Last week we had Leif and Hanne Braathen from the north of Norway sharing their personal experiences with prayer. I must admit this week it was a bit hard for me to engage, for a few reasons. First of all, this week's teaching was in Norwegian (translated into English), which makes it a bit more difficult to pay attention as closely. Also, the teaching consisted mostly of stories, which are inspiring of course!, but they aren't quite as easy for me to follow for long periods of time. My structured personality loves numbered outlines and bullet-points :-). Finally, it's also tempting to disengage because we knew we only had 2 weeks left. It's easy to think the school is practically over and can be a challenge to continue to be as alert and involved. But I want to get everything God has for me at this school! Not just 10 of the 12 weeks :-). One very cool thing about the teaching is that Hanne is the mayor of her town in the north of Norway, and I am always inspired to hear the stories of how God is using people (particularly women) in positions of influence. Very near to my heart! :-) So it was neat to hear how she is blessing her community through both public service and prayer. Very cool woman.
But honestly, the highlight of the week for me was not in the teaching, but in the fun times spent outside of class. On Friday, Torstein (one of the IBC students) offered to take a few of us out on a boat trip to his parents' cabin on a nearby island. So we drove about a half hour to the dock and drove around the sea in the boat for a while before docking and walking to the cabin. It was a gorgeous day, and such a blessing to get away from the base and enjoy the outdoors. At the cabin, we had a small barbeque, jumped on the trampoline, played volleyball, and generally just had a relaxing time. It was beautiful! A great ending to week eleven!
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