18 Weeks!

18 Weeks!

Last week was Week 18 in my pregnancy.  I am feeling good, but I still get these nagging headaches.  My midwife said they should go away at around 24 weeks- I hope it is sooner than that!  We had our first meeting with our midwife and we like her- she seems to know her stuff!  I hope she and I develop a good relationship after all the time that we spend together.

I am really thankful because it seems I have a made a few new friends here who are young mums (that's what you call a mom here).  I have enjoyed a few morning teas with them, coffee and shopping,  and a Jane Austen movie night.  It has been really nice to have some young woman to talk to about pregnancy, child birth, and life with a new baby!  I'm praying God provides deep, long lasting friendships here during this time of life!

Making new friends definitely makes me miss my friends from my small group at Grand Avenue.  These woman are a blessing in my life and I miss them so much.  I am so thankful for all the Panera coffee dates, craft nights, babies multiplying, deep conversations, laughter, shopping trips, prayer, encouragement, getting dinner ready for our men, babysitting, and really all the time we spent together.  Though no one could replace this group of friends, I hope I find friends like these here in NZ!

Sam, me, Emily, Kim and Becca - amazing friends!

Kim, Becca, Emily, me, Tamra and Sam at the beautiful baby shower they threw for me before I left. Couldn't ask for a more thoughtful and special group of friends.

Greetings from Auckland!

We arrived in Auckland!!

Greetings from Auckland, NZ! We have now been here three weeks! We arrived early in the morning on January 30th. We spent the first week and a half finding a place to live and a car and beginning to find the furnishings that we needed. God has been incredibly gracious to us and has provided so abundantly for our needs. Several people connected with the Navs here donated different items that we needed and many others recommended the right places to go to get the rest of the things we need. There is a website here that is a bit like eBay mixed with Craigslist that we have used to find most of our major items!

We are finally beginning to learn our area a bit and are able to drive (yes, on the left side of the road) around without always needing a GPS! In a city of around 1.5 million people there are lots of streets and areas to learn! Kathryn has posted several pictures of our car and apartment on Facebook, but just for fun, here's a couple of our place:

We live in a one-story four plex just off of the intersection of two major roads in Auckland.

Our lounge.

We are very thankful for our place and look forward to seeing how God is going to use it! We are praying that it will often be full of students!

Getting our bearings

For the past week or so, since we're mainly settled, we've begun meeting some of the key students here (it is Summer vacation right now so many students are working or have left Auckland on holiday). As you may remember there is currently a band of around 12 students involved with the Navigators here that have been studying the Bible together and seeking to reach out to their friends and classmates. We've greatly enjoyed getting to meet them and are organizing a couple of kickoff events to start the year on campus! 

A post-grad student here, Jess, has stepped up to co-lead the team with us for this year while we largely focus on cultural adjustment and starting new initiatives on campus. Our first few times together as a team have been great; we feel sure that God is going to work in big ways in the lives of students this year. Please pray for Jess and the other students as classes start in two weeks.

This next week we are gearing up to go to a Rugby match with the students (the Auckland Blues) and to go paddleboarding with them. Being a coastal city it seems the students love to do things at the beach, and they are eager to take us out on the water!

One of the many beautiful views from the SkyTower in mid-town. Most of the buildings that you can see in this picture are part of Auckland University's downtown campus. 

And just for kicks, here is just a glimpse of our new vocabulary:
Tramping aka hiking
Sweet As aka nice, all good
Gumboot Tea aka ordinary hot tea, black tea
Ruck up aka gather together
Fizzy aka pop, soda
Keen aka just about everything that you are excited about
Chin Wagging aka light conversation during informal occasions

Cheers! 

Introducing... Baby Blogging!

I have wanted to start a baby blog for a while now, mostly so family and friends can follow how I’m doing in the pregnancy, and then of course to see lots of pictures and read stories of our little Kiwi baby!  I am so excited for our little one to arrive, and I know our loved ones are too!  I wish we could all be together when this happens, but I’m thankful for the internet and phones and the many ways that we can stay connected!

Pregnancy for me has had its ups and downs.  During the first trimester I had quite a few difficult days- nausea and headaches mostly.  It definitely wasn't easy at times and I was eager to enter into my second trimester (often called the “Honeymoon Stage” but I deemed it the “Moving to New Zealand Stage").

That’s right, we moved to New Zealand right at the start of my second trimester.  I have been feeling so much better, though there still has been the occasional nausea and headache.  Some of that may be due to the adjustment to a new country. I need to cut my body and mind some slack- I am going through a lot of changes right now! 

17 Weeks in the Auckland Skytower- Feeling good and definitely showing. Isn't that an amazing backdrop!?

We have found a General Practitioner and a midwife- praise God!  This was on the top of my to-do list!  I really hope that I connect with each of them well.  I prayed God would provide a good midwife and I’m trusting that He has!  The midwife that I have found has really positive references and we will meet her for the first time on Thursday!  In New Zealand, everyone uses a midwife and they all speak very highly of the whole process.  If, in labor, there is an emergency and a doctor is needed, an OB/GYN will be close by to help.  Getting acquainted with the medical process has been stressful at times because it is just different than the states, but New Zealand is a great place to have a baby and I’m confident that God has us here and now for a reason!  

It is so interesting to me that when we first submitted our visa application, we were pregnant and we didn't know it!  My physical very specifically said that I wasn't pregnant!  We were discouraged when the visa application came back to us and we had to make changes, but during that time we found out we were pregnant and were able to document the necessary requirements for being pregnant.  Who knows what may have happened if we had come into the country without anyone knowing we were pregnant.  I'm convinced God was protecting us from a lot of potential problems getting health care, etc!

More baby blogging coming soon!  And even sooner we will write about our first few weeks in Auckland, NZ!

2 MORE WEEKS!

Auckland, New Zealand... soon to be home sweet home!

I realize we haven't posted in a few weeks, and some of you were probably left hanging- did we ever get our visas?  Almost immediately after we submitted our visa, it was sent back to us with a request for a few changes.  That was kinda hard, as Andy had put about 60 hours of work into that thing!  But we tried not to despair and pressed forward to make the necessary changes and resubmit our visa.

Round 2 we heard back faster than we had expected.  A big package came in the mail for us and we opened it up to find our applications and passports with visas inside!!  YAY!!!  We were officially New Zealand bound!

Soon after that, we bought our plane tickets and now are scheduled to leave in only 2 weeks!  It almost seems unreal since we have been waiting to move overseas for a long time now!  It is crazy how much there is to do right before you leave the country, so our days now our full of time with family, friends, packing and working on a BIG to do list to have everything in order to move.  Goodbye's have been really hard already, which we are certain will be the most difficult thing for us during this time.

We will board a plane in Chicago with our winter coats on and arrive in summertime in Auckland, New Zealand!  We will then have about a month to find housing, a car and get a bit settled in before students arrive on campus on March 4th.

We are so thankful for how God has paved the way for us to labor in South Pacific in His perfect timing!  We have deeply experienced his provision and faithfulness as we've raised support, waited, and been helped by so many in countless ways during this transition time.  We have tasted of God's love and blessings through His people in our lives!

Intentional Thanksgiving 3

I haven't been able to post because I have been without Internet the past few days, and I only have it now for just a bit. However, I have been keeping up with my list of things I am thankful for. Here is my list from the past few days...

Tuesday...

16. I'm thankful for my Texas roots :)

17. I'm thankful also that God brought me to Iowa and made it feel like home.

18. I'm also thankful for Target, which may seem silly but I just love that store and I know I'll miss it in NZ.

19. I'm thankful that the Lord's loving kindness never ceases!

20. I'm thankful for my best friend Mindi and that no matter how far apart we are, we are able to pick up where we left off.

On Wednesday I was thankful for...

21. Big comfy sweatshirts.

22. Movie nights with Andy.

23. Our small group at church- they are some of our closest friends!

24. Having 2 amazing sisters who I love so much!

25. Having a wonderful brother that I love and am so thankful for!

On Thursday I was thankful for...

26. Delicious Thanksgiving food!

27. Fun and laughter with family.

28. Black Friday shopping (mostly for the memories).

29. For family nearby to celebrate the holidays with.

30. I am also thankful that God has given me so much to be thankful for, both now and for eternity!

Intentional Thanksgiving 2

"I WILL MAGNIFY HIM WITH THANKSGIVING"

Psalm 69:30b

From Sunday...

6.  I'm thankful for our prayer and financial partners that have generously and selflessly supported us over the years and through this time of transition.

7. I am thankful for the amazing woman that God has put into my life to invest in at Iowa State.

8. I love a good book and I am so thankful for them!  I'm especially thankful for my current favorite book, We Would See Jesus, and the impact it has had on my life over the years. 

9. I'm thankful for coffee shops and the inevitable good conversations that happen there.

10. I am so thankful for my family, both the ones that have known me since birth and the family I married into.  I love them so much and am thankful for all the ways they have loved and cared for Andy and I.

Today...

11. I am so thankful for Duane and Danelle Jensen and for how they have selflessly opened up their home to us and let us be a part of their family.

12. I'm thankful that God's timing is perfect, and that nothing catches Him by surprise.

13. I'm thankful for fun friends that I can spend the whole day with shopping, doing crafts, or any other kind of excuse we can come up with to hang out!

14. I'm thankful for rest and the occasional nap!

15. I am thankful for our church family at Grand Avenue Baptist.  I'm am so blessed by all the ways they have loved us, supported us, and have helped us to grow in our walks with God. 

Magnify Him With Thanksgiving

Yesterday I was meeting with a young woman named Lauren who is a student at Iowa State and is a precious friend.  We talked about Thanksgiving coming up and how easy it is to be ungrateful and miss out on all the wonderful blessings we have in Christ.  We committed to be intentionally thankful this Thanksgiving, so we are keeping a list of 5 new things every day to thank God for.  My hope is that we all will not merely feast on food during this holiday, but on the sweet blessings of our Savior. I've decided I want to share my list with you that you might rejoice and magnify Him with me and give thanks of your own.

Sometimes it can be really hard for me to be thankful.  Even in the midst of wonderful things going on around me, I have the terrible impulse to zero-in on what's going "wrong", i.e. what's not going "my way".  There are times when I think I have been patient enough and thankful enough for long enough and I finally have a right to be ungrateful.

The truth is, I never have that right.  Even in the midst of pain, despair, loss, hurt, grief, disappointment .. God's calls me to rejoice, to be thankful.  And the beautiful thing is that God loves me and cares about my joys AND my griefs, and He wants to give me the eternal perspective to be able to face both with courage and hope.  

I was impacted recently by an excerpt from A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent.  He says "The more absorbed I am in the gospel, the more grateful I become in the midst of my circumstances, whatever they may be... The gospel reminds me first that what I actually deserve from God is a full cup churning with the torments of His wrath.  This is the cup that would be mine to drink if I were given what I deserve each day.  With this understanding in mind, I see that to be handed a completely empty cup from God would be cause enough for infinite gratitude   If there were merely the tiniest drop of blessing contained in that otherwise empty cup, I should be blown away by the unbelievable kindness of God toward me.  That God, in fact, has given me a cup that is full of "every spiritual blessing in Christ," and this without the slightest admixture of wrath, leaves me truly dumbfounded with inexpressible joy..."

Only with my eyes turned toward God and what He has done, what He has saved me from and saved me into, am I at last enabled to be continually thankful.

"... I WILL MAGNIFY HIM WITH THANKSGIVING" 
Psalm 69:30b

1. Thinking on what Milton Vincent said, I am thankful that God's cup runs over with spiritual blessings on my life.  He shows me love and grace and forgiveness and eternal life though His Son.

2. I'm thankful today that I am spared from the wrath that I deserve.

3. I am thankful for my husband Andy who loves God and myself deeply.  I know Andy would give his life for me and I can't think of a better picture of God's great love for me.

4. I'm thankful for all the laughter in my life because of the people that are in it.

5. I'm thankful that our NZ Immigration Officer acted on our visa application quickly.  And even though we aren't approved yet, she let us know exactly what she is looking for.  I am most thankful about this because it reminds me that God is the one in control and He wants to help us learn to trust in Him more and more.