Life Down Under

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!