Much to talk about, but not much time.
I will follow up with Anya’s graduation from high school, but things have been busy hosting friends from the USA through Monday, then 2 days of faculty meetings (in Swedish), and then off to Norway, where all the Norwegians in 2 days of seminars and gatherings spoke English for me, the only non-Norwegian speaker. No wonder I enjoy time in Norway, where I live in English-speaking contexts.
The seminar is an internal peer-review process for a book project that I am co-editing on “Classic Religious Texts in Global Contexts.” With topics beyond biblical studies, I get to learn new things from colleagues. As a co-editor, I had to read all the chapters prior to the seminar as part of the peer-review process. An external reviewer will be secured by the publisher for another round of constructive criticism.
When I learned a couple months ago that I would be coming to Stavanger, I arranged this Saturday to hike with my former PhD student colleague, Tina. We were both supervised by Knut. She was the brilliant one, and I got through by being diligent. We both love to hike. She calls it hill walking, but 323 meters is more than a hill. My left knee agrees that it is more than a hill, as ibuprofen helps to calm its complaints of the day’s hiking.
A few days ago, the forecast predicted a lot of rain. As today got closer, the rain became delayed until this evening, and the sun icons started to appear on the weather app. It was a beautiful day for hiking! There was some beautiful blue sky with light clouds in the morning. The clouds started increasing, but still no rain.
For most of the day, Anya was with her friend from the school she attended when we lived here for 6 months in 2015. I failed in passing on a love for hiking to Anya. But, it was a nice day to spend with this friend, who also came and visited us in the USA.
Tomorrow, I preach at the international church here, have lunch with some wonderful friends, and then we head back to the airport to head home to Sweden.
This time in Norway has been “dawa kwa moyo,” a Kiswahili saying for medicine for the heart (with a sense of the soul).
With blessings,
Beth
Glad the Norway experience went well. We’re in Sacramento with friends, also enjoying the weather of SUMMER, just in case it never makes it to WA.
Beth—
Thanks for sharing this lovely overview of your visit in Norway.
In Christ and in friendship,
Charlie and Pam