God's provision

This is a random photo that has nothing to do with the rest of the post. I just thought it was funny. Katherine wanted her bath hat on (keeps water from her eyes), grabbed her purse and diapers and went to the door saying, "Bye, Bye". This was with her pj top, no bottom and shoes already on. What a silly girl.

We have now been in Oslo for 3 weeks. It is hard to believe it has been that long already. I feel like we are all really well adjusted. Totally over jet lag, getting used to the different pace of life.

God has really blessed us in so many ways. I am especially thankful for the friends I have made so far. Today I realized that I have never really moved somewhere to start from scratch. When I went to college, there were a number of people I already knew from high school and church. When I moved back after college, there were a lot of people from A&M who went to my church so it was always easy.

This is really the first time I have moved somewhere and known NO ONE. I am amazed at how many people I have met in only three weeks. I am keeping busy and having fun getting together with people. In a lot of ways it is actually easier to meet people in a foreign country than if I were to move to another city in the US. Why? Because when in another country Americans gravitate to one another and will introduce themselves to a total stranger just because they are speaking English. That is how I met Jeannie yesterday. I hear her say one sentence in English to her kids. I stopped her and we had a 10 minute conversation. As it ends up, we were both planning to be at the same playgroup today. That is where I met Emily who is from Houston and Bente who is Norwegian but lived in College Station, Austin and Dallas so she has no accent and loves Texas.

Then we have been so blessed by our church here. We love that it is small so we were able to get to know people and be known quickly. They have done so much to welcome us to the church and to Oslo. It is very refreshing since we are used to a mega church where it would be a long time before we were noticed as a new face.

I am also thankful that God has blessed me with an extroverted personality so that I can easily start those conversations and make friends. Otherwise it would be a very lonely time. In some ways I am actually enjoying life here more than back home because I have no other responsibilities. Katherine and I are able to play during the day. I only have 700 square feet of apartment filled with 4 suitcases and 7 boxes so there is not much to clean. It is nice to have a more simple and less stressful life.