Lately more than ever, I feel like I have so many thoughts buzzing around in my head.
Ideas… goals… dreams… wonderings… questions…
So I am going to start on here in the hope that I will blog more regularly… to write… to record… to process… to engage…with myself mostly (as a way of organising my thoughts) but also the world around me.
We have lived in Stockholm, Sweden for almost two years and a lot has happened in this time: including big shifts in perspective and a major career change for both of us. But I still have questions… the main one being: What next?
A question that is tinged with excitement – yet lingers so very dauntingly as it reaches out into the unknown.
I feel that i should say at this point that we have no plans to not continue to be here… but I want to stay open to God’s plan for us, our lives, our music… and I truly believe that the question of ‘What next?’ is one to be embraced… and not to shy away from.
So over these mellandagarna (middle days in Sweden – the days between Christmas and New Year), this question is one i will ponder carefully…
And on that note, I will finish this train of thought with a quote that I came across recently:
“If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.”
– Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the current president of Liberia and the first female head of state in Africa:
So our Kickstarter campaign is well underway – thank you so much if you have already given to help make our new album a reality! How are we doing? Well, with 10 days to go, we need just under 10,000 Swedish kronor to be fully funded – that is roughly $1,100 or £720.
That’s right – we’re 65% of the way there! Here are a few ways we’d love for you to be a part of our new album, ‘Echoes Of Wonder’, which with your support, we plan to release at the end of October…
- Back the project on Kickstarter: how about a bamboo USB stick, an awesome tote bag, or a signed CD (amongst many exciting rewards)?
- Share our music or Kickstarter campaign with your friends
- Join with us on Facebook or Instagram as we continue on this musical journey together.
Doing this one-off fundraising campaign has been such an encouragement to us. Many generous and unexpected people have given to our music making, and we are SO grateful for all this support.
So thank you again.
With every blessing,
Anita x
Last week was somewhat bitter-sweet for me if I’m honest.
We took a group of youth from Immanuel International Church down to Holsby Brunn in Småland, in the south of Sweden for their annual summer camp. It was a time of laughter, worship, outdoor activities, big games, prayer, talking, thinking, eating…the list could go on. It was great to learn more about what is happening in the lives of these young people, and how God is at work – through the good and through many challenging situations they are facing.
So why bitter-sweet?
This camp marked the last big event where Ben and I would lead the youth in this way…and this was continually on my mind. While originally, we were only stepping into this role temporarily, the youth have had a huge impact on my life. (And I have learnt more from them than they probably have from me!) It is incredible to see how they are already growing into such great leaders & thinkers – I have no doubt of the many positive differences they will make to this world in years to come.
Why the change?
I feel that I should say (for my own processing as much as anything) that we love the youth of our church dearly and the reason for this change is not that we don’t want to be in their lives anymore. Rather…
- Now more than ever, we feel in a big way that God is calling us to music ministry (both as Salt of the Sound) and as worship leaders, and we feel a strong conviction to focus on that.
- Originally we were only filling in the youth position for a couple of months (which extended for various reasons) and now here we are… 15 months later.
- This is also in part because we have felt for a while that there is someone at this time who has a greater calling and gifting for the youth ministry of Immanuel International. (And if last week is anything to go by, she is going to be awesome at it!)
But to all the youth of summer camp…if you were ever to read this. This is what I would want you to know:
-
God will use you in ways you never thought possible if you let Him.
-
So stay open to Him and His plan for your life.
-
You are amazing. Dare to be…you!
—-
The Summer Camp centre we go to is part of Torchbearers International and is one of twenty-six Torchbearers Centres across the globe. They offer fantastic bible school programmes as well as great venues for retreats and conferences – if you haven’t heard of them, you should definitely check them out!
As part of this blog, I want to write about my experiences of living in a foreign country where the language is not my mother-tongue , and the lessons I am learning on this journey. This is one of those posts:
Understanding each other isn’t always easy – and when you bring different cultural perspectives into the mix, it can be all too easy to miss one another. Living as a foreigner in a country isn’t always easy. But I also see that living in a country that you have always lived in and seeing things change isn’t always easy accept… or at least – it’s not always easy to understand.
And that is the key here: understanding, or in far too many cases, misunderstanding.
I recently heard the question “How can we walk hand-in-hand when we don’t see eye-to-eye?”.
And since I heard it, it has been going round in my head. It’s made me think, question and consider. While they are not fully formed or easy answers, I have concluded:
- We’re not all going to agree with each other the whole time.
- We’re not going to even understand each other the whole time.
- And it would be near impossible for us all to instantaneously change our perspectives which have been nurtured from so many years of varied cultural, familial and external influences, and are based upon on such individual experiences.
But we can try to listen to each other, hear each other out and meet each other where we are.
Don’t misunderstand me(!) This is not me saying that in order for us to work together you need to come round to my way of thinking – it is me saying that we both need work together and walk together prayerfully – and to continually try to see the world from each other’s perspectives.
You with me and I with you.
In this way, we will be living out the Kingdom of God here on earth.
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. ” – 1 John 3:18
And I don’t write this because I am perfect – on the contrary – walking hand-in-hand takes two…and I am one half of that whole.
It’s been a while…it’s amazing how time gets away from you. I completely intended to blog over the last couple of months but it’s amazing how time just gets away from you. We had a great trip to New York for Thanksgiving, Niagara & even squeezed in a couple of days in Iceland (definitely my favourite country so far) on our way back home to Sweden.
Anyway, as with every year, 2014 was a year of ups and downs for us. All kinds of great things have happened: moving countries, running marathons, releasing 2 new EPS, starting new musical projects, making new connections…the list goes on. But we also had some sad losses this year, including the huge personal loss of my Grandpa.
I have become quite a thinker over the last few years…I ponder on life’s events a fair amount and as we approached the end of 2014, I began to think about how little we know at the start of a new year. This was the theme for my latest blog post over at Salt of the Sound which I would encourage you to take a peek at.
2015…Here we are! What will happen? We don’t fully know. Will it be a year of successes? Lessons? Or losses? They’ll probably all weave their way in there in some way, shape or form. But we need to be content with the not knowing…and trust that it is in good hands!
Gott Nytt År (Happy New Year) from Sweden! Let’s make 2015 count!
Anita x x x
-
-
Central Park, New York City
-
-
View from Rockerfeller Center, New York City
-
-
Aboard the Maid of the Mist, Niagara Falls, Canada
-
-
Niagara Falls
-
-
Enjoying Iceland
-
-
Iceland in the Snow
-
-
Iceland
PS: Photo credits go to my husband ©Ben Tatlow 2014. You can check out his Flickr page here
