Spring has sprung!

Well it feels like an age since my last post, which is probably true - but things have been pretty busy! This past semester has gone by very quickly. Josh had his spring break last week - which I had hoped would mean some time that we could go out on a day trip together, but he had exams to study for and assignments to write, so it ended up being a regular week. But he made really good progress on his work - it amazes me how hard he works, but I'm thankful for it! 

Another thing that we are very thankful for at the moment is the warmer weather! The grass is turning a healthy green again, and (dare I say it) the white winter snow seems almost like a dream. It's just amazing to see how much the landscape can change in a short period of time. And there is something so cheering about longer sunshiny days, and warmth in the sun - it was strange to get into the car and discover it to be toasty warm (as opposed to frigid). So after experiencing temperatures like the ones that I recorded below - we are now back up into the positives and today got up to wonderful 15 degrees. :)

Brrrr!

One of the last big snowfalls that we had in February

We were really blessed to be treated to a delicious pizza dinner with some of our Kiwi friends from church. They took us to a famous local pizzaria which had a really great atmosphere and very delicious pizzas. 

Josh enjoying the tasty pizza

Before all of the snow melted I also got to go sledding with the Couperus girls! It was a lot of fun. A cold day, but we trekked up and down the hill and had a lot of fun.  

Zara at the top of the hill

Kate with her rosy cold cheeks! (and you can see Zara going down the hill in the background)

We had a couple of big inner tubes to slide on, as well as a couple of boards that were kind of like boogie boards (just the snow versions of them)

The view from the bottom of the hill!

Now we'll just have to wait until next winter to go again. :) Here are a few more pictures that we took over the past couple of months. For a combined Valentines Day/Wedding Anniversary present to ourselves we decided to go out for dinner to a local cafe and enjoyed a bowl of chili - that they very cleverly decorated with a heart. ;)

Some of Josh's snow-blowing exploits at the seminary

Josh and Albert managed to convince the seminary to fly the NZ flag on the flagpole again for Waitangi Day. NZ represent! :D

Our Valentines Dinner - they always serve the meals here with a massive pickle. 

Mountains of snow that Josh had to shovel through over the winter

A cool picture that Josh took :)

The other news we have is that we have had our summer internship confirmed! We are heading to Canada! And not just any part of Canada but British Columbia - which is about as far away from where we currently are as you can get. :) It is apparently a really beautiful part of the country, and we are really excited to have the opportunity to travel there. The church is the United Reformed Church in Abbotsford, which is about an hour west of Vancouver. We are so thankful to this church for taking us for the summer, and we (in particular, Josh) are really looking forward to working alongside the pastor, and Josh will have a lot of opportunities to preach in the 10 or so weeks that we will be there. It's such an incredible gift to be able to experience this, and for the church to take in a first year intern is amazingly generous. We are really looking forward to the experience.

So below is a map of the road trip that we will be going on. It's a biggie! So your prayers would be really appreciated as we plan and prepare for a big trip and also the time that Josh will be preparing for regular preaching as well as our travel once we are on our way!

According to Google Maps it's about a 34 hour drive

Something else that I am kind of excited about is that in the pictures that I have looked up of Abbotsford, it looks a little like NZ...

Abbotsford = mountains, hills and rivers!! Hurrah!!

Don't you think so? Cool huh! It'll potentially be like a little trip home! So that is a little update from us. We will try to keep you posted as things progress and we get some more things arranged for our trip. In the meantime we really appreciate all your support and are so thankful to be a part of a worldwide family. Plus our first year in the US is almost over, time has flown! We are enjoying it here - but don't worry, we look forward to coming home in another two years. ;)

Til next time!  

Shenanigans

Hi everyone!

As per the title of this post, you would be pleased to know that we have been getting up to a few shenanigans - pretty much expressly so that we have some fun things to update you all on. :)

Things have been going well - we are so blessed! And very thankful for everything that God has provided us with over here. Especially at the moment, we are very thankful for a toasty warm home - the temperatures have plummeted over here, so it is now boot, scarf, hat and glove weather already. There was even a bit of snow the other day - however it was a little more sleety, didn't settle on the ground at all. All the trees have been changing gorgeous colours, so last week Josh and I went for a walk and took a couple of pictures. 

This is just down the road from our apartment.

We also went with some friends last Saturday on a fall outing to a farm kinda place where they had a bunch of interesting animals, a pumpkin field and a corn maze. : )  

Yes, there was a camel in the middle of the Illinois countryside, random but true.
And he really liked Josh. I think he liked having someone who he could look in the eye. 

Oh yeah, and a tortoise. 

So that's an update on some of our shenanigans! Josh has finished his exams for the time being - and received one of his grades back yesterday - which he passed with flying colours! We are very thankful!

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! 

Bike Trails & Pie

Thought I would share with you all an outing that we had the other night. A (very cool) group of people from our church go biking every Wednesday evening during the summer, and they invited us along.  

There are quite a few bike trails through the towns here in northern Indiana - and they have been converted from abandoned train track routes. They run through some really pretty countryside, and it was a gorgeous evening, so I got a couple of pictures just to give you an idea. 

I even took a little (albeit wobbly & low quality) video for your viewing pleasure. :) All up I think we cycled about 15 miles (24 kilometers) - so not bad! 

Afterwards, we experienced a real treat of visiting a restaurant called 'Baker's Square' where we enjoyed dinner and pie! It was 'free pie Wednesday' so you received a free piece of pie with a main purchase. I wanted to go really good and American as part of this experience so I had the Peanut Butter Cup pie (N.B. this pic is courtesy of the Baker's Square website, because I didn't get a picture of mine - but it looked just like this)...

I couldn't fit it in at the restaurant - I was too full from dinner (which was a lovely chicken breast with roast veggies and greens, so pretty healthy I might add! I I know, I'm just trying to justify the pie now), so I took it home to enjoy the next day. 

Needless to say, it took me 3 (yes three) goes to finish this piece of pie. It was A-mazing - but soooo rich. Hahaha so I paced myself and had a little bit after lunch, then at afternoon tea, and then after dinner! Josh had the Three Berry Pie, which looks a little healthier than my Peanut Butter one - but let's be honest, if you worried about health, then you shouldn't be eating pie in the first place. 'Healthy Pie' is an oxymoron. :)

All up it was a really fun night, and great to spend some more time getting to know the others! We have been so blest with good friends and opportunities over here already!

Spiritual Check Up

We had an Elder's visit last week, in regards to wanting to join Redeemer Church. It was a really nice time spent with the two visiting Elders who came, and they asked us some really good questions. 

One thing that they gave us just before leaving was a document entitled 'Annual Spiritual Check Up'. I have to confess I only just read it this morning, but it is very good! So I thought that I would share it on here. 

It is from the C.S. Lewis Institute website, and explains itself well (as well as poses some very good and challenging questions for us to ask ourselves)...

C.S. Lewis Institute 

Discipleship of Heart and Mind 

www.cslewisinstitute.org 

Annual Spiritual Checkup 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37-40 

Each year many of us will go through a physical check-up, perhaps do a financial check up at year’s end or at tax time, and perhaps do a performance review at our workplace.   But how often do we take time to review our spiritual life? 

Those who are saved by grace are called to grow in grace (2 Pet. 3.18).  As disciples of Jesus, we are to live a life of love – love for God and love for our neighbor, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Too often, in the busyness of our day-to-day lives, we let other priorities crowd out the two highest priorities Jesus gave us.   The following questions are designed to help you examine your spiritual life over the past year and to prayerfully seek God’s help in areas where you desire to grow in the New Year.    

Loving God with all your heart, soul and mind. 

1. How is my personal relationship with God? 

• Do I have a growing desire to spend more time with God? Am I spending appropriate time praying, reading and meditating on the word?
• Am I growing in my desire to obey and please God?  Do I obey out of gratitude for God’s love?  Or from guilt or fear? 
• Have I fully surrendered to the Holy Spirit?  Do I ask God to fill me each day with the Holy Spirit? 
• Are there areas I am holding back from God?  Which ones?  Why? 
• Am I more aware of the sins in my life? Do I repent on a daily basis and receive forgiveness and cleansing from God. Have I fully, truthfully repented of all past and current sins? 

2. Am I actively serving God?  

• Volunteering at church? 
• Praying regularly for the pastor, staff, missionaries and volunteers? 
• Am I seeking to make others feel welcome in my church? 
• Doing my job with excellence? 
• Reaching out to those around me? 

3. Am I growing in my desire and actions to give sacrificially to God’s work in the church, in caring for the poor, and in other ministries?  

• Am I teaching my children about sacrificial giving and putting God before materialistic desires? 

4. Am I living in humility before God, my family, friends and co-workers?

5. Is there evidence of grace growing in my life? 

• Do I thank God every day for his love, grace and mercy and saving me from what I deserve? 
• Am I seeing evidence of the fruit of the Spirit in my life (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control)? 
• Am I learning to see others through the mind of Christ?  
• Am I treating others with the same grace God has shown me? 

Loving Your Neighbor 

6. Am I loving my family as I should? 

• Husbands, are you loving your wives? How, specifically? 
• Wives, are you respecting your husbands?  How, specifically? 
• Parents – are we teaching our children the Bible, how to pray, and how to please God? 
• Children, are you honoring your parents?  How, specifically? 
• Am I managing my time in a way that reflects God’s priorities and honors my family relationships?  What specific changes are needed? 
• Are there any outside influences that are harming my family relationships?  If so, what will I do about them? 

7. Am I forgiving others?

• Is there anyone among my family, friends, neighbors or co- workers that I refuse to forgive?  
• Do I fully trust that God has forgiven my sins? 

8. Am I growing in fellowship with other believers? 

• Am I part of a small group?  Is it making a difference in the lives of participants? 
• Do I have a godly mentor to help me grow in my walk with Christ? 
• Am I mentoring / discipling a newer believer? 

9. Have I personally witnessed to anyone in the past year? 

• In my neighborhood?
• In my workplace?
• Am I prepared to share my testimony? To share the Gospel?  
• Am I fervently praying for and planning opportunities to witness in this coming year?
• Am I being salt and light in my neighborhood, workplace and social groups? How, specifically? 

10. Am I focusing part of my time and money to help the poor and disadvantaged?  

• Am I teaching my children about the importance of helping the poor?  How? 

Jesus says that if we love him, we will obey him (Jn. 14.15), and he calls us to grow in grace and love. Do you have a plan for growing in your love for God and love for your neighbor for this next year?  Will you prayerfully prepare one before the end of the year?  To help you grow in these areas, you’ll find a variety of resources on our website (www.cslewisinstitute.org).

(N.B Just a note from Hannah - I don't claim to have written any of this - it is very good challenging stuff from the C.S. Lewis website. To read more you can visit their site - and you can also download a printable version of this Check-Up here. I think that they make a VERY good point when they say that this is something that we need to prioritize each year, and each day in our daily meditations - and it is something that I can confess I haven't been very good at. But what a blessing to have such a reminder right? And what a blessing that we have such a gracious God that will show us such patience, and send us gentle and loving reminders like this huh! It lends even more motivation to want to do it.)

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! 

The Land of the Brave

Wow my first blog entry (as Josh)!

Good evening to all our readers! We value your readership and hope you enjoy our experiences vicariously. 

So, to the update!

First up: 
A massive thank-you again to everyone who has generously donated so Hannah and I can come over here to study in America. This wouldn't have been possible without your help and support. Also a special thanks to our deacons back in Auckland who have done a great job with everything. We are so thankful to God that he has provided us with such a great massively extended international family through Christ. 

Secondly: 
You guys (specifically) have got to get over here!

I know that not everyone is called into the ministry and I also know that not everyone gets excited about standing up in front of people but WOW! This has already been an incredible experience. 

If y'all don't mind, I'm going to operate on the basis that y'all (apparently you can y'all multiple times in the same sentence) read Hannah's blog entries and I'll just mainly talk about what she hasn't. 

People weren't kidding when they said that intensive Greek was intensive. My normal week will generally be Mon and Tues with class from 8am-11:20am and then Wed with no class followed by Thur and Fri with the same hours. Thus far you're probably thinking that I was making a joke about the intensive thingy. Well, I don't know about the other guys but the homework which accompanies each class takes me about 8-9 hours per day. That means that outside of travel time and lunch and dinner I'm working pretty solidly till 10 or 11pm every day. The Wednesday and Saturday (our non-class days) are generally spent in revision and reviewing old vocabulary while also reading ahead so that you can try to hit the ground the following day with your feet instead of your head. 

To add to that we are having our mid-semester examination on Tuesday!!!!! That practically means that we have done one term's worth of University Greek in 5 days! 

Now you guys might think that's a little crazy. I have to say though that I find it hard to believe what I know now about Greek (I'm actually reading sentences) compared to what I knew a week ago. But there is so much more to this than learning some weird squiggles on a page. 

(Btw: If you only use the Greek alphabet to pronounce letter sounds then 'ειω βρω, υοτ-δω εια νω' sounds like 'yo bro, whaddu ya know?' in Greek (phonetically). Pretty sweet huh! It's Sunday night so I'm off the books! Don't worry Mr. Rogers: I hadn't even thought of wasting time doing that before I started writing this blog post!)

Our lecturer is really excellent and we begin each lesson by exegeting a Greek passage of scripture which relates to our work ethic in some way and then pray. I'm not sure whether anyone outside of New Zealand realises this but for Kiwis that is quite a novel experience. To go to a tertiary institution to study for a degree and to have your lecturer begin a class in prayer and talk to you about how amazing the complexities of your language study are because God was working through it in all these ways is just phenomenal. We have also sometimes finished class by singing a hymn.

Just some of my vocabulary homework for Wednesday.

Anyway, our class is made up of 9 guys from very different backgrounds. Each of them is from a different part of the world (Canada and USA are represented in different candidates) but Chile, Holland and New Zealand are just a few of the options. It has been really encouraging to hear some of their testimonies about how God has chosen very different men from very different backgrounds with very different experiences all to be members of His family! I really look forward to learning alongside them as the degree progresses.

People have been really generous and friendly here. We have been well taken care of. I'd like to give a special shout out to Grant Dykstra who is the man. He has been a great support. (There are heaps of people with recognisable Dutch names over here but I don't know how related they all are)

Well I must away ere the break of day. I intended to write a longer blog but I'm afraid I have to cut it short because it is late for me here (I spent too long coming up with that Greek NZ slang and we ended up being invited to one couple's place for lunch and then another for dinner!)

If you don't mind: we crave your prayers! If you could copy the following and nail it to your 'prayer post' we would really appreciate it :)

Prayer Post:
Thank God that 
a. We have found a new church family here at Redeemer Church
b. We have mobility (got a car)!
c. Our funds have been internationally transferred (banking woes NOT our deacons btw!!!)
d. Greek is going smoothly so far
e. His providence and care is just so much more than we need!

Ask God for
a. Another place to live before Albert and Hanneke get back (about 5 weeks)
b. Wisdom (in general)
c. Clarity of thought and memory when I sit my exam on Tuesday morning. 

τιλλ νεξτ τιμε,
Josh