Oops...

So, I have to boil my water, right? Well, sometimes its possible to forget that water is boiling away right in your very own kitchen, because, well, its quite quiet. Really it is, try it! As you have probably guessed by now, I forgot that I was boiling water last night. Oops! Suddenly, I heard the stove make some sort of noise and I remembered. "Shoot! I put water on to boil! How long ago was that? Shoot!"

Rushing into the kitchen, I walked into a sauna and was confronted with this lovely site. Steam had accumulated on the window and had converted my kitchen into a sauna.


Then, looking at my boiling water, I found none. Instead, I found this my recenlty new, but has now been 'gently used' pan. It was just shiny, bright and new a couple weeks ago!

I scrubbed the pot this morning and it looked better, but still smelled burnt. But, then I learned a secret at church this morning. If you boil some water and baking soda in the pot, it will take away the burnt smell and residue. Just don't forget that one is boiling water. I tried this this afternoon, and it seems to have worked. We'll see what happens when I actually use the pot with food!

Can I drink this?

 
Hmm, you thought I was living in the great northern paradise? Well, here's some news for you! Oslo's public water has been found to have giardia (which I've heard of) and cryptosporidium (no idea what this is)! For the next 2 weeks we have to either boil the water for 3 mns or buy bottled water. It was first reported on Wednesday, but the people who test the water first reported it last Friday. On Wednesday, most of the convenience stores sold out of their supply of bottled water, which was quite funny! Now, some stores have signs up that say "vi har vann" or we have water. Never thought I would see that sign, especially in Oslo.
 
Being as I have some sort of problem, ethical, environmental, monetary, not sure with buying bottled water, I've been boiling water like a fiend. And, you have to let the water cool after boiling before using it. This is the worst part, since it seems to take forever to cool. I can still shower, etc with the water, but when brusing teeth, making coffee, cooking pasta, etc. I use the boiled water. I've never realized how much water I use, and how precious it really it. The first day I was so thirsty because I hadn't boiled any water yet. Uff da!
I can now say I have lived in a place where I had to boil the water! Funny how all the people at our international training this summer, everyone laughed that I wouldn't need to know any of the safety precautions we were talking about. Little did they, or I know what was coming. Enjoy your water!

Home Life Pics

The frozen chosen are melting!

Oh how God works and the Spirit moves beyond our expectations! I got to preach yesterday in worship at ALC. I didn't get to actually start writing my sermon until Friday afternoon - one of those weeks, but had been thinking about it since Tuesday. It was on the 10 lepers who Jesus healed, with one going back to give thanks and praise to Jesus (luke 17:11-19).

Walking to church yesterday morning and even when walking up to the pulpit to preach, I was much calmer and more confident than I was a couple weeks ago when I first preached. Partly it was probably having preached here before, but I was also more confident in the sermon that had been prepared. I thought that the sermon was a little long, but that God had been active, and would be in the preaching event itself, etc. But, was also feeling quite humble that, well, here it it, lets see. We've worked hard on this one. What if its horrible! But, well, God has been active and God will take and do what needs to be done.

So, I'm preaching away. Didn't get bogged down in the middle as usual. And I get to the end, say amen. And some people somewhere near the front start clapping!! I am in Norway, home of the frozen chosen, they don't clap. It seemed like it came from a certain group of people, but I'm not sure. I don't know who started it. How weird. I was completely flabbergasted. The last part of the sermon had a bit of an emotional push to it, so maybe that was it, who knows. Wow, never thought people would clap after i've preached (maybe they were just clapping that i was done!!)

One of the women who's been around forever told me that she has been at ALC for 46 years and she's never heard anyone clap after a sermon. I'm thinking, oh no. What have I done. I have a whole year left here! I can't keep this up, whatever it was that happened yesterday. Guess that's God's job, i'll just be the instrument.

I do, though, now understand why our preaching professor says that he goes to bed after he preaches on Sunday, that he is drained. I got enough sleep on Saturday night, but was quite exhausted all day yesterday. When I got home I barely had enough energy to make lunch! Guess it took my whole body, spirit, and everything to get that sucker out!!

Oh, I used Green Day's song "Working Class Hero" in my sermon. The video of it is pretty good, used in relation to Amnesty Int'l Save Darfur Campaign. Check it out.

Working Class Hero Video.

Some people ask for my sermon's (mostly my mom and dad!). But, I don't want to post them since I never know what might happen to them and since I'm still in the process of ordination, I need to be careful. But, I will e-mail them out if you so desire, just let me know. But, as you read them, remember, as my preaching prof says, "a sermon is not just the words, but the preaching event itself!"

Have a great week! Today's my day off!

Wear your collar to work Week!

I wore my clerical collar to work today!! Oh my. It took me forever to get dressed because I wasn't sure what to do with myself. The last time I wore my collar was while I was doing CPE - student chaplaincy in a hospital. That was 2 summers ago!

Part of the problem is that clerical shirt companies still can't seem to figure out that women's bodies are different than mens! Hmmm, tough thought huh. I'm told that Women's Spirit now has a shirt that actually fits. The shirts I've ordered or bought in the past either have pleats down the front to make room for the part of the women's anatomy that men don't have or they're just bigger all over. At any rate, I always feel like the Vicar of Dibley (BBC show, also on PBS in the States, about a woman vicar in the UK). The other problem is that the shirts are also expensive.

I tend to wear a 'janie'. Maybe this is more than you want to know, but I thought I would share anyway! For you non-going to be a pastor types, or men pastors who don't have to deal with this. A 'janie' is like a dikie, but you can attach a clerical collar and wear it under a shirt. Since I tend to wear solid collar nice short sleeve or long sleeve shirts on most occasions, this works well. Plus, I don't feel like the Vicar of Dibly, but myself.

But, this morning, I tried to wear this 'janie' that I had gotten from someone, but it wouldn't work. The white collar part kept popping up and doing weird things. Eventually, I got my other janie to work, but uff da! All this for a collar.

Plus, there's the psychological struggle of putting on that collar. Everyone will know I'm a pastor!! What will they think, will people stop me on the street. How am I supposed to act? It was cold enough this morning, though, that I wore a scarf walking to work. This is why I'm wearing my collar for at least one week per month though, so that I can work through all these struggles, and to get more comfortable wearing my collar.

On my way home though, I had my scarf on, but was not so paranoid about my collar, but almost had a sense that people knew I had this thing on that identified me as a pastor.

If there is a textile designer out there though, could you work on the plastic collar part! It kind of sticks to your skin, and is not so comfortable. In a book i'm currently reading, one of the characters refers to clerical collars as dog collars. I have to say that at some points today, when I was physically uncomfortable with the collar, I had to agree with her assessment. Currently, my collar is being shaped into a more circular shape, so it hopefully will not try to form weird shapes while encircling my neck.

We'll see what tomorow brings! I meet with the youth in the evening. It will be interesting to hear their reactions.