Dear family and friends,
In six days, Anya and I will fly to Stavanger, Norway. I have been graciously been given a sabbatical from spring semester from Trinity Lutheran College to set aside time to work toward completing the writing phase of my PhD dissertation.
Anya will be finishing her 9th grade first semester exams this week and will start into a Norwegian school next week, immersed in Norwegian! She is eager and excited!
Janet and Jenn will hold down the fort back in Bellevue. So, I’m sorting, cleaning, packing up a couple rooms, and doing some deferred maintenance to get ready for Janet to live in our area of the house.
There are so many questions that I have right now. Perhaps you have questions too of me. What’s your dissertation? How long will you be gone? Where will you live? How’s your Norwegian? And more! These will unfold, hopefully with Anya’s help.
But to start: Why “Whithersoever thou goest?” This year, I chose Joshua 1:9 for our theme verse in expectations of our giant journey (in the King James Version, which was the sung version at Bible college).
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
While my nature makes me prone to worry with all the unknowns, I try to remember that “worry is prayer to the wrong God.” And wow, has the Hand of Providence been so gracious in this PhD journey. I hope to give you glimpses of past and present blessings through our goings.
(As a Bible teacher, I’ll have to put Joshua 1:9 back in context too.)
As my dad will be praying for us daily (others too), I’ll add some prayer requests on occasion.
- Good wrap up of all my work for Trinity.
- That all my “must do” tick list items get done.
- Thanks for the provision of the sabbatical by Trinity and the friends/mentors who encourage me along.
This is great, Beth! I will be following along. I’m very curious about how Anya will do in a Norwegian school system. Besides the language difference, I am interested in the whole system, how it works, how it compares to the US system, how much testing is required, teacher/student ratio, etc. …teaching styles and pedagogical premises… And, I’m very interested in the outdoor early learning schools. Anya, if you can find out anything about them, please blog about it. Thanks!
Prayers go with both of you. Sue
God go with you.
What an adventure! You will be at home in Norway. Eric is proud of you both.
In my prayers and in my heart always,
Love , Aunt Donna
I look forward to following your journey.
What a great verse Joshua 1:9! I think we will post it on the refrigerator. We will be praying for you and Anya and reading the blog. Blessings.
Darlean and Dick
Dear Beth and Anya,
So happy for you to be taking this big step and we pray that your time in Norway will be beneficial. Thank you starting your blog which is a wonderful way to keep your family and friends informed.
God be with you.
Love,
Dick and Darlean
PS Sorry I didn’t get to speak with you this morning at church.
Hey!
I’m Beth’s daughter,Anya, and I have recently started a blog of my own to share my experiences.
http://recentlyrelocatedtonorway.blogspot.com/
Check it out!
Count us in as prayer partners wither wherever whatever you need!
We’re so excited for this step in the journey you are on!
We’re praying with you. As a friend of mine says, “Grace, grace! Favor, favor!” God is faithful, withersoever thou goest!
Your departure is not far off–how exciting! Surely Anya will find friends and soccer balls in Norway. 🙂 Enjoy your memory-making trip!