Moving abroad (Part 1)

People often ask me what it is like to live in a foreign country, far from family and friends.  I never really know how to answer the question, because a truly thorough response would require hours to formulate.  For the most part, I have always been one who is too busy living life to reflect on it fully. and generally our impressions of a larger life experience will always be compromised of the sum of everyday interactions and experiences.  In any case, this blog post is my attempt to partially answer that question.

Moving to a new country could maybe be described as a personal journey of discovery. To begin with, you have to figure out a lot of things, and preferably rather quickly. These include practical matters, such as how to open a bank account and obtain a personal identification number (without which it is pretty hard to accomplish almost anything else), how to pay your taxes, as well as where to buy certain items.  For example, I went looking for contact lens solution in the regular grocery store and then in the pharmacy, as that is where I would find it back home, and it took me a long time to discover that it is only sold in special eyeglass shops! 

I have done a lot of things in the past seven years that I probably would never have done if I had stayed in North America.  The first on that list would be speaking three languages almost daily.  People often ask me if I think in Swedish -- the truth is, I quite frequently pray in Swedish as well as dream in it!  In addition, I always said I would never, ever conduct a choir, and now I lead not one but two choirs, one of which I founded just last year.  Life takes you on unexpected adventures sometimes.

When I first moved to Helsinki, I braved my fears of new situations and set off to find a church on my own one Sunday. That involved entering a building full of strangers speaking a language I couldn't yet understand.  I am really glad I walked into that church, because I served there many years and have met some amazing people who are still close friends to this day!  In addition to churches, I have also attended parties, work functions, choir rehearsals and other musical events where I didn't know anyone in the beginning.  Most of the time, I end up having a lot of fun, but on occasion I have been at a function and spent most of it staring into my tea cup until I could safely leave.  Thankfully, that doesn't happen very often!

If I could perhaps sum up my experience though, it would be to say that moving abroad has given me the opportunity to trust the Lord in both small and larger areas of my life.  I prayed that if moving to Helsinki was His will, that He would take care of the practical things, such as money and housing.  My first couple of apartments were all unadvertised posts -- a friend of a friend or an acquaintance would get in touch and suddenly, I had a place to live.  When I finally found my own apartment and needed furniture, a good friend called to say she was relocating and wanted to know if I needed a couch, laundry machine, and kitchenware.  Suddenly, within minutes, I had a fully furnished apartment, complete with curtains and decorations.  However, God likes to go above and beyond the bare necessities -- I cannot even count the number of times someone has had an extra ticket to a concert or a musical, a fancy dinner, and even a boat cruise, and has thought to call me.  Faith is like a muscle and the more I have seen the Lord answer my prayers, the easier it becomes to trust Him in all areas of my life.  Moving halfway across the world, leaving the familiar behind, happened to be the perfect environment for Him to show me how much He truly loves me.  

The Jar of Tears

A few months ago I gave a devotion on fear at a local event.  We looked at 1 John 4:18 and how perfect love drives out fear.  We know that this perfect love only comes from the Father above and we know that He is always good, so we don't need to be afraid.

Sounds really simple, right?

If we know this about love, we don't need to be afraid.  However, sometimes life throws you a curve ball and fear creeps in.  A couple of months ago, I found myself feeling very guilty for being afraid.  I would cry myself to sleep and then feel horribly ashamed for having done so -- only to have this repeated a couple of nights later. Then I stumbled across Psalm 56.  The writer opens by saying, ¨Whenever I am afraid, I trust in You.¨  It is as if the Psalmist has gone through great agony, because in verse 8, he reminds us that our tears are collected in a bottle, and that the Lord keeps record of them.

Now that is a beautiful picture.  Reflect on it for a moment -- God loves us so much that even when we are afraid and unable to trust Him, He collects our tears.  It isn't just that He knows how many we have shed.  He collects them and walks with us in love until the day the tears cease, when we are with Him in heaven.

So the next time you are afraid and you find the tears threatening to overflow, remember that the Lord will help you drive out that fear with His perfect love.

The gift of music

Just before Christmas, I received a call from a young lady who was calling on behalf of her mother, who didn't speak English, but who wanted to give singing lessons to her husband as a Christmas gift.  Over the years, I have had several inquiries like this, usually via my website or through recommendations.  These kinds of requests literally make my day.  Often, the person inquiring about lessons will tell me how much their spouse loves to listen to and make music.  Each story of music's role in a person's life is different and beautiful, especially when told through someone else's eyes.

Let me let you in on a secret. I am really horrible at gift giving, mostly because most people I know are like me -- we all have too much stuff in our cupboards already.  In addition to music lessons, there are so many gifts that are very affordable and don't take up any room in our cupboards!  These include an encouraging card, a walk in the park, or a home-cooked meal.

Many of my students have young children at home and/or jobs requiring them to travel, and I always admire their dedication to something that is in most cases, ¨just a hobby.¨  Even more so, I admire their spouse's generosity in not only giving lessons as a gift, but providing space and time for the learning to happen.  And perhaps that is the greatest gift of all -- encouraging another to pursue the things that are most closest to their heart.

If you are interested in singing lessons, feel free to check out:  www.singinglessonshelsinki.wordpress.com.

What does God think about me?

     I am so thankful it is Friday night because this has been such a long week! Sometimes we get very focused on how well we perform.  However, I am not talking about music here -- there are so many ways in which we might feel we don't measure up -- in our relationships, how effective we are at work, how many times we went to the gym during the week, how much we are able to serve at church... and the list goes on.

     We know that in Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus encourages us to give Him our burdens and that He will give us rest.  Maybe you are like me though, and you reflect over your week and the things you should have done better, or you wonder how you can possibly rest when you have a long to-do list waiting?  Procrastinating surely will not help and feelings of guilt actually suck up a lot of our energy.  I would like to propose another kind of rest that comes from truly understanding the heart of God and how much we are loved and cherished.

     You see, when we truly grasp the very nature of God and that He is crazy about us, we don't need to worry about what other people think.  In addition, we can lay those difficult conversations, unanswered e-mails, our financial decisions, our latest work-out plan, and even our insecurities before Him, because I can assure you, God sees past those things into our heart.  His love is not dependent upon our performance, or lack thereof.  His love is unconditional and unmerited.  

     My weekend is looking a bit busy (a rehearsal, three church services, a major document deadline and an overflowing laundry basket!), but I am hanging on to God's truth about me, His unending grace and am confidently trusting that it will be a blessed (and even restful!) weekend.

¨Confidence and courage are a product of knowing who God is and what He thinks about you.¨  Terry Hoggard.

The Purple Heart

Several months ago, I had a group of friends over at my place and a lively discussion arose centered on -- of all things -- heart emojis.  One young lady revealed that she uses yellow hearts for acquaintances or friends she doesn't know very well, while another said she reserves red for very close relationships and special messages.  In addition, the consensus was that green and blue hearts could also be included when wanting to communicate general affection, but the group unanimously agreed that purple hearts often convey a negative meaning, so they avoided purple.

All except me, of course.

It is no small secret that my favourite colour is purple.  I own a relatively large amount of purple clothing and accessories and just today, I was caught writing in my diary in purple ink.

Immediately, the room erupts into laughter, as everyone realizes that I have, in all probability, sent a lot of purple hearts to people whom I care deeply about.  As the discussion continued, we came to a very fundamental conclusion -- communication must take into account the recipient.  No matter how great a communicator you are, understanding your audience is crucial to getting your message heard.  In order to effectively reach out to someone, we need to know their heart, and be aware that their love language could very well be different from our own.

In my world, purple is the colour of royalty! 💜