Connecting people

To be somebody is being in the business
Of connecting people and
Allowing yourself to be connected to people
- Constantly reaching out to others
- Constantly breaking down barriers
- Constantly jumping over walls
- Constantly removing borders
Receiving and giving spiritual insight
Leaving comments and responding to e-mails
Talking on the phone and sending SMS messages
Touching, hugging and kissing
As you generously encourage others
Blessing them with your big smile
Accepting them for what they are
Receiving them into your heart
Lifting them up to God in prayer
Allowing God to speak to you
Through those who are different from you

Great people have the capacity
Of being joined in heart with a diversity of people
Each time they enter a covenant relationship
By the uniting Spirit of God
Their capacity for connecting with others is being enlarged

View Solveig's blog and My new blog

Having strong convictions

To be somebody is having strong convictions
Being firmly rootedIn your historic setting
Being secure and committed
To the traditions of your forefathers
And yet be able to meet
New schools of thought
Foreign cultures
Different peoples
Young styles of music
Up to date technology
Modern methods
And strange practices
With an open mind
And a willingness to understand

View Solveig's blog and My new blog

Telling your own story

To be somebody is tell your own story
To share your own life with others
Trying to communicate hope, faith and love
That comes from your convictions
And your compassionate heart
That the best thing in life
Is to be like you
Completely dependent on God
Fully alive and aware of his presence
Totally abandoned to his grace
Free to enjoy his marvellous acts of kindness!

View Solveig's blog and My new blog

Having a dream

Having a dream
To be somebody is having a dream
That consumes you like a fire
Giving you no rest but
Motivating you to make great sacrifices
Preparing you for bold initiativesS
tirring you to adventurous living
As you are pursuing your dream with joyful hope

To be somebody is having great dreams
Not only for yourself and your own people
But having dreams on behalf of the underprivileged,
And having dreams for your affluent society
Or the many suffering groups in the world

When you are dreaming great dreams
Of a changed society and a better world
You will lay down your life as a seed of hope
As a fruit everyone will see
That you are really somebody
For you are not living for yourself

View Solveig's blog and My new blog

Unique strawberries

Unique strawberries
To be somebody
Is to marvel at the biological facts
Of the spring fruit strawberries
For strawberries are unique
- Not only in taste and beauty
But in their very construction
It is the only fruit with seeds on the outside skin
Birds and people indulge themselves
With this unique and delicate fruit
The birds become the source of spreading the seeds
Thus ensuring that we will always have the fruit to enjoy
People cultivate and grow strawberries
Some to make a living
And others to help people enjoy life
 
To be somebody is to marvel
At the simple facts of life
Giving thanks to God for the details of nature
As we worship him who keeps us alive
In mysterious and artistic ways
View Solveig's blog and My new blog

Creating my first poetic blog

To be somebody
is to take small and big jumps
into the unknown territory
safely walking in faith
confidently trusting the Beginning and the End
to guide and carry me
through the deep waters
over the high mountains of human limitations
to soar to new horizons
to lay down and dream in a lush meadow
to create my first blog



View Solveig's blog and My new blog

Covenant keeper

The issue of covenant was forced on me awhile ago. A quite young man sat in front of me asking important questions about his covenant obligation. His marriage had been broken up. His wife had left him appealing for divorce. "If I can't have her back, do I still have covenant obligations to fulfill towards her"? That was the big question, - with many far reaching implications. In a situation like this there is no easy answers, but spiritual laws to follow to work out solutions in life. After he left me these words were born in me:

To be somebody
is to be a covenant keeper
to remain faithful to your promises
to stay loyal to your words
to honour your commitments
in the middle of betrayal and disappointments
It is to persevere in faith, hope and love
allowing nothing to destroy your integrity
but allowing kindness to abound
in spite of hurting circumstances

To be somebody
is to overcome the desire for revenge
to refuse to hit back with the same cruelty that you have been hit
It is to forgive and forget
but also to hold responsible
and bring the offending partner to justice
when the measure of iniquity is full
and showing mercy in judgment
remembering that the way you treat others you will be treated yourself

Stawberries

To be somebody
is to see the mystery of God
in Norwegian strawberies
They look like rubies
but taste like candy from heaven.
They bring heavenly pleasures
revitalising the body
refreshing all sensuality
filling my heart with praise
causing me to bow down in worship
and spring for joy
for life is wonderful

The face of an old person

To be somebody
Is to look at the face of an old person
And see the beauty of God.
The soft lines of wrinkles look like
A piece of classic art work
The hardships of life
Have left their beautiful marks
The scars and the folds
Seem to be engrafted
By a great artist
The face of an old believer
Carries the dignity of a sacred life
That dignity of faith, hope and love
Endure all tests
And last forever!

To care for other people

To be somebody
Is to care for other people
It is to see the needs of people you never seen before
It is to see people and give them attention
It is to discover obvious needs
And act to meet the secret ones
It is to touch people with your hands
Praying for the blessing of God to come upon
Those others would say only needed a doctor

To be somebody
Is to identify with the pain of strangers
Pouring the healing love of God into their loneliness
Refreshing them by simple care
Relieving their hurts through the power of God
Encourage them by blessing them in the name of the Lord

Taking advice

To be somebody
Is to be humble enough to take advice from others
To listen to the insights of my elders
To follow the wise counsel of the experienced servant of God
To be willing to change my mind
To make new decisions going a new direction

To be somebody
Is not to compromise my vision or calling
But to find better ways of achieving my destiny
Through taking good counsel from godly persons
Committing myself into the hands of God

The wings of encouragement

To be somebody
Is to allow words of encouragement
To become wings of faith
Making you ignore limitations
Causing you to jump over walls
Motivating you to cross borders

To be somebody
Is to believe and receive words
Appreciation from unknown people
Praise from close friends
As seeds of greatness
Producing desires to serve
In greater variety and measures

To be somebody
Is to fly with the wings of encouragements
To new horizons of joy
In being connected to a new reality
Having your life enlarged
Being enabled to break out
Of geographical and cultural limitations
To explore the limitless sky
As prophetic words are coming true
In walking humbly with your God

Daring to be myself

To be somebody
Is to dare to be yourself
And still not rely on your own strength or human resources
But submit to the leading of the Spirit
And draw on his mighty strength
Allowing him to unfold his power in your life
Enabling you to break out of all human limitations
And enjoy the abundance of blessings
And the liberty of God's children

To be somebody
Is to accept yourself the way you are
And trust God for a supernatural life in the Spirit
When you have learned to say no to yourself
- say no to your own strengths and weaknesses
But to embrace everything that God does for you
Then you can live life to the full.

To be somebody
Is to accept no limitations as failures
But as divine steppingstones
Into the life of the Spirit
- the life of trust
- the life of faith
- the life of hope
- the life of love

Being a servant

To be somebody
Is to be a servant
And not put myself at the centre to be served.
To be somebody
Is not to give orders and directions for others to follow
But to lay down my life in serving others
In whatever capacity that is needed.
Greatness in life is only found in serving
Only when I give my life away it finds significance.
The dignity of being somebody
Comes from forgetting about myself
And meeting the most menial needs of people around me
The deepest joy is found
In being a blessing to others

To suffer loss

To be somebody
Is to suffer loss with dignity and trust
- the loss of a son who dies
- the loss of friends who turn out to be no friends
- the loss of sleep or rest
- the loss of memory
- the loss of peace of mind
- the loss of a poem as the pc crash

To be somebody
Is to embrace loss willingly by faith
Because you are looking forward
For something greater and better
When you have seen the Invisible
The losses in the corruptible world do not matter any more

Exploring the Unsearchable One

To be somebody
Is to listen and to learn
To think and to feel
To seek and to find
To explore and to dream

To be somebody
Is to break limitations and human borders
To lay firm foundations
For creative life and growing freedom
In exploring the Unsearchable One
To live in the great mystery
Which the life with God is
That life is too great
To thrive in narrow rooms
And square opinions

In touching the Unsearchable One
Great powers are released
Bringing health to our entire being
Teaching us to live a holistic life

(Written during Andrew Jones' teaching session at the DAWN Conference in Bergen, Norway 13.01.04)

Answering emails

To be somebody
Is to answer emails
Showing that you care
And take people seriously
It is to come up with simple solutions to complicated questions
Or to admit that you don�t have all the answers

To be somebody
Is to sit in front of a screen
Typing letters, words, reason and insight
As if you were sitting in front of a person
Communicating eternal truths
Sharing real life experiences
Opening up your heart
For the world to see
The beauty and simplicity
Of faith, hope and love
Poured into a human heart by the Holy Spirit

Being a grandfather

To be somebody
is to be a grandfather
of many special grandchildren
and love each one of them
in a very special way

Grandchildren make you really feel
that you are somebody
They are a crown of life
making your life radiant of joy
When you have many grandchildren
you realize that you are truly somebody

To treasure a gift from a friend

To be somebody
Is to treasure a gift from a friend
As a proof of covenant love
And to make it last forever
In the joyful and reverent way
It is being used

Celebration of life

Celebrate

To be somebody
Is to celebrate birthday, Christmas,
Wedding-day and a new year!
It is to make use of all circumstances
To celebrate and rejoice
In the rich life from God!
It is to rejoice in being
Uniquely created in the image of God
Rejoicing over all our gifts and talents
Enjoying life to the full!

Be yourself

To be somebody
Is to accept ourselves for what we are
And at the same time rejoice
In all the good qualities
We are able to see in other people

To be somebody
Is to be yourself
Without being sufficient in yourself
But to develop your strengths
That all may see what you really are
To be yourself is to try to see something
Positive in your weaknesses
As you try to make them be less visible

Look with new eyes

To be somebody
is not only to explore
virgin territory or unknown places
but to look with new eyes
- look from new perspectives
- look with new perception
- look with new expectancy
- look for new insight
to the old and known world
to discover the virginity
and the hope for a new beginning
in the midst of corruption and decay
and than cease the moment
to make history
in our own little world
knowing that the great achievements
is the sum of all the small deeds of faith

By faith we can see
the impossible become possible
and the invisible become visible
and the world changed to a better place

To change template

To be somebody
is to change the template
of your life to avoid staleness
and try to achieve freshness
knowing that the external change
is nothing compared
to the dynamic of inner life

Knowing that someone cares

To be somebody
Is to know that somebody is concerned for you
And thinking of you with a tender heart
It gives a great sense of worth
Knowing that someone is worried
With motherly love and care for you
As you are traveling places
And fulfilling your holy vocation
In serving the people of God

To really be somebody
Is to appreciate this loving concern
And give thanks to that person
While she is still alive
When she is gone and you realise
how valuable her worries were
It is too late to acknowledge her worth

Next to your wife

To be somebody
Is to sit next to your wife
As she is writing a poem
It is to smell the fragrance of joy
And see the aura of love
As she is expressing deep feelings
And thoughtful emotions
Through well-formed sentences
And personally carved words

Celebration

To be somebody
Is to celebrate birthday, Christmas,
Wedding-day and a new year!
It is to make use of all circumstances
To celebrate and rejoice
In the rich life from God!
It is to rejoice in being
Uniquely created in the image of God
Rejoicing over all our gifts and talents
Enjoying life to the full!

Liberate the moment

To be somebody
is to liberate the moment
from the dullness of being taken for granted
It is to avoid the temptation
to capture the moment
through a camera
to print it on paper
but rather to enjoy the moment
for all its worth
liberating it from memories of the past
by embracing the new moment
arriving every second

Live in the sacred garden of covenant

To be somebody
is to live a life of consistent commitment
to let friendship and love grow
to become beautiful flowers
in the sacred garden of covenant
It is to allow the early buds
of encouragement and excitement
turn into full bloom
- as a foretaste of heaven
When your friendship is too costly
to be expressed in words
then the future is yours
to explore the beauty of covenant living

To be somebody
is to be adventurous enough
to dare to explore the depths of covenant love

Drinking deeply of the Spirit

To be somebody
Is to drink deeply of the Spirit
It is to be immersed in the Life-giving One
It is to be soaked in the new wine
It is to be taken by the Holy Wind
And carried away from the self-centred life

To be somebody
Is to be taken out of oneself
Being part of something greater
Living for a higher cause
Relating to other persons
Interacting with kindred spirits
Through the Spirit of Life
Whom you are constantly drinking of

Celebrating Christmas

To be somebody
is to joyfully celebrate Christmas
it is to welcome Christmas in childlike joy
with radiant stars and sparkling glitter
with heaps of presents
and overloaded dishes of Christmas food

Lamb's rib, pork's rib, dried lamb's leg,
donuts, and a number of home-made Christmas cookies
are filling the stomach of young and aged
till our big-brother has eaten himself full
of all the fat and the sweet food, and politely
ask for a slice of brown bread with pickled herring

Oh joyful Christmas with childlike desires
with Father Christmas and Christmas tree
competing with one another
to collect and distribute Christmas presents
to nice children who deserve gifts
when another is have his birthday

Ho, ho, is there any nice children here?
Father Christmas always ask
"If you are not nice now, you won't have any gifts
from Father Christmas"
are father and mother threatening
when they don't know what to do with their kids

Oh Christmas with joy and heavenly excitement
God is no Father Christmas!
Jesus didn't hang on Christmas tree but on a cross
God give generous gifts of sheer love
And the light of the cross shines brightly
from the manger to Calvary
and all the way to us today

God doesn't ask for nice people
His presents are not given because we are good
God gives freely to those who are poor in themselves
God give gifts of grace to those who labour and strive
and don't succeed to be kind in an evil world

Oh joyful Christmas with heavenly excitement
God loves us as we are
He gave his Son
He showed us mercy
He find pleasure in all people
who receive the great salvation in Jesus Christ

To be somebody
is to celebrate Christmas
enjoying the free grace
and never end to be amazed by God's love
and always why he loves me