All in a Day's Work

I began my day leading a 2 hour devotional. It was an awesome way to start the day.....I really didn't have much of an idea what I was going to sing about, but I began in Psalm 138 and ended up singing around the mystery of the eternal God - whose beauty will go on and on and on and who will always have more of Himself to reveal to us to fascinate our hearts. I'm still in awe of the fact that we will gaze on Him for billions of billions of billions of years, and He will never cease to fascinate our hearts with something new about Him that He chooses to reveal. He is the inexhaustible God. I then sang a bit of the mystery of creation and the incarnation and that this One is the One who calls us beloved and who greatly desires us.....it was a beautiful 2 hours, and I walked away thinking, "I really needed that." What a great way to start the day. I love what I do; I wouldn't trade it for anything. Full time mommy, part-time in the house of prayer. Great combination.

Had a beautiful lunch with the interns today. One of our intern's parents were in town for the weekend and wanted to make lunch for the whole gang. It was delicious - and an incredible expression of love and care for us. The best part of it was that I wasn't responsible for any part of it ~ I could sit back and enjoy!

We enjoyed a great visit this evening from great family friends who live in Auckland who were passing through town today. We always have great times with them - we shared a great dinner of fish 'n chips - sitting on the floor with it all spread out on newspaper. (Our temporary dining table only seats four....so we have to get creative when company comes!)

Now that's Kiwi cuisine at it's best.

An Inspiring Story....

Heard a story on ESPN tonight (yes, we do get espn on sky) that's worth repeating. There's this kid from Rochester, NY who was diagnosed with autism when he was 2. He's a senior in high school now, and tried out for the basketball team. He didn't make the JV team, so he volunteered to be the manager for the varsity team. It was senior night - the last game of the season - and the coach told him he wanted to play him that night - but no promises. With 4 minutes left in the game, his team was up by 20 points, and he got to go in. He air-balled his first 3-pointer shot. But then he got on fire. In the next 2 minutes, he scored 20 points, most of them 3s. The crowd was going crazy - he was the hero of the school. When interviewed after, his coach got tears in his eyes as he recounted what a special moment that was. He said that everyone has a dream - and tonight, he got to help J Mac's come true. How awesome for this kid - it was his moment to shine, and he didn't disappoint. I bet it will be one of the highlights of his life for years to come. You can check out the full story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11526448/

A bit closer to home, life has continued to be a bit crazy. We had an awesome time with Fraser and Hartley - it was great to see some faces from home, and they really blessed us and our community. Tonight was a surprise birthday party for one of our interns, and tomorrow we have lunch at our house with our intern class, and then at 4pm, some of our friends from Auckland are coming through town and will be joining us for dinner.

Computer Frustration

I have just spent the last hour and a half trying to get photos off Aaron's mac onto my pc. It would have been easy if I hadn't stuffed up my flash drive in the process. Every time I try to save something on it, I get an error message, "The directory or file cannot be created." If there are any computer geniouses out there who can help me salvage my flash drive (if this is at all possible), your comments would most definitely be appreciated.

As for the photos, I ended up having to email them to myself....which is taking forever. Thank God for broadband.

Our Crazy Life

It's a quiet evening here in our home - an unusual occurrence these days. Taylor is in bed, and Aaron is teaching a class for the internship that's open to the community. Nic went along, so I have the evening to myself. Funny how we had so many quiet evenings in Kansas City - and we took them all for granted. Here's our life the last few days:

Tuesday - Prayer room: 8am-noon. Class at our house: 2pm-4pm. Quiz night: 8pm-11pm.
Wednesday - Lost keys. Spent all day looking for them. Found them in the evening, then went to class.
Thursday - Prayer room: 8am-noon; lunch meeting: noon-3pm; make 2 batches of cookies with an intern, fix dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner: 3pm-7pm. Evening class at our house: 7pm-11pm.
Friday - Prayer room: 8am-1pm; lunch meeting at our house: 1pm-3pm; quality time with Taylor, fix dinner, eat dinner, clean up dinner, put Taylor to bed: 3pm-8pm. Crash with a bowl of orange chocolate chip ice cream: present.

No wonder I'm tired. But my heart is alive. It's been another awesome week with the interns - we're amazed at what God has done in such a short time already. We had a guest speaker come through town the last couple days - a man named Dan Baker from CA. He really carried the Father heart of God for our interns and spoke virtually the same messege that we've been teaching these last two weeks, just in different words. He also carried some prophetic insight for the future, which seemed 'spot-on'. It was confirming and massively encouraging.

Then this weekend we have Bob Fraser and Bob Hartley in town for 24 hours. They'll be doing a Sunday night "Joseph Company" meeting with the business and community leaders from the city, and then have Monday morning with our interns. It will be so awesome to see our friends from home - I can hardly wait! My big job on the agenda for tomorrow is to brave the grocery store for the purpose of buying some yummy treats for 'hospitality baskets' to put in their hotel rooms. I'm looking forward to that little job - I love doing that kind of thing.

Needless to say, it's pretty full-on here. But I have to admit that even though the schedule is a bit intense, those hours in the prayer room each morning have been life to us. At the end of the day, that's what it's all really about, anyway.

His Greatness Is Unsearchable

We had an incredible night with the interns tonight. It was a worship-with-the Wordish-devotional-preaching, centered around Rev. 4. Our interns led tonight worship, Aaron 'preached', and it really felt like we were in Kansas City again - they did awesome. But even more awesome was the spirit of revelation in the room and feeling the Lord upon our hearts. I remember now why I love Him so....His beauty so inexhaustible; His greatness unsearchable. And it's not that He is so high above that I will never know Him, rather, it's that He is so full of limitless wonders that there will always be more to search out. He has the ability to fascinate hearts forever......

The Keys Have Been Found

Need I say more? Nic found them - she is now my hero!!

Welcome to Life in the Walsh Home

We had a great class with the interns yesterday. They all came over to our place, and after an hour teaching on Knowledge of the Holy, we decided to webcast the prayer room to give them a bit of a taste of what it's like in Kansas City. Aaron had emailed the prayer leader for the set we were going to be listening in on, and asked them to pray for us. It was absolutely incredible - both for us and for the interns. I can't put into words how much strength it brings to our hearts to hear our family back in Kansas City praying for us - by name. It made me want to cry. And our interns were touched, too. I watched their faces as they listened to those in Kansas City praying for them - they were undone. Thanks, Brent. You scored on that one.

Today's start to the day hasn't been so great. I lost our car keys. Don't have a clue where they are. Haven't yet figured out how a set of keys can up and disappear, but they have. I have turned our house upside down looking for them (not a hard thing to do these days - we only have the bare necessities, remember!). The keys are no where to be found. The bad thing is that they're not even our keys - we're borrowing the car from someone until we can buy our own. I'm hoping that they have a spare set at home. The other bad thing? Taylor's car seat is locked in the car. So we're kinda stuck here until this little problem is solved. Until then.....I'm still praying that these darn keys show up somewhere......

We have also just found out this week that our container won't be here until April 17th! Not a big deal, a little disappointing - just about 4-6 weeks longer than what we had hoped. It turns out the container got to the port on January 26ht - two days after it left our house - but the ship didn't set sail until Feb. 10th. And it takes about 8 weeks to get here from there. Don't suppose I can complain too much - we are on the other side of the world, after all - but it will be really nice to see our stuff when it comes.

Splash, splash

Whenever Taylor sees water (i.e. the ocean), she gets a huge smile on her face and says, "Splash, splash; mommy, daddy, mommy, daddy?!" Today (our day off), her wish came true....we took a family trip to the beach.

As much as she loves the beach, the whole ocean thing can still be a bit overwhelming for her. I guess I can't blame her. I'd be overwhelmed if I was only 23 pounds and I was watching huge waves roaring towards me. Every time we go, she gets a bit more comfortable....today was her best effort yet. She couldn't wait to walk on the sand, and after the first few waves splashing over her feet, she was grinning from ear to ear and doing the sign language for, "More, more". She was loving every minute of it!

We only stayed for about an hour - the sun in New Zealand is really intense, and although she had 50 spf sunscreen plastered all over her and a solid base tan, there is still a good chance of sunburn if we keep her outside too long. Regardless, it was the highlight of her day....hasn't stopped talking about it since. No doubt when we drive by the water tomorrow, she'll get that huge smile on her face and say excitedly, "Splash, splash; mommy, daddy, mommy, daddy....please, please!"

Gotta Love the Technology

Can I say for the record that I love the ihop webstream. We are sitting here in our living room in New Zealand on Sunday afternoon, listening to Mike preach in Kansas City on Saturday evening about the end times. Talk about being able to track with what's going on at ihop and still be able to enjoy the awesome preaching from Mike and others - live - even though we're on the other side of the world. I must admit that I'll like it a lot more when the New Zealand internet gets up-to-date with the technological times so that it will be able to handle a webcast without cutting out every few minutes.....but until then (April 1st, to be exact), we make the most of it and enjoy it for what we've got.

Big Sleep-Ins

I'd like to take this opportunity to brag on my husband. He got Taylor up this morning, played with her, and then got her breakfast.....all so I could sleep in - until 9am. I can't remember the last time I slept in until 9am. But I can assure you that it was much-needed, as I also can't remember the last time I've woken up at 6am all week. Thanks. You're a champion, honey!

In Our Flavor....I Mean, Favor

Slowly but surely, my faith in the New Zealand ice cream industry is being renewed. Now - I am still a fan of American ice cream - but I have now found two flavors that I like. Tip Top has just introduced a new flavor to the New Zealand market - cookies and cream. Not quite as good as Edey's brand, but oh so much better than the other New Zealand flavors (hokey pokey? jelly tip?). Tip top must have heard I was coming.

It seems that there are some other things changing in our favor in New Zealand. It is a known fact in this part of the world that New Zealand currently has the slowest broadband of any developed nation. This means that webcasting the prayer room can be a challenge at times - not to mention the baseball games we plan on webcasting in the spring (or rather, fall.....). But, it has just been announced that on April 1st, the broadband speed will be increasing so as to accommodate webstreaming without all the buffering (and hence, frustration). Inidentally, baseball season begins April 1st. We have found favor - even the ice cream and internet industries are improving on our behalf.

Fishing In New Zealand

Yesterday, the boys went fishing. I wasn't there, but I was told that it was quite an operation. They put a long line in - a 1km line with 25 hooks on it. They tied the end of the line to the kayak, and Josh paddled out a km. They drop the line with a weight, kayak back in while leaving the line out there for an hour, and then pull it in. Fortunately for us, they came home with a couple good-sized snapper that fed 6 people. Nic cooked it up in foil with lemon, garlic, and some mixed herbs.....and after a short trip to the fish 'n chip shop to pick up 4 scoops (translation - a large amount of fries).....we had ourselves quite a dinner. Nothing like fresh fish just caught out of the Pacific Ocean.

Flies and Rugby

There are more flies here than I think I may have ever seen in one place in my whole life. I'm still trying to sort out why there are no screens in the windows.....I guess the New Zealanders really aren't bothered by the flies too much. Unfortunately for this American, I find them to be quite a nuisance. Now, lest you think that we live in a third world country, they do have fly spray and fancy things like that that are meant to reduce the fly population. But in my short, humble experience, the fly spray hasn't worked yet. I think we need to take our approach to the next level and look into other fancier means of eliminating them. (If any of you kiwis have any bright ideas, your comments are most welcome!). Now that I've done a sufficient job of venting my frustration, I think it's only fair to my readers - and to myself - that I look on the bright side of the situation. I'm learning that keeping proper perspective is essential to keep homesickness at bay. So....on the bright side....although there is a dramatic increase in the fly population compared to America, I am overjoyed by the fact that the snake population is completely nonexistant. There have been several times I look in the tall grass of a field (or my backyard, for that matter) thinking, "ooh...I hate to think what snakes are in there" ....only to remember that there are none. Not one anywhere. I think I am still as in awe of that fact as I was when I was 7 years old. Now that certainly is a bright side of living here.

As for another bright spot in living here (in Aaron's world) - the rugby! There's a game on tele (TV) tonight, and we're hosting a small party. Although I'm not sure it will be so small. Word has a way of getting around here....good thing there's 4 dozen chocolate-chocolate chip cookies in the pantry needing to be eaten tonight!

House of Prayer and Internship

I've decided it's time for a quick house of prayer and internship update. Not that there's too much else new....but I figured that all my posts can't be about food and fun and cultural differences! After all, we are here for a reason.

The internship is off to a good start. We have an incredible bunch of young people. As I've been talking to some of them recently about their experience so far, I've heard similar things from all of them: "Old paradigms of God are changing." "I'm really getting messed up." "I've never thought of God this way before." "It's like there's this collision inside of me between all my old concepts of God, and all these new truths being intruduced to me."

I can't help but think back to my own introduction of the 'knowledge of God' back in 1999 and 2000 when I first moved to Kansas City - my own journey being quite similar to the one these interns are on now. It's glorious. It's overwhelming. It literally feels like the DNA of your heart and mind are being re-written. It makes so much sense when you finally have language for all the things you have been thinking and feeling, but had no way to express.

It's exciting to watch these ones follow in the same direction - into the wonders of discovering God for who He really is. I know it's a journey that will never end, and will leave them (and us) changed forever.

Dinner Disaster

Yesterday's dinner was a wee bit of a, well, disaster. I guess I should have quit when I was ahead when I was trying to thaw a pound and a half of meat - without a microwave (haven't bought one of those yet.....But that's a whole different post right there). That was quite a lengthy challenge....Too bad for me, I kept going with much persistence in my meatloaf-making venture. Things really started to turn south when it was time to bake it. You see, the oven in this house is pretty old.....so much so that all the printed lettering that tells you what are the switches are for don't exist anymore, leaving the user to figure it out by trial and error. Yesterday, I figured out how our oven works by error. Long story short, I was wondering why my meatloaf wasn't cooked after being in the oven for a good hour, and why my baked potatoes weren't even close to baked yet. You'd think that would have been enough to tip me off to the fact that something wasn't quite right, but no....it wasn't until another 20 minutes in the oven with very little progress that I realized (with much deciphering) that the little switch was on the "grill" setting, rather than the "bake" setting. That quickly explained the source of all my problems. So, an hour and 45 minutes later, we finally had our meatloaf. I think that could perhaps be a new world record for "longest ever baked meatloaf"......fortunately we weren't going out last night and could afford a bit later of a dinner. Hopefully I won't be making that mistake again.

Goldfish Gratification

Today was a good day in the Walsh household. The care package from Nana arrived - complete with the goldfish. We sat Taylor down in the living room for the big event; and let's just say, she wasn't disappointed. I think the pictures say it all.



Now the only question is, how long will two packages of Goldfish last?

It's Snowing in CT

For those of you who don't know, I grew up in CT - spent 19 years of my life there - and my parents still live there today. It just so happens that they're expecting 8-12 inches of snow tonight. I must admit, there's a part of me that's a bit jealous. I mean, I really can't complain (I bet half the people in CT were wishing they were sitting on the beach in NZ right now.....), but there's just something special about sitting in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate while it's snowing outside....or waking up in the morning to a world blanketed in a foot of snow.....or getting bundled up and going outside and introducing a little toddler to the wonders of snowmen and snowangels and sledding. I have to admit, I'm going to miss that aspect of being a parent. But then again, before I get myself too depressed, I need to remind myself that living in the middle of America, I never did have the chance to bring Taylor to the beach and watch her discover sand and waves and seashells and everything glorious about the ocean. I guess you can't have it both ways. But in the meantime, to all of you in CT, enjoy the snow on my behalf, and don't be too jealous of me sitting here in NZ in the middle of summer! :-)

Yes and No

I love that Taylor learned to say "Yes" before "No" was even a part of her vocabulary. Those of you who know Taylor have no doubt heard her say "Yesssssss" on more than one occasion. It's pretty adorable! I must admit, it made the first several months of toddlerhood much easier than they could have been otherwise. Inevitably, at 21 months, the word "no" has now snuck into her vocabulary - fortunately, though, not hard-out, decided, matter-of-fact "NO". Rather, yesterday when I asked her a question, ("Do you want more to drink?"), she looked at me, screwed up her nose, scrunched up her face, shook her head, and said, "Nah..." It's the cutest, most innocent "no" I've ever heard spoken by a toddler. Almost not even worthy to be classified as a "no". I just looked at her and laughed; sometimes she can be pretty hard to take seriously.

Picnic in the Park

Nic, Taylor, and I rose early this morning in anticipation of a nice little outing to the farmer's market. It was a great disappointment. There were probably a total of 20 tables - if we're lucky. And only half of them were actually selling fruits and vegetables, but I did manage to pick up some beautiful flowers for only $6.

In search of a more enjoyable outing, we decided to go back to the park today - Taylor's favorite place these days. Had a little picnic with Nic and then Daddy joined us (after a round of golf) and we all played with Taylor on the playground. Doesn't get much better than that for a 21 month-old.



Tonight we're having a mere 30 people over for coffee and dessert - our interns plus several of the pastors and leaders in the city and various ones part of the t-hop community. Purpose being, to provide an environmet for the interns to meet others that are part of the house of prayer and those in the city who love and support what we're doing. I spent the afternoon in the kitchen, making lemon squares and cream puffs. It's my first baking effort here in New Zealand....I have to admit, it was fun to be back in the kitchen again.

Orange Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

I think I might have a new obsession when it comes to ice cream. Not a favorite, mind you - I don't think anything can beat mint chocolate chip. But this orange chocolate chip stuff is really pretty good - imagine a creamsicle with chocolate chips in it. It really grows on you - a massive statement coming from one who generally isn't too impressed with the ice cream in New Zealand. But I think I may have just found my weakness here.....And I can just about guarantee you that sometime in the next 24 hours, I'll be making a trip to the grocery store to replenish our supply.

Mount Maunganui



This is the view from the park that's a 5 minute drive from our house. Yes, it really is this beautiful. Actually, on second thought, it's even more beautiful in person.

It's Great Being a Mom


We went to the park after dinner so that Taylor could play. I mean, who wouldn't love this?

The Bounty of Avocados

We got a bag of about 15 avocados today - the second since we've been here - from one of our friends who have a multitude of avo trees on their property. Now you have to understand that these are perhaps the best avos you've ever had in your life...totally unlike the ones you buy at the store. They are about twice the size, have twice the flavor, such a creamy texture, and taste immensely better than any avo you've ever tasted. Logic would conclude that these avos make some of the best guacamole imaginable.

Another Beautiful Day in New Zealand

I'm sitting here in our living room with the sliding doors wide open, enjoying the clear blue sky and fresh air of a beautiful New Zealand summer day. Hey, if you have to be missionaries somewhere, New Zealand is definitely the place.

I started the day leading a 2 hour devotional from 8am to 10am. I honestly can't think of a better way to start the day....except, perhaps, with a sleep-in until 10am. (I can't remember the last time I woke up at 6am.....three days in a row). But anyways, it's great - absolutely wonderful - to be leading devos again. Sang through Song of Solomon 1 today.....I think that my favorite chorus of the day was "your relentless pursuit of my heart....your emotions never change...." We've taken the last couple days with our interns and have been sharing our testamonies. Lots of them are pretty painful; as I've been listening to them share, I've been so struck with the kindness of the Lord in the way He pursues us - continually; over and over again; until we finally say yes. Pretty incredible.

Enough deep thoughts for the day......it's time for me to make a grocery list, as tonight I have to do a wee bit of shopping. But before I sign off, this presents the perfect opportunity to share a few words about the grocery shopping experience in New Zealand. Let's just say that I miss Price Chopper. I'd even go so far as to say that I miss the ghetto Price Chopper in Grandview. Now, for those of you reading this who live in Kansas City and have been to the said grocery store, you will realize the maganitude of this comment. But it's true. I think the thing I miss most of all is the prices in America. I will never, never again complain about anything being expensive in America. I bought a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast yesterday and spent NZ $9 (about US $6.00). A far cry from the $1.49/lb chicken breast sale. Seriously, everything is at least double what it is in America. Second, I miss being able to go the store to buy the items you actually want. No Pepperidge Farm goldfish (much to Taylor's dismay; and hence, mine). No Cheerios. No Graham Crackers. No (decent) mint chocolate chip ice cream. I could go on and on. But before I get myself too depressed, and in all fairness to my readers, I must mention that there are a lot of products here in NZ that are a lot better than what you can get in America, namely cheese and yogurt. Absolutely incomparable to what you can find in the States. And finally, my last issue with the grocery store here is the shopping experience. The cheapest store here is called "Pack and Save" which is exactly what it sounds. They don't provide bags for your groceries...it all goes right back in the cart, and you either put everything in a box, or you buy the bags for .10 each. And the store itself looks more like a warehouse than a grocery store. And did I mention it's always crowded? My aim in going tonight is that maybe it will be a bit quieter....and perhaps I might be able to enjoy it just a little bit more if I'm not being run over in the aisles as I stop to read yet another label to find out what I'm really buying, and if it's remotely close to what I'm looking for. Oh, what I would give for a Wal-mart right now!

The Beginning of a Blog

I've decided that blogging would be a great way to share our journey here in New Zealand to keep everyone posted on the goings-on here.....so here goes. It's been pretty full-on since we've been here. We're getting settled into our new house (as much as we can without our container here) and are slowly getting into a routine, trying to figure out what "normal" life will look like. (note that the trees in the front yard are orange trees - pretty fun!)

The internship started this week, so that's pretty full-on, too....we have 15 young adults from NZ, the US, Aussie, and Canada who have come to pray with us. We've started by having them share their stories and a bit of how they got here, and it's been so encouraging for our hearts. At least half of them seriously considered going to Kansas City for a season, but felt the Lord wouldn't allow them; one came and did two tracks of fire in the night in KC, and most of the others had at least heard of Mike and listened to some of his teaching. It's stunning to us how the Lord has been speaking to so many different ones, telling them to come to New Zealand to pray, and we all end up in the same room together, all with a desire to sit in a prayer room and to encounter Jesus. It's so encouraging to us - the Lord is really building His house, and we get to come along for the ride. Sweet as. (as they say here in NZ.....)