Advocate...

It has been an interesting wake up in the last couple of days, where I came to the realisation that what I am doing is more of a focus on ministry than God, and that is a bad place to be. I also reflected and meditated, and realised that Christ was not as central as He should be in my life, and that I was trying to be the one in control.

I wanted to meditate more on the person of Christ, and less of 'things' happening around me, and found a list of names/ titles/ roles of Christ. The first one that really struck out to me was advocate. As you know, I am a sucker for justice, rights and therefore advocacy, but I honestly have never thought of Christ as my advocate.

In 1 John 2:1 it says "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One"

That is amazing - to think we have Christ advocating for us. If we sin, we have Christ defending us - wow! It has given me so much peace, and such a new found admiration of Christ, to know He is advocating for me, even when I am screwing up, and running around in circles....

Recessravel

Travel in the recession...

I have found that with the Euro and NZD not being very good friends anymore I am having to scale back my trip. My time in Europe/ Asia/ USA is set though, so I am looking at newer, more exciting ways to cut costs, but still have a super time. These are some ways so far:

- Couch surfing. I have been hosting people, and it is truely the greatest invention ever. Meeting people around the world, and staying places for free... my two favourite things in the world combined... Check it out at www.couchsurfing.org

- Vaughan Village (ok, so I was gonna do this anyway) - Speaking English with people in exchange for four star room and board in Spain... in other words, free food and accomodation for talking!

- Free things to do in ________ I am researching free things to do in major cities. So far I am part way through Paris, as I figured that would be my most expensive. The list so Far:


Seine River walk
Notre Dame
Le Musee De Parfum (AKA Fragonard museum)
Friday 3pm Fashion show at Galleries Lafayette department store
Visit a gardens
See sights at night when lit up
Friday nights at Louvre for students is free (I have an ID :) )
Pére-Lachaise Cemetery (like a million famous people, from Chopin to Van Morrison buried here)
Sacre-couer choir rehearsals Sunday one hour 9.45
Free walking tour (by you know who)
Hike with rando-panameurs monthly
Musee cognacq-Jay (old-school mansion muesuem)
Visit Victor Hugo's house
Visit the museum of Marie Curee

And it aint even finished!

my kitten

Kevin and I have a kitten.

He is a very vicious ginger male.

I like my kitten.

He has bitten my hand and it looks like I have a rash. The 'rash' is actually lots of kitten scratches.

Busyness

Well I have found myself once again very, very busy.

I am teaching, working with my brother and studying. And to top it all off, my course does quizzes on the readings - so I actually have to do them...

Anyway:

more +ves of Nelson:
pretty mountains
lots of missions stuff.

More -ves of Nelson:
People Drive REALLY slow, like there is an 80 k zone where heaps drive at 50.. a sort of "I'll have to slow down eventually anyway"...

I have changed my travel plans. I am now going via China for 3 weeks, then onto Europe... I'm still figuring what a SUPER budget traveller like me will do in China, but it sounds fun...

Nelson!!!

Well...

I now live in Nelson...

Things I don't like about Nelson:
*Food prices... A comparison... ave hamilton shop for four people for a week $3.20... Ave Nelson shop for four people for a week $3.2 million...(Auckland in the middle!)
*Prices of everything else... even the No. 1 shoe warehouse is more expensive
*Isolation... the nearest Borders is 5 hours drive away
*Lack of up to date travel books in the public library...
*Its too hot
*Kevin's dvd player is broken
*The travel agency is far, far away
*Hamilton is even further away!

Things I like about Nelson:
*My brother is here
*Free bags at Pak'N'Save
*Extreme natural beauty
*The movie theatre is really cute!!! Like old fashioned leather seats and stuff
*Because it is a popular backpacker/ traveller destination it is set up for them - therefore it has a cool 'feel'
*Near my favourite cafe in the entire world (Up The Garden Path in Motueka) is nearby
*Church looks like eastside so I can pretend I'm back in Hamilton
*My mates are obliged to visit me and go on roadtrips
*Not a huge selection of lollies at pak'n'save so I will spend less on lollies and have an amazing waistline
*Amazing swimming holes extremely close
*Nice beaches
*It's not auckland (:

Climate change DUN DUN DUN!!!

Wow - So, have been thinking about and reflecting on travel recently...

As a Christian I believe that we DO have a responsibility to look after the planet, and my 'carbon footprint' is huge, due to the amount of flying I do (and other lifestyle factors. Regardless of whether the global warming thing is as accurate as it is made out to be, or, like some people say, it is a natural phenomenon or hoax, I still believe that there s environmental damage done by the way we live our lives and it is our responsibility to look after the planet.

I have been thinking and researching about this a lot recently and these were the conclusions I drew...

1. I should be doing SOMETHING to offset the carbon that I create when flying, as well as my everyday life. I know that I cannot negate the damage done, but I still think that it is a way of minimalising the risks... I will investigate different environmental options and perhaps make a small but regular donation... I am not necessarily going to do it to a 'carbon offset' scheme as some of these have been proven to be hoaxes, but look at investing into renewable sources of energy etc...

2. Travel should still happen!!!!! Travel employs, directly or indirectly, one in 8 people worldwide - this is big business, and a lot of jobs. Travel boosts local economies. It is often the poorer nations that rely on tourism more to build their ecomonomy...

Anyway... have a nice day...

Happy pretend Christmas...

Hey all...

It is 'pretend Christmas' at my house today, where I am celebrating Christmas with my darling Daddy and Stepmum...

Merry 'pretend Christmas' to you all..

Also, I may be back in the wonderful land of Hamilton sooner than I anticipated... Glyndal is becomming legal :) (That is Glen and Lyndal's wedding).

Have a great day

Laura

My Update

Wow,

It has been a long time since I last posed - wow - Well... I have left Auckland, moved to the South Island, and will be moving in with my darling brother for the net 6 months in Nelson (I am curently in Christchurch)... If all goes according to plan I will have a super time relief teaching, attempting to study German (DIY) and hanging out in Kevin's Church...

In June (22nd...) I have a fantastic plane ticket booked... I will be flying to Asia for a few days, then flying into London, spending 4 weeks Eurailing around Europe (secific countries to come..), then working in Germany at an ESL camp, going on a short trip to ?!?!?!, then going to Spain to be part of Vaughan Village, then onto somewhere (I am hoping Morocco) for a couple of weeks, then on to California, then home to NZ....

Hooray... sounds fun to me..

Oh dear...

I dont have much in my fridge...

I discvovered my penchant for dairy today... i have milk, three different yoghurts and five different types of cheese....

Yes five!!! No onder I have odd dreams :) Mascerpone, blue, tasty, parmesian and feta...

And two lots of sundried tomatoes :)

Books

I have just finished reading Brakthrough, by Rudi lack (for the third time I think), and God's Smuggler, by Brother Andrew. Both of these books are SOOOO worthwhile... They make me want to pray and read my bible, and books that make me want to do that are top notch to me.

I went and visited my friends at a local missions agency today and got to swap my books. I had been reading the books "Help - My Haloes slipping", "Getting through customs", "It shouldn't happen to a Missionary" and "God that's not fair!"

I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, although I didn't finish "God that's not fair"

The new ones I got today were "Effective Evangelism", by J. Oswald Sanders - Another that encourages me to pray, "Fire within" by Wu Yung, "A Secret Hope" by Ria Zebua, "Let Justice Flow" by Margaret Kirk and "Once Bitten" by Anne J. Townsend.

I am very much looking forward to my reading of them.

A Video

A video on what was discussed below...

Kids Behind Bars

Today I foudn out abut something that shocked me. In the Philippines they inprison kids in the most horrific conditions, in adult jails. These children, some as young as nine or ten, are forced to share overcrowded cells wiht paedophiles. This can be for petty crimes such as stealing lollies or playing cards on street cards. One report I read estimated that 68000 kids are imprisoned in the Philippines.

My Birthday

It was my birthday on Saturday. I am 23. I am the owner of a Snorkel and Fraggle Rock season 3 and other cool stuff...

Only 2 years until I have a quarter life crisis... I wonder what I'll do

one week of school left for term 3 - yay -

Thinkings...

Recently, as always, I have been thinking, planning, dreaming, wondering, worrying, anticipating...considering my future.

I have plans, big plans, sensible plans, silly plans, dangerous plans, pland to make a difference in others, plans to make a idfference in me. These are MY plans.

This does not mean, however, that they are God's plans. At the end of the day, unless they match up with God's pland, then they are irrelevent.

This is something that has been challenging me. I like my plans. I feel safe with my plans. I fear that if I sacrifice my dreams and plans to God that I will lose happiness. I fear insignificance, a wasted life. I know that God gives us desires and I know that God has got plans. I know God wired me with my passions, my desires and my longings for a reason. I know God sets us apart. And I know that I am created "for such a time as this".

All of this knowing, however, does not make it any easier. I, once again, am at that place where I have to sacrifice. Its a hard word, its a hard action.

But I desire to be, first and foremost, a worshiper of Christ. I choose to surrender.

Getting healthy

I decided to start running today, and have returned to my old friend, the gym (after a 3 week 'break' where i only went once per week qand one week not at all!)

I feel so unfit.

I have an insane aim to get back to it with a vengeance, so will try to exercise daily this week

Insane..

I have had such an insanely crazy week... i have ahd a kajilion things at school to do, my parents visited and i am moving... Toda i have had 15 minutes break total between school teach8ing, double suty, meeting, driving and moving the last few things/ insane cleaning

laura

Phew!!!

I nearly hit a duck on the way home tonight, whist driving along the motorway, but it crossed in front of me just in time...

Water 2

It is interesting to look at water, and look at how it is being used and abused. I am learnign a lot from my new book:

It is expected that by 2025, because of Global warming, 2/3 of the World's population will not have ready access to clean drinking water. Currently there are a lot abuses happening around the world with the distribution of water, for example in poorer slum areas of Bangladesh people pay 250 times the price of municipal water...

Its not all bad news though. Many communities have banded together and are coming up with creative, innovative and sustainable ways to collect and preserve water, so that communities can survive. Examples include:

1. In some communities in South Africa children's merry-go-rounds have been installed. These are designed in such a way that children using them can play, and pump water form the ground at the same time, thus children's pla is providing water for the whole community.

2. In Kenya people are designing and using rooves to collect rain to provide water for communities.

3. In Chile mist nets have been set up, to catch mist, which is then condensed and rovides water for the communit.

4. In bangladesh women fold saris in such a way that they act as a filter for water. 99% of cholera germs can be filtered out this way.

I think that it is interesting how we look at things such as water, which are so pleantiful here in New Zealand...

Water...

I have recently been reading a book on Water, by Anita Roddick...


Some interesting facts about water

1. Nestle company produces 70% of the worlds bottled water

2. It is estimated that by the end of the decade 70% of Europe and North America's water will be privitized.; Privitisation of water generally leads to more expensive, lesser quality water.

3. People in third World countries often pay 50 X more for water than people in New York

4. Water is often used (illegally) as a 'weapon' of war, where water supplies are cut off or contaminated. This is a highly illegal practice, but many countries have been known to do this.

Really makes you think

Recent embarassing moments...

These are two of a vast selection of 'blonde moments' i have had recently...

Last week I made an aim to do only one blonde thing per week. By Monday night I had decided to try and only do one per day, as I had already used up two weeks... By Tuesday I had used up the week...

1.My computer hasn't been working for six months, so I finally got my friend Paul, a computer person, to try and fix it. It hadn't been turining on, so I have tried all sorts of re-wiring, but to no avail...

Paul was kind enough to ask if I had tried turining on the 'on' switch at the back. I hadn't. Amazingly enough my computer worked when I used the on switch... The wonders of modern technology..

2. I was in Borders and saw a book about why people should not have kids (I am kid mad and was wondering why anyone could be anti-kid!)... anyway I was halfway through reading and saw blood on the book... EEEW!!! I then realised that it was actually my own and I had cut myself on the book... I then had to confess to a Borders person, while being super embarassed... Thankfully she didn't make me buy the book, cause I wouldn't have been happy paying $40 for a book that was anti-kids...