victory

i went to sleep last night. i woke up at 5am! Hallaluiah for sleeping through the night!

i just visited the DTS classroom and invited the students and staff to consider an area that they would love to be better equipped in. I have offered myself as a piano, vocal, violin, painting, dancing, drawing, theater, or sculpture teacher. I did some free private lessons like this last year and they were a HIT. I know that God has called me here to teach and to be active in the lives of the people at the base. i felt great about this meeting...and I sense that I am stepping into my calling once again. Halleluiah for hearing God's voice!

this weekend I will make cookies for the Polish family that lives up the street. I want an excuse to bless them and make a good contact. it's the best plans I have ever made on a weekend.

and by the way.....no one can ever say they had a hard distance relationship. Will and I always take the cake on that one. ha!!

wide-eyed nights

so I am going to bed at a decent time, but I am laying in my bed for hours upon hours with my eyes wide open. ever since I stepped off that bus from the train from the plane which was just one of 5 planes in two days, I have been exhausted. I just managed to conclude something about something today--three days later. I woke up at 1:30pm without the knowledge of where I was and a massive muscle ache in my shoulder on Tuesday. I showered and made my way to the office, leisurely of course. While there I was pleasantly reminded of how great the people at YWAM Skien are. They welcomed me with many hugs, 'glad you're back, we missed you!', and congratulations on the new boy! I could barely tell a story so I managed a smile. Missionaries are used to overwhelming times...they will wait for me to be ready to tell them more later. I opened my email to see 44 new! Guess how long that took me to read through? 5 hours!! I was so absent in every way.

as I slithered in bed i realized that there was this curious feeling in my skin. i somehow knew I would not sleep very well. i tossed and turned for hours. Finally after really sensing a presence of God and the small multitude of angels around me...I got up. I read, listened to some sermons, wrote in my journal, and prayed. I have been getting up between the hours of 2 and 6 every night. Doing just this. I believe I have found my purpose. I am an intercessor. I find joy in spending time in God's presence. Just being there.

it's like when I find my identity in this way I can just as well say no to other things that are in the way. it makes my choices very specific.

so I will be discovering this calling more. intercession in painting, worship, music, relationship, mentoring...and life!

any comments?

if I had a role model from the Bible that was not Jesus...it would be Mary of Bethany. She rocks!

worlds collide

California really marks the collision of many worlds. I am so honored to see of the destruction before my very eyes!!Fez & Jamie finally are reunited after a tragic international puppet separation

my man Denver meets my girl NorwayMicheala, Ragnhild, Irene & me...how we all met each other is more like a scribble on a page...not a circle, line, or arrow. It's amazing how God brings people together.

Will & I: I am so honored that he came to California to spend some time here at the conference and with me and the girls. This is a collision all on it's own.....now add it to the rest and you get overwhelmed quickly.

Of course! The Dodge truck and me. We met on the road from Sacramento to Redding. Never thought I would drive one of these babies--nice rental option that swallows gas like vitamins.


I will exit this state today.
I'll have a 3 minute goodbye to Will in the Denver Airport.
On to Omaha.
On to Norway.
On to rest.
What shall you do with me God....I'm all messed up now!

So....there's this boy....;)

So....there's this boy....;)

Meet Will StricklandMy boyfriend :)

We're in the wilderness in Northern California.... Whiskeytown to be exact.

The Sundial Bridge in Redding, California

Will is a worship leader for the YWAM base in Denver, Colorado. We are here in Redding, California to get some face time and go to a conference at Bethel Church. Its been an amazing time so far and we are both so excited about what God has for us while we are here.

shooting arrows

i am here in Orange City, IA. a week and a half ago I was in Oslo catching the fire with the base. It has been a crazy week coming to this point. we traveled, we talked, we planned, we hardly slept, we drove a car, we went to seven states in 24 hours, and we still have quite some to go. I personally am doing very well. There have been some moments though where I question my whole ministry. I question my integrity in the scheme of things. You know it is one thing to preach about spending time with God and finding our purpose for life...to glorify Him. It is another one to yearn so much in my heart to worship Him and sort of wonder how to make it happen. I do not want to live my life hypocritically. It seems one day I am looking to obey in my ever step and the result is active and outward. Other days I wish I was active and outward and I am only just thinking, pondering, analyzing my heart. Am I able to get OUT of this body. Am I able to live OUT of this heart? Am I able to reach OUT to a hungry world?

Yesterday was one of these days. I had spent two nights ago in my bed feeling my heart break for something. I have learned now in my walk with God that when I cry and weep it is not always for myself...or my own emotions. I have asked God to transform me to be like a barometer for him. My emotions, tears, anger, confusion....whatever can be a reflection of the spiritual temperature. This has been sometimes a hard concept to run on but overall God has been teaching me so much. Often the feelings I have are not just mine....but a collective feeling of the group I am in, the family, the city, the country even! It's about spiritual sensitivity. What is happening around me.....that I can not see? So as I was saying two nights ago I was just weeping with a broken heart. I couldn't explain it. I just asked God to speak to me. I felt this stirring inside. Finally after a half hour of soggy listening I fell asleep into a deep deep peace. When I awoke yesterday I was heavy with peace. Like I had soaked all night in the presence of God and he had embraced me. My broken heart had now turned strong. What an amazing experience! So as I met with people yesterday I was sharp and filled with the love of the Holy Spirit. Every conversation I had was like shooting arrows of truth deep into the heart. I can only imagine that the Lord prepares His children to be his messengers. I want to be so sensitive to the heart of God...so that when I meet His lost ones, His angry ones, His shame-filled ones, His shallow-hearted gossiping ones, His lonely ones, and His weary ones....I am as He. Shooting arrows of love.

I am tired. I need to be renewed again from a long day of archery. God is the everlasting. Without a revelation of who He is than I am still just a clanging cymbal. Lord! Give me more of your love!!!!

-erika

catching the fire

home again from a long week.

it seems as though i can not stay home long enough to have some consistency in my life. i find it a bit discouraging, however the moments I am away from home and discover something fantastically amazing about God there...i know I am walking in his providence. the only thing that is discouraging is the time I have to create good habits, good routines to keep my heart radiant. i believe that God is bigger than my routines so I just pray that I can be transformed in my mind so I can realize this bigness no matter where I go, how often, and for how long. as I prepare to leave Norway for the states I am overwhelmed. we came home last night from Oslo. i did three loads of laundry and think my sleepy roommates are ready for some home time.

perhaps many of you are under-informed---but i have entered into a very special relationship. i am happy to say that the pleasant friendship of this man of God has changed my world. you might wonder how it is to be in Norway----and is he in Norway? it is great to be in Norway and no he is not here. that is not why it is great....of course the Lord has answered my prayers from all corners of my heart. think about it like this....

once upon a time I prayed that I would find a kindred spirit friend to walk with----God answers
once upon, another time, I prayed that I would fall in love with Norway so my work here would be not in vain---God answers.

I just try to fathom how complicated it must be for Him....but it is not. He answers prayers just the timing of them are not always what we expect. so I love Norway and I have a kindred spirit in the form of a man named Will who lives in Denver. hmmm. I just keep thinking that God is good.

my time at the conference in oslo was great. there are some skeptical people that are walking around in my circles so I find it hard to express what I experienced....but that fear is not from God. So here in this context I will express! The Holy Spirit is a person and I have not been taught so much on it in my church history. I have to look beyond the things the church has taught me and try to grapple a bigger perspective. many people at this conference were connecting so powerfully with the Holy Spirit....I also want that connection. I want to know God! Just knowing God is also knowing the Holy Spirit! i think just becoming radical, and bold to take steps of faith that put my reputation, my heart, my future, my present, and my pride in danger are things that look more and more like Jesus. God is my protection and he has given me the angels of the heavens to gaurd me.....but if I never step out and live from the inside out...I will never see the Kingdom. So what does this mean? I believe it means taking practical steps of release from the busy world. I will never see the work of God's heart if I stay in the busy mindset. I am thinking of taking my team of girls (helga and maria) and just cancelling all our planned activities and just soak in the presence of God, read the Bible, paint, have time to talk with people, be filled up with that everlasting peace, interceed......and all of them done by getting our hearts clean and connected to the source. I find there is nothing else I would do. I begin to see that there are not so many people with this deep desire...and since I recognize it I must act on it. I am waiting for my hip to be healed as well. I want to dance for God. My hip hurts. So when you think about radical.....pray for that healing. I believe I have my healing!

this is much to swallow....as it is raw coming to you. do you have any comments or questions. I am up for talking about these things.

gonna go have a sabbath (I wish that was in the form of a SA-BATH...with bubbles and a rubber duckie!)

He in me,
Erika

Oslo

Hey all!

Greetings from the capitol city. I will be here from Monday until Saturday. It is the longest I have been in Oslo...and it's nice. I am staying with my staff friend Janelle (Canadian---quickly becoming Norwegian) and my DTS roommate Karen Amalie in thier sweet house. The reason I am here is because I was asked to play my violin for a conference called Catch the Fire. There is a ministry from Toronto that has seen revival for 15 years...they come and teach and preach and heal and all sorts of crazy things. I am playing in the band. Its wierd how God just puts me right in the middle of all the things I never knew anything about and get to see it. wow.

I also will be interviewed for www.lovsang.no it is a worship website. there is some interest in my story. I will let you know what comes of that and if you can get translation. Maybe my dad would do it. huh huh?

My roommate Ragnhild and I are coming to the states next week. It is a three week endeavor. We look forward to every minute of it. I hope to see some of you if it is possible. Just send a note!

gotta go catch the fire now!