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Archive for the ‘About us personally’ Category

Happy New Year! Sweden’s connection to the Mummers!!

Happy 2012!!!! We had a great nght celebrating and ringing in the New Year. We saw fireworks from our balcony and Chinese lanterns floating in the sky – a beautiful sight!!!

Today, we’re really having a lazy day watching movies and The Mummer’s Day Parade in Philadelphia. I  (Gwen) went there many times with my dad, who passed along his love of the string bands! Now, Tony finds it for me on-line!  Did you know this tradition dates  back to early Egypt, pagen Rome and Greece? And the Swedes actually brought it to Philly!! “In the 1600s, Swedish settlers to Philadelphia’s outskirts honored Christmas by beseeching their neighbors for dessert and liquor by dressing up, chanting and shooting firearms.” http://www.visitphilly.com/events/philadelphia/the-mummers-parade/

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About us personally, Learning about Sweden, Norrbotten, & Luleå

Prayer for our nephew Jonathan

Gwen's nephews, Joshua, Jonathan, & Caleb

We wanted to pass these 2  prayer requests along for our nephew, Jonathan, and our sister-in-law’s brother, Frank. This is from Jonathan’s Caring Bridge Website.

 
“What a day!  Jonathan is now throwing up and lethargic.  Will open eyes but then goes back to sleep.  Not sure what is happening.  Then (or earlier), Lois’ brother, Frank, went in the hospital late last night after falling and throwing up.  He was eventually transferred from Bennington Hospital to Albany, where they are still trying to figure out what is up.  He is not very coherent at present.  So, Lois was on the phone a good bit of the night, much of today, and emotional stamina is running low.  Been there before … not easy.  What a way to conclude the year!!  But others have it worse and God is still on the throne, so keep us in your prayers as we all move forward into a new year for God’s glory!”
 
Thanks for your prayers. Gwen & Tony

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About us personally, Prayer request

Merry Christmas & God Jul!

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About us personally

The Cone of Shame

Our cat Misty got a minor abscess requiring a trip to the vet. The doc treated her and when he came out, she had the “cone of shame” on her – if you’ve seen the movie Up, you understand! Jiana thought it was such a hoot and couldn’t stop laughing out loud. Here’s a short video of Misty trying to get it off – she was soooooooo ticked!

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About us personally

Avslutning!!

The girls have now finished with school for the year!!! YEAH!!! They had a  month at the Montessori school and the last 2 weeks were composed of lots of field trips, outings, and playtime in the classroom! Lots of fun for everyone!!! They close the school year here by having a closing program called Avslutning. The Montessori school had their Avslutning at Domkyrkan, the Lutheran Cathedral in Luleå.  it was basically a concert put on by the kids, with the pastor of the church and the principal of the school speaking for a few minutes in between songs. “Angel” was preformed by Jiana’s class.  Jensina had a little duet during her class’s song, “Summer Nights” (of course, I missed getting the duet on film). So proud of them both!!

Later while we walked around town for some ice cream, we saw the gymnasium (high school) graduates beginning their celebration. It was really fun to watch and try to figure out their traditions!

Overall, the girls both had a great school year! I was putting their portfolios together last night and I couldn’t believe how much stuff they had!! In addition, English and math was done at home with me. So it has been a really intense school year! We’re all ready for a well-earned summer break!!!! The last 2 weeks, I (Gwen) was also studying in the Swedish for Immigrants course. Tonight, we have our last house group meeting for this year where we will be interceding for the Luleå University students. Tony finishes his Swedish studies at the end of June. So, we’re starting to plan for some vacation in July, hopefully getting away for a week and then just relaxing here at home. We hope you all have a great summer, too!!

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About us personally

Life is going fast!!

The snow and ice are gone, green leaves and flowers are appearing!! Lately, it’s been really rainy, but we can’t complain because it is making everywhere really green! And we love the color green, along with the yellow, white, pink purple and red flowers!! Temperature-wise, it’s usually in the mid-40’s to low 50’s. That’s a little strange for us as we’re used to at least the 80’s by now! It feels quite Aprilish here.  Often now, we smell the grills going and have even been down to the river to make a fire and cook our evening meal. We’re looking forward to more of that and are getting better and better at starting our fires!!  The first time Frigg saw the river free from ice, he ran right in 5-6 times!!! So it looks like we’ll have a fun and exciting summer with him!! LOL

Life feels like it’s going really fast here!!! The girls started in the  Montessori school right after Easter. It’s been a real challenge for them with the increase in the amount as well as the level of Swedish! Keep them in prayer as they struggle to advance with their class. I’m sure you can imagine how learning in a foreign language makes it really difficult to keep up with their classmates academically. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough staff to give them the special help they need. This is now their last week so there’s lots going on!

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I (Gwen) started Swedish for Immigrants last week! I’ve enjoyed the class and will be able to keep my lesson book over the summer to work on. The pace of my life has really increased as I now add my Swedish homework to the schedule.  Tony continues in his Swedish course until the end of June. Today, our friends who help us with the language, Clas & Christina,  told me that they can really see all of us improving. That is such an encouragement as we don’t always feel that way.

Our home group has been really great!! We have anywhere between 6 and 13 on any given night. The last few weeks, we are interceding for the city of Luleå. Last week, we interceded for the children, schools, and the women’s shelter and their need for someone to work with the children. Next week, we’ll take it outside and do some prayer walking in the centrum. It is really a privilege to work with this group of sisters and brothers in the Lord!!

Category:

About us personally, Ministry

Glad Påsk / Happy Easter

Our first hint that Easter was here was on Maundy Thursday, Skärtorsdagen in Swedish. Dating back to the 1400’s it was believed that on this day, witches flew to Blåkulla (Blue Mountain) on their brooms to dance with the devil himself. They flew back just in time for church on Sunday morning, to say their prayers backwards.  Some traditions tell of these witches stealing milk, with the help of the milk-hare, from other people’s cows (perhaps the origin of the Easter bunny bringing candy). In the late 1600’s, there was an epidemic of  witch trials, much like our witch trials in the States. Today, this is celebrated in a playful way by children dressing up as Easter witches in long skirts and headscarves with painted red cheeks and black freckles. They go from door to door looking for candy, much like the American Hallowe’en.

Another Easter tradition is decorating with multi-colored feathers on the ends of birch twigs. In the past it is said that on the morning of  Långfredagen (Long Friday or Good Friday) they would lash each other with the birch twigs as a remembrance of Christ’s sufferings. Eggs, the symbol of life and growth, were not allowed to be eaten during Lent when Sweden was Catholic. Thus, it became very popular to dye and eat eggs at this time of year.

Swedes seem to like to celebrate holidays on the eve before the holiday and Easter is no exception. So Easter here is celebrated on Saturday, Easter Eve. Easter seems to be sadly lacking in any religious significance. Some do go to church on Easter Eve, but it is mostly celebrated by getting together with family and friends. Many look forward to family reunions or a much longed for vacation. Candy is hidden in a colorful cardboard Easter eggs for the children to find. There’s a real feeling of the beginning of spring with parties and dinners in the homes of the Swedes, similar to America’s Memorial Day but without parades. For Swedes, Easter and the day after are celebrated by visiting with family and friends.

So, what did we do for Easter? Saturday, we decorated our Easter eggs by drawing symbols of Easter on one side and Christmas on the other side, reminding us that the promise of Christmas is fulfilled at Easter! We choose to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Sunday, as we did in the States. Jensina and Jiana woke up expecting to see their Easter baskets, but were sadly disappointed. They woke me (Gwen) up lamenting that the Easter bunny didn’t come to Sweden. I told them that maybe they needed to look a bit harder!! With a couple of hints, they happily found their Easter eggs filled with candy. With a good dose of candy in our blood, we were off to church. Sadly, there was very low attendance.  We had a nice Easter dinner together with a couple of friends, which helped us not to miss home quite as much.

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Category:

About us personally, Learning about Sweden, Norrbotten, & Luleå

And then they were 6!!!

Well, one going-to-be huge dog wasn’t enough!!! LOL!! The girls have always wanted a dog and a cat. Guess what? Last weekend, Jensina found a  little kitty that was being given away for free!! After a few days, we decided we would try it! The catch is introducing the dog and cat!! Fortunately, this week the girls have off school for the Easter holiday so they are a great help! Misty is a 12 week old, adorable, gray kitten. I think we’ve all fallen in love with her, except for Frigg!! In the beginning, every time Misty saw Frigg, she would hiss and spit and put out her claws!! Frigg would try to get close enough to sniff her and bark like crazy!! Today, he picked up her cage and tried to walk away with her! It’s been comical! Of course, in order to keep Misty, we have to get Frigg and Misty to tolerate each other. They are doing better, but aren’t quite there yet!!! Enjoy the pictures!!!

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About us personally

The Martin 4 + 1!!!

Yes!!! We are now 5!! The newest member of our family is Frigg!! We have become the foster family for a 9 week old German Shepherd, Frigg, and are raising him for the Swedish army!! He’ll be ours for the next 16 months!! We’re really glad to be able to do this and Jensina and Jiana are so very excited. It’s been such a wonderful experience and the girls have had a joyous day playing with their new puppy!! At this time, all 3 are sound asleep! We’ll see how the night progresses! LOL! Pictures speak a thousand words so enjoy the slide show below!!!

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About us personally

A week of … ups and downs

Saturday, we traveled about 2 hours north to just inside of the Arctic Circle to Jokkmokk for the annual Jokkmokk outdoor market. We met friends there who showed us around and had a GREAT time! We saw everything from candy to Sami crafts to reindeer meat and skins. Our friend’s mom makes and sells hats, mittens, etc. knitted the old-fashioned way with a needle from the bone of the front leg of a moose. She does such a beautiful job!! Then, there was the 3-day marathon race where 4 teams did biking, mountain climbing, orienteering, and cross-country skiing! Now mind you, we are in the Arctic Circle where temps were -12 C (10 F) at the highest!!! The Swedes won!!! YEAH!!

Then it was off to the reindeer races!! The reindeer were NOT really tame and the drivers were NOT really trained. What a combination!!!! It took several men to get the reindeer started in the right direction and several to stop them at the end!! LOL!! What a ride!! The instructions to the drivers were “DON’T let go of the reins or the reindeer will NOT stop!!!” Here is Jiana’s version. “Last Saturday, my family and I went to Jokkmokk for the day. There we saw a reindeer race! I loved it. One reindeer didn’t want to go and it tried to take a shortcut. I laughed hard.” We had such a fun time – fun place, fun activities, fun shopping, and special fun with old friends and new!!

The down side was 3 out of 4 of us came down with bad colds. The temperature wasn’t that cold (it’s often – 30 C, -22 F) so we just wore our normal outdoor clothes. I think the fact that we were outside for about 6 hours made the difference! Well, live & learn!!! LOL! We are all on the mend and won’t make that mistake again…I hope!!

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Tuesday, we had a sad phone call from home. My Aunt Emily died and went home to be with Jesus. I’m so glad we had a short visit with her the day we left for Sweden. We thought it would be the last time we saw her, but that doesn’t make it any less painful. It’s sooooo hard to be so far away from home at a time like this.

Now, we are gearing up for a team retreat! Go, Team Sweden, UWM!!! Krista, our co-worker from Malmö, and Chad, our supervisor from Hungary, will be joining us here in Luleå for a long weekend!! We are really looking forward to renewing our friendship with Krista (she was with us at the Center for Intercultural Training last February) and getting to know Chad!

Well, that’s our week with just some of the ups and downs we’ve been experiencing. We so appreciate your prayers on our behalf. God really uses your prayers to keep us stable and going!! Thanks so much!! God bless, Gwen 🙂

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About us personally, Learning about Sweden, Norrbotten, & Luleå