Dizz Down Under

Settling In and the Return of the Scooter

Just briefly, I am settling into hospital life and still really enjoying it. This week will see a few new challenges, which I am looking forward to. Outside work, James has had a week with his arm in plaster, waiting to find out whether he had broken his wrist whilst going to recover our scooter. By yesterday James was thoroughly over the cast and went back to White Cross to demand it be removed (aka bear with sore head).

The scooter was recovered in Avondale (I apologise to the community of Otahu whom I had been accusing of pinching it) and it still goes. It is not in a great way, so we will be putting it on Trade Me and cutting our losses. I have to say I still can't believe it has been recovered.

I spent another day yesterday thinking about church at another event and I am now a little "thought" out. Off to do some ironing!

To Lebanon with Love

The news this week is filled with Burma, but at the forefront of my mind is Lebanon. My prayers are with all the peoples in that land. May you find a lasting peace, a way to live a long side one another, another way! To my friends, my heart breaks for your suffering, stay safe, stay calm, stay well, may you know the everlasting love of the Prince of Peace and may His love sweep over your nation. Words fail me for the emotions I feel.

The Burden of Church

Today I have been involved with an incredible discussion on the future of "church", which I felt privileged to attend and deeply underqualified to contribute to - but contribute I did (it's good to be pushed out of my comfort zone on this). A few things are now kicking around in my mind:

Firstly, during a break a good friend introduced me as a "woman who has a burden for the church" - I have to say that I had never looked at my passion for the church this way. I guess I thought that how I feel is normal, but maybe it isn't.

Secondly, I have been listening to a few podcasts recently and one which has struck me is the awesome talk by Helen and Jacqui at Bristol Vineyard on relationships. Whilst some of it was aimed at the "single" question, I felt God using some of what was said to highlight why James and I are in NZ again. One of my biggest struggles being in NZ is the lack of depth to relationships with others. Something Helen said was that taking the step to be loved means being honest and open with another person and being vulnerable with them so that they may choose to accept or reject you for who you are. I think I felt God kick me not to forget this, I need to keep doing this to show others there is more that is so much more fulfilling to any relationship than discussing the latest trend in kitchens. This topic came up for me from another angle today about the fact that we need to have adult to adult relationships, where we can feel safe to kick all topics about life around to grow and be fulfilled, esp within a church setting. This has reminded me of the huge debt of gratitude that I have to Bristol Vineyard (and God through that church) for showing me this, and letting me learn to talk about "doing the stuff" on an adult to adult basis. Even when it hurts because it isn't part of the furniture here the way it was there - I THANK YOU and wouldn't be without the knowledge.

In preparation for today I have been digging back into some new books on "doing the stuff", and listening to more teaching on line. Other than BV my favourites are Rich Nathan at Vineyard Columbus and Krista Tibbutt on APB (a new one to me, but interesting). As I said at the start pushing these topics around in my head is causing me to be challenged again, but I am loving it and I am excited!!! I would also like to say thanks to Mark Strom who led todays session in a humble and graceful way giving the group space to explore the past, the present and the possibilities for the future!

Another good week and a sick cat!

Week two at the hospital has been good - getting my head round the organisation and its complexity. Still tired, but that will be the same for some time.

We have a sick Milo cat, essentially he has flu and now has antibiotics to assist with his recovery. He has a sore throat, which you can hear, he has lost his voice and had a fever. I do hope he gets better soon.

Local Stuff!

Just had a yummy lunch here, I love where we live. This morning I also bought our veggies from the 25 acre Dragisevich Farm, about 1k from us - sustainable, economic and great produce - love it!!!

A Good First Week and Will She Blow?

When I changes job last time I was a mess, thankfully this time has started more smoothly. I can see it is going to be a big job, and I think the short commute is helping reduce the stress levels, and I am feeling pretty relaxed about the move! Thank you God. I even managed to swim twice this week - which I wasn't sure I would have the energy for. I had prepared well last weekend with lots of meals ready to go, and the shopping up to date. So my aim for the weekend is to relax and restock ready for week two. The people have been really friendly and some of the stuff that I missed after AUT is just part of the culture again - phew! So I will keep this post short to keep the relaxing nature of my weekend in tact.

On another brief note - there is an increased risk apparently that She (Mount Ruapehu) may be about to blow! how exciting, we definitely hope to get down there if something the size of the '96 eruption takes place!!!

World Food Crisis and Sense Memory

Yesterday I did a big shop, because I start my new job tomorrow and I want to be prepared for the next couple of weeks which I know will be tiring. In our house I do the supermarket shop - mainly because if James goes we end up with lots of nice goodies we don't really need and missing stuff we do - I'm not a fan of it and I make a list and target shop, generally it works well. When we lived in the UK I shopped in Sainsburys (and occasionally Waitrose or Tescos), essentially I was a posh shopper! In NZ I quickly adopted a different approach, Pak'n'Save (similar to Morrisons) for dried goods, the local butcher and greengrocer for fresh goods, and a very expensive Deli in the city for cheese and other posh stuff - which is generally not that much more expensive but much better quality than the supermarkets.

I tried using the equivalent of Sainsburys here, but couldn't cope with the massive difference in the overall bill to when I shopped in Pak'n'Save - the currency accentuates the difference. So I am happy in Pak'n'Save. James and I are in the top 5% of earners in NZ, which actually in GBP isn't that much, but over the last few months I have been watching our food bill rise and it is scary - butter up 50%, milk 25% .... I've even stopped buying some named brands. What this brings me to, is that if I am doing this, then how is the average NZ family coping, and it is predicted to get much worse! I think this is the first true recession of my adult life. We are well placed to weather its storm, but my heart goes out to others. I buy local fresh produce to do my bit for sustainability and thankfully these areas don't seem to have increased as much, and the Deli is doing well (it must be hurting its margins though). We have started talking about other changes we can make, me losing my commute will help with fuel costs, but I feel we should do more. Having said all this we have just booked a Gold Coast trip - but partly because we wonder how much the price of flights will rise over the coming 12 months. It's a scary world right now.

On an entirely different matter, I have been drawn back to my drama degree this week with a few moments of sense memory. There are a few smells that can transport me back to another time - where I am overwhelmed by the emotions of that time. This week I have been back in my Beirut apartment and back at Ellesmere College on a Venture. The week ahead I'm sure will be even more weird as I start work at the hospital, I feel I have a heightened sense of smell when I start a new job, and the smell of the building always stays with me.

Here I go, starting a new job, I may be quiet for a while, but I hope not ... love you all xxx

A Nervous Transition to Being a Westie

I left Mighty River Power yesterday, and it was bitter sweet. I have loved working there, the team and the clients (well nearly all the clients), so it was sad to say goodbye. But I will not miss the commute. On the other hand I am nervous to some extent about working Monday - Friday Out West. To some extent I know that this is ridiculous as really I didn't see much of the community in Ellerslie in the two years I have been working there, and I have been craving the ability to lose the commute, but Westies are different, and I wonder whether I will notice it. I am really praying for a smooth introduction to health and the organisation, and I am aware that it will be tiring, and I am excited all at once. I know that these are all normal emotions so I just need to hold on to God's coat tails for the next few months until I can breath again .... tonight we are having a Westie dinner, and so a new start begins!!!!

Getting Under My Skin

Well my drought may well be being answered, and I am certainly needing to think more about church. This week my thoughts have been around the term "living sacrifices" which is what we are called to be. To sacrifice is to give to a point of discomfort (small or large) and I guess could be financial, emotional or physical. I want to do this, and I realise that for a while now in many ways life has been comfortable, where am I going with this, who knows ... we'll see.

Back to the Vineyard Conference for me today - always an interesting experience for me in NZ. Not sure what I think of it to be honest, I may or may not blog more about it ... catching up with old friends is nice and as always the international speaker is the draw card for me - and she is speaking on drought!

The Break of the Drought

In the last maybe 4.5 months Lake Taupo has received about 3cm of rain - or in other words nothing.  This has meant that we have officially been having a drought which has caused havoc to farmers and a great deal of concern to the power companies here.  Normally when droughts happen in NZ it only occurs on one island.  Not this year - it's been both.  However, last night the rain started falling again, in a tropical downpour way.  It is now forecast to rain for pretty much the whole week ahead.  I love it when it rains like this here.  Even if the traffic is awful and people seem to forget how to drive!

It is making me think about droughts in terms of the spiritual though.  I have enjoyed the drought from the physical rain, I have barely noticed the difference as the sun has been shining, but I should have been craving the rain.  Sometimes I think it can be like this with God, and recently this has been true for me - now I am craving the rain again - I hope it will come over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately we are scheduled to go up the Sky Tower tonight to watch the sunset - I'm not sure there'll be much to see.  At least when it gets dark we should get the feeling of being in out of space with the lights of the city blurring in and out of view beneath us.