went to plug in a power strip in the 110 outlet. Pop! There was a spark and a pop! I checked the fuse, but it still looks normal. However, the power breaker seems to have been flipped, as the outlet doesn’t work. I don’t know how power breakers work here. They look very different. So, now I’ll email the management and ask for help to do the equivalent of “flip” the breaker.
I bought a train ticket today. Next Monday, I go to Linneaus University in Växjö. (I don’t know how to pronounce it, and when I try, it sounds like I’m sneezing.) My PhD adviser, Knut, is paying my way as part of the Maasai and the Bible research grant. I am so blessed! I’m seeing Sweden through attending conferences!
In 3 weeks time, I’ll have been in Norway, Gothenburg, and Växjö. The traveling alone and to two new places is taking a lot of emotional energy for this Myers-Briggs INFJ, but I am learning a lot and making some good connections.
If you’re reading this, would you please just make a quick prayer for: 1) getting centered, 2) my Swedish class tomorrow (always a stresser), and 3) continued providential preparations for Sunday morning. I’m preaching in both services connected with a young adult retreat.
Thanks,
Beth
Emma Hogenson in Hingham, Montana, told me about 45 years or so ago, about the young girl from Bainsville, Montana, who came home from church on Sunday, jumped into her father’s arms, hugged him and said to her father, “Daddy, I decided today that I am going to hell with you.” The father gulped, took a deep breath, thought a moment and said, “Honey, what on earth is the reason you would say such a thing?” She replied, “All the other boys and girls and their mommies in church know about Jesus, love him, and are going to heaven! But, I love you so much I don’t want to go to heaven without you, so I decided today to go to hell with you .” He gulped again, thought for a brief moment and then said, “Honey, I’ll go to church with you and Mommy on Sunday.” There wasn’t a happier or prouder girl sitting by her daddy in church that Sunday. Then the unthinkable happened! It was either Monday or Tuesday the very next week that her father died of a massive heart attack! Friend, would it not be the greatest comfort the girl had was knowing her father had gone to worship with her, participated in the confession of sins and was able to receive the promise of Jesus to forgive our sins when we confess our sins, and promise to prepare a place for them in heaven? This is a true story!
My friend, will you invite and bring someone who is “going to hell” to meet Jesus with you in Church this Sunday?
Electricity is always such a surprise! From what you wrote, I see no reason for the pop but I know from experience, I am usually the weakest link in the chain. And regarding how to reset a Swedish circuit, do let me know how it’s done.
Lycka till! Jag tror du måste hitta proppskåpet.
C