Drum Roll Please....

Things have been quite on the blog, but not in life.  It seems to be moving faster than I can keep up sometimes.  We have had some big news brewing, but I haven't been able to share exactly what that is...until now.  I figure if my husband stated it on his FB page, it was time for me to announce it on the blog.

I so wish I was good at cliff hangers (Linny from PCS) but I'm not.  I do know that some of you out there will be very interested in this news, while others may think... is there a difference?

So barring any direct acts from God...which we do believe He is calling us to go...we are moving to another country!  In all counts this will be my 4th country to live in, Andreas' 3rd, Samuel's 3rd, and David's 3rd.  I am sure there are those of you out there that have lived in more, I would love to hear everyones count and where you have lived (that means 6 mths. or longer).

Since the Methodist church in Sweden is dissolving  merging with two other churches and Andreas' ordination is in the Methodist church we needed to move conferences.  Andreas' chose not to join the ''new'' church and God has confirmed that decision time and time again.  We are definitely not stuck in this denomination, however, at this point the conference change was the way to go.

So what country will we be moving to you ask....well let's just say it is a good thing I like snow.  We are headed North to Norway!

Yes, you read that right.  Now some of you know there is a love/hate relationship between the lovable Norwegians and the neighboring Swedes.  Norway belonged to Sweden until 1905 when they won their independence.  Now they are fiercely competitive and love to heckle each other whenever possible.  We have a good Norwegian friend, living in Atlanta now, and she once gave my husband a t-shirt with the Scandinavia map on it....except Sweden was missing!  That might give you a little taste of how this rivalry goes.  So it will definitely be interesting living there with a Swedish husband, but it is all done in good humor.

Andreas has been offered a church in Norway and we will visit them this weekend.  We would appreciate your prayers as we visit.  It is a time to talk to the people and find out what their  expectations are and let them know ours (this will also be the time we make our final decision).  We will get a chance to meet them and see the church on Sat. and worship with them on Sunday.  One of the families are hosting us on Sat. night.  We will also be looking at some possible places to live and finding out what the school situation is.

This has and is being committed to prayer and we are fully trusting that God has this under control.  Amazingly enough, I have had an uncanny peace about this whole transition since it came into site about 6 months to a year ago.  Now, this is not the normal me, so I can only assume the Lord has been preparing me for this for sometime now.  Sam is amazing us also with his excitement over the move.  He understands that he will miss his friends, and a new language (similar but not altogether the same) is on the horizon, but he is excited.  (the nice thing about owning our house in the woods is that we will spend summers here and get to maintain the friendships that we cherish here in Alingsås.)

I sure hope that I will be able to meet some of the readers that visit this site from Norway maybe now you will even come out of hiding and comment or join my blog.  Ia...now you must come and visit me and your beloved Bergen (no I am not going to be in Bergen).

Aaha...that brings me to another good question...where will we be.  We will be in a small town in the South of Norway called Mysen.  It is really small, but quaint (not much bigger than Wilmore, which is where I am from).  It is about 10 minutes from Askim, which is a little smaller than Alingsås, and an hours train ride from Oslo (which is where all my doctors appts. with the kidos will be).  We will also be about 3 hours from Gothenburg, so the kids will still get to see their farmor and farfar as often as possible.  (needless to say, Andreas is looking at cars that use very little gasoline).

So now you have read, please pray.  We really need to be lifted and keep our eyes on our Heavenly Father this whole time.  We could get bogged down in the little details and then it alls seems really scary.  In so many ways I am also excited.  This will be the place that I will venture back to work when David is 5 or 6.  I am praying that the Lord is preparing a place for me...doing what I love, working with orphans and adoption. This will also be the place where we will launch our family orphanage and school in Nepal...first visit set for February of 2013 (more on that in the coming months).

Life is charging full speed ahead...sometimes I am holding on with my feet flying behind me and sometimes I have my feet firmly set, but I need to remember it is not me that pushes this life ahead, but the ONE who has held me since my mother's womb.  Thank you Jesus that I do not have to do this alone!

Laurie