Tanja @tanjaostman@dingdash.com

There are 187,888 lakes in Finland larger than 5 acres (500 square metres / 5,382 sq.ft.).
(Picture: Discovering Finland)

The old part of the city of Borgå (Porvoo), Finland.
(Picture: Discovering Finland)

The city of Lovisa, Finland.
(Picture: Discovering Finland)

Kuhmo, Finland.
(Picture: Discovering Finland)

Lapland, Finland.
(Picture: Discovering Finland)

We went shopping today and didn't notice any panic in our city today. 😅 We live our lives as usual - what else could we do? But of course it's not fun to neighbor Russia, and the last two months Finns have been worried, and Russia, Ukraine, NATO, and our defense is the main topics on news every day. Some days I wake up with anxiety. Finland (and Sweden will probably follow suit) will apply for NATO membership, and Russia has made clear that it won't be without consequences. Our president Sauli Niinistö made a phone call to Mr Putin today. He is probably the head of a state who has talked to Putin the most. Putin didn't express any direct threat today, but said it will affect our relationship. (Finland has been a neutral buffer state between Russia and West ever since after WW2. When we join NATO those neutral days are gone, and we become an enemy). Please pray for Finland, and our president, who has a key position because of his relation with Putin! Niinistö and his wife are Christian.

Nature is coming alive at last, after a long winter and wintry springtime.

I don't know why I come to think of my husband... 😀 Not any emotional roller coaster as for me.

Easier said than done, but it was encouraging for me to read this.

That's what I've been asking as well. 😂 😅 In Swedish we have a word for the day after tomorrow: övermorgon. In German it's übermorgen. In Norwegian it's overmorgen. In Finnish ylihuomenna.

Finns are considered shy and persons of few words. But that doesn't make us less smart... ;-)

I think that celebrating April 30 and May 1 is a typical Nordic thing. You can read about it in the linked article. In our city there is always a car parade (mostly old American cars) among other things. There are many Finns who have old, American cars as a hobby, and they renovate them. https://finland.fi/life-society/finland-shows-carnival-colours-on-may-day/

I got to listen to Brother Yun this morning. Unfortunately his interpreter Brother Ren has fallen sick, so I wasn't able to send greetings to him from @sinbach I tried to talk to Yun in English, and a few phrases in German, but he seems to prefer Chinese. 😉 They found a stand in on a short notice, a Chinese woman with another Chinese dialect, who isn't fluent in Swedish (the language of the church I went to). So I suppose the preaching today wasn't as long and in depth as it could have been. But his message 'Jesus loves you' got through. The boy with the mask on, is a 16-year-old local Finn who speaks Chinese because he has lived for ten years in Western China (close to Qinghai Lake) where his father has worked with Bible translation. He has continued his work from Finland.

I'm so touched by this book, and I highly recommend it! I am so glad that there are books like this, and Leaving Buddha by Eugene Bach, that give unique insights into the lives of Tibetan Buddhist and Hindu monks/priests and their journeys to Christ! I haven't heard of any similar books out there! They should be spread among Westerners that are interested in Eastern religions, that are presented here as a way to inner peace and love. It's quite the opposite. There are demonic activities, control, duties and heavy religious burdens, enslavement of the soul etc. Rahil is a very intelligent and talented person, but even highly sensitive. He is and Indian, who grew up in England, and who wanted to give it all to the Hindu religion and become a priest, which he was for 20 years. It was a long journey before he got the strength to leave his community, god and guru Guruji. Nobody told him he had to believe in Jesus, but Jesus knocked on his door and he KNEW Jesus was the only Way.

Stockholm is such a beautiful capital. 🇸🇪