Livet er skönt

That means Live is beautyfull - in Danish.
It's been just over a week since me and my family returned from our old Capital - Kopenhagen, from witch the king of Danmark ruled over us for many a years. Ofcourse Icelanders as beeing bread of rebellious people ended up getting our independence from Danmark in 1944 - but that still means that my parents were born under the Royal regime of Denmark.

As allways - our old Capital was great to visit, and to show Ketill and the kids all the adventures you can find there, was terriffic!!! One person made it specially wonderfull and made us feel at home - every single day. That was the the woman who really runs our hotel - even though she doesn't actually own it. Her name is Liv - and is a Norwigian jew, but has lived in Denmark for I don't know how many years. Her name truely fits her - as she is SO filled with live and humor. She is one of the persons who make the day better and brighter, just by beeing in it.
Liv has now "formally" adopted us as her family in Iceland, and hopefully she will come and visit one day!!!! I have seldom met a person so filled with live and the joy of living - she was a real inspiration to me - for she automatically reminded me of a proverb I once heard.... "When trouble hits you - remember all the things that didn't happen, it could have been so much worse!" She also made me think that this is the way the world should see us who are christians - full of live, the joy of living, love so easially spread to those around you and always seeing the bright side of everything. So she was - indeed - both an inspiration and a challenge to me!!! Without ever saying a word about my state of mind, she challenged my sometimes negative thoughts and feelings and made me think alot about how I should be, instead of focusing on where I am right now. So Liv - if you see this, hjertlig tak og hilsen fra resten af familien!!!!

But like I said - we had a wonderfull 10 days, bought half of Denmark and experienced all kinds of adventures. I guess it was specially adventurous for Róbert Örn, as he had never before even seen a train - let alone going on one. We went sailing on the old harbour - witch was wonderful, saw the lifeguards of the Queen exchange there shifts, spent a whole day in Tivoli (a kind of a carnival, with rollercosters, bumping cars, merry-go-rounds and just all kinds of everything. We also were furtunate enough to exsperience something VERY close to the flood of Noah, both Ketill and me got ourselves Tattoos, and all in all it was a great time.

Since I'll be leaving for the annual, national conference/camping of Pentecostals in Iceland in about an hour, I won't put any pictures in now... but promise to do so when I get back next week.
With love and a new perspective,
Ella Gitta.

Something to think about

Put yourself in the others footsteps

before you deny them a new pair of shoes!!!

Having a wierd time....

Yesterday we came home from a great summercamp (although we weren't camping) in Vestmannaeyjar - I did some interpeting there, and I think I did ok.

But my house has been some kind of a hospital the last 3 weeks with all of us running high fever and a bad case of the flue. So this month hasn't been the best we've had..... hmmm.

I've been trying to reap what I've been sowing,
but the wind keeps blowing,

ripping my harvest from my hand.
In the middle of summer it seems to be snowing,

every dart evel has at me has been throwing.
But I know the rock on witch I stand.

So if they're going to drown me, I'm going down swimming,

even if my lifeline is fastly thinning,

for I am determent to fight til the end.

Standing firm on the hope of a new beginning,

so try as you may - I'm fed up with sinning,

I'm sailing this boat into land.

So, Satan you can come and knock at my door,

you might even find me crying on the floor.

But even if it'll be the last thing I do,

my Hevenly passport I shove at your face,

slap you if I have to - till you flee this place.

for I see through your lies and know what is true!

At last let me tell you that though I'm now week and small

I will stand again, strong and tall.

And then I won't care what you'll bring up against me.

I tell you that somehow I WILL clime this wall,

even if at times I have to crawl.

And on that day, when I'm back on my feet- you're the one who's gonna run and flee.

Really gotta go sleep now, need to attend two meetings tomorrow and need to be sharp.
But I'd appreciate your prayer.
H&K,

Ella Gitta.

So far......

800+ poeple have visited this side - and none of them thinks!!!! Isn't that amazing?
I ask people to tell me what they think... and get ZERO comments; alas - nobody that visits my side thinks.... strange!

We've had a lousy few days - all of us have had the flue and fever in the 101+°F. On Sunday we celebrated our National day... in bed! Hrmmmfffp.
Yesterday my "twin"sister turned 45 but we couldn't go - we were all like ghosts. But we did do our best to celebrate the fact that yesterday we had lived in our new home for a whole year, amazingly enough. Boy how time flies.....

Don't have a whole lot to say - the financing for the CD is comming along pretty well; but it's summertime and half of "my people" are all over everywhere, so I really don't know when we'll be able to start recording. Ofcours Óli and Unnar are going to Cornerstone, playing on the biggest stage, and we might not even get them back :-D They're sure to make themselves famious over there.
We did fininsh recording the music in 3 of the songs, except for the base... so I hope we can take that to the studio sometimes soon.

This weekend there's a "Summer-retreat-conference-camp-something" in Vestmannaeyjar and we'll be going there on Friday - Monday. I'm supposed to interpet some, so that will be nice. Our little one isn't coming with us, since we figured Róbert Örn needs alittle time just alone with us - and I already miss her.... but she'll be with my mum so I don't have to worry at all.

Those of you that DO check in here - do me a favor and comment!!!! And please keep praying for our CD that all will be done according to HIS will - not my lack of patience. That it will happen in HIS timeline and not mine - for He sees so much further than I do, and knows what is best - both for me and for the CD. Please also pray for this book I'm supposed to be writing, well in away AM writing, that God will give me the right words at the right time.

Ketill will be going on summer vacation in 17 days, and counting.... and a week later we leave for Copenhagen. Really have to say, I can't wait to get away from the phone and all that stuff!!! What a relief that will be!!!
Well - that's all for now folks.
Lovya - atleast those of you who think.... I'm into thinkers.
H&K,
Ella Gitta,

Tell me what YOU thing!!

Which is better:
* To love and loose - or never to have loved?
* To start a journey and take the wrong turn, so you have to go back to make the right one - or
never to go anywhere?
* To hope and be dissappointed - or to have no hope at all?
* To try and fail - or not to try at all?
* To be a fool for awhile and ask - or be stupid forever and never know things?
* To desire and not get it - or never to desire anything?
* To gain a painful knowlegde - or to be oblivous?
* To go have the operations that's bound to cause some pain - or don't go and keep carrying the
disease?
* To meet a good friend, one that lives along way from you and you don't sea all that often and
then when you sepperate again miss him all the more - or just never sea him?
* To participate in life an fall every now and then - or to wait passivly for death'
* To strife through the hard times and concur them - or to just kinda avoid them as much as
you can and never concur it'
* To experience hard times and learn to be a victor - or to just go with the flow and never deal
with anything?

I bielieve that everything that means something in life has it's price - pain, effort, dissapointment, mistakes.... But the question remains - if it isn't worth it? Isn't it worth it to go through some pain, make a few mistakes - and learn from it, become a better person and a stronger character??? Isn't it better to live and FEEL it than not to really live at all????
Tell me what YOU thing!!!!
Please DO comment so I'll know somebody is reading this!!!
H&K,
I blow you a good night kiss.
LU,
Ella Gitta

A diary of ties

I was going through our walk-in-closet today and did something I haven't done in years. I took all of Ketils ties and sorted them out. It was the funniest thing I've done this week aleast.
It was like taking a crash course through our marrige..... Remembering when we bought this or that tie, or when somebody gave one to him... and how good the looked back then. Some don't look all that hip today - some even so unhip that if he desided to wear one, I'd tell him: ok, but you're going alone tonight honey.
I remember the first summer we were married - we were invited to a retirement seremony from the US Navy up on the old navybase... we had some friends there, since we had a small band that regularilly would play in this black gospel church (now that's a whole different story I have to tell you someday). Anyway one of our friend was retiring, and they invited us to attend. It was a very formal thing and you had to wear suits and all - and at that time Ketill didn't own a single suit. So he had to borrow one from somebody else. The trousers were like 4 inches to short - but it was a suit. We did go and buy him a tie - one of the many I went through today - and it looked so good on him. Looking at it today, I just burst out laughing... 'coz it is TERRIBLE, has like thousand colors in it and just.... well there just ain't no way to descripe it.
And on it went - working myself through time - "tied"up in time.
Funny how things can bring up all kinds of memories. So today, it feels like I've been reading the diary of our time together... some pages brought on laughter, some tears.... but it was good!!!
Sometimes you just have to let all those boiling feelings out. And going through your closet isn't such a bad idea - you get your closet all tidy and you get to refresh upon some, maybe long lost, memories.
I don't know why I'm sharing this with you, maybe just because it brought so many smiles to my face, that I wanted you to have one to.
But atleast you can say I've been VERY TIED UP today.
H&K
Ella Gitta.

Nostalgic

I just came in from a walk around my neighbourhood. There is actually sun and summer in Reykjavík today. The leaves on the trees hardly moved in the warm summerbreeze and all over people were mowing there lawns.
And so I was walking there on the pavements of my childhood. My grandma used to live like 20 m (60 ft) from where we live now - and I used to spend alot of time around here when I was growing up. Already back then I was a big thinker and (now I'm gonna steel some of Michael W. Smiths words)... often I'd think something like this;

The wind is moving.

But I am standing still.

A life of pages

Waiting to be filled

A heart thats hopeful

A head thats full of dreams

But this becoming

Is harder than it seems

Feels like I'm looking

for a reason

Roaming through the night to find

My place in this world - My place in this world

Not a lot to lean on

I need Your light to help me find

My place in this world My place in this world

If there are millions
Down on their knees

Among the many

Can you still hear me

Hear me asking

Where do I belong?

Is there a vision

That I can call my own?

Show me!!!

Anyway, I was listening to my friend Glenn Kaiser on my MP3 and this special feeling came over me... a long lost feeling actually. Not a cloud in sight, just a warm summers breeze - barely enough to keep me from melting down, and that incredible smell of freshly cut grass. Glenn was singing "No greater love"... and I though; how true!!!! HE laid it down so I could live and have peace and freedome.... extraordinary!!!!
It brought me back about 20 yrs. - to summers filled with innocence and peace. When everything was simple, and somehow this word keeps coming to me... innocence. Seems like such a long time since I've had peace, innocence, simplicity or freedome in my life. Back then the days were all about how many times you could go to the pool or where you'd take your bike today.
So there I was, walking through my childhood, in a way..... and as the sun created drops of swet on my forehead, and my nose was filled with my favorite smell of all (the one of freshly cut grass), I was, like I said brought back to a moment when I was about 10-12 yrs. old. Another sunny June-day, sun - innocence - my favorite smell - my friends - my bike - the swimming pool and peace!!!! I didn't really wanna go home - just wanted to keep walking, 'coz I truely felt I was in the precence of God - His healing presence. But I'm not 10 anymore so I had to go home and go pick up my kids from kindergarten.
Like I said, I lost my innocence along time ago, seems like I lost my peace and security along with it - but as I was listening to Glenn singing about this love that is greater than anything... I somehow got this thought that even though I can't go back to that time, there is a way to find peace, innocence and security again. The greatest love of all made a way for that to be possible. 'Coz there is power when I'm on my knees. Power to bring back all of those good things that I lost along the way - as I strayed stubbornly away from That Great Love. I can find my place in this world, and it doesn't have to be dark and bare - so that even holy angels do not dare.

I had a birthday 3 days ago - maybe that's part of my sentimentalies today. When you were 6-8-10-12 I don't know - birthdays were times to celebrate and party. Today, birthdays are no longer about the gifts, the 25 kids tearing your room apart or blowing out candles.... it's more like days of looking back and comparing your life from one year to another. Where am I today in comparison to where I was a year ago? In some ways this birhtday was a sad one for me - not that I didn't have visitors (actually I have more friends then I thought) or gifts or cakes... only thing different was that none of my guests tore anything apart in my house and I didn't have candles... but than there was one BIG difference.... it was my first birthday I didn't hear from my mum. She's in America (obviously buying me a very cool birthday gift ;-þ) and couldn't call. And even if you are 29 (ok, ok 31! - I'm still set on counting backwards from 30) you wanna have your mum there and you wanna hear her voice. Maybe because she was the biggest part of making my youth relativly secure.
As of where I am compared to last year - I honestly don't know. It seems to me that maybe I've grown a bit more serious, a bit less trusting, a bit more withdrawn. I could do with a bit more of seriousness - for I have always been the clowns of clowns hehehe! The rest I'm not sure about.... if it's good or bad that is.
But to get back to what I'm really writing about - is that on my little walk, with the sun, the smell, the children playing - I found peace flowing through me in away I haven't felt for......... wow I don't even remember. I've been so wrapped up in my music for the last month or so that I hadn't even really realised that it was summer already. But going out and see the old yellow friend, and just take alittle walk was SO good for me. I'm not sure how long it will last - but I think I'd like to just soke in it while it's here.... for I fear it will go sooner than I wish.

I'll leave you (If there are any of you out there reading this, to leave) with what's in my heart right now, another song - yeah I'm really into music....

I've always heard there is a land

Beyond the mortal dreams of man

Where every tear will be left behind

But it must be in another time

There'll be an everlasting light

Shining a purest holy white

And every fear will be erased

But it must be in another place

So, I'm waiting for another time and another place

Where all my hopes and dreams will be captured

With one look at Jesus' face

Oh, my heart's been burnin'

My soul keeps yearnin'

Sometimes I can't hardly wait

For that sweet, sweet someday

When I'll be swept away

To another time and another place

I've grown so tired of earthly things

They promise peace but furnish pain

All of life's sweetest joys combined

Could never match those in another time

And though I've put my trust in Christ

And felt His Spirit move in my life

I know it's truly just a taste

Of His glory in another place

And so, I'm waiting for another time and another place

Where all my hopes and dreams will be captured

With one look at Jesus' face

Oh, my heart's been burnin'

My soul keeps yearnin'

Sometimes I can't hardly wait

For that sweet, sweet someday

When I'll be swept away

To another time and another place

If you're out there let me know - comment!!!! SO I know I'm writing for someone.... coz if I'm not I'll concetrate on something else.
Over but surtainly not out.
Ella Gitta