It has taken me a while to put the last couple of weeks into words. A few weeks ago, right at the end of May, I had the opportunity to go to Norway for trip that lasted about 5 days. I play drums from time to time for a friend of mine that is a songwriter and worship leader. We actually went toØygospel. It's held on an island called Flekkerøy, just outside of Kristiansand. We had an incredible time last year. We were put up in Hotel Norge, right in the middle of downtown Kristiansand. Most of our time was spent walking around the city, hanging out in our hotel, or being at the festival. We only played one set last year, so we had a lot of down time.
This year, things were quite different. Instead of having us stay in a hotel in the city, we were put in the summerhouse of one of the families that helped with the festival. Not only did this change the environment that we were in, it changed the way that we interacted with that environment. Last year, it was easy for us to acknowledge where we were, but we felt like visitors. We would say, "I can't believe that we're in Norway right now!" However, we could easily stay in our hotel room and get on the internet and stay connected with everyone back in the States. This year, we didn't feel like visitors or tourists. We felt like guests, living on the island and enjoying everything that living on the island involves. Further, we didn't have any wifi in the house, so there was no temptation to "check out" of our surroundings by surfing the web or our favourite social media sites. We were immersed into the lifestyle, as much as we wanted to be. This time, there was no way to doubt where we were.
Here are a few photos of our temporary home (apologies for the scratchy lens on my phone):
Norway last year as well, for a festival called This year, things were quite different. Instead of having us stay in a hotel in the city, we were put in the summerhouse of one of the families that helped with the festival. Not only did this change the environment that we were in, it changed the way that we interacted with that environment. Last year, it was easy for us to acknowledge where we were, but we felt like visitors. We would say, "I can't believe that we're in Norway right now!" However, we could easily stay in our hotel room and get on the internet and stay connected with everyone back in the States. This year, we didn't feel like visitors or tourists. We felt like guests, living on the island and enjoying everything that living on the island involves. Further, we didn't have any wifi in the house, so there was no temptation to "check out" of our surroundings by surfing the web or our favourite social media sites. We were immersed into the lifestyle, as much as we wanted to be. This time, there was no way to doubt where we were.
Here are a few photos of our temporary home (apologies for the scratchy lens on my phone):
As you can see, our cabin was right on the water. We had no idea how great a place we would be staying in until we arrived. We were struck by the beauty of the place every moment we were there. It wasn't a huge cabin, but there was plenty of room for us to make ourselves at home.
The above was the view from the bedroom that I stayed in. Every morning, I was met with this view. It was incredible.
Here's the lounge room where we would have most of our meals. We ate a lot of sandwiches and drank a lot of coffee.
Here's Chris whipping up some fried eggs for breakfast.
Every morning after we ate breakfast, we would take our coffee out onto the dock. We did our best to converse with our neighbors as well, but we spent most of the time just staring out at the water.
This rowboat belonged to our hosts. We would take it out and try to go fishing, but we never caught anything other than weeds. Their house was behind the cabin up a the top of the hill. They would come down every once and a while to make sure we had everything we needed. They were indeed some of the nicest people that we were able to meet during our time there. Additionally, the neighbor that lived to our left, were related to our hosts. On one of our first afternoons there, we asked him where we should walk to, to do a little exploring. After he tried to tell us which road to walk down, he decided that he would just show us the way.
We walked for a few kilometers and he told us to follow this trail where we would eventually come up to some old WWII bunkers, and we would then find the sea.
We walked for a few kilometers and he told us to follow this trail where we would eventually come up to some old WWII bunkers, and we would then find the sea.
When we eventually reached our destination, we saw many people out enjoying the day. Here, there is a mother taking her son for a walk along the water.
One of the things that stuck out to me most while we were in Norway, is the people seem to be fully interested in where they are. You didn't see many people who were standing around looking down at their phones or tablets. The people that I noticed, were always taking an interest into what they were experiencing in that moment. I think it is easy to understand why! Aside from there being a cultural difference, the island of Flekkeroy is one of the most beautiful places in Norway (and one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been). Our "tour guide" said it best. He said we were staying in the most beautiful location in Southern Norway. The people there are very proud of their island. There wasn't anything else that I wanted to put my attention into. The thought of looking down at my phone seemed so pointless since I could be looking out at the sea. There was so much fulfillment in just BEING there, I didn't need anything else.
This is one of the biggest things that I have taken from there. Admittedly, before this trip, I would spend a lot of my time at home, thinking about being someplace else. I would be on Instagram or Pinterest, looking at people's pictures of the ocean, or someone's picture of their camping trip, or another person's picture of a walk through a European city. There isn't a single thing wrong with any of these; however, I was setting myself up to not get any sort of joy out of being where I am now. I wasn't living in the moment, or trying to get fulfillment out of my current life. I was always looking to the "someday". "Someday, I'll be able to travel more. Someday, I'll live near the ocean. Someday, I will have a boat." etc..
Although these are all things that I want to have in the future, I realized that there is much that I can enjoy right now. Even living in a land-locked state like Tennessee, I can enjoy myself and find fulfillment in the things that make up my life here.
Just yesterday, Nikki and I cleaned up our bikes and went for a ride with friends around our neighborhood. It's something we haven't done in almost two years! Sometimes, it is easy to become complacent with the life that we are in at the moment. There are feelings of feeling stuck, feelings that we aren't progressing towards anything, but I have found that if we live IN the moment, and put everything we have into it, we will eventually live our way into new circumstances. Instead of waiting for things to be different, we can live a life of fulfillment and experience things that enrich us now, which will then pull us into the future that we have dreamt of, without us trying to make something happen to get us there.
I know what you're thinking. "You got all this from a short trip to Norway?" Honestly, it opened a door to a side of things that I hadn't considered before. I could have come home and continued to live the way that I had been, always looking forward to what's next, rather than taking in everything from where I am now. It hasn't been easy. I still have moments where I wish that I could be somewhere else (especially back on that dock) but I am making an effort to be enriched by every day that I am living in this moment. I have decided to enjoy the now.
There are so many other things that I can say about how amazing our time was in Norway. I miss being there with each day that passes since we've come home. I look forward to the day that Nikki can go over with me. Here are a couple more moments that capture our time there:
One of the things that stuck out to me most while we were in Norway, is the people seem to be fully interested in where they are. You didn't see many people who were standing around looking down at their phones or tablets. The people that I noticed, were always taking an interest into what they were experiencing in that moment. I think it is easy to understand why! Aside from there being a cultural difference, the island of Flekkeroy is one of the most beautiful places in Norway (and one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been). Our "tour guide" said it best. He said we were staying in the most beautiful location in Southern Norway. The people there are very proud of their island. There wasn't anything else that I wanted to put my attention into. The thought of looking down at my phone seemed so pointless since I could be looking out at the sea. There was so much fulfillment in just BEING there, I didn't need anything else.
This is one of the biggest things that I have taken from there. Admittedly, before this trip, I would spend a lot of my time at home, thinking about being someplace else. I would be on Instagram or Pinterest, looking at people's pictures of the ocean, or someone's picture of their camping trip, or another person's picture of a walk through a European city. There isn't a single thing wrong with any of these; however, I was setting myself up to not get any sort of joy out of being where I am now. I wasn't living in the moment, or trying to get fulfillment out of my current life. I was always looking to the "someday". "Someday, I'll be able to travel more. Someday, I'll live near the ocean. Someday, I will have a boat." etc..
Although these are all things that I want to have in the future, I realized that there is much that I can enjoy right now. Even living in a land-locked state like Tennessee, I can enjoy myself and find fulfillment in the things that make up my life here.
Just yesterday, Nikki and I cleaned up our bikes and went for a ride with friends around our neighborhood. It's something we haven't done in almost two years! Sometimes, it is easy to become complacent with the life that we are in at the moment. There are feelings of feeling stuck, feelings that we aren't progressing towards anything, but I have found that if we live IN the moment, and put everything we have into it, we will eventually live our way into new circumstances. Instead of waiting for things to be different, we can live a life of fulfillment and experience things that enrich us now, which will then pull us into the future that we have dreamt of, without us trying to make something happen to get us there.
I know what you're thinking. "You got all this from a short trip to Norway?" Honestly, it opened a door to a side of things that I hadn't considered before. I could have come home and continued to live the way that I had been, always looking forward to what's next, rather than taking in everything from where I am now. It hasn't been easy. I still have moments where I wish that I could be somewhere else (especially back on that dock) but I am making an effort to be enriched by every day that I am living in this moment. I have decided to enjoy the now.
There are so many other things that I can say about how amazing our time was in Norway. I miss being there with each day that passes since we've come home. I look forward to the day that Nikki can go over with me. Here are a couple more moments that capture our time there:
These are some photos from our concert/worship set on our last night there.
Before we had our set, we took more walk around the island to catch the last sunset:
If you ever get a chance to go, don't think about it for another second. Get on the first flight, and head on over. I promise you won't regret it.