I feel that it’s time for an update on summer in Sweden….or rather…the lack thereof! Yes…the weather has not been on our side so far this year. (This picture was captured on a rare day!)
People keep on asking if we have been away this summer and the answer is…we haven’t. But don’t worry – we’re not too hard done by as we did head to the Austrian mountains and Salzburg in May for over two weeks and we’re heading back to the UK a couple of times in the Autumn.
We have been doing other things instead…more about that later.
In and amongst this, we have taken a couple of trips within Sweden; explored the town of Sundsvall (which is 4 hours north of Stockholm) and took a road trip to camp out in a bear hide…twice. (And although we didn’t see any bears, it was a great experience!) We’ll be heading back next year to try again for sure.
Our summer focus
Our real focus this summer has been (and still is) working on and finishing up our second full length album which is due for release this Autumn. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so excited about a release and I feel that this material is the best we have written to date!
For this release, we decided to do a Kickstarter campaign and in just 1 week, we have reached over 50% of our goal. A huge thank you to all who have joined with us in bringing this closer to reality.
What’s in it for you?
Ahhh…that age old question. The good news is…a lot!
If you choose to support us in in our crowdfunding campaign, you are not just donating. You can exchange your donation for a whole range of rewards, such as:
- Getting our music before anyone else (with exclusive bonus tracks!)
- An exclusive limited edition ‘Salt Of The Sound’ bamboo USB stick with all our music on!
- An exclusive ‘Salt of the Sound’ tote bag.
- In fact, there are 17 DIFFERENT REWARDS for you to choose from.
By backing us in this campaign, you will be supporting us as independent music artists and in our music ministry.
So…if you feel that you can spare just 90SEK, $10 or£6.60 or more (yes – the exchange rate is very much in your favour if you don’t live in Sweden at this time), you can get one of our great rewards and we will be eternally grateful to you!
Why kickstarter?
You can read and hear more about why we are doing this over on the kickstarter page and take a sneaky peak at the video below.
Thank you all for your continued support for our music ministry. Having you join with us means more than you know.
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:
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God will use you in ways you never thought possible if you let Him.
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So stay open to Him and His plan for your life.
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You are amazing. Dare to be…you!
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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!
Since my first Austria post, these days have been a real mix of taking it easy whilst also exploring our surroundings. With the weather largely being on our side for adventures beyond our chalet, we have been able to experience a side of nature unlike anything I have seen before; particularly on the Grossglockner Alpine Road
Thursday: Reputed to be one of the most scenic drives in Europe, The Grossglockner Alpine Road is named after the tallest mountain in Austria, Grossglockner(!), and the road itself is the highest mountain pass in the country. Nothing can prepare you for the steep climes and hairpin bends that dominate the route as you navigate your way through this ever-changing alpine scenery. Snow-covered peaks, frozen lakes, green hills laden with trees, zebra-like black and white facades of the mountain, clouds that form and disperse and then reform before disappearing entirely. Marmots (squirrel-like creatures) playing on the steep ravines that fall to the valleys below… the list just goes on. The only disappointing fact is that the pictures don’t fully represent that awe and wonder that this place possesses. Grandeur in its fullest form. And then there was us… a truly humbling experience.
Friday: Temperatures rose to the mid 20s today so we sat out in the sunshine…ignored the bugs, slowed down the pace and talked life…amongst other things! Grateful that we can experience these places together. We worked out that we have travelled to 27 countries together in the 7 and a half years of being us. So grateful that I can call this guy my husband and my best friend.
Saturday & Sunday: The rains came down this weekend…rather refreshing and beautiful at the same time. So we relaxed some more, walked, talked, barbecued, sampled various Austrian wines and planned our short trip to the world famous village of Hallstatt where we stayed overnight…
Monday: After a 2 hour drive, we still had most of the day to explore this sleepy town so, after checking in to our family-run Bed & Breakfast, we ventured up the funicular to the most fantastic viewpoint over Hallstatt. Here we also went on a fascinating tour of the world’s oldest salt mine. Dinner that evening consisted of salt-crusted trout from Lake Halstatt accompanied by incredible views.
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Experiencing the Salt Mine Train!
Tuesday: Ben was keen to experience sunrise over this sleepy town so we set our alarm for 5am and ventured out. Despite my longing to return to the warmth of my duvet, there is something so simple and beautiful about being surrounded by the dawn chorus – amid the sounds and smells of nature and nothing else. After breakfast, we headed to visit an ice cave which, when we entered, felt like another world.
In the midst of all of this, we have also been thinking, contemplating, praying and just being. We have seen the awesomeness of God through so many different faces of creation since being here. The news that God is working in and through us is something that we want to spread as far and wide as we can, so get your FREE DOWNLOAD of our new song ‘Dwell Among Us’ from Noisetrade (limited time only) and we would love it if you would share our music as Salt of the Sound too if you feel able. Have a listen below – we’d love to know your thoughts…
Anita x
This year, we decided May was the time to take a vacation. In fact, we’re getting pretty good at visiting places during low-season and avoiding the crowds…with Egypt, Gambia and Niagara Falls being just a few examples of us lucking out and holidaying during the low seasons in these places in recent times. This can be very beneficial when you want to visit spots that become a hub of tourist activity during peak season and especially when you want to visit areas of natural beauty and experience the tranquility of nature.
So this holiday is all about down time, rest and relaxation…and of course, venturing out to explore this incredible diverse landscape…but this holiday…we thought we would explore in a slow and stress-free kind of way. That was the plan anyway…
Saturday: We arrived early evening and got settled in to our chalet apartment set deep in the Austrian Alps.
Sunday: A walk seemed like a good option for today…10 miles and a steep hill walk later and we were finally back at the apartment and ready for a glass of wine!
Monday: I should probably have said that we hired a car from the airport on Saturday – no problems there. But then we left a light on inside the car which drained the battery completely over the course of two days. When push starting the car by rolling it down the 2 mile hill failed, we opted to knock on the door of a friendly local to see if he had jump leads and could help us. The first house had 3 cars parked in his driveway, a camper van and a tractor (even his kid had a motorised car that ran on a diesel engine) so we lucked out there and he obviously had the whole kit to get our car going…and we were soon on our way into the local town of Zell Am See…
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Tuesday: The weather is fairly changeable at this time of year so we jumped on board when the weather forecast suggested it would be the sunniest day of the week and drove 50 minutes to the base of the Krimml Waterfalls – the highest waterfall in Europe – and a pretty impressive site it was too. The only downside was that several times we thought we had reached the top, only to find more steep twists and turns inviting us to climb higher. That said, every part of the waterfall was just breath-taking and totally worth it!
Wednesday: Is today. And today is a day of rest for us. Partly by choice and partly due to the cloud that has enveloped us up here on the mountainside. With a well-stocked fridge, photos to edit, blogging to be done, Netflix and a nice bottle of Austrian wine at the ready… we have made our peace with the situation.
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All photos © 2015 Anita and Benjamin Tatlow.
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.
