How well can I plan?

So this afternoon I knew I was going to have a challenge with my year 8's. I sat down and planned the entire class period in 15 to 20 minute blocks to fill 80 minutes. I really couldn't have had a better map for the class period. I knew exactly what I wanted to do/say and what I wanted the kids to do and how far they should get with their work. Pretty much, it looked like a fool proof plan...however, looks can be deceiving and I know that very well. Not a single part of my plan went as planned. Students kept interupting, asking the same questions, not following instructions, getting smart, mouthing off, in other words: making my life a complete frustration! Not a single person went along with what I was aksing. How am I supposed to teach music if I have to do crowd control the whole time? This is just silly, rediculous actually.

Warming up

Well the weather is warming up here in Auckland! Praise the Lord, I am so thankful for sunshine. We've had some wet, windy, and chilly days in the last couple of weeks and this warm-up is most welcome. On Sunday I went to the Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful. There were tons of flowers in full bloom and the rose garden was especially great. It is such a peaceful place to walk, relax and process life.

Out of Touch

Well, I've been off the internet for about the past week. Our internet has been down at home, so I've felt a bit disconnected from the world, or least the other side of it. You wouldn't think that is a very big deal, but often e-mail is the best way for me to connect with friends and family, so when that is cut off, well, I don't like it very much becasue I love my friends and family.

If you are wondering what happened to the James series, no worries, I didn't forget, I've just been writing and re-writing so they havn't gotten posted yet. I'm trying to figure out how share what and how God is teaching me lessons without it being about me, but more about the power and grace of Christ.

Prayer concerns for this week:

My health-I'm not feeling particulary well. I took my first sick day this week. If you know me, you know that I have to feel pretty yuck to take a sick day.

School schedule is incredibly full for the next month: Ukulele festival, Choir festival, Tamaki Idol(talent show), getting TONS of reports done, writing up an end of the year evaluation. Needless to say, I need to stay focused and stay healthy!

Juri and housemates: I went to visit Juri this week and give her a New Testiment that has both Japanese and English in it. She loved it and is so excited to read it and learn from it! Also her housemates asked how they could get one too! Neither of them are Christians, so God is at work in a grat way! Keep praying!

Thanks for your prayers and encouraging e-mails!

James Part II

James 1:19-20

Understanding this, my brothers and sisters: You must be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.

I have been letting this post brew a bit. It was difficult for me to put into words the way this passage of Scripture spoke truth into my life. It was rather humbling, revealing and difficult to apply. Humbling because I have been realizing how easily it is to get upset, especially when life is stressful. Revealing because it allowed me to see the compartmentalism in my own life.

In general, this Scripture is very straight forward on how we should respond to others. In the application however, I find it more difficult. I am very good at listening and hearing what others have to say be it good or bad. "Slow to speak" is really what I struggle with. Sometimes I feel like I need to give a verbal response to something right away. I'm learning that's it's ok to request time to give a more well thought out, knowledgeable answer to questions. I am trying to do this more frequently.
These verses made me do an intense self-analysis of how I listen to, speak to, and react to others, especially my students. For some reason I find it more difficult to be gentle and loving at school than I do at other times. With my friends or even people I don't know very well, I don't tend to be aggravated easily, I might get a little frazzled maybe annoyed, but not angry. Then I took a look at what makes me angry: dis-respectfulness, foul language(especially when directed at others), having to repeat myself over and over because students don't care to follow instructions, students trying to get me upset just because. Then I asked myself, what makes God angry? And if some of these things are the same, then is it righteous anger? or do I get angry because I am not getting what I want? I'm not sure yet, it's likely that some of both play a part. Regardless, it is important that we(I) remember that human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

This is a heavy post for me tonight, I don't know why I felt the need to post this now, but I did. Tomorrow I have a Ukulele festival that I am taking about 10 students to. It's an all-day adventure. I pray that God helps me remember the lessons He taught me through this passage and that He is glorified through this opportunity to spend this Saturday with my students.

Day with Juri

Today I was supposed to go up to Muriwai Beach with one of my friends, but because of cell phone issues, we ended up not being able to connect until late in the afternoon. I did however manage to meet up with my friend Juri. Juri has been studying English here in NZ and has been staying with Ferne's house for the past month. Recently she moved over to the North Shore because she was going to be working over there at a temporary job. In the past few days, I have been able to have some very meaningful conversations with Juri about Jesus. Today, we did go out to the beach for a little bit, but it was very windy, so we didn't stay too long. I am really hoping to find a Japanese/English Bible to give to Juri next week. Next week Sunday she heads off to Christchurch in the South Island and I have no idea when or if I will ever see her again. Please join with me in prayer for Juri. I pray that she will come to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. Please pray that I am able to find a Bible that she will be able to read and understand.

Midweek Murmers

Today I took the choir to another mass rehearsal, only one more until the performance. I am so so thankful for this! These rehearsals are just too long for the kids. They take up most of the school day and leave all of us exhausted. On the bus ride back to school the two boys sitting in front me turned around and started asking me about different church denominations and the differences between them. I was thinking..."What? are you serious Lord? Help me say something helpful Please!!!" I answered their questions the best I could in the short time we had and considering I had a pounding headache. This is one of those situations in which I felt useless, I needed God to speak through me. I knew the answers to their questions, I just couldn't figure out the best way to describe Methodists, Wesleyans, and Baptists in 10 minutes, while using language that 12 year olds would connect with. I covered a couple basic differences and stressed the fact all three of these churches worship Jesus as the Son of God. I pray that God used my weak example today. It's a blessing to know that God doesn't need my help to reveal Himself to other people, and it's humbling to know that He sometimes He uses me anyway. Please pray that I am always prepared for whatever questions come my way, theology, Christianity, music??

James

Well, I've never posted a series before, so I'm going to give it a go. I don't know exactly how long it's going to take and I don't know how many post it will include...I guestimate around Eight. The topic is the book of James and how God is speaking truth into my life through it. I hope that as you read, you will also be encouraged to listen to how God is speaking to you and how He wants to transform you to be more like Him.

James 1:2-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

What does it mean to find pure joy in trials of many kinds? I know that right now I am facing trials of many kinds...disrespectful students, figuring out life as a "grown-up", living on the other side of the world from my family and many close friends, being a single woman on the mission field...just to list a few. If I ask myself if I am rejoicing that have to face these challenges, I would be tempted to say no. However, I know that I truly desire to grow my faith and I desire to be the woman God created me to be. I know that in order for that to happen, God must put me in situations that I can't handle myself, in situations that I am forced to put my trust in Him. For this I am rejoicing: God is teaching me to persevere through difficulties in order to grow my faith so that I might someday be, "mature and complete not lacking anything."

James 1:12: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.-Now that's something to rejoice about! It's possible through Christ to persevere, stand the test, and receive the crown of life.

James 1:13-14

When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

There are days when it would be all too easy to give up and give into the temptation to quit, look for a new job, not trust God's sovereignty, lose my temper, be impatient, take life into my own hands. Deep down I know these responses are not of God and I need to run from them. God will test my faith, but He will not tempt me to be disobedient. God, my heavenly Father, would never desire to see me turn away from Him or His plan, so He knows exactly how to keep me going. He is my strength to resist temptation, not the one tempting.

In closing, James 1:17, Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows, He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

Chillaxin' Day

The past few weeks of my life have been really full on...meaning very busy and chaotic. Even though much of my life was filled with great things and I really enjoyed my trip, I was left exhausted. Today, I had an opportunity to catch up with some friends in the states. I didn't get to talk with everybody on my call list, but I did get most of them. I went to One Tree Hill for a picnic and to read/journal, I went for a nice walk this morning and just had a relaxing day. I don't plan to do a whole lot tonight, so that is good too. I think it's going to be a night for me and my guitar to spend some quality time together. Maybe I'll make/write some cards, that would be good too:) Last night I went to a Japanese Restaurant and to see Rush Hour 3 with the Juri, the Japanese student Ferne and I have staying with us for a bit. We had lots of fun and that was also a refreshing night because there was no schedule, we just lived in the moment. Random thought: I have used chopsticks to eat in New Zealand way more than I could ever thought I would/could. In the states I would try to eat the chopsticks and give up halfway through the meal, here I have eaten plenty of compete meals using only chopsticks-it's definitely a skill I have yet to fully develop but that's ok.

Survivor

I think I'm going to be a survivor addict for the first time. I'm watching the first episode of Survivor: China, it's probably well into the Season in the U.S. I don't know but if it is, please don't tell me what happens:)I was super proud of the Christian woman who left the Buddhist welcome ceremony when they were asked to bow in front of Buddha. I saw that coming as soon as they said, "this is not a worship service" God was very specific about bowing before other gods, simply put, He said, "Do Not." It was so great to see this Christian being obedient regardless of what the others would think. It was an encouragement that I needed today.

Uhg

Well, I'm in the process of buying a plane ticket back to New Zealand for next year and it's so overwhelming. I feel like I just did this. I have some leads on good deals but it just takes so long to compare and contrast prices all over the place. I don't know if it's a good idea to go with two different carriers because of the cross-over in LA, but if I do then I think I can get the best deal. I don't know, maybe it's just too late at night for me to be contemplating all of this. I'm tired and I think I'll leave it in God's hands right now and go to sleep.

Planting Season

Today I was working on reports when a guy came in to my office to check the smoke detector and I was listening to a Randy Alcorn sermon about how the decisions we make today affect who we are tomorrow. It was a great sermon and I'm sure I will listen to it again to take more in, but for today it was used to plant a seed for Christ. They guy was one of the cynical, annoyed by religion, no absolute truth kind of guys. Evidently he's had some rough encounters with Christians and he felt deceived by the Amway company when they started sending him Christian sermons and books. So anyway, he obviously knew I was a Christian because of the sermon coming from my computer. This launched us into a lengthily discussion about Christianity and religion. I was just praying that God would give me grace in the words that came from my mouth and that He would help me use His word effectively. At one point he was telling me that he had this Christian co-worker that had the "audacity" to tell him he was not going to heaven because he was not a Christian. Well, I went on to explain what Christ said when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through me." Amazingly, this didn't turn this guy away and he thought it made sense. We talked through many more arguments and by no means has he decided to live for Jesus, but he did say talking to me gave him some hope for Christians and Christianity. Now, if he decides there is Hope in Christ, he'll be all set. Please continue to pray that God gives me opportunities to plant seeds and represent Him through His Word.

Kayak Adventure

I am home safe and sound from the South Island! Praise the Lord. The trip was absolutely stunning and God had His hand on the entire trip in the most amazing ways.

Monday

Lynda and I set off by 7am to head off to Wellington. It took about nine hours! Let me tell ya, that was a long drive. We stopped along the way a few times in some really cute and quaint small towns. The scenery along the way was beautiful as well.



We made it down to the InterIslander Ferry around 4:30/5:00. The boat didn't leave until 8pm, so we thought we would have a drive around the city and see what Wellington looks like. Umm..bad idea. Rush hour traffic in a city I'm not familiar with. Let's just say when we figured out where we ended up, we made sure to get back to the Ferry Depot to just hurry up and wait, rather than being lost in rush hour.

Monday night we stayed at a backpacker's hostel, The Picton Lodge. It felt good to have a nice sleep after that long day of travel.

Tuesday

We drove from Picton to Marahau. We stopped and spent most of the day in Nelson. It is a great artsy town.I wish I had more time there but it was all good. We went to a beautiful Anglican Church which was in the middle of the city, we also visited a museum before heading out of town. We continued on the way to Marahau and stopped at a cool glass-blowing factory. They had beautiful glass art and vases. Then we went to Touch the Sea Aquarium, where we were able to see and touch(if we dared) creatures of the sea.



Tuesday night we camped out in the car and headed off on our kayak adventure on Wednesday morning.

Orientation started at 8:30 and we were on the water by 10:30ish. We had a beautiful day of kayaking. We were supposed to stay at Observation Beach that night but because the weather was great and the forecast for Thursday wasn't so great, we kept going though the "mad mile" so we wouldn't have to worry about high winds the next day. We stayed at Te Pukatea Bay, about two hours up the coast.


Thursday morning we got an early start on the water because we wanted to beat the wind and get up to Bark Bay, which would mean would have to get through a reef and "foul point" We did, no problem. However, as we were packing up camp on Thursday, I felt the ground move under me. Lynda said she didn't feel anything, so I dismissed it as me being tired. When we made it to Bark Bay the park ranger asked us if we felt the earthquake that morning! Yes, I did, I was not crazy! Evidently there was an earthquake from 8 to 8:30 and we were on the water the whole time, God's hand of protection was definitely upon us in a mighty way.

Thursday night there was a huge rain storm and Lynda and I had to stay in the tent from about 6:30 on but that was ok because we enjoyed a great time of singing and prayer that we probably otherwise wouldn't have experienced. Also on Thursday night, I had an opportunity to share my testimony with a backpacker who was talking with us as we were making dinner. He didn't make a decision to follow Christ, but he did recognize that I serve a very powerful God.
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Friday was gorgeous, it was the best day for kayaking we had. We got an early start again and were on the water by nine. We watched the sunrise in the morning and set off for Arch Point and Tonga Island. Tonga Island is a marine reserve where there are many seals soaking up the sun on the rocks. We ended our trip with an Aqua Taxi pick up and ride back to Marahau. Friday night we drove back to Picton. Saturday we took the InterIslander back to Wellington and drove all the way back to Auckland. We arrived safe and sound around midnight, only after a flat tire 20 minutes from home, hahaha. God had His hand on us through the entire trip and we enjoyed every minute. The beauty of the His creation all around us, His creativity, power, grace, strength, and presence.

All-Nighter and Hamilton

This past Thursday night we did an all-nighter with some of the youth at Redoubt North. In fact we had a very small group but that was ok, six total including Joanne and me. But that didn't stop us from living out Acts 2:42. We did some fun and crazy activities as well as some intentional teaching and prayer, we also had an elder from the church come in and administer communion. It was a great night of fun, fellowship, and learning. We called the night, "Project 2:42" and challenged each student to memorize that Scripture before the night was over. That Scripture says, "They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." "They" being the early church-we learned about how being part of the body of Christ today involves the same things. Each activity we did through the night fit into one of these categories (except for the 2 hours we let them sleep from 4 to 6am) All in all, a great success and lots of fun.

Saturday and Sunday I went down to Hamilton with my friend Serina to pick up her sister from University, she goes to a missionary training college down there. Serina and I had a nice time to catch up and we went to the Hamilton Gardens, which were absolutely beautiful. I think Hamilton is about the same size as Holland but maybe a little bigger, it's hard to tell. Anyway, going down there reminded me of my IWU days in a big way. This college is much smaller and they want to stay small, which is cool. I went to a Maori Christian church this morning because for the last week, Sophie (Serina's sister) and a few other students helped run a childrens' day camp at this church. It was a great opportunity to worship in a different setting from what I'm used to.

Next week I am headed down South to Nelson. Please pray for safe travels and for God to watch over my friend Lynda and I as we go see and enjoy God's creation. We will be gone all week and get back some time on Saturday night of next week. School starts the following Monday, so life will be back in action full swing. I don't know if I'll get a chance to blog at all through the week-so look for pics, lessons learned, adventures and more the following week. Thanks for your prayers.

Scraping away some flax

Yesterday afternoon God revealed a part of my heart that I didn't like. The day was going great and I was feeling really successful with the day, I was getting ready to head off to the all-nighter for the youth at Redoubt North. I checked for phone for whatever reason and saw that my friend had decided she couldn't go on the trip next week. Which meant it was off for me too because it was only the two of us going. I was so frustrated and I really didn't know what to think. I knew that it would be another year at least before I'd be able to do any other traveling here so my heart sunk. Now I know that I am selfish at times, but I don't like it! I hated feeling my heart be so broke over something so self-centered. I had to go to the cross and ask Jesus to purify my heart, scrape away this ugly flax, so His image would be more clear. I was able to call another friend and talk through some of it and have her pray with me, what a blessing this was. Praise the Lord. I went off the all-nighter still disappointed but determined to try and stay positive. That night I was talking with another friend and she was really keen to go, so the trip is back on. I was so excited but still a bit unsure if we would be able to pull it off. But it's booked and we leave on Monday morning and everything is in place. It's going to be an intense trip and I think God has some lessons He wants to teach me through this time away. Right now, I am thankful that God is still renewing my mind and heart and making me more like Him, even when I don't like what has to come out and get scraped away in the process.

Multi-tasking

Praise God for allowing me to be a multi-tasker! Today has been a crazy good day so far and it's only getting started! This morning I met with Brett Jones to talk through Heart 2 Heart Mentoring, I needed some advise as to what the next steps to take in making this a legit program should be and also get some direction with what elements could use some editing..good meeting:) Next, camping gear! Next week my friend Louise and I are going on a camping/kayak trip. I had to run around and gather some equiptment today, check that off the list. Next, contiue getting ready for youth all-nighter happening tonight, pack up the car, run to the store, print off materials...doing good. Hats off to my friends Marissa and Michelle who have taught me how to make lists of things that have to happen, number them with priority, then check them off! Yay for learning what I need to do myself and what to delagate. Ok, here I go, this was a little break from the craziness so as to keep myself motivated and focused.

God's Conference Room

Meetings are an inevitable part of planning anything. I remember my days of being an RA at Indiana Wesleyan, where I had at least three sometimes four meetings a week! Crazy! Now as a teacher I have plenty of meetings as well. It seems as through we think the best way to accomplish tasks is to have meetings. To some extent, I agree. It's important to be on the same page as those you are working with and you have to communicate effectively in order to plan anything. I've decided that meetings don't have to be in a conference room or even a coffee shop. Today I met with Joanne Mckinnel to plan an all-nighter for the youth group at Redoubt North. We went just out of town to Orewa and had our meeting at the beach! We started out by giving an outline of events and timeline to the night, then went to lunch. We ate at a really fun Mexican Restaurant, Hola. Hmmm...yum:) Mexican food isn't very common here, so this was a special treat, I had my first chicken quesadilla since I've been here. Then we went back to the picnic table at the beach and continued planning and putting things in order but focused more on details. Everything fell into place wonderfully. I really think God blessed this time and the all-nighter is going to go well. I'm really excited to see everything come together.

Waitakere Expedition

So I was thinking that this weekend was going to be a little more easy-going than last weekend, JUST KIDDING!! I definitely had an intense day, but it was Sooooo much fun! I went tramping (hiking)through the bush in the Waitakere Ranges Regional Park. I went with Sarah Williams for a day of random excursions and intense expedition. We started out by going to Bethells lake to hike and explore a few trails out that way, I have always wanted to walk along the river all the way to the lake and we did that today.


We relaxed there for a little bit and I had fun jumping off the dunes, just to see how far I could jump:) This brought back great memories of family vacations at Silver Lake, MI when I was kid. Then we headed off to Bethells Beach, which is by far one of my most favorite places here. Sarah had never been there, so that was a must do. I am continually amazed at the beauty of God displayed at this place. I was thinking that if earth is this beautiful I can't begin to grasp how beautiful heaven is going to be. I tried to capture some pictures of what we experienced, but let's be honest, I cannot fully grasp the mighty power of the sea, along with the huge rock formations, breathtaking sky, and glory of God around me.



As we walked around and enjoyed Bethells beach, we went into a few caves. We couldn't go very far in because I didn't bring a torch (flashlight). We found fun picture spots and just soaked everything in.




After we spent some time at Bethells beach we went down the road about 20 minutes and began the most challenging hike I've been on thus far in NZ. On the way to Bethells I saw a sign for for Cascades Park and the name of the road was falls rd. So in my mind I was thinking, "Ahh waterfalls, this is a must!" We drove for a long time down a very narrow 1.5 lane gravel road until we finally came to Cascades Park and decided on a trail to take. We went for about 3.5 hours of solid hiking through the bush. It was a whole different kind of beautiful than the beach, but just as amazing. I didn't get any pictures here because we didn't stop much. I didn't know how long the trail was going to take so we made sure to keep going strong. We went up and down a dozen steep slops and found out we had muscles that we didn't know existed:) About half-way through, God blessed us with a short rain, long enough to cool us off, but not long enough to make the trail unbearably muddy and dangerous, it was already plenty muddy as it was. Toward the end of the trek I began to hear the falls and I was getting really excited. Then I saw a sign that said, "Falls 15min Rtn" but then only three feet from it another that said the same trail didn't get you to the falls. Well, I was determined and decided to give it a go, just to see where the trail did go. I could tell we were getting closer and closer as the falls got louder and louder, but then we hit a dead end. The only way we were going to get there was to go right through the water and over some huge rocks. Because the water was getting deeper I didn't think it was wise to continue. If I wasn't responsible for the safety of another person, I probably would have gone for it, but I was only able to catch a small glimpse of what I knew was an amazing and powerful waterfall. Needless to say, I will be back to this place, and I will figure out how to get to the waterfall!We finished up the hike and headed for home. Now at the end of the day, I am exhausted but more in love with God than I was at the beginning of the day. I feel thankful and blessed for the many ways God displayed His love today.

Week Wrap Up

On Wednesday I took nine students to a ukulele rehearsal with about 300 other kids! It was hilarious and fun. My students are going to have a great time with the ukulele. In November my kids will be part of the biggest Ukulele festival Auckland has ever had. The goal is to have at least 500 students playing in the Ukulele orchestra. There are also professional players coming from Canada, Tonga, NZ, and the U.S. It should be a great event and if you are in Auckland on November 3, I highly suggest coming to the Kiwi Ukulele Festival.

Tonight we took the youth group to Clip and Climb along with the Papakura youth group, that was tons of fun too. We even had four new girls come along! That was totally great. I hope they come back, they were really sweet girls.

Tomorrow we have CIA again and I'm looking forward to another great week of that. Last time we had five new kids, so I'm anxious to see if those kids come back, or if we get even more new kids! That would be great too! After CIA I'm headed off to Cession Community for a Zebulun concert. Zebulun is a Christian rock band from Auckland and Cession is having this concert as an outreach event for youth and young adults, I'll be helping out with serving food and whatever else is needed.

This weekend isn't going to be quite as crazy as last weekend but that is totally ok. I'm sure I'll still get out and do some hiking, probably out by the west coast beaches.

Live it up!

Living life to the full has always been something I love to do. God has blessed me with so many opportunities to live for Him and experience Him in many ways. This past weekend I definitely lived life to the fullest and it was Amazing! My weekend began with a trip to Waiheke Island with Bethany Williams.

We had a great trip. We started out by taking the ferry from the city to the island, which takes about 35 minutes. Once on the island we went for a short hike up to nearest village of Oneroa where we had morning tea and "planned" the day. From there we took a bus to Ostend to visit the market and see the various arts, crafts, foods,ect...After that we went on an in-land hike across the island over to Onetangi, this took about 2.5 hours. Bethany was a trooper, we over a couple pretty big hills/sm. mounts, through the vineyard country. It was beautiful.

Once we made it to the beach we had a picnic lunch and Bethany had her first PB&J sandwich ever!Yay for beach picnics! Then we chilled on the beach for a while after our long hike. I went for my first swim in the Sea since I've been back to NZ! It was wonderful! I forgot how much I missed being in the water, I was so hot that I decided to swim in my clothes because I didn't bring my togs(swimsuit).

After a great afternoon on the beach we headed back toward Oneroa via bus. We walked around some shops for a bit and went down to Oneroa beach to build drip sandcastles:) Then we walked the last bit back to the ferry and headed for home. We ended the day very sun-kissed and enjoyed takaways and ice-cream at Mission Bay as a great conclusion to our adventure.



That was all on Saturday...my living it up continued on Sunday.

Goeff Davies met two American students in the airport on his way back to NZ a few week ago, their names are Bethany and Ben. They are staying a Piha beach on the West Coast, studying marine biology. On Sunday the four of us went up to the Waipu Caves. Waipu is about 2 hours North of Auckland. We had a great day of caving and saw tons of glow worms! Glow worms are unique to New Zealand. They are small worms that hang from the ceilings of caves and the glow like lightning bugs (except it's a steady glow)Whenever we would get into a big cavern, we'd cut the torches(flashlights) and see all the glow worms above us, they were incredible! The cave was wet and muddy, but soon into the adventure we embraced the mud and the water with no problem. Nothing like becoming one with the mud..hahaha! We were covered in it and it was great.

On the way home we drove down the West coast and saw an absolutely beautiful sunset. The whole day was such an inspirational Sunday. It was so worshipful to explore the cave and creation with other believers as we became friends and worked as a team to conquer various challenges in the cave. What a blessing to be able to experience God in this way. When the weekend was over, I was definitely exhausted yet refreshed at the same time. There were many times on the way home that I was close to tears because of the joy, challenges and unity in Christ I experienced. Praise God from whom all blessing flow.

Catching up

This week I have had some opportunities to catch up with friends and see how God is and has been working in their lives. On Sunday evening Joanne McKinnel shared with the church some of her experiences from spending the past three months in the States. She was in Kentwood, MI doing a youth internship with Kentwood Community Church. Joanne had some great stories of how God is at work in the state that I love. I also had a chance to catch up with Geoff Davies after his three month trip to the States. He was doing a youth internship, but in New York. It was interesting to hear the ways that he and Joanne had totally different experiences but they both enjoyed the ministry opportunities God gave them. Joanne had had one of the same realizations that I had the first time I came to New Zealand, that is, "look how big my family is!" It's amazing to worship with the body of Christ all over the world.

This afternoon I was incredibly encouraged by meeting with Beth Fussner. Both of us are embarking on beginning new ministries that the Lord has placed on our hearts. It was a huge blessing to hear what God is asking her to do and the vision He has been giving her. Likewise, it was awesome to share the vision of Heart 2 Heart Mentoring with her and what God is teaching and speaking to me. It was such a God meeting. God knew that we both needed some encouragement to keep our eyes fixed on what He wants to do and not get discouraged with some difficult circumstances. God definitely spoke to my heart this afternoon by allowing me to have this great conversation with Beth. Then to top it off, the sunset tonight was absolutely beautiful! I had just enough time to sit and watch the sun go down before I had to head off to youth group. What a day. What a gift. Praise the Lord.