September Update! (Finally)

Allo allo!
Well, it has been a busy month (September was anyway), and we can't really believe how time has been flying by. One thing we do know however is that it is about time we gave you all an update! 

Josh's story is currently pretty straight forward - he is studying. Ha ha, that hasn't really changed. He has a couple of exams this week, and in the weeks ahead - so he is just really focusing on that and making sure that he has things clear in his head. Primarily he has been focusing on the languages. Greek he found relatively straight forward to learn - and I think that his year at Uni studying Latin perhaps helped a little with that. Hebrew has been trickier, especially as the characters are new too. Thankfully, there are a couple of guys in his class who have already learnt Hebrew, and are good teachers themselves - so he has been able to study with them which has been a great help. He seems to be able to cover more ground that way, and because they can test him on it it speeds up his learning process a lot. 

As for me, I have been (mostly) keeping out of mischief. ;) As I have perhaps mentioned in my last post I have been volunteering as an art teacher each week for a homeschooling group. This has been really fun - they are a great group of kids, and boy do they have amazing imaginations! Ha ha! I was working with the 3-7 year olds last week drawing a imaginary trip that we had thought up - I got them to think of a place they wanted to travel too, how they were going to get there, and who they were going to see. One very creative young man was flying to Canada in a jet plane, which was being attacked by missiles from all directions (he's only 4, and you know what - his drawing was very good). It's interesting seeing what the boys come up with in comparison to the girls. :D

Each fortnight on a Thursday morning I have also been helping out taking care of a bunch of about 8-10 3 and 4 year olds for an hour and a half while their Mum's go to Bible study. That is definitely an interesting challenge! They are super cute, but it is an age group that I haven't worked with much before, and they are quite different! We have been working on the Armour of God - which is lots of fun. So each time we are making different parts of the armour. Last week we made helmet masks so they put their masks on and then to occupy them for a while we did things that soldiers do. So marching, riding horses (more fun than pretending to be in a jeep or tank ha ha), flying in aeroplanes, and then by that time I was exhausted, so I said that the other thing that soldiers do is sleep so they can recoup their energy - so I managed to get them lying down for about 5 seconds before we were up marching again. : ) The week where we make swords is going to be an interesting one...

I have also had the opportunity to start up some piano lessons again! I figured out that I haven't actually had lessons since I was about 13 - which is slightly scary, but I have kept up playing. So we thought that this is something that we could invest in that may come in useful in the future. It has been really great to learn again. Unfortunately we don't have a piano (I don't think there is any way we could get one into our flat anyway, ha ha) however some very generous people from church have said that I can go around to their place any time and use their piano to practice on. Plus I was given a little keyboard that I can use at home to practice with when I can't make it to the piano. Generous people huh!

Piano practice time!

The trees are all changing colours over here now - and the weather has been a lot cooler - and actually really nice over the past couple of weeks. Although the weekend was unseasonably warm. 

Morning walk - doesn't really look that different from NZ huh? :)

I also got to go with another lady from church last week to the Westfield Mall that they have over here. We just had a mooch around the stores and stopped for a coffee. In the middle of this mall they have a full sized, double story merry-go-round! It's pretty cool. 

So otherwise it's been nice to have time to spend with people from Seminary and church, there are some very very cool people over here, and we are so thankful for the opportunity to get to know them better! Experiencing their generosity and thoughtfulness has been a massive learning curve for us - in so far as learning to graciously accept it, as well as hopefully learning how to do it ourselves. So that, Lord willing when we are in a position to be able to be generous in the future we will be able to do so in a similar way to these people. Unrestrainedly. 

I was also given a ticket to attend a conference the other weekend - so a lady from church who was going took me along. It was really encouraging and challenging stuff. With a focus on being thoughtful and loving towards others from a Biblical perspective - and selflessly giving of our time and gifts to other people. As you can see - it was challenging! But we got to hear Paul Tripp, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Susan Hunt and Elyse Fitzpatrick - all who have written books that I have read, so it was pretty cool to be able to actually get to hear them speak. They were all really good. Very humble people - which was pretty cool. 

You can tell it's Autumn (or Fall) over here when all the Pumpkin flavoured stuff starts coming out. Not to mention all the Halloween decorations show up in people's front yards. I got to try some of these cookies at someone's house, and managed to discover them on sale at the store this morning - so I nabbed some. They are soooooo delicious. The American's know how to do good cookies, that's for sure. Good for Josh to be able to snack on while he's studying huh. I was thinking of him. ;)

Drooooool.

In the meantime we can say that we are still so thankful and feel very privileged to be over here. We are being massively blest by being able to live here and experience the culture and build relationships over here. Plus the seminary is so great - Josh is learning a lot and is enjoying his studies. We have a lot to be thankful for! Speaking of thankfulness - Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple of months and we are really looking forward to celebrating that for the first time. :)

Right well, that's about everything up-to-date for now. I promise that I will try and be a little more regular, but our lives are kind of ticking along in a routine now, so there isn't much that is newsworthy right at this moment, however you never know from week to week what could happen. ;)

Finally, an update!

Allo everyone,

Sorry that it has been such a while since our last update - the reason being that we moved into our apartment just over a week ago, and haven't had internet! So Lord willing, we will be getting that hooked up this coming Wednesday. 

In the meantime, we have been SUPER blessed - with being able to move into our own place, get set up with a lot of generously donated (and very nice I might add) furniture and items for everyday living, and also continuing to enjoy church life and getting to know people better!

Josh has still been busy with intensive Greek. He had another big exam last week, and did well - so that is a huge blessing, his hard work is paying off. This is his last week of the course, and he has the final exam this coming Friday. 

Our fellow Kiwi's, Albert, Hanneke and their girls, are coming back tomorrow - so we are really looking forward to hanging out with them in 'real life'! Haha - up to this point we have been in communication with them via email, Skype and phone - so it will be cool to meet them. :)

I have been keeping occupied with going for walks around our new neighbourhood, bike rides, and spending time with church and seminary friends which has been really nice. Also been investing time in some cooking and baking - I made some strawberry jam last week which was lots of fun, and it even came out tasting yum. :) 

A local home-schooling group has asked me if I would be willing to take the children for some art classes, so I am also going to be busy coming up with some lesson plans for that over the next couple of weeks. Josh will have a couple of days off to recuperate from Greek, before starting a short course in Hebrew. Then I think he has a week off before the Fall semester begins. :) He is still enjoying study, although has been pretty tired just lately in particular. 

Another couple who have moved here to study at seminary too, called in on us over the weekend and very kindly brought us some house warming gifts! They gave Josh the mug pictured below - they already have him figured out. He does love his coffee. :D

Hopefully we will have our internet set up on Wednesday, and then I can be a bit more regular with our updates. In the meantime, hope you are all well. Your prayers would be appreciated for Josh as he preps for his final exam on Friday. Also he has been feeling a bit under the weather for the past couple of days, so prayer for his health would be amazing too. Thank you so much! 

What is a sandy colour, about 1.5 inches long, and scuttles along the ground?

That isn't a riddle, I really want to know. Last night I went downstairs to the laundry which is in the basement of the house we are currently house-sitting for the Couperus's, and there was something with the above description that scuttled under the dryer. I haven't seen it since - and it weirded me out a bit. Haha

Life in Lansing, Illinois

Well, this is just a mini-update, because there isn't too much to report from our end. Josh has his 'end of semester' exam on Tuesday, so he is currently studying hard for that. It means that he will get the day off on Wednesday, so I am looking forward to that. :D

He is doing really well at the moment - sitting on an A- which is  about 93%. As long as he manages to get around that amount on his exam he will keep that grade. So that is really good going, especially for someone who hasn't done a language in a long time! 

Last week we were very kindly invited to have a swim in the pool of a family from church with a group of other people. That was a lot of fun. I was looking forward to it all week because it has been so hot here - but as it turned out the pool was hotter than the air outside it! It was a crazy kind of experience getting into hot water in an outside pool. However, it was still really nice to have a swim, and lots of fun spending the evening with everyone. 

I also got to go out on Thursday with a lovely Kiwi lady from church and she treated me to a Culver's 'concrete mixer'. (N.B. Culver's is a fast food chain over here, but it has better food than other places like MacDonalds) I was excited to give one a go. I tell you what, it was A-mazing! For a girl who does like her ice-cream, the USA certainly has a lot to offer. Haha.

Hmmmm - treats of deliciousness.

On Friday night we went along to another free concert that was in a local park. It was a really nice evening, although warm - and it was quite cool hearing some more live music. This one was a tribute band for John 'Cougar' Mellencamp - who was relatively well known in the 60's-70's and was from Indiana. So although we didn't know most of the music, it was still a fun way to spend the evening. 

It was quite amazing because pretty much the whole time we were there, it was balmy, calm weather - but over to the right of the photo you can see some dark clouds. Well they developed into another lightening storm that was in the next town over. For the whole of the concert there was some epic lightening that we could see across the sky, but it didn't hit the area we were in until well after the concert was over. 

I have been trying to keep up with the cleaning of the Couperus's house so that it isn't a mess for when they get back :) and also it's a good habit to get into right! So I pulled out the Jif to do some epic scrubbing with the other morning. 

JIF! Peanut butter that is...

Yup, so over here Jif is peanut butter. Took some getting used to the idea of using something that is a house-cleaning product back home on our toast, but we are getting used to it (especially because it is delicious). Don't worry, I stopped myself from using it to clean with just in time. 

We are still being amazingly blest and well taken care of over here - like you wouldn't believe! We are very thankful because clearance came back from the apartment that we applied for - so we are set to move in on the 1st August. We are so thankful! Plus we (well, I - as in Hannah), have been writing up a list of all the things that we will need for the apartment - kitchen utensils and the like. I visited a couple of the thrift stores over here, to see what I could find which has been a help. However, because of the immense generosity of the people from the Seminary and our church, it looks like there will be very little that we will need to purchase. Again, it has been very humbling experiencing this generosity - and all I can see is how amazingly good our God is, in that He has been providing our every need, even when we are so undeserving. I found this verse the other day:

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
~ Philippians 4:19 ~

Ain't that the truth!! And we are experiencing it first hand. Not only through the practical and physical blessings that we are experiencing, but also in Josh's studies, and in the blessing it is to be a part of such an amazing church community over here. We have a lot to be thankful for. So with that I will bid you all adieu for now, and hopefully will have some more to update you on in a week or so! 

P.S. And if anyone can answer the question in the title... I'll leave it up to you to judge whether or not I actually need to know what it is. Maybe I don't really want to know!  :)

The Windy City

That's how they refer to Chicago, although we haven't experienced that side of it yet. The weather has yet again been amazing over the past week - and was actually quite pleasant last week because it was a little bit cooler, with a nice breeze and not as humid. This week however is set to get up into the 90's (possibly as hot as 35+ degrees celsius for us metric people).

Last week was pretty fun! Literally, come to think of it. We travelled in by train to downtown Chicago to visit the 'Taste of Chicago' festival. This is a festival held in Grant Park where a bunch of local restaurants have booths where they can sell samples of their food. There was also a concert incorporated into the festival of a well known current band called 'Fun' - which was a free concert. This is pretty unheard of for us - to hear about quite a high profile band having a free concert. So we thought we would go seeing as it was free, and we like a few of their songs. :)

So here are some touristy pics that we took on our travels...

Waiting to catch the train at Homewood Station

The 'Bean'

Happy Hannah because she has a Churro :D (it was the first place I wanted to go) 

The Buckingham Fountain 

Josh playing around with his fancy panoramic camera

Panorama by the Buckingham Fountain

Genuine deep-dish Chicago pizza - really yum.

It was a good day trying out some local food and getting into the spirit of the festival. It was also a super hot day. We ended up sitting for a good number of hours in a spot that we picked for the concert (in anticipation of the fact that it was going to get super busy - and it sure did). However unfortunately the spot we picked ended up bordering on being a swamp. Well - it was pretty damp on the grass, and although we had bought a big thick beach towel to sit on (not anticipating dampness considering it was so hot), it soaked up the damp pretty quickly, and consequently soaked our butts too.

Not having many other options in so far as good spots to sit though, we stalwartly held our place - thinking well, we are Kiwi's after all. And therefore are pretty used to living in swamps. :) We also got quite sunburnt, so after coming from NZ winter with our glowy white skin, we have now started to fit in a bit more with the locals and are a bit more bronzed (once the red died down).

It's pretty amazing - for the number of hours that we spent in the sun, we were only just burnt. Compared to back home, if we had spent that much time in the sun with no sunscreen we would probably be in hospital being treated for burns. 

This was our delightful swampy spot for the concert.

By the time the concert started there were looooooooots of people.

Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole thing was people watching. The people are so diverse (which I guess you would expect to find in a massive city), but they are diverse in different ways to back home. So it was really interesting watching everyone.

The past weeks have been busy, but enjoyably so. We have been shown masses of hospitality from the people at church. They are SUCH a blessing to us! 

We have also enjoyed a couple of opportunities to hang out with some of the other Greek students and their families, thanks to their hospitality too. It's great to meet some of the others who are in a similar situation to us - and they are all really lovely! 

Interestingly, in Josh's Greek class at the moment the majority of students (as in about 90% of the class) have relocated to be there. And most of them are 'internationals' - harking from NZ (of course), Canada, South America, the Netherlands etc. It makes for a really interesting group and class discussion. 

I have been out and about cycling around again, just getting to know the area and enjoying the breeze! It is VERY hot here. You know it's hot when you are inside, lying down in bed, not moving - but you are still sweating (sorry if that's a bit TMI for you all, but it illustrates the point). :)

And apparently it's only going to get hotter. We have adjusted to the temperatures mostly, but it still takes some getting used to. It really impresses me that the people in this area are so used to these crazy hot humid temperatures in the summer, and then freezing cold and snow in the winter. It would mean that you could travel anywhere and not really be phased by the weather. 

We have a huge amount to be thankful for - and in particular we hope that we may have found a place to live! We only got to go and visit it yesterday, but it seems to be just the right size for us, and within our means. So we haven't yet confirmed it, but Lord willing, we will have a place to move into soon. We will keep you posted!

Otherwise we are so massively thankful for the kindness and generosity of the people at our church and at the seminary. We know what it is like to move to a new country where you don't know anyone, and having people to help makes such a huge difference! 

Soli Deo Gloria! 

A new week...

...and more blessings!

Saturday was an exciting day because we got a car! God has been so good to us, and particularly in this regard. The car is very nice, and we have been told that the particular type of car holds it's value really well, so hopefully taking care of it over the next three years means that we will be able to resell it at a minimal loss. So now we are just praying that the Lord will take care of us as we drive it!

And we both have been doing a good amount of driving - so far so good. We have both found that we have managed to adjust to driving on the other side of the road pretty quickly. I still find that I get a little nervous before getting out on the road, but once I'm driving things fall into place, and it helps to just follow everyone else!

The next thing that was important was to get a GPS, which I think will become our best friend in our time over here. 

Well we had another really great Sunday at Redeemer church. If anyone is interested in where we are attending church over here, you can check out the Redeemer website here. We heard two excellent sermons, and got to meet some more members of the congregation. A bonus was also that after the evening service we got to see the Holtslags from Dovedale church in Christchurch. :D It was nice to see another couple of Kiwis. 

On our way home from church on Sunday night the sunset was A-mazing. We attempted to take a picture of it, which gives a bit of an idea how cool it was (but doesn't quite do it justice).

Amazing sunset Sunday night

You can even see our good friend the GPS in the pic. Josh has set the little icon representing us as a monster truck - which is getting into the American spirit. :)

On Monday Josh started Intensive Greek! He was pretty excited about this - he has been waiting to start studying for a looooong time now, and he is loving sinking his teeth into it. He is going to write an update on how he is finding the class later this week, so stay tuned. :)

Over the past couple of days I have been working on menu plans for dinners/lunches so that I could put together a grocery list and go shopping. Finally I got it done today and worked up the courage to go on my own. It sounds silly, but I was nervous about using our new bank card - you know, there is nothing much worse than getting to the supermarket checkout, go to pay and your card doesn't work, or you haven't got your wallet or something like that. :P So I was praying like crazy as I walked around the aisles that the card would work ok. As a backup I had a check that I had brought along - which is really weird to me, we've never used checks before (it's what our parents did back in the day) but here they are still really prevalent. 

Grocery shopping is quite an experience here. In many respects it's very much the same as home; standard aisles, trolleys, etc. But there are subtle differences - for one thing there is quite a bit of range. Say you want some mustard - great! But good luck choosing which mustard you want. There is a whole shelf, floor to ceiling a good meter wide full of about 40 different mustards. Thankfully my job is made easy because we go pretty much by what is the cheapest (with most things anyway). 

There are also people who pack your grocery bags for you (and often double or triple pack them), and then they wheel them out to your car for you on these little special trolly things. It was nice, but I had to kind of get used to it, considering I felt quite capable of taking my own groceries to the car. Haha. :)

Some of the food is super big too. You should see the tubs of ice-cream. 8-O And I got some veggies today too that were impressive. Such as the capsicum...

...and the zucchinis...

...and I didn't get a picture of them, but you should see the onions! They are humungous! Seriously, one is about the size of a baby's head! (Sorry, I couldn't think of another size comparison :p)

Prices vary compared to back home. Some things are really cheap - like 18 eggs for $2.40 (cheap right!), and a gallon of milk for $2 (in all seriousness). And I got a pretty good deal today, at least I'm pretty sure it was a good deal (compared to home anyway) - three massive chicken breasts for $3.45! That will go towards 3 meals, so at only just over a $1 for meat per meal - I'm thinking that's a good deal. 

With huge vegetables and my thumb placed next to it for scale. 

There are other things that seem to be a lot more expensive though - like herbs and spices can be up to $4 each (although I haven't managed to shop around a lot, and I also scored some for 89c), and yoghurt is kinda pricey. 

Apologies to anyone reading this who really is not very interested in the ins and outs of grocery shopping over here - I realise that it is kind of a menial subject - but it has just been so interesting learning what little things are different about here vs. NZ. Plus hey, at least you got some silly pictures. 

We are coming up to the 4th of July (obviously) but that is kind of a big deal over here in the States which is fun. So there have already been some fireworks going off, and we are looking forward to walking down to a local park on Thursday to check out the festivities. Fireworks are banned from public purchase in Illinois, but what is funny is that they are legal in Indiana, the border of which is just about a 5-10 minute drive away from us here in Lansing. So all the residents of Illinois drive over the border to purchase fireworks. But apparently in the past cops will wait just over the border and stop cars to search them for fireworks and confiscate any that they find. I wonder what they do with all the fireworks that they confiscate? Burn them? *snigger* Maybe they have a big party of their own (with the Indiana police of course, because it's legal over there). Anyway, that is going to be fun to experience the celebrations.  

Oh and I mentioned the other day that I had been baking some chocolate chip cookies that were a bit of a fail because it was so hot that the choc chips melted into the batter. Well I baked them, and they came out delicious! Even though they were more like "Chocolate with a little bit of Chips Cookies", I was still very happy with them. 

So if you are interested in trying some yummy cookies check out the recipe at the Sally's Baking Addiction website. Apparently the trick is in refrigerating the dough for at least a couple of hours before baking. That's all from me for now - over and out. :)

Living the life of a student

Well another few days down and we have more to be thankful for (isn't that always the way?). :)

It seems that God has provided a car for us, and although we are still having trouble getting our funds over here people are being amazingly generous and helping us out in trust. So Lord willing we will have a car on Saturday! Which will be huge. :)

On Wednesday I was feeling quite unwell, so we didn't leave the house and I just took it easy. Josh did some more Greek study, he has got the alphabet down pat, and has been working on some translation and pronunciation. 

Thursday we needed to go and get some groceries, so in the morning we walked to the nearest supermarket which was just over 2km away - so not tooooo bad, but made a bit more tricky with the heat (it was 89F, so about 31 degrees celsius) and also having to carry bags. But we like a challenge, and we don't mind walking at all, so made it fine. :)

We had a lovely simple dinner in the evening and spent quite a bit of time gazing out the window at the fireflies. It was the first time that we had ever seen any in real life and it was really cool! What amazing creation right! This little bit of video was the best I managed to get of them, and I'm not sure if you can see much in this, but at the end you see one flash across the screen. :) Also there was another lightening storm that night, so you can spot a very quick flash in the sky at the start of the video. 

I have to confess, I like fashion a wee bit (possibly more than I should)(I did warn you it was a confession), so have decided to make it my personal mission to try and create a comfortable wardrobe on a teeny budget. We came over with only 3 bags, and mostly summer clothes. We didn't want to have to pack a lot of clothes because we needed space for other things. So we don't have anything for winter apart from a few hoodies and a couple of pairs of jeans each. So up the road is a Goodwill store (like a big op-shop) which I haven't been in yet, but I think that there will have to be some recycling of clothing going on and I am going to have to crack out the needle and thread and get some ideas off Pinterest! :D We'll see how we go. 

This afternoon we were able to meet up with another student who will be starting study this year and his wife. They were a lovely Dutch couple, so it was really nice to meet them and compare stories about our experiences so far in the US! 

I have been trying to do a bit of baking, so have made some cookies mostly as thank you offerings for all the people who have been so kind to us so far. When words aren't enough, say it with cookies (I think that's how the saying goes). :) However the batch of chocolate chip cookies that I made this morning were a little bit of a fail - it was so warm here that the chocolate all melted into the dough. So they are pretty much just chocolate cookies now. :P Oh well, once I bake them hopefully they will taste ok - that's the main thing!

My supposed 'chocolate-chip' cookie dough - hmm or not.

I also made some home-made lemonade (non-fizzy) with just a couple of lemons, a bit of sugar and water which has been very tasty and upped our vitamin-C intake a bit hopefully! It's great to be able to make a cool, cheap and tasty alternative to just having water. :)

So despite frustrations over not having easy access to our funds, and therefore having to be dependent on other people's kindness (testing our humility) we have a huge amount to be thankful for. A very kind lady from church on Sunday gave me a daily devotional book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and the devotional from the 27th was talking about dealing with difficult situations (referencing Romans 8:37), and said the following:

"But true, Christ-centered, grace-motivated gratitude fits everywhere, even in life's most desperate moments and difficult situations. Even when there are no "answers", it gives hope. Gratitude is what transforms overwhelmed strugglers into triumphant conquerors, even if their circumstances remain, for the present, unchanged."

Although our situation really is not very difficult at all - there are some things that we are experiencing that we could too easily get frustrated and stressed about, and sin in doing so. So it was great to have a reminder to take stock of all we have to be thankful for! And just to prove that it is still us writing, we thought we'd throw in a selfie. :)

Word for the day - 'Derecho'

Well we have been here for over a week now and it has been a huge learning experience as well as a lot of fun. Josh has just the weekend to go before he starts intensive Greek, so in the meantime is making the most of recuperating from the jet lag and getting started with some study. I have managed to score myself a pretty nasty cold which isn't ideal, however the new experiences we are having is making up for it. :)

We got to go to Redeemer church last Sunday which was really great! The service and worship was very similar to home (even used the blue Psalter Hymnal) and the preaching was very good. It was convicting, encouraging, and thought provoking. The people were also really welcoming and friendly - not to mention generous! What a blessing to be far away from home and yet still find like-minded brothers and sisters. So Sunday was a fun day - it was nice to get out of the house as well, and have an opportunity to meet other people. We are hoping to go again this weekend and Lord willing make it our home church while we are here in the US.

Monday we spent most of the day at home catching up on some email writing and reading. On the weekend I was loaned the book 'Respectable Sins' by Jerry Bridges (author of 'The Pursuit of Holiness') and so far have been finding it really good to read - although it's very challenging! Which I suppose is part of the reason why it is so good. 

It's really cool to see all the American flags flying down the streets and on people's houses. 

Then we went and looked at cars. We are still trying to sort out getting our funds transferred from NZ which is turning out to be quite a process! It's pretty different to home that's for sure, and I guess just makes us really thankful for how straight forward some things are back home. 

Anyway, we went and had a look at cars which was quite fun. We saw one that could be a possibility, and I got to test drive it. :D It was a manual, which I was quite excited about, because I like driving manual, and I have been wanting to drive a new model of manual for a while just to give it a go. I think that the salesman was a bit shocked when we asked for the keys for a test drive - he raised his eyebrows and said 'It is a manual you realise?' - I just grinned my head off (most people over here drive autos). I just stuck to the sales yard rather than braving going out on the roads - haha not quite ready for that yet especially in a car that's not ours! So that could be an option, it will be great once we have a car and a way of getting ourselves around!

After trying out the car we then went to the seminary (we had someone from the seminary who was very graciously driving us around) - Josh and I waited in the car because it was just a visit to check in. So while we were waiting in the car I noticed that the sky to the west of us was looking dark. Really dark. Up to that point it had been  hot sunny weather with blue skies and a bit of cloud. 

Then BAM! - seriously it was practically that sudden there were massive black clouds over us and these crazy winds that were buffeting the car. I have to confess, it was quite freaky. A tree came down outside the seminary (just a medium sized one - but I was impressed). At first I was sure it was a small tornado, it really did feel like one - but apparently they get short burst storms like this quite often.

The ill fated tree outside the Seminary

As we drove back home there were quite a few branches off trees and scattered across the roads. I looked up the weather reports and as it turns out it was a 'derecho'. I had to look this one up:

"Derechoes are large clusters of thunderstorms that produce widespread wind damage, usually as a result of one or more curved lines of thunderstorms known as bow echoes. The word in the Spanish language means "straight" and these windstorms leave wide, long swaths of straight-line wind damage. These winds can be as strong as 50 to 100 mph or higher." 

So there you go, learn something new everyday. :) All up we are so thankful for how God is providing for us in our time over here so far. He has given us food to eat each day, a very comfortable place to stay, and much more. Plus we survived our first summer storm. :D 

A new chapter (you gotta love those!)

Well, we have only 6 more days left in New Zealand. And although it is the second time we have left home to embark on a new adventure, this time has a distinctly different feel to it. 

Byee byee NZ we will miss you!

For one thing, we leave for a different purpose. Josh is looking forward very much to starting study at MARS (although I think there are a few nerves in regards to Intensive Greek over the summer, but he is very stoic in his preparation for it). :) Last time we were headed to the UK for a 'working-holiday', whereas this time it's more about the 'work' less about the holiday (well, more so for Josh anyway ;)).

Heading into the ministry is a very daunting albeit exciting prospect. Speaking for myself, there are times when doubtful and disparaging thoughts pop into my head. And I confess, it's a massive blessing to remember that we are not going in our own strength! (Praise God for that!)

And this has already been illustrated to us in a huge number of ways. We are crazy overwhelmed by the generosity of the people in the RCNZ (Reformed Churches of New Zealand). Without this support, we wouldn't be going. It's as simple as that! 

And we are so thankful for the prayers and encouraging words that people have given us. Again, without these - it would be too easy to fall victim to those doubt thoughts that threaten to sneak in all the time. 

So, with great thankfulness to God, for all He has already given us (even though we haven't even left yet!) we embark on a journey that really does start a new chapter in our lives. 

As as much as we are leaving for a different purpose this time (maybe a bit more on our last trip in another post ;)), we have the same ultimate goals:

To best serve our Saviour wherever He sends us; 

trusting in Him for strength and guidance; 

acknowledging that everything good we receive is from Him; 

and being willing, in humility, to learn to be more like Jesus. 

So! Here we go! 
~Hannah

P.S. We would love your prayer support in the lead up to us leaving - particularly in regards to having all our documentation sorted, trying to sell our car, and making sure our bags aren't overweight (which sounds kind of silly, but if we are overweight we have to pay an extra $200! :p). And most importantly, that we will keep calm, trusting and not stress (ok, yup I'm mostly talking about me - Josh already is very good at these things, I'm so thankful for him!)