Well, everyone is finally here. Yesterday and today have been pretty busy, hence my inability to write until now. The rest of the team from the U.S. came in yesterday morning and afternoon. We have 13 total people here now (including Darrell, Annette and Dylan). Ten of the crew are from Colorado, with the three outcasts (myself included) coming from Maine, Arizona and Massachusetts. Funny story about the girl from MA, Jenny - apparently she used to date a guy named Patrick Noonan a few years ago, and unfortunately once the relationship went south he couldn't quite grasp the fact that it was over. So, when she heard that a "Patrick Noonan" was going on the trip, her first thought was that her old boyfriend was stalking her all the way to Europe. I told her that my new goal for the summer was to restore the good name of Patrick Noonan to at least an average level of respectability. I've been pretty impressed with the team so far. I was concerned that with so many of the group already knowing each other before the trip that they might tend to be slightly cliquey, but so far that hasn't appeared to be the case. Time will tell.

Once everyone had arrived yesterday, we went down to the fish market to see the sights. I must admit that, generally speaking, while I'm overseas I'm slightly ashamed to be an American. We're loud, proud, cheap, and tend to stick out like a sore thumb, especially when in groups. Yesterday I was talking to a girl who was working at the fish market (most of the workers are from other European countries - she happened to be from Spain), and she said that the French and Italians often buy seafood, but never the Americans - they always try the free samples, but never buy anything. So true.

I've been struggling with some thoughts and motives that have been coming to the surface the last couple of days. I'm realizing that I like to be in charge, which is sort of a surprise - I always thought that I tended to shy away from responsibility. Perhaps a better way to put it is that I like to be needed - whether for information, directions, guidance, brute strength, or whatever. Yesterday I felt a little out of the loop on a couple of things, and I found myself growing real resentful real fast - thinking "hey, don't forget about me, I'm a leader too!" So stupid. I think I need to start examining my actions and motives more intently, to make sure I'm not purposefully withholding information or "power" from others just to feed my own selfish ego. This is all coming as sort of a surprise, as I've never really coveted being in a position of more responsibility or leadership before... I typically like to stay behind the scenes, do the grunt work and let other people take charge. Maybe it's because I feel more capable of leadership now than I have before that I find myself coveting greater power and responsibility, or maybe it's just because I feel entitled to something that was never proffered in the first place... it's human nature to want what we don't have, and to be discontent with what we do possess.

Last night, we joined the local Navs group for their end-of-the-year get-together. It was a good time of FFF (fun, food and fellowship), and it was good to see some people again who I had met last year. It was so great to worship together, share the Word together, and see and hear how God is working in lives all around the world. You can tell that their faith and their fellowship with each other is vitally important to them - they've poured themselves out for the sake of the Gospel and each other. So cool. The only downer was that we had been told that it was going to be a "grillfest," or a cookout, so we had visions of burgers and hot dogs dancing through our head... but apparently, the menu changed last minute to salad and bread. Very Norwegian, to be sure, but when you have meat on the mind it's hard to suddenly shift expectations and be content with a heaping bowl of pasta salad. Such is life.

Some of the guys (myself, Joshua, Lars, and Cody) are staying at Olav's house (bachelors unite!), while the girls (Cayley, Jenny, Lindsey and Kelsey) plus Adam and Renae are staying in the Elgin's basement (an awesome family that has long been involved with the Navs), and Darrell, Annette and Dylan are staying at another friend's house a short distance from the Elgins. This morning we all met up at the basement around 9, had some breakfast, and then headed out for a hike up Ulrikken, one of the 7 mountains which surround Bergen. We were going to hang out at the top for a while, but a swift-moving rainstorm changed that plan, so we started hiking down until the rain stopped. Then we took some time to reflect on the past year - what's happened, where we've been, how we got where we are today. I'm still processing that whole line of thought... perhaps I'll be able to to outline it better when (a) I have a better grasp on the whole subject myself, and (b) I have some time to think it through more thoroughly and then jot down some thoughts. I do know that I've sacrificed a lot to be here - but I'm so filled with joy that it feels lee like a sacrifice and more like an investment, since I appear to be getting the better end of the deal. Show me, Lord, where you've brought me. And when You're ready, lead me where I need to go.