New Zealand Adventures

I've had some people ask and also in case you didn't know, my new blog (or at least the current one I'm using) is

http://thoughtsfromkatie.blogspot.com

Thanks!
Katie

I'm terrible! I lost all previous skill of flying down the hill totally out of control, but nonetheless fast. Now I'm that slow girl that gets in everyone's way and looks awkward and wedged... haha oh yes. I had a hard time today. The guy we rented out skiis from told us to not expect to be good because the snow was so different. I'll blame it on that. Actually it was quite different. More sticky and hard, not like N.American snow. anyway.. that's the terminology steph used anyway. It was so fun though, lots of good memories. I busted a couple of times, but mostly sat down because I was getting off balance. The weather was great in the morning, but visibility increasingly got worse until you couldn't see the chair 2 in front of you on the lift, it was amazing. It kinda made it more fun, although you couldn't see the bumps ahead of time so you were almost always out of control.... good times.

I'm busy packing away. NOnnie was right that it's nice to not have to think, everything has to go. I'm doing very well actually, not much more to do. I have an exam Saturday, so I'll be studying tomorrow. It's history and we have to write 4 essays, but we have topics to choose from so I just have to prepare that tomorrow.

Anyway! better head on. I'm exhausted. night!

I changed Steph's tire today. She ran over a nail last night. It was actually really fun, I've never done it by myself. Yet another thing I can add to my list of things accomplished in life. I told my dad I was going to quit school and become a mechanic. good idea, right? I may not be master yet, but you wait. Changing tires, then who knows what.

Today was another beautiful day. I've got some time this last week and I've been enjoying the outdoors and soaking up all the stuff I can do before I leave. Kath, Eva, and I are going downtown tomorrow just to hang out and look around. Downtown Christchurch, or the city centre as they call it, is really neat. All the stores are really close together and in the middle is Cathedral Square with obviously the giant cathedral and lots of open space where people perform and such. It has an almost life size chess game and tons of markets. Anyway, that's the plan tomorrow with my climbing in there too hopefully. It's suppose to rain Thursday, so pray that it doesn't because I want to go snowboarding. It's the only day I'll be able, so I've got one shot.

Not much else to report. Sad to leave, but excited to see home. Excited to see my dog, she's always good for a warm greeting.

I feel as if in many ways I have nothing left to say here. Although I have many things to say, I feel as though my time with this blog and being here in finished in many ways. You see wrote (as they say here) my biology exam today and I think I did very well. That was the exam I came back to take mainly, the one I was hesitant on passing. This has been the hardest class I've ever taken, this school being much more challenging than UT. I studied a great deal and felt confident about it walking out. It was a great accomplishment for me, one of the first times I've ever really tried in school. It has its perks.. :)

I had my Youth for Christ kids group tonight. I really have begun to treasure those girls and they will be hard to leave behind in just 9 short days. We ate fish and chips and went bowling tonight with the boys, it was a lot of fun. My girls and I had the "boys don't like you screaming and being loud all the time" talk on the way to bowling. I had a long drive home dropping off one girl, Danielle, and got some huge insights into her life. She's the one that pierces my heart out of the whole group and today I found out why- parents never married, doesn't know her dad, lives with grandmother because she was taken away from her mom, sister pregnant.. the list goes on. She's got this happy shell to her that I can so often mimic. I think we all can to a degree.

I'm going snowboarding next week, I'm pumped. Base is 120 cm, coldest winter since 1992, and I'm here for it! We got stuck in the snow for a bit coming back to Christchurch from Wanaka (although those cities don't mean anything to ya'll probably). It was really fun actually, seeing people help pull your car out of the snow. Made it back to catch the plane for Sydney. Sydney was beautiful, really loved it. It's huge!!!!! Auckland was wonderful too, although the weather was mediocre at best. Really windy city, at least while we were there. I met Jonathan, Michael's cousin. Michael my friend from S. Africa, that is. crazy connection, but they're both wonderful. I really enjoyed meeting Jonathan, nice when people are so easy to talk to. He plays soccer for the New Zealand Knights (I think that's the name). World Cup soccer is in S.Africa next year.

I'm glad to be back in Christchurch, but sad to see vacation end. I truly loved having my family over here, although there were the family mishaps, we are still a very wonderful family. It's strange being in this world in New Zealand and having them come into it and now having it back the way it was.

"Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. At the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses" (Numbers 9:15-23, quoted 22-23). I read that just now and thought it was amazing. How marvelous to actually follow God like that and what a wonderful lesson to learn: to stay where we are and find our purpose in it. I so often think that being a student is a waste of time. Sure the objection can be made that it's "preparing me for the future" but it still seems to be years of idle work that the time could be instead used to care for children in Africa who have no one to love them or some other so-deemed heroic and shining deed to make a difference. But ya know, that's not how God calls us to see. God calls us to stay where He says until further instructions. He often doesn't give us long-term plans, just what we need to get by in that moment. But it's enough, it always is. I so often find people discontent and restless with their present situation. We tell ourselves it's not the greatest thing we could be doing to glorify God, when in actuality who are we to say what can most glorify God? Emerson once said that the meaning of success is to know one life has breathed easier because you have lived. One life. What if we treated our day to day like that, realizing that by helping one life we have great meaning and purpose. We need to stay more at home in God. When He calls we go, but while He seems silent, distant, peaceful, or however you feel Him right now, we stay where we are and learn to give even our restlessness, our fear, our blindness to see the amazing ways God is using us in our current situation to Him in prayer. If we don't trust, we have nothing and if we sit around and think our current situation is a mistake, we waste the time God has given us to further His kingdom and bring Him glory.

Kaikoura was wonderful over the weekend. The weather was cold but nice on Saturday so we were able to hike along the coast at the seal colony. It has some pretty amazing views of the mountains and shore line. The seals were amazing and we often would just be walking and realize how close we were to one of them. The trail could only be walked at low tide, so we came at the perfect window to walk around the shore.

We ate at some fun restaurants and walk around the town looking in the shops. The power went off at the backpackers place where we stayed, but it almost made it more fun since I had my headlamp so I read stories and we just got to talk. Yesterday (Sunday) turned out to be rather rainy, so we just decided to head home after lunchtime. The drive is really nice, only about 2 1/2 hours along the east coast going north from Christchurch.

Today is a beautiful day. I'm about to go walk in the gardens. It's fairly cold outside, but the sun warms things up a bit. We're starting to see the first real chill of winter as the leaves are almost done falling off the trees. It sleeted and hailed last night, but it was really fun listening to it with an open window. I like being able to leave windows open here, gives nice fresh air indoors, although I realize the great comfort of central heat and air that is nice in the states. Today is the Queen's Birthday celebration so it's a public holiday, nice to be off school. This is our last week, crazy how fast things go by. I hardly have class this week as my biology class along with both my labs have already ended. I'll be glad for my family getting here, won't be long now.

I went to the happiest place on earth today. Yes, that's right, watch out Disneyworld this indoor waterpark is taking over. It's so great, maybe not the happiest place on earth, but it's super fun. We took the kids from Rock Solid (kids program I do) to this awesome Dollywood Splash Country type place but indoor. All the kids were hilarious and it was so fun dunking people and splashing around. Steph came with me and she had this really great talk with one of the girls that really needs to be loved. Steph's so good at stuff like that, she's a great listener. It was also fun just being with Steph-it's so easy to just live together but hardly do outside the flat stuff besides the grocery store and working out. It was fun hanging out and we grabed dinner after. I'm really going to miss her when I leave.

I am going to Kaikoura tomorrow. They have a seal colony and whale watching so it should be rather eventful. It's about 3 hours north of here (Christchurch) and we're going to spend the night. Hopefully we'll find some cute, little back country church. We being Katherine and I, Steph has a psych test to study for. My family comes in 5 days, woohoo. Or should I say ya'll come in 5 days, considering by now most other people past Nonnie are bound to have dropped off the "read katie's blog" list. haha oh well, I still enjoy writing it. I don't journal, so it's some sort of a memory.

I'm listening to Kayne West right now on my IPOD. I don't particularly like his music, but it always reminds me of Chase Lyle because Kayne's his favorite singer and Chase in Africa would always put it on certain songs of his and we would each have a headphone in and listen. Good memories. I spoke with Michael Adant from S. Africa today. His cousin just moved to New Zealand and I'm hopefully going to meet up with him when I'm in Auckland- a new friend, how exciting!

I've been having a hard time sleeping recently, as you will probably note from the time on this posting. I lay in bed reading until I think I'll fall asleep, but oh no, I don't. haha I always roll around and talk to God usually saying stuff like, "Well, if you're going to keep me up you might as well talk to me," or something like, "what are you trying to tell me right now?"

I turned in a 10 page paper today. It was actually an ok paper too, history paper. I have a geography poster due Friday so I've been workign on that tonight. Shannelle came home today and it's fun having her back. She was in the Phillipines for a convention, a Christian group gathering. Anyway, I'm hoping to make it to Kaikoura this weekend. It's the Queen's Birthday celebration on Monday so we're off school, although her birthday was in April. England feels the weather is better in June so they celebrate in June... I'm serious, that's the reason.

"Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of Him may be before you, that you may not sin" Exodus 20:20. See the sequence of events, see the order, this is the way we fear God, this is how it happens. Life is a process. Neat, huh?

Happy Birthday Norbert- his ice cream cake! Steph taugh me how to put pictures on my blog, woohoo! Also, I forgot to say why my title was "Welcome Home." Kath made me listen to a song with that title on the way home tonight and it was awesome. It's this NZ singer talking about all the immigrants that come here and welcoming them to New Zealand, saying you can call this home and we accept you here for who you are. Brilliant song really, wish it were true, but great song.


One more pic for the road... imagine yourself here, oh wait I am here... yeah, it's this beautiful.

A rather exciting thing happened to me yesterday. I've felt recently like I have life block, you know, like writer's block but applied to all of life. I have so much to say with all the thoughts and realizations that enter my head all the time, but recently I've felt unable to really communicate what I actually mean, whether written or verbal. It's been frusterating to a degree, until yesterday when I read a friend's blog. You see I had this conversation with her last week about singlehood. I was so desperately trying to offer her the advice that God has graciously given to me, but the words were coming out broken and seemed indiscernible. We went on in the discussion and it irritated me for a few days that the point I was trying to get across didn't seem to come out, in my mind. Crazy thing that happened was reading her blog and realizing she got my exact point and although I was acredited, it was wonderful to realize I, being me Katie, didn't give her any words of wisdom or speak eloquently, but God allowed her to hear what she needed. We worry so much about setting a good example and making people know we're Christians, but if we are, they'll know; if we're true and faithful, they'll know. If we care, they'll know. It's not the act of trying and doing, it's being. If we try to speak wisdom, care, love, give, or whatever, we'll fail. BUT if we focus our lives on God and learn who He is, we begin to give Him everything- our lives, friends, family, our moments, our joys and failures. When we learn that God is love, THEN we are able to speak wisdom, care, give etc as byproducts of the love of God. I've had this "do the fruits of the spirit" and love everyone because that's what you're supposed to do as a Christian mindset most of my life- it's wrong. You can't. To be called a Christian and not read scripture, pray, or follow God's laws, is in my opinion, at this point in my life, ignorantly thinking we can widen the narrow road to heaven. There it is, controversy out in the open. Take your best shot. :)

"I will call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words." psalm 17:6. "I was blameless before Him... the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless." psalm 18:23a,32. Maybe the key to loving one another lies not in our effort but in our faith in a God who is able to make our ways blameless....discuss amongst yourselves.