Final Greetings from Holsby!

hey all!
well this will be my last blog entry from holsby brunn! Where did those two months go? I remember the first day here, when we played a few gget to know you type games and i was like what the heck, what am i doing here? Someone said how quick the next 8 weeks will go and i will like sure whatever, I just want home, but here i am now, 8 weeks later, last blog from Holsby and I wonder where in the world dit that time go? All in all I had an awesome time here. God taught me so much! Not sure how much I acutally learnt in the class room, but just living in dorm, living with people, day to day life and experiences. Travelling and all. it was great. God is Good. I think that as far as lectures go with information, It will come to me when i need it, or at least i hope it does! Life truely is the greatest teacher there is. Oh crazy meik! Life will be so boring without you (if you read this! who am i gonna bug?) here are a few things I will miss from here
The People- dont want to name names, but you guys are all awesome, thanks so much for everything! I have been truely blessed! God Bless!
The Atmosphere- again just living in dorm and the experience that was and is!
Knacke- or viking bread as we North Americans call it! So good! I ate so many!
Pancake thursday! Blue berry jam, strawberry jam and all that goodness!
GRANOLA! Umm yummy! Homemade cereal they have here, dont worry i got teh reciepe!
Andi saying *see you by lectures!*
guys pulling pranks on us girls an then us girls pulling pranks on ourselves tyring to get the guys back!
All the down time! wow did we have lots! but it ws soo good
Lying outside on the grass on blankets just chilling! same with the balcony and all. Oh i miss it already!
BRUNCH! so good, although only had it 2X
SWEDEN CHOCOLATE! Almost as good, if not better then germnay chocolate!
So that is what i will miss off the top of my head!

things I am looking forwward to having at home!
being at home for starters and seeing everyone and hugging mom and all
being able to go to the fridge whenever you are hungry!
fresh chocolate chips cookies and all that other yummy baking mom makes!
ok I iwll admit, i miss Tv at least a bit!
My own room and my bed and everything in it! Oh i miss that and my two pillows!
Ok thats it for now
take care all and mauybe se you in copenhagen and or berlin and then cya at hoem soon!

Pictures

just a few pics today to statisfy your souls! once again sorry they are all crazy if they are!

pics

So today is the last official day of the last lecture week of Hoslby, does that make sense? Lectures technically ended yesterdya but still. Today was good just a lot of lying around and just chatting and enjoying the sun! Good times, I also updated my ipod so its good to go now! Bout time! Anyways not much to report on, here are jsut a few pics from the last few days yet again enjoy and cya soon!

so i realize that that pics are all crazy but you get the idea! dont want to waste time moving them! enjoy

pictures from holsby

blue skies and two weeks left

Hey All!
Not sure why I added blue skies as a title as we havent been having that many blue skies, but oh well, it was the first thing that came to mind! So holsby, less then 2 weeks. This week we can say we are done next week, kind of weird. But I just realized I posted similar thoughts on going home last post, so ok, enough of that. As far as things that have been happening here lately, This last week once again went by super fast, and friday we basically bummed around after work day, i Helped in the kitchen it was adventure like normal. Saturday night we had a decades dance, where people dressed up in any decade they wanted to. It was interesting. Before you ask no i didnt dress up as those things are really my thing, but I sitll went to take pics and have lots of fun and it was lots of fun! Liek i said some of the costumes were crazy and fun and people played their characters really well! Good times. Like i Mentioned, i think the flu is stil going around, as a few more people rae sick today, so that sort of dampered it a bit, but over all i think it was a hit. Oh and the pic with me and peopel with pizza, that is my family group, minus two people. Its a good group, we went out for pizza at the local pizzeria this last friday and hung out, good times. The pole with the fence and all, I went for a walk the other day in a direction I havent walked yet and took pics, once again it was amazing what I found, it was really good minus the wind. Sunday night we had our last sunday evening worship. It was praise and worship and sharing and prayer. It was really good, good job justin. Its amazing hearing stories of how GOd has spoken to people this term. God is good and an evening like that proves it time and time again. All in all it was good, so yah enjoy the pics and email me sometime!
Cherish life!

Greetings

Greetings this fine saturday morning! Somewhat blue sky, light breeze, sun poking through, this and that, yah life is decent...oh wait, lets not forget to add flu bug (at least that is what we think) going around. Yah, in girls dorm alone there are around 5 or 6 people sick. There are also a few staff members that are sick as well. When it hit, it hit them. So if you could pray for health and recovery and that the rest of us, myseelf included DONT get sick, that would be awesome, as school is almost done and that would just really suck to end it that way with lots of people sick! Other then that, life is good. We got a group here again so there are once again a lot more people, so again hope they dont all get sick either. I would love to say the weather has been amazing, but it hasnt. Although its not bad at all, in fact i would rather have what we are having here versus it being so very hot at home! Speaking of which, like I said, two weeks from now, school is done, what a scary and crazy thought! That means i will soon be home. How am I feeling with that? humm not sure acutally. Since there is talk of lots of people leaving basically right after school for home, like the 26-28th, i want to go home then also, but on the other note, people are staying on as staff for some of the summer and I think that would eb so much fun and all! So a part of me really wants to stay, and another part really wants to go home. I am still looking forward to Copenhagen adn berlin though, that will be lots of fun! I cant wait to see a few people at home, but come a few days, i know I wil want to come back! IF only it would work to fly home for a day and fly back or someting! how sweet would that be? well I had my stint of adventure, I came and did and still am doign what i want to do and I am so glad i did! Does that make sense? I have Learnt so much about myself, other people, the world in general and God. I wouldnt change it for anything. Sure there are a few things had i known, done differently, but now i know for next time (cause there will be a next time when I Come to europe!) plus I can tell people if they ask! Again all in all its been fabulous and good thing that its not over yet! So until we meet again next month, keep praying, living and just enjoying life, cuase time really does go fast!
cherish it fully!

Spiritual Gifts

so this last week our lecturer talked on spiritual gifts and also on the church doctrine. GOing in I thought oh great, same things I always hear but acutally it was really good. I learnt a lot this week and I also think a lot of practical things. We talked alot on spiritual gifts and all and took a few "tests" to see what our gifts or passions where. I came out sort of with what i was expecting. kids are a passion, kids to youth age. Give me anything with that age group and yah good times. My spiritual gifts, as according to the test include Intercession (prayer), Faith and Mercy, those were the top 3. My personal style was half way between structured and unstructerd and then a bit more people person versus tasks and all. It was interesting and we went through now at the end what we all learnt from it or one thing that we really picked up out of the course. Lots of people want to head home now and get involved in their own churches. I think that that is so awesome. I for sure want to get more involoved in mine as well and yah continue with youth work and helping out where i can. One thing that we also talked about were elders and deacons and the roles they play. Personally when ever they would get talked about in church i would tone out, as to me it was just a list of names, now that i know what the bible says about theem, the respect is so much more They really do have a big job. Something else i also found interesting was that the bible never mentions a pastoral position so to speak just elders and deacons so did we make that up ourselves over time? Another thing that sort of jumped out is not only the qualifications of elders and deacons, but the fact that if there isnt someoen with a passion to lead a certain area, such as say adult SS or 3-5 years olds or someting, you would be better off calling it off verus throwing someone int ehre who doesnt want to be in there. The lecturer gave a few examples of when that happend and how that part was meaningless and fell apart. He then also gave a few examples on churches that did call somethings off, one callin off Sunday school, and how when someonew ith a passion for it started it back up it thrived and is still thriving. Interesting thought. So yah, thats my tid bit for the week. lLet me know what you think, leave a post, email or something and then aslo think about your spiritual gifts and passions and ask, Are you using them the way GOd wants you to? Think about it

pics

Just a few pics from the last few days an dall! Really weird weather, part of the day is sunny then its rainy and then cold and then sunny and all! So yah just a few pics! Enjoy and remember to cherish life!

greetings from oslo, oh no wait, HOLSBY!

Hey
So travel weekend came and went. Where did i go? Well if you didn't read the email i sent, I headed off to Oslo Norway with one other person. All in all it was good, although lets just put it this wway, Stockholm is better. If i were to come back, which i really hope to, I would take in stockholm and if anything, Northern Norway, not oslo again. It was good, it served its purpose for the weekend, but I wouldnt plan a trip around it. So the first few pics are from the 94 olympic ski jump. it was quite a sight to go all the way to the top and look down over the area and then also over Oslo and area. That was awesome. The stairs walking up were intense! Those athletes that climb them, wow would would ahve guessed!
We did that friday morning, took the T bane to it, sort of cool. The pic of me eating was at the Oslo hard rock cafe, very very good food! BLT roll sandwhich! The castle was awesome super awesome, for sure the best part of it for me! You know me and my castles! I wonder what it would have been like to live in that time, crazy i imagine. It over looked the harbour and I cant imagine people attacking it back when, why would you want to wreck something liek taht? The dueongon was super awesome as well, creepy but worth it. It would have sucked to have been a prisoner then though. The view was quite something. Kind of contridicting tho cuase on one side you had old, midevil times and then looked behind you and yoiu saw modern Oslo in the 21st century. Being in the castle walls was a whole new experience! A really good day with really good weather
Saturday was a bit drearier as fasr as weather goes. We took a boat tour of the harbour whioch was still amazing, but had it been sunny, it would have been waaay better! but again still amazing fun. The rest of the day, personally i feel was wasted as we just shoped. which was fine for the first few hours, but once you have been in on H&M (stuff right off the run way, only 2 stores of those in canada, thank goodness!) you have been in all of them. U know me, dont care for shopping no matter what country i am in! ok so thats it for pics for now, although i still ahve lots lots more! check iwth my mom if you want to see more pics!

Lord of the Rings, nature and Beauty

so i went for a walk this afternoon out to a place where i havent been yet and found this super cool little house, which also looks abadoned, seems like such a waste to just let them sit there and rot. There was also this little thing that reminded me straight out of LOTR. It was so cool, my brothers would be jealous! Its amazing how forgranted i take things liek that here already. I never would have known had i not gone out and looked. I was so tempted to just sit outside, which i did after, but it just shows that you must get up and go out to see new things. Once again, sweden is so amazing and beautiful and i would for sure recommend it! enjoy the pics and i am off to OSLO tomorrow! Pray for saftey please!
ok well pics are not working to upload here i will put some up when i can!

May 1, pagan rituals, and old buildings

Hey
Wow may first, look at that isnt that crazy! I can officailly say cya next month now! weird i know! Anyways here are some pics from a bonfire we went to last night. Apparently april 30 evening each year is some sort of pagan holiday wheere they welcome spring with a bon fire and all. SO we thought we would cehck it out just to have positive pressence there as well. So yah plus then today, may one, all shops were closed as it was a day for demonstrators and all. Some holiday or something. So here are a few pics from around and about. Oh and did i mention that there were also fireworks! I must say the fire works almost beat towns on July 1, how bad is that? Then, if i put them up, pics from this afternoon of me goofing off and taking pics of buildings i found on a little walk, sort of fun