No time to blog... I should be reading!

Yea, I should be reading right now!!! Like crazy! I am starting right after this post... I promise.... haha.

So, the last day of lectures was today and now I have 2 weeks of crazy studying ahead of me! Oh, how fun! I actually don't mind it that much. It's ok, and it needs to be done. I'll be very happy when it's over ofcourse! Especially now cause my friend Amy is comming Dec 15th! And she's staying for 3 whole weeks! Yeeehaaa! How much fun are we going to have?!?! O, I can't wait to see her.

Here's something I wanted to post for myself and for everyone else out there who feels a little stressed out or uneasy:

Matthew 6:34
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Isaiah 41:10
"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Thanksgiving!

Some of my friends are probably celebrating thanksgiving right now... So, I thought I'd post something along those lines.

Giving thanks. Do we do that enough? I know I don't! There are so many things to be thankful for each and every day! I need to start doing that more.... Cause when I do that I get this deep feeling of joy... I can see God's provision and care almost everywhere... I just need to stop and look around. Have you taken the time to do that?

So here's something that caught my eye:

Be thankful

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire.

If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something,

for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times.

During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,

because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,

because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes.

They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary,

because that means you've made a difference.

It's easy to be thankful for the good things.

A life rich of fulfillment comes to those who

are also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,

and they can become your blessings.

Unknown

I'd like to end this post by a great verse. It's the verse of the day at BibleGateway:

"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

Colossians 2:6-7

So that's my plan... to overflow with thankfulness! It's not always easy... but remember that we can be thankful for the good times AND the bad/hard... just like an Unknown wise person said!

Goofing off and being silly!!!

I think the first impression people get of me is that I'm a bit shy and serious... so this might surprise some people. Just take a look at some picks I posted :) I promise you'll laugh! My siblings and I like taking silly picks while goofing off! It is so fun!

Can you tell I'm having fun?!

We can make a difference!

This si actually something to go with my last post so if you didn't check out the slideshow, you should do that and then read this :)

We Can Make a Difference

We live in a dream
If we really think
Everything's alright

This world is in need
Crying out to be freed
We gotta shed some light

Teach the world to smile
And hear angels sing
Feel the breath of God
And the power it brings
It's time to come together, you and I
And share the love of Jesus Christ

CHORUS:
We can make a difference
We can make a change
We can make the world a better place
We can make a difference
We can make a change
We can make the sun shine through the rain
(Shine on through the rain)

Do you know a man
Who's needing a hand?
Don't ya walk on by

A sister in sad
Lost all that she had
We gotta take the time

Look around your world
It will testify
Some have empty hearts
Some have hungry eyes
God can heal the suffering through our hands
Find compassion, take a stand

CHORUS

Teach the world to smile
And hear angels sing
Feel the breath of God
And the power it brings
It's time to come together, you and I
And share the love of Jesus Christ

CHORUS

Let's not just go on with our lives as if it's none of our business. Let's not go back to our dream world where everything is fine, cause other people are living a nightmare! They are suffering and there IS something we can do. We can give...

money...
clothes and things we have too much of...
a helping hand...
time spent in prayer...

What are you going to do? Whatever you do, don't do nothing... DO SOMETHING!

Do you know the world we live in?

This is the world we live in!

It's worth looking at, so I say take a look right NOW! It touched me in a very special way... very eye-opening!

Christmas in a shoe-box!! Jól í skókassa!!

What a great project! I just got back from KFUM&K (YMCA&YWCA). I felt like I was in Santa's work shop!!! It was so fun. Huge tables full of toys, clothes, sweets and all kinds of things, people running back and forth with shoe boxes wrapped in Christmas wrappings while listening to Christmas music.

I was amazed at how much thought and care people had put into many of those gifts. This Christmas more than 3000 kids (that otherwise would get no Christmas present) will receive really nice presents. How great is that?!

Happy kids with their presents, Christmas 2004

Strange memory...

These last few days we've had a guest at our house. He and I used to be in the same grade in Ethiopia. We dug up some old videos and pictures and talked about old times... It's really great. We have tons of fun stories and great experiences from our time there.

One memory is kind of strange... We saw a videoclip where our parents were waiting for the school cars to come through the gates in Awasa for school-break. Watching it brought back memories of how it all felt. All us the students at the boarding school were driven to this town, Awasa where our parents picked us up. I was only 7 years old. We drove through the gates and a group of parents were waiting for us. The car doors opened but none of us ran out to our parents, we just slowly made our way out... strange? I don't know... maybe. The thing is that I was actually shy with my own parents and so were many of the other kids. My mom hugged me but I just looked down at the ground. I was happy to see my family but at the same time I was shy and didn't know how to react...

Anyways... I just thought that was an interesting memory.

Driving and listening to music...

So, today I was driving home from volleyball practice and I heard this song! I haven't heard it for years and I don't think I ever really listened to the lyrics before. Anywas, it is a great song and I wanted to share it with you!

I hear you say your heart is aching
You've got trouble in the making
And you ask if I'll be praying for you please
And in keeping with conviction
I'll say yes with good intentions
To pray later making mention of your needs
But since we have this moment here at heaven's door
We should start knocking now, what are we waiting for?

Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
For the Father above, He is listening with love
And He wants to answer us, so let us pray

So when we feel the Spirit moving
Prompting, prodding and behooving
There is no time to be losing, let us pray
Let the Father hear us saying
What we need to be conveying
Even while this song is playing, let us pray
And just because we say the word, "Amen"
It doesn't mean this conversationi needs to end

Let us pray, let us pray, everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
Let us pray without end and when we finish start again
Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray

Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence
As our prayers draw us near
To the One who knows our needs
Before we even call His name

Let us pray everywhere in every way
Every moment of the day, it is the right time
Let us pray without end and when we finish start again
Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray

(Steven Curtis Chapman)

There are a few sentences in this song that I just LOVE:

For the Father above, He is listening with love

And He wants to answer us, so let us pray

...

And just because we say the word, "Amen"

It doesn't mean this conversationi needs to end

...

Let us pray without end and when we finish start again

Like breathing out and breathing in, let us pray

...

Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence

As our prayers draw us near

To the One who knows our needs

Before we even call His name

Stuck in a snow storm!

Let me tell you what an adventurous weekend I had!

I went to Akureyri in North Iceland with to play 2 volleyball games with Þróttur (that's the team I play with). It takes 6 hours to drive there. Going there on Saturday was fine... it was a bit windy and snowy but not too bad. We played our games and won them. YEAH! The men's team was there too oand they also won their games! So great!

We hung out a bit and had a chance to get to know each other a little better. It was great fun. On Sunday we decided to drive home in the afternoon. The weather was a bit worse than on Saturday, but nothing to worrya bout.... When we were half way to Reykjavík the weather turned really bad. We could hardly see the car in front of us although it was only a few meters in front of us because it was snowing like crazy and it was extremely windy... we were caught in a storm!

So... driving was slow util everything stopped! Some truck had collided with two smaller cars way in front of us (I learned that from the news) and blocked the road in both directions! Some people decided to try to overtake the whole line of cars, and you can only guess what that meant... Double line of cars in the same direction! Only creating more problems!

We were stuck there in the storm with close to a 100 other cars for almost 6 hours! The ariconditioning stopped working after one hour! Brrr... it was freezing! We put on our coats, mittens and hats and got out our sleeping bags just to try and keep warm. Meanwhile 4 rescue teams were called out to help. They were there in 8 big jeeps and a snowtruck to rescue people out of cars that were stuck and to clear the road so people could drive back. Then after 6 hours of waiting the road back had been cleared enough for us to drive back to a small town where we stayed over night. What a day! (This made the front page of the newspapers on Sunday. Something like this hasn't happened the last 10 years!!! And ofcourse I got caught in that storm!)

I didn't get home until Monday night! A whole 24 hours later than planned. And driving back that day was pretty crazy. It was still stormy and we couldn't see far ahead... AND after an hour of driving there was a truck that blocked the road AGAIN! but we only had to wait for half an hour this time and we didn't have to turn back. When we got closer to Reykjavík another truck had tipped over ontop of a smaller volkswagen so the road was closed and we had to take another road to get to town. CRAZY! It's like we weren't meant to get to town or something! But I did get home at last! and in one piece! I'll tell you one thing though: I'm not fond of trucks at all!!!

So... yea... I missed out on some school and now I have even more school work to catch up on. Oh, well - I'll manage!