A light in the Darkness

Saturday night I went to a birthday party for a friend. It was a costume party and everyone had to be something starting with the letter "P." I went as Pippy Longstocking:) I had mixed feelings about going to this party, on the one hand I was excited to celebrate with my friend, but on the other hand I knew it was going to be hard for me to be myself. I know this sounds weird but let me explain. A few months ago I decided not to drink anymore. I've never struggled with abusing alcohol and I don't see anything wrong with enjoying it responsibly, however, the culture in NZ is obsessed with it. Most people my age work hard all week so they can go out and get "pissed" (drunk) on the weekend. It breaks my heart to see these people turning to alcohol to escape reality or let loose/relax. Alcohol is not the magic ingredient for happiness...so I showed up with my lemon lime with bitters (NZ soft drink)and I was all set for the night. I admit, I was rather uncomfortable for most of the night and at first I felt bad about it and thought something was wrong with me. The more time I spent thinking about it, the more I realized that I should be uncomfortable in this type of setting, something would be wrong if I wasn't. I was in a place where the conversation wasn't meant to be God glorifying, where the morals were not of Biblical standard. Because I am a Christ follower and desire to glorify God through my speech and actions, it was right for me to feel uncomfortable. At the same time, it was my responsibility to be a light of hope and stand strong in my Christian convictions against drunkenness and crudeness, and still celebrate with true, unmasked joy. I continue to pray that God gives me the grace to be His witness among people who are ignorant, blind, and passive about His Truth. I do not desire to become comfortable in sinful situations, but I do desire to become more confident in my role in those settings, a light in the darkness.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, I might be on the other side of the world, but I can still celebrate Thanksgiving. There are so many things for me to be thankful for today. First and foremost I am so thankful for the grace of God that gives me life day after day right now and eternally. I am in awe of the ways God watches over and takes care of me, His love is overwhelming. Today, I had the opportunity to spread the Thanksgiving cheer at school and was surprised some of my students actually knew that it was Thanksgiving, that was fun. I brought in cookies for the choir and staff which was a great conversation starter for the purpose of celebrating Thanksgiving:) Tonight, we had a Thanksgiving dinner of sorts: sweet potatoes(kumra), green bean casserole, roasted chicken(turkey is hard to find and extremely expensive), rolls, and of course apple pie:) Pumpkin is out of season, so apple was at the top of the list. I felt so blessed to share this meal with Ferne and Fuang(student staying with us). Tomorrow I will miss not getting up at a ridiculous hour to race around town with my aunt Jane, checking off the Christmas lists. I'm sure she will still find heaps of deals without me. Tonight God blessed me with a beautiful sunset to remind me of His love and an opportunity to spend some time with Him at Mission Bay in one of my favorite reading spots. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Catching up

Life has been full in the past few days, great but full. We had another great CIA program last Friday, all the new students we had two weeks ago came back this week. One of the new kids noticed a picture of Jesus on the cross that is in the Bible in the front of the church. She asked me who that was and that brought us into a great disscussion about Jesus, his life, death, and resurection. She is so young yet so inquisitive and interested in learning about our Savior. She asked questions and talked with me for about 20 minutes! That is a very long time for a nine-year-old! I felt so honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to talk with her introduce her to the life of Christ. After we finished talking I asked her to think about the things we'd talked about and that if she decides that she wants Jesus to be part of her life, I would pray with her and teach her how to live for Jesus. I'll keep you up to date.

The weekend was full of celebration with friends and family in Christ. Sunday Peter Benzie recieved his license as a pastor in the Wesleyan Church. It was a special time for the Redoubt North family and we are all very proud of Peter. In the afternoon I was able to join my friend Julia at the park to celebrate her birthday, we played some great frisbee:)

Monday I was able to have a personal day off from school to spend the day with my friend Bethany Grossman. Beth is a dear friend and we served as RAs together at IWU. She is currently working in Sydney, AU with students who are doing a semester abroad from various universities in the states. She had one free day in Auckland and I was so blessed to spend it with her. We went out to the west coast and hiked to some amazing waterfalls. Then we went out to Bethells beach to go for a swim in the sea, I brought a boogie board out there which was tons of fun. After that we hiked over the dunes to Bethells Lake and jumped off the dunes into the lake for a while. Needless to say we had tons of fun.

Today school continued and life goes on as usual. I am so thankful for the many opportunities I've had to live life to the fullest and treasure the people God has placed in my life.

APPA is Finished

Well my choir made it through the big concert that we have been preparing for all year! I am so incredibly thankful that this is over. I feel like I ton of bricks has been lifted off my shoulders. I was very proud of my students and they did a very nice job. There were a few other teachers that would encourage me whenever I had a rough rehearsal, they always told me, "the kids will pull it together, it will be ok." Honestly, there were days when I was skeptical. I felt like I had so many rehearsals that we only made it through two or three songs because of ridiculous behavior. I didn't know how they were going to learn all the music. By God's grace, they did. In reality, it is all because of God's amazing strength and grace that He allowed me to teach and lead these students. I am so thankful that it was His strength getting me through and not my own. I know that the Lord will continue to sustain me through the rest of the year as well. After the concert last night I had such a feeling of peace go through me. When I finally got home I slept so hard, I went to sleep and I don't think I moved an inch all night. Tomorrow is Friday and I am definitely ready for the weekend. Thank you to all of you who were praying for me as I was preparing my students for this concert.

Laughter

Laughter is good for the body, mind and spirit:) On Tuesdays I generally go to small group and enjoy spending time reading and discussing Acts. However, we sidetracked and decided that we all just needed some lightheartedness. So the girls watched Shreck and the guys played Ketan(a board game if you don't know). I forgot how much I like watching this movie. Frankly I don't care for the other Shreck movies, but I love the first one. The music is fun, the lines are hilarious, and it's just what I needed this week. Today I had the dress rehearsal for the the APPA concert tomorrow night. Needless to say, it was a bit of a crazy day. Tomorrow will be even more hectic, so I am so thankful that I had an opportunity to just relax tonight.

A Prayer for New Zealand

Lord, I look around at a beauty that only you could crate: Majestic mountains, the bright blue sea, endless pastures of green. I see sunsets that proclaim your glorious name, they leave me speechless, in awe of you. Your love is spoken gently with the cool breeze. Those who look with open eyes cannot help but see Your presence filling this land and your heart breaking for your people. Beautiful ones from every nation , tribe, and tongue look everywhere but to you. These are your people, lost, confused, searching for Truth, unaware they searching for You.


The cries go out: Save the Land, the Birds, the Sea! 100% Pure NZ-keep her clean, safe, and secure. Open their eyes to see the faces behind this purity: children abused-abandoned, youth suicide, spousal abuse, drunkenness, abortion, legal prostitution, soft porn flashing across the TV screen. This nation is in desperate need of healing--they need You-we need You! Your truth, a purity not found on land, in birds, or the sea.

They fool themselves in a masquerade-No worries, she'll be right, give it a go, good on ya! Nice words, nice people, good intentions, open-mind to all but You. Though without You the masquerade is headed straight to Hell.

INTERVENE, INTERCEDE, REVEAL YOURSELF! Rip away the scales from their eyes, let them see with vision untainted. The Pure NZ that could be: filled with your glory, a beacon for all the world to see.


Holy Spirit rain down you mercy, send the hand of the Healer, bring wisdom to your people. Let those who shine for you not be ashamed, Move through your church-The Body-stir our hearts so we begin to pray: Lord, give us the nations, let Your people Hear with open ears, See with open eyes, know with a renewed mind that You are the Lord: The Lover, Creator, Ruler of All.

AMEN

Funny story

Today there were four girls who decided to skip class this afternoon, three were supposed to be in my class and one in art. I take role at the beginning of class so it was obvious that these girls were missing. I asked around a bit and found out these girls were hiding out in the toilets(bathroom). Now I decided that sitting for an hour and a half in middle school girls toilets just disgusting enough to let the girls stay there the entire class period. I knew they wouldn't be coming out because the only way in and out is visible from my room and they would be spotted. I then proceeded to their teachers and the deputy principal after class. I doubt these girls are going to be skipping too much more class, seeing as they will likely have the privilege of cleaning those toilets on detention tomorrow. Let this be a lesson to middle school girls who think they can skip class and not get caught. I'm not sure why I think this is so funny, but I guess it's because I think that if your going to skip class on the last period of the day, you'd leave school, not sit in bathroom for over and hour! Yuck!!

Me and the Uke

So I don't think I've posted on how much I like this little instrument yet. I think the ukulele is one of the funnest instruments I've ever learned. It is so easy to get started and it just has a fun sound. I can't believe I was so intimidated by this four-stringed instrument not to mention the prospect of learning it well enough to teach my students how to play it. I have enjoyed learning the ukulele immensely. So here is a fun picture of me with the uke at the festival this past Saturday.

Making Plans

Proverbs 16:1 says: In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.

James 4:16 says: Now listen, those who say,'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'

Right now I am preparing to come back to New Zealand next year. I have recently purchased a plane ticket back to NZ for the end of January. At the same time, I have a full understanding that God might redirect my steps. I cannot say, I will be in the U.S. for only a month, I can say that is my plan at the moment. Recently, I discovered that one of my strengths is adaptability. This means that I do well living one day at a time and taking on life as it comes at me. I remember when I took the job at Tamaki Intermediate and then moved to the other side of the world two weeks later. God just gives me the peace and courage to live this life trusting in Him. Currently I have planned my return, but who really knows what God really has for me, except God Himself? I love knowing that my life is in the hands of my creator, the One who knows me better than anyone else in heaven or on earth. These two Scripture verses above sum it up pretty well. Life is a journey and God sometimes gives us the map one section at a time.

Ukulele Festival

Saturday was a great day with the Tamaki Intermediate Ukuleles. We had beautiful weather and enjoyed playing the uke along with about 300 other primary and intermediate students. We also had the opportunity to listen to world class ukulele players from Hawaii, Canada, the Cook Islands, and aound NZ. I only had a small group of students come with me, but it ended up working out for the best because of the festival being on a Saturday. We were also out there for most of the day, so it would have been a lot more difficult if I had taken a bunch of students. I am very thankful for the time I had with these students, they were all very well behaved and I was extremely proud of them.

Editing post

Ok, so part II of the James study is down a few posts, I actually just posted it tonight but because I started it a couple weeks ago, it posted on the day that I started it, so if you feel like reading it, scroll down past the flower pictures a bit and you'll find it:) Cheers!