I'm Engaged!

About 10 months ago, my friend Audrey told me she had a girl for me, so, knowing that she has plenty of quality friends and good taste, I decided to go out with this girl, even though she was several years younger than me, but am I glad I did!  

Katie and I have been dating for just under 10 months and I love her so, I figured it was just about time that I ask her to be my wife!  I wanted this ever important question to be extremely special, but I also didn't want to do anything TOO extravagant, or out of the ordinary, because I wanted the question to be a surprise when I asked her.  So, I thought, and thought, and eventually came up with an idea.  

I know that she loves the outdoors and she also likes to read, but I wasn't exactly sure how to combine those in a natural way.  I decided to make her a book with a cute, short, little story.  So, using my love of art, an old book and a few other crafty ideas that I found online (I'm not going to admit where I found them) 

I made a six page "pull down" book about a tree.  The story told of how the tree was sad and cold during the winter but loved the spring and summer as many people and animals came to enjoy it's branches and shade!  However, there was one day that stood out above the rest! ... I'll talk about more later on.  



Now it was finally time for the big day and I was excited!  I picked her up for dinner and we went to a fine establishment in North Minneapolis, called Victory 44 (if you haven't been there, you should go asap!).  The wait was a little longer than the hostess had told us it would be but it was ok because we got to spend the time together, talking and laughing. (although I secretly just wanted dinner to get over with so I could ask her to marry me and not have to worry about the ring in my pocket.)  We had a wonderful dinner and started our drive home to the southern suburbs.  As we were driving down Hiawatha Ave I brought up a conversation we had had the night before about Minnehaha Falls and whether or not there would be much ice, water, or anything for that matter, flowing over them.  (I had wanted to tie the Falls into this whole thing somehow since we both love Minneapolis, the outdoors, the parks, and also visited a few times over the past months and I also thought it would be memorable because she also attended Minnehaha Academy, so having Minnehaha Falls tied to us forever seemed nice!)  
Anyways... We decided to go to the Falls and see for ourselves, ya know, since we just happened to be nearby.  I told her how I only wished that the park's path lights would be on since it was getting close to 10:00 when the park closes, but as we got there, we saw the lights were on and we both excited to see the Falls, flowing or not, surrounded by the dusting of snow we'd had the day before.  We parked the car and I just had to grab something out of my trunk and tried to be all sneaky as I shoved a wrapped package under my jacket and tried to hold onto it with my left hand as we walked hand in hand through the park towards the Falls.  We got to the top of the Falls and the flood lights were shining bright over the area where water should have been pouring down, but instead we just saw the rocks beneath and heard a slight drip, drip, drip. (wa, waaaa) 

As we stood there in the cold, December night I told her that I had something for her.  I handed her the package and she started to open it, not really knowing what it was.  (She told me afterwards that she thought it might have been a ring, but then it was too heavy and she had no idea.)  She finished opening it and I told her how I'd made it for her and proceeded to read it together.  Now, you already know what was on the last page, but then she pulled down the "broken branches" and the story tells how the girl then made a young man's dreams come true! 


She then started shaking,she wasn't sure if it was from the cold or if the idea of my proposing had hit her.  As she finished the story, I closed the book, set it aside and got down on my knee and asked the question I'd been waiting to ask her since the very first time I met her (honestly! When I got home from our first date, I wrote on my calendar, "I'd say that tonight just could have been my last first date.").  Through blurry eyes, I finally got the words, "Katie, will you marry me?" to come shaking off of my lips as I found the proper finger to slide the ring onto.  She said, "YES!" 




She just kind of screamed, giggled, and jumped up and down for a while, and although I wanted her to stop screaming, ya know, since we were in a fairly dark park after 10:00, I just stood there laughing and giggling along with her!  It was everything I could have imagined, and more!  I CAN'T WAIT to spend the rest of my life with the girl who is truly the "Girl of My Dreams!" and I thank God every day that he brought her into my life!

To My Loyal Reader

Where to begin... hmmm, well, much has happened since my last post, so here it goes:

I met a girl named Katie in February (I know that was before my last post) and she is the most amazingly fantastic woman I have ever met and I fell in love with her rather quickly instantly!   

Here's one of a few pictures my friend Rachel took for us while we were visiting her and Joe this summer. 

In August, my roommate, Jeff, got married to a wonderful gal (who's also named Katie).  Since Jeff owned the house, Riley and I moved in with my amazing friends Brad & Tara.  I enjoyed landscaping again this past summer and am subbing again this school year in a few districts, and still enjoy the variety it brings. 

Well, I think that pretty much sums things up...for now. :) 

Oh, and for Halloween, Katie and Riley were Pirates and I was a Robot. 

It's March...again.

I was spending time with my family this past weekend and I was reminded that I haven't written a post in over a year, whoops. I also put two and two together and realized that since my sister pointed this fact out to me, she must be the one regular visitor I've been seeing in my monthly emails which update my site stats. So Jen, this post is for you! ;)

So, where to begin? This past year has been pretty eventful; I am a licensed teacher and have been subbing quite often in ISD623 in Roseville, MN. Almost all of my teaching has been in the same building and it is also in the same school in which I did my student teaching. Having a relationship with a single school is great because not only do I know most of the teachers, most of the kids know me as well, which makes being a sub SO much better/easier! Another exciting tidbit of info is that sometime in April, around the 16th, I'll be taking over a class of wonderful second graders as their teacher will be having a baby and leaving her class to me for the remainder of the school year!

While I'm very excited for the chance to be a long-term sub, I can't help but think of how I'll miss the times I've had enjoying the nice spring mornings outside with Riley the past few years. And speaking of Riley, she's doing great! She's seems to be turning a little more grey all the time but whenever there is ball around she definitely doesn't act like the soon to be eight year old "puppy" that she is.

... I know that more has happened this past year, but I can't think of much right now, so I'll end things here for now, but know that as I've been writing this I realized that I enjoy sharing parts of my life with the world, so I'll try to think of more life events and write again soon.

March

The sun is shining and the snow is melting. The wind is brisk, yet still refreshing. It is a perfect day for a walk. As much as I love winter and the fun that it brings, I might finally be ready for a change. It is, in fact, March 1st and spring is just around the corner, no matter how much I'd like for winter to stay a little longer. I am excited for things to begin growing once again. The first sign of plants sprouting up through the dirt is quite a sight to see, one that means there will soon be color all around.

I've begun to think of what I want to plant in my garden this year and have been getting excited to get things going, however, I soon put a halt to my excitement and remember that Jeff is planning on doing some changes to the house and garage, meaning that the back yard will be a big pile of dirt for most of the spring. It makes me sad to think that I won't have a garden this year; maybe I'll just have to plant in pots and place them around the front yard. If anyone wants to have a garden in their yard but don't want to take the time to tend to it, just let me know, I might be able to help.

happy valentine's day...i'm a student

yes, happy valentine's day. . .

As I sit in the kitchen, in the corner booth, the spot that i've been sitting in for many hours this weekend, I watched the clock strike 12:00 and my eyes instantly got heavy. (Disclaimer: all my typically amazing writing skills are gonna be missing tonight, because of sleepiness) I've been reading textbooks on grammar, literacy and mathematics and as boring as that stuff is, i've sort of enjoyed it (but my eyes are still tired). Now, its not quite the same type of enjoyment i get out of going to sleep at night, walking to get the mail, or even cleaning out the Roomba. It is a type of enjoyment that is hard to explain. Maybe the fact of the matter is that I am actually enjoying school and being a student again, even enjoying learning. For many people, this might be a normal thing, but for me, not so much. I don't think i've ever studied for 8 hrs in a month, let alone a single weekend, and if i didn't need sleep, i could keep going! I'm crazy!

But, anyways, school is underway and i am really enjoying it. my classmates are all great! very friendly and welcoming. One day last week we had to get into groups of 4 and find things that we all had in common. One of the groups said that they were "all younger than tim", which is true by a good 2 yrs.... oh wait... no, 7-9 yrs, i'm old. but it did get a good laugh out of the class and those sort of things help me feel a little more comfortable, since i don't, or didn't, know anyone. I am in a 3rd grade classroom every Tuesday and it is quite possibly the best 3rd grade classroom ever! my teacher is amazing in many ways, from the way she connects with each of the kids to how she organizes her day to how she relates to many of the parents. and the kids, the kids are practically little angels. They help each other when they need it, they behave when they should behave and they have also welcomed me in as one of their class. Last week i stayed after school to sit in on a few conferences. One family came in and my teacher introduced me to them. They said, "oh, we've heard about you. ... when 'our boy' gets home each day we have him share a high point and low point, YOU were his low point today. He said, "my low point is the fact that Mr. Olson is only in our class on Tuesdays." That made my day! Things like that really help you keep pluggin' along. well, off to bed so i can plug along tomorrow.

I've been home for a while

Well, little has happened since Thanksgiving. Let's see, where should I start?..... ok, here it goes.

The next morning was a brisk and lovely morning, I slept in a bit, until about 9:17, and after my breakfast, I walked my 9 minute walk to church. There was definitely a chill in the air and I knew that if I had been in Minnesota that a snowfall would be just around the corner. Ok, so maybe I won't be quite THAT detailed, when i told Jen that I was going to update my blog she said, "WAHOO!!! Good job! Is it going to be 5 pages long since it's been so long?" I said, "I hope not! I'm tired." So, you're going to get the shortened version on my last couple of months (don't be TOO excited)

My last month is Sweden was simply, wonderful! I couldn't have asked for a better experience. My host family couldn't have been more amazing, I still think about them all almost every day. As the month went on I was all of a sudden getting the questions, "are you getting excited to go home?", "what are you most looking forward to when you get home?", "are you going to come back soon?" and several other questions that I didn't really want to answer. I wasn't ready to go home yet, I was just getting comfortable, just getting to know people on a deeper level, making great friends and gaining family members. I really didn't want to think about those questions, but my answers where, "don't know if I'd use 'excited'.", seeing my dog & new nephew." and "hopefully." 3 months is NOT a long time to live somewhere and even after being home for over a month now, I often think about when the next opportunity will come for me to go back. I don't know what I miss the most, if it was all the walking I did, if it was the great bus system, if it was the church or if it was all the wonderful, kind people that helped make me feel more welcomed than I feel I deserved... maybe I miss it all equally, yep, I think that's it.

Anyways, Tuesday morning, December 22nd, Birgitta drove me to the airport and as we hugged, wished each other "Gud Jul" and then as I watched her drive away, it hit me that I was going home to be with my family for Christmas. I landed in Minneapolis and Jen, Jeff & Brad were at the gate waiting for me. It was really good to see all of them, even though I had practically just seen Jen ;) We got home and Mom & Dad were there to help welcome me back. We went inside and there was my baby! Riley hadn't forgotten about me, she was so excited she peed a little bit :) ... I think I might have too, but I don't remember the details, whatev. Brad, Jeff & I went out for dinner and had a good time. I was home and was ready for Christmas.

I went to Mom & Dad's on Christmas Eve and after dinner I fell asleep on the couch, since my internal clock thought it was about 4 in the morning. I was dreaming about Santa, or Reindeer, or Snow, or something when I was abruptly jostled by an adorable little 4 year old! Erika, JJ, Kaleb & new baby Alek had arrived and Kaleb needed to give his uncle a big hug, even though I was sleeping, it was the best way to be woken up! After a big, stronger than when I left, hug, I got to hold Alek for the first time after getting to just see him via Skype. He was/is ADORABLE! (and so much more real in person).

Ok, Christmas was great, New Years was fun. I'm pretty tired after a long weekend and should get to bed, because tomorrow morning I will be a full time student at Bethel University. yep, once semester of classes/practicum and one semester of student teaching and I will have my teaching license, which I will elaborate on later, but i MUST keep this under 5 pages.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am a few days late on this but i figured better late than never.
So, Wednesday the family got here, it was great to see their smiling faces as i met them at the airport and after we hugged we were off, and didn´t stop until they left at 4:30 on Sunday morn. We had Wednesday night and at 6:00am on Thursday we were on the train to Stockholm. We had really nice weather (well, sunny and a bit chilly) and enjoyed the day walking around and enjoying the city. We stopped for lunch at a little cafe and as my dad paid the bill the waiter wished him a Happy Thanksgiving! it was a nice reminder of the holiday that was being celebrated back home. We ended the day by getting back onto the train at about 8:00pm and got back to Göteborg at a little after 11:00, we were all very exhausted.
Friday started out with breakfast at my place. I drove the rental car over to get my parents from the Jannerlands, where they were staying. oh, and driving was pretty fun, i havent done that in 2 months! Aaron joined us for breakfast and we all had a nice relaxing start to the day. After breakfast we stopped by the church so i could show them where i have been working and they were also to meet a few of the folks i spend so much time with in the office. We toured Göteborg for the rest of the day and ended by going to Liseberg, which is decorated for Christmas this time of year.
Saturday we took a boat to the island Hönö and checked out a Christmas market that they have every year, it was quite nice. We ended the day with dinner at the Jannerlands house and then made Fiskebäcksbröd (Fiskebäcks = the town/area. bröd = bread.) At about 10:30 a few people started arriving for fika. more and more people kept coming and then a little before 11, Aaron and Stina came to celebrate the end of their "Aaron and Stina day" aka 6 month anniversary of dating. However it wasn't long before Aaron began to tell the story of the day and how he picked Stine up at 4:30 am and then took her to Venice, Italy for the day. while there, he proposed to her and she said, "yes". So the little fika that the Jannerlands thought they were having was actually a mini engagement party, it was a lot of fun!
The night ended around 12:30 and my family left after a few hours of sleep and went on their way to a day in Amsterdam.
I called them at 1:15am on Monday morning to make sure they got home ok and everything was good. I was exhausted and went to bed.
Good Times.

Timmer

Where am I?

Last night as Andrew and I were waiting at the bus stop I heard something coming down the street. Normally just hearing something coming would not catch my attention since there are many cars, buses and other vehicles here, however this sound was different. All of a sudden from around the corner I saw a 4-wheeler/atv (whatever you want to call it) ..zz....z......zzz........ ooh, i just fell asleep for 5 minutes, too bad since it is 11:00 am..... ok, umm..... where was i? .....aw, yes. Depending on where you live this might not be an abnormal sight, but when we were standing at a busstop in downtown Göteborg and the only street that went past us was an entrance ramp to the freeway, I was really surprised! What kind of place do I live in? 4-wheelers on the freeway!? now that is just a little crazy.

a couple pictures.

i added a few pictures to previous posts. if you are interested, here they are:
Small Group
Julstagan
Wednesday

The Fam is Coming

Today at 3:25 my family lands at the airport in Göteborg, Sweden. I am going to meet them and am pretty excited for it. I do wish that Erika, JJ, Kaleb & Alek could have come too, but i guess Mom, Dad & Jen will just have to do :)
Tonight we are having dinner at the Natanaelsson house and I am really hoping that the combination of losing 7 hours and having a full stomach doesnt cause anyone (my dad) to fall asleep at the table (actually, that would look kind of funny). It should be a great time, but hopefully not too late because tomorrow morning at 6:00am we are getting on the train to Stockholm and will be back in Göteborg at about 23:00 tomorrow night, good times.

Julstugan är här .... and gone, but it was fun.

Last night as I the church and turned on my iPod, I selected my "Christmas!!" playlist! Now, I usually don't start listening to Christmas music until December 1st because I don't want to be sick of hearing all the great songs before the big day actually arrives. However, I was told last week that "Julstugan" is kind of "the official start" for Christmas music to some people, and I have chosen to be one of those people. I LOVE Christmas music!
So, are you wondering what "Julstugan" is? well, the translation is "Christmas Cabin". Does that explain it for you? no? oh fine, me neither. Julstugan is actually a fund raiser for the youth group at the church. It is held every year and is a great time for the church and the community to come together in fellowship and fun. Throughout the church there are tables set up to sell items such as poinsettias, baked goods, hand knitted hats & mittens and other donated items. There are also many items that are raffled off, I was feeling very confident that I was going to win the Nintendo Wii with my one ticket since I was donating my time here, but then I saw that someone had purchased 10 tickets and I knew my chances of winning were very slim. I am still waiting for my phone to ring with the good news that I am the winner of a Wii, but I don't think it will happen. oh well. This event is very fun for everyone involved, but it is also very successful. This is the only fundraiser that the youth has each year, I think I heard someone say that last year they raised nearly $40,000 over the two days! yes, that is DOLLARS, not CROWNS, WOW! Hopefully they made the same this year.
I know you are probably just DYING to know what the first Christmas song that played on my iPod was, (it was a really good one and you should probably go check it out) "Come On! Let's Boogey to the Elf Dance!" by Sufjan Stevens. One of my favorite lines is: "Chestnuts and fire, holly and hay, Jesus and Mary, what a great day!" His Christmas album is simply wonderful!

Gud Jul!!
Timmer

Small Group

This past Thursday my small group met for the 2nd time. the week before we met at Anna-Maria's apt and had a great time enjoying fika and just getting to know one another. This week however Anna-Maria had to work, so she couldn't make it, but Johan, Iris and Abby came over to my place and we cooked Köttbullar (pronounced "schut-boola" = meatballs) together using a recipe that I was given and then translated, did you know that you can upload complete documents into "Google translate"! I didn't, until last Thursday :) it was fun, we had a good time and we able to spend some time going a little deeper as well. God is so good and it is great to see His hands moving and mixing things together, oh, i forgot to mention that there were also 4 countries represented last Thursday, Sweden, the UK, Germany and me. And now that i'm on the subject of multiple countries....
Last Sunday night, Nov 9th, we had a more contemplative service, a time of song and prayer. We sat on couch cushions on the main stage and were very relaxed. It was great to hear the sound of 20 or so voices echoing throughout the entire sanctuary, simply beautiful and kinda gave me the chills. At the end of each service we spend time in prayer. With the piano, we sing short prayer, then whoever wants can say a prayer, then we sing, then someone prays, then we sing, then someone prays, etc... do you get it? well, if you don't, i'm sorry, because it actually quite powerful. During this prayer, i still had my chills from earlier, but then those chills got chills because after a few "rounds" we had heard prayers in Swedish, English, German, and Chinese. It was so touching to hear prayers in so many languages, just plain cool!

Yep, anyways, things are still moving along and The Well is starting to get a good solid 'core' of folks that are here are a weekly basis. It's almost like we have a 5 week old child that is starting to walk.... or something like that.

keep praying!
T

The Land of Volvos

I think I once heard that 25% of cars on the road in Sweden are Volvos, this might be hard to believe, until you see it with your own eyes. Let's say you take a walk down any street, I will guarantee that soon there will be a Volvo past you, followed by another and then maybe even another. Yes, they are everywhere! There are a few good reasons, however, for this Volvo craziness:
#1. Volvo is a Swedish company.
#2: Volvo is based here in Gothenburg.

#2 brings me to my point for today. I went on a tour of the Volvo factory, Andrew and Johan were there too. It was a good time. we rode on what is called "The Blue Train", it is just a few small carts with seats that are pulled by a little golf cart type thing. We got to see almost the entire process of how a car is built, from seeing the rolls of metal being cut to seeing the cars be started for the first time. Now, I'm not that into cars or anything, but it was pretty cool. We went to fika afterward, good times.
After fika, I went to the Central Station, downtown, and bought 4 tickets to Stockholm. My parents and sister, Jen, are coming to Sweden on Nov 25th for a nice, short visit. On the 26th we are getting on a speed train at 6:00am and cruising across the country in 3 hours, by car it can take 6, to Stockholm. We will have a nice day of touring the capital city and then at 8:10pm, we'll get back on the train and head west, back to Gothenburg. I am very excited!

Wednesday was a nice day

Jan & Lynn are an older couple from the international church (Fisherscreek International Church) that I met at the retreat my first weekend here. Jan is from southern Sweden and is still learning English, but is very good, especially since he gets many private lessons. Lynn is from Wales and has been an English teacher at the University here in Gothenburg for several years. They are a funny couple, in a good way. They have been together about 4 years, I believe, and even though they have grown kids, they seem as if they are in their 20’s when they are near one another.

A few weeks ago I went to the Swedish church (Fiskebäcks Missionskyrka) and Jan was singing in the gospel choir. I got a chance to talk to him during fika afterwards and he asked me if I’d ever be up for getting lunch or going for a walk or something. I like to eat and I like to go for walks, so I said, “sure, that’d be great!” We exchanged phone numbers and planned to meet in about a week and a half.

He called me on Tuesday to make sure I was still able to meet and he said he’d call me tomorrow after lunch to tell me a specific time. He, and Lynn, picked my up right around noon. It wasn’t the nicest day, cloudy, a slight wind and about 5 degrees (upper 30’s) but we had a very nice time. First, they took me to the University’s Botanical Gardens. I was a little hesitant since so many of the leaves have fallen off of everything but I figured it would at least be a nice walk and there would be good conversation. The gardens were beautiful! There were still plenty of plants that had their leaves, some were very colorful, and there were quite a few flowers still going strong, but after about 45 minutes we were all starting to get a little too chilled.

We got back in the car and they were going to bring me to lunch at “the best place in town!” Jan likes to cook, and he is very good. Lynn likes to bake, and Jan has told me she is also very good, both are kind of “foodies”, so I figured when they say that we’re going to “the best place in town” it is going to be good. We got to a place called Gunnebo’s Slot, which was built by a English guy back in the day. He came to Sweden started two businesses: 1. a logging company and 2. a mining company. He did OK for himself. Anyways, they place now is pretty nice, there is a horse stable, and organic garden and a restaurant, which we ate at. The food was pretty good, “nothing to write home about” except that I am, but whatever. It would have been much better if the fish didn’t have so much mustard on it, very spicy mustard, woof! After we ate we enjoyed tea and dessert.

It was a great day but it wore me out. I was in bed by 8:00.

Sad Day.

Yesterday morning as I sat down to put on my socks I noticed something on my foot. There was actually something on both of my feet, it looked like a very faint letter “Z”. I instantly knew what it was; it was what is left of the tan line I got from wearing my Chaco sandals (everyone should have a pair) this past summer. It made me question if I had lost the rest of my tan, so I took my shirt off and went to stand in front of the mirror, what did I see? I saw white, a lot of white! My entire tan is officially gone. No more farmer’s tan from all my time out side under the sun this past summer, nothing. My hair, what hair I have, is showing less signs of the sun, it is getting darker every day and my beard is practically black; but that could be because of its length, who knows.

This morning’s weather report said the sun is to rise at 7:36 (am) and will set at 16:14 (4:14 pm) and that there will be 4 minutes 35 seconds less daylight tomorrow, 4.5 minutes less, in ONE DAY! Yikes! Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to enjoy the 8 hours that the sun is up, hiding behind the clouds.

Its official, summer is a distant memory.

Time Flies.. CONTINUED

So, I talked a lot about Halloween, but not so much about All Saints Day. Whoops, guess I just got in a reminiscent mood or something.

Saturday, October 31^st started out like any other typical Saturday….no, wait, it didn’t. I got up and went to church, on Saturday morning. **short detour** do any of you work in a church? How do you get used to the schedule? I am always so messed up as to what day it is. Typically we take Monday off, that throws me off for the whole week. But going to church on Saturday morning, that REALLY messes with the whole, “weekend/week” clock. Oof! **detour over** I was a little hesitant because I knew the service was going to be in Swedish, so I sent Aaron a text to see if he was going to be there and if he could translate for me, he was, good. The service was to remember those that passed away this past year, there were 5 members of the church that had died and each of their names were read and then put up on the screen. It was especially heart wrenching when Gustav, the pastor, came to the last name, Mrs. Fredrickson, because she had just recently passed away on October 25^th and her family was in the front row. Her husband, Sven-Erik, is an old, active guy that runs marathons and rides his bike everywhere, year round. He is about 85 years old, has white hair and thick black rimmed glasses, Aaron says, “he looks like Geppetto, from Pinocchio!”, and he does! but it was hard to see him hurting. I've gotten to know him just a little bit at a few Wednesday morning prayer meetings, and he is a very gentle and loving man, so to know that he is hurting, hurts. I think it was gave a sense of closure for his family at the service though, i saw some smiles afterwards as they were talking to people.

The rest of the day was pretty laid back, until 19:00 (7:00 pm) when the Jannerland's had a party at their house. now, i know you're probably thinking that this was a "Halloween" party, but you would be wrong. it was a party for "anyone that knows the Thompsons". If I haven't mentioned it, Aaron's parents were here for 2 weeks and it is their 4th time visiting, so they've gotten to know a few people in the area. It was a nice evening with dinner, laughter and even singing. there were around 30 people and was definitely a good time. I almost had forgotten about the all the parties that were about to start back home as i was getting home at around 1:00, but i got online to check my email and see if i could Skype with anyone (I'm usually on a few times per week sometime between 4pm & 6:30pm CST - Skype name: tim.olson6 - hint hint, wink wink) and ended up talking to my sister and parents and heard all about their plans for the night. good times!

**I'll post some pictures later**

Time Flies

I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t believe that I’ve been here this long, 5 weeks! Wow! Ok, I’ll probably only say something like that just 2 more times, sorry. Let’s see, what has gone down? ….

This past weekend was Halloween. Now, I know for many of you, this was just another day where kids come to your doorstep, ring the door bell and say “trick or treat!” You either acted scared because they had on a scary costume or your heart melted because they were so darn cute. Oh, and then you gave them loads of candy. Sounds like fun, and I’m sure it was. Last year was my first time handing out candy, and it was great. For those of you who didn’t read last years entry, "Best Costumes Ever!?..." I was a giant chicken. My favorite trick or treaters for the evening were silent as I opened the door, granted, I as I opened the door I abruptly squatted down and just stared out the 3 kids and their dad, or some sort of father figure. After about 30 seconds of silence the biggest one, probably too old to be asking for candy, and dressed like Jason (from Friday the 13^th?, I think) simply said, “whoa” and then the youngest one, dressed like Freddy (from Nightmare on Elm St) said, “trick or treat”. The 3^rd kid, dressed like a ware wolf, never said a word. Yep, it was great! One of the most non-scary costumes, a chicken, caused 3 of the scariest costumes to go speechless!

Ok, so anyways, this year, well Halloween isn’t that big here is Sweden, so no kids running door to door, no parties, too bad. However, they do celebrate All Saints Day which is considered to be the more Christian side of Halloween. It is a day to remember anyone who has passed away over he past year, more of a day of mourning.

Well, i learned more about both All Saints Day and Halloween than i knew before, very interesting what writing a blog teaches you :) I had a good costume planned for this year too, oh well, just have to make it for next year.

The ‘fugees!

Almost two weeks ago, Aaron & I went to the refugee center in Kållered. While we were there we met people that came to the country with very little warm clothing, if any warm clothes at all. We hung out with them in a small room, that IKEA donated furniture for (see attached photo) for a few hours having fika, drawing and sharing stories. When it was time to leave, a few young boys were going through the “hats & gloves” box trying to find something to wear on their little 6 year old hands, one of them left with men’s gloves that were just too big and the other left with bright pink, “piglet” mittens. Both boys did find gloves which is good because it was more than what either of them had, but they weren’t ideal. We have challenged our churches, Fiskebäcks Missionskyrcka and Fisherscreek International Church, to go through their closets and find warm clothes to donate. We were hoping to get enough clothes for one car load to the center, but after telling the congregation about this opportunity on Sunday, by Tuesday night we had enough clothes to fill about 3 Volvo station wagons!!! and more clothes are still coming; it is truly amazing at how much the people in this church are giving! I’m truly amazed!

One of our main goals with “The Well” (the service I’m here for, young adults) is to get people to “be the church, inside and outside of the church walls”. I think this is a great start and a good sign of what we are all capable of.

Keep praying!

Timmer

Already Wednesday!

I can’t believe that have already been here for one month! Wow, where does the time go? (…………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………… actual reflective pause as sit and I think about all that I’ve done this past month …………………………………………

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I guess I can believe that it has already been one month, I’ve done quite a bit of stuff…. and have drunk more coffee than I have in my entire life!

So, as I’ve been giving updates every so often you may have notice something has been missing. What did I come here for? I came to lead a small group. Why haven’t I written much about these, “small groups”? I’ve been here for 1/3 of my time and I haven’t really even mentioned them. WHOOPS! Just kidding, it has been on purpose. Over this past month there has been a lot of planning, because (I think I mentioned it, but if I haven’t) I am in charge of starting all the small groups, not just leading one. I was given a stack of books and a few prayers. Now, it isn’t as bad as I make it sound, Aaron and Sara are both very helpful and the whole time they’ve told me that if I don’t think I can handle it, to ask for help, and I have asked for their guidance on a few things here and there. …Anyways, we had a meeting 2 weeks ago and anyone who was interested in small groups was invited, we had about 10 of 20 who were able to make it and we actually got 3 groups started that night. We set a very relaxed schedule for the groups to meet. Each group decides when they meet and where. This will provide the flexibility that so many students need in order to participate in a small group.

My group, which I am not leading, is meeting tonight for the first time at Pizzeria Roberto’s, a little restaurant here in Fiskebäck that serves Italian food and Thai food, it’s a strange combo, but pretty darn delicious! I had a few guys get in contact with me this week that were interested in joining a group so tonight I think we will be 7 or 8 people, and hopefully be able to divide into 2 small groups, we’ll see.

Well, things are definitely moving in the right direction and it is very exciting to see more and more people wanting to be involved one way or another. Keep praying!

Timmer

I moved!

i know, i know, you are probably thinking, “what? Where did he move to? I thought he already moved to Sweden?” well, it is quite alright if you are thinking that, but here’s the deal; I moved out of Aarons small, one room stuga which I’ve been sharing with him for the past 2 weeks and into a house. A couple from the Swedish church, Thomas and Birgitta Natanaelsson, have graciously opened their home to me. My walk to church each day is great! It takes about 10 minutes and the path is paved they whole way. There are trees along most of it, but one section is open and goes past a new playground. Now, I don’t think I’d ever see this playground in the States, why? Well, because it is made of logs! The first time I saw it I just thought, “lawsuit waiting to happen!” Yep, they even have a spinning log that I’m sure was made for Lumber Jack training, it is amazing! Well anyways, my walk is nice. Monday night the three of us were having dinner and conversation at around 6, and before I knew it, we were finishing coffee at nearly 9:00. They are both extremely kind, warm and easy to talk to. They said they want me to feel at home while I’m here and I definitely do. They’ve even given me a bike to use, oh and I have my own entrance to the house too. It is great!