2014 and a new semester begins

Hi everyone,

Yes it has been a while since we updated, and a few people have asked if we are still going to keep this blog updated. We are hoping to, but I guess part of the reason that we haven't updated for a while is that we haven't really done anything. Haha. :)

Josh's second semester officially started today, although over the past 3 1/2 weeks he has had Intensive Hebrew classes, so he has been keeping busy. I never realised before just how much ancient Hebrew sounds like Orc. Oftentimes Josh will be studying in the other room and muttering words to himself and I wonder if he is actually conversing with a stray Orc who was wandering past (then I remember that we aren't in New Zealand, and we only have Orcs there. The US might have squirrels and raccoons but we have Orcs and Elves right?)(and a dragon). It definitely makes for interesting sound effects anyway. 

Rewinding back to December a bit - we had a really great holiday period (or vacation as they call it over here), really just in so far as we were able to really spend some nice time together. During term time, and especially at the end of the semester the seminary students get crazy busy, and I wasn't seeing much of Josh for a couple of months before he went on holiday. So it was really nice over the break to make the most of being able to just be together and reconnect. 

We were really blest to have been able to celebrate a Kiwi Christmas with the other NZ families from church - complete with delicious roast lamb (also from New Zealand!). That was a lot of fun and it was really nice to be able to spend time all together - as all of us have family back home that we were missing spending Christmas with. 

Our Kiwi Christmas with the Couperus's and Vooys's :D

Then on Christmas Day we were very kindly invited to our good friends from church to have a delicious meal, great fellowship and even games with their family. It was a lot of fun and really nice to have church family to be able to celebrate the day with. 

You may have heard about a 'polar vortex' that has been hitting the northern (and even some of the southern) parts of the US. We have most definitely been effected by that. The temperatures have been getting down into the -20's and we have had a few groups of days where the temperature dropped down to -26 to -30 (without windchill). On the first weekend that the 'vortex' hit it was at the start of January, and we were asked to go and shovel the seminary because there was so much snow, and with the temperatures being so cold, the longer the snow was left the harder it would be to clear away from the paths. So we wrapped up with multiple layers of clothes and trekked over the train tracks. Our car wouldn't start - and there was a 'state of emergency' that had been declared so that people weren't actually supposed to be driving because of the weather. Plus the seminary carpark and a lot of the streets around it hadn't been ploughed, so we wouldn't have been able to drive in anyway. 

Needless to say it was a very cold trip, and it was my first shoveling experience (Josh had already done it a few times at the seminary) so we were broken in with the big stuff! There were drifts of snow that were halfway up the front doors of the school - so it was a big job, but we had fun, and once you get working then you warm up! :D

On the way back home Josh took this picture above - it my hair was freezing from the cold wind. And yes, that is actually a sock on my hand - I only had one pair of gloves that had a couple of holes in them, so I took a spare pair of socks to shove on if need be. And I'm glad I had them! 

Josh started Hebrew a couple of days after our shoveling experience, and because of the cold was taking the car in the mornings. That meant that I didn't have a way of getting around, so have pretty much just stayed at home. Which I didn't mind considering the temperatures outside!

Icicles from our car attaching themselves to the carpark

The standard view that we have had from our house for the past month (the snow has just become a bit dirtier now)

Icicles hanging from along the edge of our apartment. They look almost fake!

Otherwise I have started up teaching the art classes again for a local homeschooling group. Which is a lot of fun. The kids are great and the Mums are lovely. It's nice to spend time with them and get to know them better. 

I am also still going to be leading a little group of 4-5 year olds while their Mums are at Bible study - it hasn't started yet this year because we keep on getting held up by the weather, but I'm looking forward to doing that again. 

With the long days indoors, and the fact that it has been pretty much impossible to get outdoors for walks or anything - we were noticing that our health hasn't been great. We weren't eating much because we weren't doing much - and were almost going into hibernation mode. Plus being on a tight budget means that I've been trying to keep the grocery bill as low as possible, which makes it tricky to eat consistently in a healthy way (well that's what I've found anyway, maybe I'm just a bit useless at cooking. Haha). Plus in mid-December Josh's Dad had a heart attack, from which providentially he has recovered from really well - but it gave me a bit of a reminder that I need to make sure I'm feeding Josh better, because heart troubles do run in his family. So having said all that, we decided to invest in a gym membership. There is one that opened up just in December that is quite close to us, and the membership is only $10 per month (yup you read that correctly, it's very cheap) with no cancellation fee. I have started babysitting again, and Josh is still working for the seminary, so we were able to pay for this with some of our own 'spare change' over here. Josh has been going for a couple of weeks now, and I think already he has been feeling better. I only signed up yesterday, so am looking forward to getting some more energy and feeling a bit more healthy! 

So back to seminary - Josh is really looking forward to this semester. It sounds like they are going to be doing some very interesting classes and getting stuck in to some more practical stuff - such as pastoral counseling, and they will be starting to write more sermons and exhorting as well. So it's going to be a really educational 5 months I think! 

The next big step is that the summer internships are starting to come out. These are opportunities that the students have to go and work in a church for about 10 weeks - so they get some experience preaching, meeting with congregants and assisting and working with the active pastor (if there is one - some of the internships are at vacant churches or church-plant kind of situations). So that could really end up being anywhere in the US - and at this point we have no clue where we will be. I guess it will be just anywhere that they'll take us! It would be great to have the opportunity to go to a church that is different from what we would experience back home (so perhaps a super big church or something along those lines), however, I think the biggest thing that Josh really wants at this time is mentorship - so to be able to work alongside someone who he could learn a lot from, and hopefully glean some of their wisdom and experience. So we will keep you posted about that. 

Here's a little comparison for you - Josh's school in the above photo during the Autumn, and taken from the same spot last week. :D Pretty amazing huh!

Thank you again for your support everyone. And your continued prayers for Josh's studies are so appreciated. I read that awesome verse the other day from Isaiah 26:3:

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." 

That is really our biggest prayer at the moment - that we will be able to continue to trust that God will provide for all our needs, as He already has been amazingly - and that we will be able to keep focus on why we are here - not just in the US, but here in general. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And at a time when it is easy to go a little stir-crazy because of being cooped up indoors, and to miss family and home, the temptation is far too great to allow ourselves to get a bit despondent or experience self-doubt. 

But it's because of instead of 'staying' our minds on Christ, we are allowing ourselves to become self-focused. It makes such a difference to change that perspective, reshuffle that focus, and get back on track. So that even if our situation hasn't changed at all - suddenly the outlook, purpose and motivation is all different because it's God's - which gives us awesome hope, meaning and unfailing confidence in the fact that we are here for a reason. Very cool stuff. 

This is ending up long - so I will sign off here, but I will try and be a little more regular with the updates I promise! :) And if you are in NZ at the moment - enjoy some of that beautiful Kiwi sunshine and moderate weather for me! Haha. Take care everyone!