I have a friend that when he calls he almost always first asks if I’m in Iceland. Others ask what is it about Iceland that draws my best friend and me to return and return yet again.
There is the obvious:
So. Much. Beauty. (Insert 5 million photos from my phone here)
Puffins, of course.
The coffee and the food. (Insert several thousand photos from my phone here)
The respect for the world we’ve been given. Clean air due to thermal power. Naturally pure hot and cold water from the tap. The culture of reuse, recycle, repurpose.
The people: almost all that we meet are friendly and ever so wanting to help. Give a moment, and we launch into delightful conversations. The children are taught English in school, and that not only makes it easy for those from away to get around, it’s also part of the culture of openness and adaptability that thrives here.
It’s not my home, but Iceland is a place that allows me to center in order to face the challenges of home when I return to the United States.
I had a sense of the healing this country gives me on this trip.
When I was here after Hurricane Harvey, I was battered and bruised. Something about the sound of the rushing water at Godfoss broke open a locked place inside me, and I had quite a melt down.
Yesterday, I went and stood in the same place where I had fallen apart in 2017. I felt peace-filled joy, and gave great thanks to God for God’s healing—given with generosity in so very many ways, including this place in God’s own creation.
This is part of the “why Iceland.”
House of Grace 