Loving God, loving life and loving pople wherever you are

Church is definitely the best place to spend a Sunday!
I was in church twice today which was really awesome even though both churches were pretty different from each other. First I went with my au-pair family to St. Dionis, a church of about 60 people meeting in an old church building singing the same songs we sang in church when I was a kid. What I loved was that the worship was simple and just plain worship which ment I could focus on actually singing the words to God. The people were nice and the sermon was really good. It was about all the distractions we face in life today and how Satan uses them to steal our time away from the most important things in life like God, enjoying life and spending time with the people around us.

In the afternoon I went to meet up with my friend, Jadasa, who lived in Sweden five years ago but now lives in London. We went to Hillsong's Christmas show at the Dominion theatre. The place was packed! Outside the theatre was a huge queue all the way around the corner and when we got inside just about every single seat was taken! The Christmas show was brilliant! Great music, acting, singing and a really good message about the real reason we celebrate Christmas. The people were so welcoming and the whole atmosphere reminded me of my home church United. I'm looking forward to getting connected with people there and all thats happening. Afterwards we met up with Jadasa's sister, Gloria for a nice "fika" at Starbucks.

On the bus journey back it was raining, like you would expect it to in England, but London is a beautifal city just the same and I'm liking it more and more.

Christmas shopping chaos

Today was my first day off. Since I hardly know anyone in London and the few friends I have were busy today I decided to do some Christmas shopping by myself. So I went to Oxford street, probably the busiest place in the world to go shopping 2 weeks before Christmas. The streets were packed with people, singing elves, Santas,and even an odd storm trooper.

After some heavy shopping I rewarded myself with a M&S sandwich and a gingerbread latte... yummy but not as nice as sharing it with a friend. Walking around, looking at all the people, I wondered how friends are made. Could I just go up and start talking to any random person? I didn't try, instead I decided I will make loads of friends at Hillsong Church tomorrow. I look forward to spending Christmas with my relatives. A life without friends and family isn't much of a life I reckon.

Walking down the busy street with all my shopping bags my Primark paper bag couldn't take the pressure any longer and suddenly tore, scattering my things over the pavement. Embarrassing! But then again I hardly know anyone here. Trying to stay dignified I calmly picked it all up and kept walking.
Trafalgar square is one of my favorite places in London so far so I went there for a rest but the place was swarming with Santas! It seemed to be some great Santa reunion organized through facebook and wasn't the best place to relax. In the end I crammed all my shopping onto a bus and went back. Big cities are exciting but tiring and London is a BIG city.

 

My blog entries are pretty scarce I know, but I'm planning on getting better at blogging in my spare time.
I now live in London which is a funny thought as I just last week was living in Malmö. Life keeps moving on and changing with each new season different from the last.

Today is my second day as an au-pair and I'm learning more about how things work around the house and getting to know the family. They are all very helpful and friendly people and I love having my own room at the top of the house with a nice view of London's roof tops.

Its funny being back in England again, not having lived here for about nine years. The culture, food and way of life is pretty different from Sweden but I will soon get used to it. Some of the English expressions surprise me. Like at the airport on monday one lady was telling her friend she needed to "get Christmas knocked on the head this week". Saying that to a Swede would get you a very confused look.  

Having a break this afternoon I watched a few episodes of this year's Christmas calender to get in the Christmas mood. Its about a band of pick pocketers who steal rich people's Christmas presents. I'm not quite sure what the message is yet but it's cute and entertaining.
I have also started reading a book called "selling Olga" which is about human trafficking in Europe today. It really is a big problem and something I want to learn more about. The A21 Campaign is doing a great job in fighting it and I'm excited to hear that the family I'm living with also are involved in making a difference.

Well my break is just about over for now but I'll be back!

Goodmorning! Celebrating the first day of November with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. Why buy juice when you can simply squeeze an orange yourself and it tastes sooo good?

Usually I have this long list in my mind of what I want to get done each day but I've started to focus on a couple of things that are the most important and then plan them into my day. That way I can get stuff done without feeling bad over all the things I didn't have time to do. 
Oh no! The cat in the kitchen just pooed! Here we go again...

I'm reading this great book by Joyce Meyer called " How to succeed at being yourself" and right now I'm at the chapter about knowing the difference between your "who" and your "do". Its so easy to get caught thinking you are what you do and feeling pressured to do as much as everyone else seems to be doing but you have to start with getting your "who" right and simply being. I find that hard but understanding that makes life a lot more enjoyable. I'm worth a lot more to the world happy and healthy than burnt out and grumpy and so are you.
Today I'm meeting Mum, skyping with my hopefully to be au-pair family in London and babysitting this afternoon. Its gonna be a good day!

Hey everyone!
So I know its 4 o'clock in the morning but whats a girl to do when she wakes up with a sore throat and doesn't have the patience to wait until she falls asleep again? It was either get back to writing my blog or make an omelett I learnt on jammieoliver.com yesterday. Since I don't have any eggs, I made myself some lemon and honey tea and chose the first one. It was ages since I last blogged and I've forgotten my password but it seems to work anyway. Does that mean anyone can write on my blog without a password? Scary thought...

I'm sharing our small kitchen with Stacia, the crazy cat Jasmin is taking care of until she finds a new home for her. So maybe she's not crazy but being locked up in a small kitchen for two months does have its effect on people and cats and she wasn't quite normal to begin with. Anyway, anybody want Stacia? She is kind of cute I guess and the only reason she's kept in the kitchen is so she doesn't hang out with Jasmin's three other cats Therese, Stina and Lutzie.

Lutzie likes Jasmin the most, Stina likes me and Therese doesn't really like anyone, she just looks cute. Before you start thinking I'm a crazy cat lady, I'm not, they all belong to Jasmin. Jasmin is my old classmate, friend and current roomy. She's alot of fun! Last night she taught me a children's song called "don't put meatballs up your nose, Marcus". Maybe thats why I kept waking up...

I am back in Malmö which feels great even though it seems smaller and smaller each time I've been away. Its been fun meeting up with all the cool people I've missed hanging out with. Like my little sister, I'd forgotten how smart and funny she is! Another thing I've missed is cycling everywhere. My grandma has lent me her old bike and its the best bike ever which makes cycling much more fun! Thanks to the person who stole my old, slow bike. You just gotta enjoy the small things in life that make you happy.

Goodmorning!

Yesterday we all went to a barbeque party at a villa a bit outside the city. On the way we stopped at a shopping mall (I have totally forgotten how to say mall in British English) and had pancakes. The Russians make a really tasty pancake with mushrooms in!

Anyway, the sun came out, the food was great (except for the tomato juice which I can’t make myself like) and a lot of nice people from United St Petersburg were at the barbeque. Its funny, a few times I've gone up to people, shook hands and asked if they speak English. They often shake their heads and ask if I speak Russian which I don't. Then we stand looking at each other for a while, smiling a bit awkwardly. But I've found most people know a bit more English then they say and there are ways to have a conversation even if half the time one person has totally misunderstood what the other one is talking about. Somehow it’s not so much what you talk about but more the fact that you stick around trying to communicate and get to know someone.

Afterwards a group of us took the metro back. One guy was sitting next to a girl, reading a book from over her shoulder and I was trying to work out if he knew her or not. We decided he didn’t when Emelie explained that’s not the way Russians behave towards people they know. Walking back to the apartment at 10.30 pm the city was still light and alive with people. St Petersburg is a beautiful city.

Today is Sunday and United day. It’s also mother's day in Sweden and there is no-one quite like my mum. I can't meet her today but we have a skype date I don’t want to miss so cya! 

fuel for life

Its always cool to meet great people and see their everyday lives. I think its in everyday life when the spotlights are off that you notice who truly is a great person. Thats where great people are built.

I'm not into cars and don't get much about how they work but I have understood that they need some kind of fuel to run. What the tank is filled with affects what comes out into the air. I think its the same with us. We all have tanks that need to be filled with something for us to run. We decide what we fill our tanks with and that affects what comes out of our lives. Thats why its so important to spend time with God and let him be our fuel. His love is so pure and never runs dry. What goes in is what comes out.

I find it easy to get caught up with all sorts of other things that seem so important and urgent in life that I don't leave enough time to spend with God. Other things fill my tank and become my fuel but that quickly dries up. But I'm thinking, if we want to live lives full of God and be people who are like him then we cannot afford to let anything else take his place as the our first source of fuel.

A car doesn't need to be tanked for hours, it just takes a few minutes before the tank is filled again. In the same way its not about spending hours each day doing nothing but praying. Get out and live! I think its about putting God first and making it important to spend some quality time with him. Everything else somehow tends to fall into place.

Hey! I just started a blog, again. This time I'm hoping not to get my page closed down for some reason like last time. No idea why that happened. Feels kind of funny to be writing about my life for anyone to read but I'm sure I'll get used to it, even if noone reads it.

Today I'm in St Petersburg, Russia, been here a week now and getting into the routines. There are a few things to remember about St Petersburg; don't drink the water, don't smile at people on the subway and don't be too helpful - it could be a trap. Its a cool city that would take three hours to drive through with a mix of new, modern buildings, beautiful old churches and houses that are falling apart. Plus a lot of people, traffic and a few, small parks.

What in the world am I doing here? Well, my church United, which I have to say is the best church in the world, is going global and starting churches in other cities in the world. One of them is St Petersburg and I got the chance to stay a month with the family that is starting a church here. The four kids are great but get alot of homework which is what I help out with in the afternoons. In the morning I have time to be with God, read books, keep an eye on what's happening on facebook and write on my blog.

I think its great how things can change around us, the scenery, the people, the language but still God is exactly the same. He's a friend that knows me inside out and never leaves my side. I can't outgrow him because he is everywhere I go. Pretty cool!

Well, the sun is shining again today so I'm gonna go out and enjoy it. Cya!