Days 1 through 4

How do we tell our story?  You all were there for the beginning, but now comes the part where we are away from your preciously familiar eyes.  If you know Seth and I, you know that part of arriving in this new place involves some wrestling...wrestling with our own minds, wrestling with our insecurities...our fears that perhaps people are secretly hating us underneath those smiles.  Needless to say, we are head-trippers.  Even as I am writing this blog, i am thinking that my writing is not REAL enough, not gritty or compelling.  Like so many areas of my life, i want to be ten steps ahead...i want to write with the experience and insight that i don't have yet.  However, I am reminded to stay the course, to stay put in the present.  God has us in our shoes. 

Seth is on the computer at the moment, diligently searching for a trusty steed for our adventures.  We are looking for a camper-van that will keep us mobile and always with a bed to sleep in.  I love the way Seth refuses to settle.  He is tenacious in his pursuit for efficiency and quality.

As for our recent adventures, we spent a tropical weekend at a beach community called Pauanui (that's what all the pictures are from).  We were welcomed into the homes of new friends who greeted us warmly and with great hospitality.  Sitting around tables with a bounty of food, Seth and I were struck by God's provision.  Last night we ate yet another delicious dinner with our friends' family, laughing and telling stories around the table, and then headed back for Auckland.  Sitting in the back seat, being washed over in the light of a full moon, I basked in the blessings of the moment.  As the car followed the curves of the lush mountain road, I looked at my new husband and i thought of a specific provision that he represented.  More than I knew, God hand-picked this man to help shape me.  He reminds me of my need for our Saviour...reminds me how much sweeter life is when I trust our good and gracious Poppa.  Seth is a perfect blessing.  At times he is like a soothing salve to the wounds of my own fragile person.  We have both experienced our own insecurities since arriving in this place.  As we navigate our own individual process, we can look outside ourselves and see the other...a picture of God's own love standing next to us, holding hands, learning to trust, loving, wrestling, crying, smiling, laughing, seeing, bonding together...we are learning to lean.  God is good all the time.

We think of you often.  You are in our prayers before we go to bed.  We love you.