The summer has sped by with lots of swimming, biking, playing with friends, and relaxing times. The big event to end our summer was a team coming from our home church, First Baptist of Morrisville, to minister with us. It was wonderful, like a home-coming to us!!! Our niece, Charissa, was able to come so that made it all that much more special!! They arrived on August 22 and our job that first day was to keep them up all day!!! We did it!! They learned the word fika (anything from a sweet treat to a sandwich with a drink, usually coffee) very quickly at our home and then we went into Centrum (city center) for a prayer walk! At the top of Stadshuset (City Hall) we could look all over Luleå! There we prayed for the people of the city with an empty chair to represent at least 1 person coming into a friendship with Jesus! It was great to have the team here sharing in our small groups, praying with us, helping the church clean a room to start a cafe, visiting the university campus, doing a marriage seminar, getting to know our friends here, and leading worship and preaching at church, etc. And we had a great time showing them our city!! We have been blessed to hear of a person coming to know Jesus, partly as a result of the marriage seminar!! God filled that empty chair!!! Here are some pictures of their time here to give more of a feeling of how it all went!! Team, we miss you all!!
Visit from 1st Baptist!!!
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!
Vacation in Norway
Ever since I lived in Sweden back in the 80’s, I (Gwen) have wanted to visit the Norwegian Fjords. Last week, that dream came true. Friends of ours invited us to join them on their vacation to his mom’s childhood home in Foldvik in the Norwegian Fjords! We had such a wonderful time and the fjords are as beautiful as I’d heard!! It was so relaxing, the scenery was breathtaking (the photos don’t do it justice!), and everyone had a fantastically good time!! In the words of the kids, “It was the best vacation ever!!!” The fjords were formed when the glaciers retreated and the sea flooded the valleys after the ice age. The climate is mild because of the Gulf Stream. It actaully got up to 31 C (88 F). The soil is fertile with an abundance of flora, making it look a little like Scotland. Various birds, fish, mountains and waterfalls make this a beautiful place! It’s nature at it’s best!!! We had a great time fishing, going to the Polar Zoo that specialized in polar animals, traveled to the top of a mountain, visited the Red Cross Museum commemorating the Norwegian struggle during World War 2 (there’s lots of iron ore mined in Kiruna in northern Sweden and shipped to Narvik in northern Norway that Germany needed to build ships so they occupied the area during World War 2), and we had a great time relaxing with our friends!!! Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here they are!!
Midsommardag
Today, we are celebrating Midsommars Eve and tomorrow is Midsommardag here in Sweden. As usual, Swedes celebrate the holiday on the eve before. It’s the longest day and shortest night of the year and Swedes come out to celebrate the summer solstice. Back in Viking times, it had to do with a fertility rite where Mother Nature was fertilized to bring forth a good harvest. Later, the holiday seems to have been combined with St. John’s Day, celebrating John the Baptist’s birthday (6 months before Jesus birth). There are many varied myths of magical powers surrounding the different customs of the day. Today, Swedes celebrate by dancing around the Maypole (mostly children) while singing old, traditional folk songs, sometimes dressing in national costumes. Flowers are an important part of the celebration and some girls make flower wreaths to wear in their hair. They eat fresh potatoes and pickled herring with crisp bread and beer, saving fresh strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. Below are some pictures from our Midsommar celebration!
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!!
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!
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!!
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.
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!!!
Bar-B-Q Luleå style
Northern Sweden has a unique season that they call spring-winter! It’s when there is still LOTS and LOTS of snow, but yet the sun shines bright and warm! During this season, it’s very popular to walk out on the ice road and have a nice bar-b-que. We didn’t want to miss this experience so we arranged for our small group to do this. It was soooooo fun!! Our group gathered our supplies – wood, lighting fluid, hot dogs, rolls, vegetables, chips, soda, etc. and started our walk of about a half hour. It was a very slushy walk as the snow and ice is beginning to melt from the warm sun. Once we arrived, we could see that it is definitely spring as the grill was standing in about 10 cm (4 inches) of water. We had such a great time of relaxing fun. I hope you enjoy the slideshow!
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!!!
The Martin's Blog 