Settling

I'm grateful for the people who told us this would be hard. In the weeks before leaving for New Zealand a small handful of people looked at us and said "it will be hard." Prophetic, sobering, grounding, good. A reality check now realized. With change there is hope, but in change we cannot trust. We read that once on flip-flops, bought from a market in Guinea. Red, white and blue with a backwards American flag next to a presidential picture. "In change we trust," written on the soles. Six years later and empty promises.

When we walked into a cold empty house, which certainly didn't feel like home, and looked around at the grey walls in the dark, I lost it. I cried as the children slept and grieved for dear friends in the States and part of me longed to crawl into the past and go to sleep. And I went to bed sad but it was good to see light the next morning. The crack of dawn, the sun exploding in light over the mountains. The heavens declaring the glory of God. It's amazing what a little light can do.

I'm so glad I get to hope in Him through this transition (and all of life). Jesus is whom we're clinging to. He who called us and is faithful. We are utterly ignorant as to why God called us here but we rejoice that He made it clear to come and that He means it for good! We hope for many good things through this time of change but want to be keen not to trust in change.

We left the States 13 days ago and have been in New Zealand 11 days. Here's a brief run down...

Two weeks ago we were madly packing and re-weighing luggage with friends late into the night. We could not think straight - they helped think for us, fed us, played with our kids and loved us. They are awesome!! They came to say good-bye. They came again. So loved.

6 airports, 5 flights, 1 stop at sweet college friends' house in LA, 1 15-passenger van rented to move all our precious luggage stuff junk whose stuff is all this anyway in LA, 1 - 10 hour layover!! 12 checked bags, 3 car seats, 4 carry-on, 1 stroller (Eeyore), 1 guitar, 3 should-have-been checked bags personal items, 1 more pack mule and 1 diaper nappy provider/fresh cow. 1 cancelled flight, 20 food vouchers yes!, 1 rescheduled flight, 3 times picking up all luggage between flights, 3 times rechecking in all luggage between flights ("all" does not do the mountain justice), 1 - 6 year old forced to push luggage cart, 1 - 3 year old happy to push luggage carts/climb luggage carts/climb luggage mountains, 1 airline staff certain we brought the baby along just so we could justify Eeyore's usage, 1000 concerned looks from flight crews upon seeing our entourage, 0 forgotten granola bars in luggage at customs (phew!), 16 time zones, 1 International Date Line, 32 mutterings "we are never taking this many bags again," 0 lost bags woot woot! 1 Huge sigh of relief upon landing in Invercargill. Peace through it all, amazing people praying, awesome God carrying us.

We arrived in Invercargill, or "town" as it's called, Friday evening. Jonathan's new boss graciously had vehicles waiting for us and a gps and map and directions to the grocery store. Off we went straightaway, on the left that is, to Pak n' Save. Plan was to get in, get out. Not to worry about prices, just grab a few things. $3.09/dozen eggs, kg conversions, hungry children, locating the toilet and trying to figure out the difference between green kiwi at $1.49/kg and green kiwi at $5.19/kg slowed that trip down a bit. So, in the dark we drove home. This ain't no M-53, baby. Curves, hills, curves, hills, hairpin curves, gravel, beautiful tunnel of trees in the dark, trees, trees, trees, stars we didn't recognize and an hour and 20 minutes later we were home. And I described the shock of that night already.

10 days removed, New Zealand is a neat place. And we still miss our dear friends terribly. Argh. Kiwis are friendly. And I learned today that kiwifruit is what we eat. Oops. Not Kiwis. Check that. Kiwis have beautiful accents and a beautiful country. Kiwis have maddening hoops to jump through to get a bank account (2 trips to town, 5 banks within a block, 3 plus hours of kids getting restless scratchy in the car). 6 out of 8 days driving to Invercargill, we are glad most of the settling in is behind us. Still working on finding a vehicle!  So grateful for new church friends lending us their van. The body of Christ is sweet as! We've been encouraged to adopt the Kiwi lingo straightaway, so bear with us as we try that out.

Our home is filled already, and we're taking it one day at a time. We were blown away to find a beautiful hike in the woods rainforest 5K from our house. We've survived on the left side of the road, minus one near-death experience while said husband was looking down to swipe nutella from my jar. Ahem. We can't remember our phone numbers. I can't figure out my smartphone. The children don't like us being on the computer. Life. I can't find baking powder in the grocery, my new friend at church told me to get over it and ask where the "toilet" is (not bathroom), and What the Rubbish must be come our new family slogan, so long What the Trash.

A glimpse at our crazy life. Thanks for all those who have asked for details. Now that you're sorry you asked, good night from the Deep South, where the Antarctic wind blows so hard the trees on the coast lean over. ;)

A view of our mountains (yes, we're claiming them) from the back of our house.