Majesty Revealed

The plane's wheels touched the ground, and the elbow pushing in my side finally retreated. The fasten seatbelt light went off, and we quickly retrieved our backpacks from the overhead compartments. People pushed and passed us by on the way out, but none of us cared, we were in about to explore Norway!

The start of our journey began at the desk of Europcar rentals. We went out to the parking lot expecting a small two door hatchback, and instead found a brand new four door Audi. We couldn't believe we had this beautiful and roomy automatic car at our disposal. We all decided that we had to name this beautiful car, and after a small debate, the name, Sven, was decided upon. Once all the new gadgets of the car were figured out, we put our atlas to use and found our way to Bergen. The city was quaint and full of Nordic history. The timber district was beautifully crafted and full of unique and priceless Norwegian goods. The fish market was lively and smelled of freshly caught seafood. The mouths of Christina, Hunter, and Angie were salivating at the sight. While we were exploring, we met a new Canadian friend, and spent the rest of our time in Bergen sightseeing, eating, and having a great time.

The next day we packed our bags to start our journey into fjord country! The pictures we came across in our trip planning only fed our excitement level for what was to come! First stop, Hardangerfjord! I was lucky enough to get to drive our first leg of the day. Almost immediately from leaving the city, we were surrounded by pure beauty. The steep cliffs were so elegant against the calm waters of the fjords. It seemed as though we had to stop every five minutes or so to take more pictures. We all were sticking our cameras out the car windows to capture shots as we drove by this God created scenery. My eyes have never seen such beauty and majesty. I felt as though every tree, stone, and body of water were shouting praises to God! Every turn brought something new, perfect, and stunning. Waterfalls, cascades, cliffs, valleys, snow covered mountains, lakes, and fjords kept coming and coming. The moment we first set our eyes on the Nærøyfjord was breathtaking. Nowhere else are the cliffs on either side of the fjord so close together. The shear scale of the space was almost incomprehensible. Houses spotted the surrounding landscape and appeared merely as ants next to the rock faces. Our road trip around the fjords of course consisted of a ferry crossing. We joined the line of cars waiting to board the large ferry like it was nothing new. We pulled on and looked silly as we took pictures of everything. It was awesome to see the landscape from the middle of the fjord. Our sense of scale again, was daunting.

After more and more scenic views and mesmerizing overlooks, we made it to our destination of Sogndal, Norway. We were lucky enough to have rented an entire house for ourselves. When we got to the home, our eyes widened as we took in the gorgeous view. A huge mountain, the fjord, and the beautiful town of Sogndal framed our view. We also got to experience the midnight sun. Light only started to fade around 10:30 at night, never reaching full darkness. This allowed our days to be long and full of activities. We enjoyed our extra daylight and spent time together cooking and played Settlers of Catan, easily one of the best ways to wrap up a day.

Morning arrived and we set out to explore. First stop was the National Glacier Museum. There we learned about the formation and history of this marvelous landscape. We even got to see Europe's largest inland glacier. Those exhibits only fueled our desires to see more of Norway! Next we made our way to one of the oldest and best preserved Stave churches of Norway, and a listed UNESCO world heritage site, Urnes Stave Church. We took a ferry over another fjord and hiked up the hillside to see this piece of 12th century architecture. The structure and artistry was masterfully done and well before its time.

After visiting the church, we decided to try our luck and find a place that we could kayak or tour the fjords up close. After making several phone calls, we found someone who had paddle boards available and for a reasonable price. We decided to go for it even though none of us had a change of clothes or prepared for getting wet in the frigged waters of the fjords. My mind was full of apprehensive thoughts and played out worst-case scenarios. At the launch point we were given dry suits to help us stay warm, but they would do nothing is we fell in. The point of paddle boarding is to be standing as you paddle, but only hunter and Angie took the risk of standing at first. Christina and I had our butts on the boards keeping a low center of gravity. We made our way to a waterfall cascading down the walls of the rock face. There we got off our boards and before we knew it, decided we just had to take a dip in the water. After a few minutes of taking off various layers and saying no no no, we jumped in! The water instantly took your breath away. Shouts of excitement and joy filled the air. Our dip in the fjord only lasted a few seconds, maybe a minute, and before we knew it, we were back on our boards heading back to the dock. Paddling back, I even got the courage to stand up on the board. Couldn't believe I did it! What an amazing experience! The night brought another family dinner and time playing Settlers of Catan. The next day would be our last, and our journey into the capital, Oslo. We thought we had seen it all on our trip from Bergen to Sogndal, but we were so wrong. Our trip into Oslo, had so many breathtaking views and different landscapes and surroundings. We saw everything from deep fjords, alpine forests, valleys blanketed in snow, and the very tops of mountains in the clouds. We struggled to stay on schedule because we constantly wanted to stop and take pictures of these awe-inspiring places. I can't even begin to put into words everything we saw. I can only say that I am beyond blessed in ways I could never imagine. I could never be grateful enough for this trip or the people who accompanied me along the way. I am not deserving. I am not worthy. I am nothing. The God of the universe has blessed us with this world and His imaginative creation of all things. Even in my fallen state and wickedness, He has blessed me to be able to see just a part of His majesty through the world around me. I am unworthy to even call Him my God, my Savior. All praise to Him, for He made all things beautiful and good.