No change to report....

We'll since we have now settled into the mundane life of the working majority we have much less 'adventure' to report. (smile) Oh well, we are still enjoying being somewhere new and I still find things that are done differently or said differently everyday, much to my amusement. For Example...

A customer of mine came in and, with a new Zealand accent, told me she was looking for a sponge bag. I, momentarily confused gave her a very blank look and so she asked again but this time she called it a toilet bag. Now pardon me for not clueing in right away but with all the technical hiking gear my mind went "EW that's disgusting!!!" I didn't say it outloud, but I think my face showed I was still confused and stunned. Finally someone else behind the counter rescued me and took her to where the bathroom bags/toiletry bags were, much to my embarassement.

Anyways, that's all for now...

Keeping Busy with NEW Adventures

Well, the time has finally come where John and I are busy once again! You'll never guess what we are up to :) We've decided to become farmers so John is training to be a wool presser with Ben and comes home smelling like a sheep. He's enjoying the work for the most part but does come home tired and leaves home very early (ie: 5:30 am) I on the other hand started today at Kathmandu, which is an outdoor gear store chain here in New Zealand. I will be trained in all aspects of the gear in order to sell it which is a little daunting but oh well, I'm sure I'll do alright. My job is only part time for the moment so in my spare time I've decided to volunteer at the riding for the disabled society. Yesterday was my first day of that and I actually really enjoyed it. I've never worked with disabled or handicapped people so it is an interesting challenge for me. I worked with the sweetest little girl named Taylar who was just amazing to watch her enjoy the horse and being in control of it. With my love for horses it's a perfect mix (although I did get bit once, and stepped on as well, so I'm not sure if I love these horses). Well, Today is February 14th here so happy Valentines Day to you! Know that ultimately you're loved by your creator and his valentine is in the palm of his hand. :)

Well that's all for now but thanks for your prayers in this area and we'll let you know how it all works out!

P.S. Corissa I got your card yesterday! Thanks, it made me laugh and blessed my heart!

...Hope in a Crucified Man...

Last night I had the opportunity to go to a "concert" of sorts put on by 'Tear Fund' New Zealand (associated with Compassion International) They had Graham Kendrick (songwriter) and Tony Campolo both doing what they do best and it was a really enjoyable night. One of Graham's new songs is called... "I put my hope in a crucified Man" and he spoke a little about how we are meant to live our Christian lives through our everyday actions and dealings. He even mentioned on our blogs so I thought it would only be right to respond by commenting here that I do put my hope in a Crucified Man. Tony Campolo was challenging as usual, even though his main challenge was to sponsor a Child, his message still rang true that we are called as the people of God to care for the poor and the needy. He spoke of his many trips to third world countries and seeing the face of God in the little malnurished children. We are called to treat those little ones as God in the flesh so we can respond on judgement day that we did feed, clothe, visit and help the needy.

He also challenged us to live in the Power of God as we are promised that the same power that dwelt in Jesus Christ and rose him from the dead is now living in us. The same power! He referred to the story when Jesus was in the crowd and the woman came up and touched his robe. Jesus asked "who touched me?" and his disciples laughed at his question. Jesus replied "somone touched me and I felt power flow out of me" Tony Campolo said again that this is the same power that Christ says now lives in us.

I was encouraged by his message and I wanted to pass this on to you! We are called to serve an awesome God who gave us his power to live life to the full.

Can I hear an "Amen?"

A Day in the Life of us...

Well, after a recent conversation with my parents, I wondered how many other people didn't know what our day to day living arrangements were. So I decided that I would try to communicated what a day of ours tends to look like.

Currently we are living with Ben Conways Parents, Bruce and Lois. They have been gracious enough to let us stay with them while we look for work and get settled. We have also discussed staying with them a little longer term (boarding with them) depending on what we feel like once we have income (if we ever get income). The Conways have 3 boys and all have moved out leaving them with 3 empty bedrooms that are never all empty (from what I can tell) as they always have something going on here! (Very generous people) Since I have been at home a fair bit I have done some cooking, a little tiny bit of grocery shopping, and a few spurts of cleaning. John mowed the lawn the other day and was helping Bruce with maintaining his boat. Even John has been helping out with some of the cooking and made the best BBQ chicken I've ever had the other day! We have been attending ICBC (in New Zealand that is the Invercargill Community Baptist Church not their Insurance corporation) and enjoying that!

Day to day we usually sleep in until around 9 or 9:30 and then once up we try and decide what we should do for the day. We have done a fair bit of exploring on the nice days and I have read more books (on the rainy days) than I have in years. We've gone to many of the local beaches, day walks, and touristy things. We've also spent a few of our days job hunting. We are usually home for the evenings, playing cards or whatever. Really we are just waiting for jobs to appear and in the meantime getting a little cabin fever-ish.

We still have our van that we are mostly just using for transportation right now but it is still all set up and ready for a trip should we decide to go on one.

We'll I think that should give you a better idea of our lives as of late. Please keep praying for jobs for us! We would appreciate that!

Answer's to the Questions... and more...

Not to leave you waiting long of course here are the answers to the few extra questions. My (Andrea) answers will have to do... :)

Did you get to have a Bithday cake?

John did get a birthday cake, I made him a very nice and moist Chocolate cake
which he enjoyed very much. (so did I)

Do they have dairy Queen icecream cakes in New Zealand? (25 candles would melt it pretty fast anyway!)

Chalk at least one negative point up for New Zealand... they do not have Dairy
Queen here and thus no Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cakes. Sad, Sad, Story...

Do they call BBQs Barbies in New Zealand or is that an Aussie expression?

They do call BBQs Barbies here from time to time but not always. I think it
is more common in Aussie land but you could here it hear from time to time
:)

Well there you have it again folks... On to new news...

Today John went sailing with a couple of the guys which I think he enjoyed very much. You'll have to ask him for more about that. I stayed home to read a good book, watch a movie and clean the oven! What a day! Well I did get most of my book read, the movie was good (The Queen, in theaters now here and very interesting), and the oven is free of its grime, with only one tiny casualty... my arm got in the way. As I was cleaning I reached inside to wipe off the back and bumped my arm against some of the chemicals. I went to the sink quickly to rinse it off and noticed I'd bumped in another place as well but when I rinsed that spot off, my skin washed away with the water... Its a tiny spot but I was considerably grossed out and felt a little sick for a bit. Now it just looks like a white spot on my tanned skin. OH well... I've handed out more resume's now and am waiting for a call again! We wont wait too much longer before we'll have to move on or get more desperate for work. I really don't relish the idea of working at McDonalds or something....

John also got the opportunity to go caving the other day (since I am so fond of caves I turned down the opportunity) which he also enjoyed! I guess they are pretty cool caves that you can just wander around in. Anyways thats about all for us. Sorry about the lack of pictures, we are again finding it hard to post pictures so you'll just have to wait!