Knoxville-Memphis-Amsterdam-Stavanger (Sola)

We lost our luggage for three days on the trip to Norway last year, so
this time, I was determined to pack light. I took one suitcase with
nothing in it that I couldn’t bear to part with. I KNEW our luggage
would be lost like last time.

BUT IT WASN’T!!!

Sola, Norway: 7:15 pm on Wednesday, November 6 and I am sitting in
my room looking at my beautiful suitcase. No lost luggage, no going
shopping in depressed department stores which resemble fallout
shelters. I frantically text-messaged everyone I knew all day before
we left (ok, some more than others) because I knew I’d be on a text
fast for 6 days… no texting, no sweet tea, no ESPN…Lord, help me.
I would make a terrible missionary.

So now I am peacefully watching a DVD…..and I am nearly comatose.

I can’t sleep on airplanes. One, I can’t sleep if I’m not lying down,
two, the seat-kicking, screaming child usually finds me, and three,
the flight attendant today felt the need to broadcast details of his
latest date from the rear galley to the entire coach cabin.

But everything in life has positives along with the negatives,
including air travel. I do enjoy grabbing a scone at Starbucks
(chocolate chip) and browsing through the airport bookstore before I
have to board the plane. SkyMall magazine is a wonder to mankind.
They have things in there that nobody needs, nor have they thought
of it, but once you see it in SkyMall, you somehow have to have it, no
matter how tacky or ridiculous it is. I saw everything from a pop-up
hot dog cooker, an inflatable air hockey table and a voice-activated pen
to possibly the most unbelievable invention of our time:

The Animatronic Talking and Singing Elvis.

Oh yes…take down this number, get your credit card ready and run to
the phone NOW because everyone will be buying The Animatronic
Talking And Singing Elvis for Christmas this year for the low, low price of
only two hundred dollars.

Apparently the American economy is better than we thought.

Meanwhile, back here at the camp….

I have been counting the minutes until I can go to sleep. I cannot lie
down…in fact I am sitting on the edge of a very uncomfortable chair
so that I will not fall asleep too early. I have stood up and watched
a DVD and eaten sugary SweetTarts to no avail. I figure in 45 minutes,
at 8:00, I can go to bed and sleep for 11-12 hours, precisely what I
need to do.

I’m not sure I can make it 45 more minutes!

Our Norwegian hosts are Johan and Aud Halsne and Roger and Mette
Sorensen. Johan and Aud met us at the airport today and drove us to a
Bible conference center where we are staying just outside Stavanger,
in a small town by the sea called Sola. They had sandwiches, fruit and
juice waiting for everyone (Michael and Jim fell asleep and missed
it).

And now I’m back here typing trying to keep my eyes open. I suppose I
could get ready for bed and put on my comfortable pajamas and curl up
in bed and read…oh no, bad idea. 40 more minutes.

At home it’s 1:30 pm. I should be eating lunch or running errands. But
NOOO I’m dying to fall in bed and lapse into a coma. Maybe I need the
Animatronic Talking and Singing Elvis to sing me to sleep.

On second thought, I’d probably just hurl it out the window.

Wednesday, November 6

Sola

We have spent the day here at the camp just relaxing. Some took walks
by the sea, others watched movies upstairs in what has been dubbed
the Party Room. We watched a football movie today and some of the
guys (ok, one of the girls too- the blonde one) were so intense they
were yelling at the TV like it was a real game. Deprive us of Sports
Center or two days and we have withdrawals. (I thought Ronnie Booth
was going to throw a chair)

Aud cooked us a fabulous meal today made up of traditional Norwegian
dishes. The spread of lamb, Norwegian meatballs, potatoes and
vegetables was wonderful. She also made two desserts, one with ice
cream, cinnamon and sugar that she called an ice cream roll and we
called fabulous. She also made fruit tarts with ice cream. Johan is an
evangelist and also a sheep farmer, which earned him the nickname of
“the good shepherd.” After lunch he brought us a devotional from Psalm
103 and spoke about seeing eagles fly over his farm and how with the
Lord’s help we can also soar in life. Someone mentioned the song
“Teach Me Lord To Wait” and between two or three of us we managed
to come up with enough words to sing a verse and chorus. Johan has
now requested that both groups sing that together at the first
concert??!! We’ll have to get online at the hotel and make sure we
have the correct lyrics.

Thursday, November 7

Sola

We are a pathetic, pitiful, sleep-deprived bunch.

Another free day. Some of the less lazy people are attempting to get
adjusted to the new time. For example, Mom, Mette and Aud are
walking by the sea right now. The rest of us, (yeah, I’m in the lazy
group) hung out in the Party Room relaxing. There is a TV up there
and all we can watch are DVDs…except our DVDs bought in America
will not play on the DVD player…we can only watch the movies our
hosts have with them. Which was fine….except Adam Sandler isn’t
quite the same with Norwegian subtitles.

At 6:00 we are going to the home of a friend of Aud and Johan’s for
cake and coffee. Undoubtedly I’ll be killed early tonight…I’ll have
to go to bed early because I can’t sleep as late tomorrow. Tomorrow is
when the work starts.

(Later that night)
We went to the home of some friends of Mette and Roger tonight. They
made some amazing desserts and we just enjoyed hanging out and
talking with them. We Americans who are used to our hands typing on
some digital device every waking moment were thrilled at the sight of
a computer with internet access…after we took turns checking our
emails, our hosts requested a song from the Booth Brothers. This began
an impromptu acoustic mini-concert with my dad on the family piano
and various Talley/Booth combinations singing familiar songs.

Friday, November 8

Stavanger

At long last….a hotel room with a TV that has English-speaking channels!!

I excitedly switched on CNN…and after about two seconds, decided I’d
rather watch my DVDs on my laptop. The TV never came back on again.

Today is our first concert day. There is some concern about the
adapters needed for our 360 hard drive players which play our
tracks…we are concerned that the difference in power will result in
burning up the machines….fortunately the Booth Brothers are trying
theirs first

Everything works just fine and sound checks are over…we are racing
upstairs to get ready for the concert.

(After the concert)
What a great audience. They warmly received every song. Norwegians
speak and understand English very well for the most part. English is
taught in their schools beginning in first grade I believe, and
overall we understand each other just fine. For those who didn’t quite
have full command of English, an interpreter helped translate what we
said on stage into Norwegian. We can’t pronounce his Norwegian name.
All we know is that it starts with the letter S, so we named him Sam.
Sam did a great job…it ain’t easy to translate for somebody like
Michael Booth.

On the second half of the concert we recreated our dessert party
mini-concert for the audience, minus the ice cream. We came up with
the lyrics to “Teach Me Lord To Wait”…that was a really nice moment.
Johan, the “good shepherd,” delivered the message on Psalm 103 to the
audience in Norwegian. We didn’t understand much this time, but we
knew it was good.

Saturday, November 9

Stavanger

Well today we are going to visit the largest Christian bookstore in
Stavanger, aptly named Bok y Media (Books and Music). An in-store
appearance has been arranged and we are going to sing a few songs
with Ronnie Booth’s guitar and do a little Q&A session….

(Later that day)

We sang an acapella hymn and Ronnie strummed along on “Jesus
Saves.” The Booth Brothers sang a couple songs with the guitar and
then the people asked us a few questions about what the Gaither
“wideo” tapings are like, how many days we travel and how we got
started. May I insert here that the Norwegian people are very nice,
very genuine…Southerners have nothing on them in the way of
hospitality. A lady asked the Booth Brothers to sing a particular song
and of course they insisted she sing it with them…her eyes sparkled
as she and Michael teamed up on a first-verse duet.

Tonight the Booth Brothers will sing first and then we will take the
stage around 8:30.

(After the concert)

Well what a crowd!!! Traditionally Norwegian audiences are somewhat
reserved….not this one.

We sang our regular sets and then on the second round came out on
stage together. Each group sang one song and then Michael asked the
crowd what their favorite Gaither songs were. After confirming if we
knew it or not, Michael headed to the drums, my dad to the piano, and
we called a Norwegian bass player out of the audience….

As the crowd called out titles, off the band went. I sang “I’m Free,”
Ronnie and Jim split up the verses of “He Touched Me,” and everyone
joined in for “Because He Lives.” When the song was over, the entire
auditorium was on their feet singing. Michael kicked off a ferocious
drum intro into a blistering version of “I’ll Fly Away.” The crowd
stood and clapped through the length of the song and three encores.
(Michael broke one of the drum sticks…the Norwegian drummer didn’t
seem to mind) When Norwegian audiences are really excited they all
clap in unison….we had to go back out on stage twice after we
thought we were finished!

My mom and Michael delivered “Too Much To Gain To Lose” and the
Booths started the unison clapping again with “Still Feeling Fine.”
When they called us back out on stage, the Booths sang “He Saw It
All” and the unison clapping started again when they joined us for
“Testify.” When we finally left the stage we all looked at each other
and said, “Ok, THAT’S IT!”

(Our friends in Norway put up a great slide show of concert photos.
You can see it by clicking HERE.)

Sunday, November 10

Stavanger-Kristiansand

We sang short sets today before a sermon in the Sunday morning
service at 11. Both groups had to dash out the door immediately
following the service because we had concerts several hours away
that evening. The Booth Brothers went to the island of Karmoy and
we drove to Kristiansand, a charming town about three hours away
from Stavanger.

We were greeted at the church by the pastor and a friendly couple who
had a delicious meal waiting for us. After we ate we ran through a
quick sound check and got ready for the service. We were delighted
with a full house that evening and they were very enthusiastic. We
finally left the church around 11 PM and then drove three hours back
to Stavanger.

Travel is SO glamorous.

Monday, November 11

Stavanger-Amsterdam-Detroit-Knoxville

We dragged ourselves out of bed and threw our stuff in the suitcases.
Johan and Aud drove us all to the airport in two cars and saw us off.
Aud has coordinated this entire trip as well as our last trip to
Norway and she is probably the most efficient, organized person I’ve
ever seen, down to the very last, minute detail.

We said our goodbyes at the airport and boarded our plane to
Amsterdam. When we got to Amsterdam, we had to show our passports
and then we saw a sign that appeared to be straight from heaven:

BURGER KING!

We wolfed down Whoppers and inhaled french fries like manna in the
desert. We only had a few minutes to catch our next flight, but who
cared? Grease, fat and salt were far more important.

We got settled into our seats for the nine-hour flight when all of a
sudden, a cylinder of candy landed in my lap. Figuring it didn’t drop
from the oxygen mask above my seat, I picked up the roll of Smarties
and looked around…three rows behind me, Michael Booth flashed a
thumbs up and a mischievous grin and tossed candy to everyone else in
our little group. “Just a little something to get you through this!”
he bellowed. The people sitting near us either thought we were nuts or
they wanted to come join us.

An eternity later, we touched down in Detroit and cell phones
resurrected from pockets. Ah, the sound of a text message beep…it’s
a beautiful thing.

This was our last stop together…the Booth Brothers were continuing
on to Nashville, and we were traveling home to Knoxville. Our
departing gates were across from each other and as our flights were
called, we quickly exchanged hugs and see-you-laters and headed for
home.

When we landed in Knoxville, Jimmy Whetsel’s family greeted us at the
airport. Well, they greeted us…his two little girls literally knocked him
down as they hugged him and welcomed him home. We got our bags,
got in the car and….headed straight for some McDonald’s sweet tea.

Home at last.