What's the Haps - Aug 08

Well, Winter ‘08 in New Zealand has continued the trend of weather extremes so far this year. After a crushing drought all Summer, we’ve had so much rain in the last couple of months, that we’ve had roads in the area “subside” as they like to call it. In layman’s terms, this means running down the side of the nearest mountain, embankment, cliff, or whatever is handy at the time. No loss of life or vehicle, but the road foundations are really just about floating away! We’ve given our farmer friends (and there are many) a hard time about their fervent prayers for rain over the summer. Now, I know that the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective, but sheesh! Maybe we should get them to pray for cash to start falling from the sky to round out our church building fund (I’ll let you know if that happens, so you can drop by with an extra suitcase). At any rate, the days are finally getting longer and warmer, and life is good.

A hole in the road where the road base has simply floated up through the asphalt:


Hmmm, that's not too good, considering the forecast for heavy rain for the forseeable future...


Chad’s photography endeavors are going well: he recently sold his first print – matted, framed, and the whole nine yards. We also did a beautiful family photo shoot last month that yielded some great portfolio material, and the words “best portraits ever” were bandied about by our clients. Thanks to the ad space he gets in the local paper for his journalistic work, Chad landed his first commercial gig doing the advertising shots for a new luxury lodge in Raglan. It went extremely well, which is saying something considering that the client has a master’s degree in fine arts.

I’m keeping busy these days working for our church. One of my main activities is team-leading the “mommy n’ me” style sing-along called Mainly Music twice a week. So I’m up to my eyeballs (literally, I’m like their own personal jungle gym) in cute babies and toddlers - and loving it! I also pitch in at the Raglan Food Bank. Let me tell you, folks, meeting people’s practical needs opens doors in hearts faster than anything I’ve ever seen – we’ve seen amazing blessing and receptivity even from staunch non-Christians when dealing with local government and members of the community in general. So chuck the flashy worship team budget, or the mega-building, folks! Community service is where it’s at!

We’ve also stayed heaps healthier this year – I guess we’re acclimated to Southern Hemisphere germs at last. It’s definitely good for our morale - nothing like a raging, migrating (head to chest to throat to ears, etc. etc.) cold bug for 6 solid weeks to make you doubt your sanity in moving to the chilly drip-fest that is winter in New Zealand.