just an update

Well, it's been entirely too long since I wrote anything, but there really has been quite a lot going on.

The post below this one, by the way, is indeed a recipe (in Swedish) for some really good bread that has been made for like zillions of years on the island where Niklas comes from. It is even named after the island, Dyrön. At some point I will translate the recipe into English. It is fun to bake homemade bread! And this bread in particular is really really good. Especially the Swedish way: with jelly and cheese!

Last night we had dinner with a wonderful man of God named Curt Levin. He has been called by God to kind of spearhead an organisation called Pioneer Missions, whose main task is to encourage the planting of new churches throughout Sweden, especially in those areas that have no living church. He encouraged me with his attitude toward serving the kingdom of God: we have to be perseverant in our obedience to God's word and the spreading of His kingdom, even if the fruit of our efforts isn't seen until long after we die! That is hard to deal with as humans--we want so much to see the fruits of our labors directly, or at least before we die. But God's timetable is different, and we won't always see what we have dreamed of before we go on to heaven. But that is another aspect of faith! Believing that what you KNOW God can do and wants to do WILL happen, even though you can't see any evidence of it!

I was also encouraged greatly the other day by talking to my friend Sarah Oyerinde. She reminded me of the importance of realizing that God welcomes and "can handle" all of the emotions that we bring before Him -- the important thing is to bring those emotions before Him! God wants to hear everything that is going on in our hearts, no matter what it is.