Our official family holiday [vacation] is over.  In fact, it seemed to be over before it was actually over.  We have to backtrack first before that statement can be explained.

This was our first "family" holiday.  Granted, we have done much travel due to ministry requirements.  But, since having children, we had never gone away, as a family, specifically for a vacation, without taking along visiting extended family members, or going to meet extended family at their place, or another agreed upon location. 

We were remiss not to take a photo of the loaded van, complete with dog panting in the back.  We had to laugh before we even left our own driveway. In our early days of marriage we vowed never to purchase a mini-van, due to the well-known stereotype: missionary = mini-van.  Scott also vowed never to have a dog.  Oh, the things we say in our moments of pride.

Our holiday destination was determined, in part, by Daniel.  In October he again filled his marble jar.  Marbles are awarded for character commendations, and a full jar earns the jar owner an opportunity to pick a family activity.  Daniel asked for us to all spend a night in a caravan [camper]. (Remiss, again, with the camera, we forgot to take pictures of the caravan).  Daniel also suggested that we would not need to bring any food, since we could find all the food we need in the jungle.  Except, we needed to bring marshmallows for roasting.  We still haven't figured out where he gained these gems of knowledge.

For weather consideratons, we decided to wait until now to combine Daniel's reward with several other things various ones of us wanted to do: visit some friends in Kati Kati, take the kids to climb Mt. Maunganui, take the dog to the beach, and meet another missionary pastor in that same area of New Zealand.  We managed to do it all, but not without difficulty.  Hence, here is where the original statement begins to apply -- it seemed to be over before it was actually over.  A few significant events threatened to "ruin" our holiday.

On the second day of our holiday, Heidi exhibited flu-like symptoms, all day.  Suffice it to say, they weren't nice, at all, and quite extreme.  Staying in the caravan was out of the question for her, so she played a bit at the beach with Daniel, and then slept on the sand in her misery.  The next day she had to settle for browsing the town shops with Mummy while Daniel got to enjoy a planned water activity with Daddy.  By the end of the third day, Heidi was feeling much better.  But, late that evening and all the next day, Scott exhibited the same violent symptoms.  Demonstrating the same spirit which we had just seen in our daughter, Scott was not to be laid flat for long.  He managed to muster the strength to give a first-time go at piloting on the blokart track.

We did manage to visit the missionary pastor, and, in the time between Heidi's recovery from being sick and Scott coming down with it, we were able to attend the Wednesday mid-week service.  But even this event caused us difficulty.  On our way to church and heading out of the campground, our van picked up a large rock which, we later learned, lodged itself between the engine and the suspension system.  It caused the van to significantly tremble, or shutter, at odd times when we were driving.  We spent a portion of the next day visiting the Midas shop, trying to sort out this unplanned used of our holiday time and funds!  The best part of that whole problem was that Heidi decided to just sit in the van and read while we were waiting around.  She had an unexpected ride when the van was hoisted up the lift so the mechanic could look underneath.  Daniel was sorry he had decided to get out of the van and play ball.

To top off our misadventures, there were road works on the way home.  That wasn't a problem, but the posted sign was.  It said "Wet cement, wash vehicle today."  We were coming home in time to attend our own Thursday evening mid-week service.  Scott was already planning to stay home in his sickness misery, and I didn't care to try and squeeze in washing the van.  So, we stopped at an automatic car wash.  And the car wash knocked off the back window mirror (for reversing).  And then the car wash ran over the mirror and we could hear it crunch.  And then it ran over it again and we winced again.  And it ran over it one or two more times and each time we winced harder.  And Scott made some snide comment about it being a very expensive car wash.  We've been in a car wash two or three other times with this van.  Why this damage on this day?

We thought about all of these events which were graciously provided by our sovereign God.  We enjoyed our time together.  We enjoyed pretending we didn't have any responsibilities.  But God gave us many opportunities to be reminded that our happiness doesn't come from a holiday.  It doesn't come from good health.  It doesn't come from a problem-free automobile.  We, and our children, were blessed to remember that our source of joy is God Himself and His unchanging attributes.  And we can enJOY those attributes even in the midst of our overwhelming responsibilities, challenges, and disappointments, at any time and anywhere.

More photos are posted in the album 2008 Family Holiday.

The first of August will mark exactly two years since our personal belongings were removed from a lengthy storage in a Napier warehouse.  When our things were deposited there, we had no idea so much time would pass before we saw them again.  It wasn't too hard to leave them.  We had been well taught. 

In the late 1980s a missionary wife wrote a prayer letter that told about losing most of their family possessions due to an island hurricane.  That letter was read aloud during the mid-week prayer service in the church Lori attended.  The missionary wife wrote that her response to the damage was, "Lord, we just lost a lot of your stuff."  Bobby Finch, the staff member reading the letters that night, took time to pause and point out this godly attitude toward personal possessions.  Lori has never forgotten the thoughts shared that night during her high school years.

We did have some reservation leaving equipment in a warehouse without any form of climate control.  We had heard horror stories of other missionaries leaving things in storage, only to return and find there had been a water leak, much mould growth, items stolen, etc.  Each time we were tempted to worry about such consequences, we stopped and prayed that God would protect the items he wanted us to continue using in service for Him.

Twenty-eight months later, we were overjoyed to welcome the truck that delivered our family heirlooms, toys Heidi had missed, ministry equipment, library, piano, and all the other things that make up a functioning household.  To our utter astonishment, not one item was damaged due to the lack of climate control.  Everything was in top notch order, as if we had packed up two weeks earlier.  Apparently, God was happy for us to continue using everything!

On this anniversary, as we have again rejoiced in these events, it is fitting that we recently came across the following quote from David Livingstone.  It is our prayer that we will always remember that everything we have is on loan from God for the purpose of serving Him.

"I will place no value on anything I possess save in its relation to the kingdom of Christ. If anything will advance the kingdom of God, it shall be given away or kept only as by the giving of it or the keeping of it, I shall promote the glory of Him to Whom I owe all my hopes in time and eternity."     David Livingstone

The 27th of May was a significant day.  It passed without much ado beyond our normal routine, but in an office building somewhere in Hamilton a clerk put stickers in our passports.  These weren't just any stickers.  We have waited 13 years for these stickers. 

When we were married in June 1995, we began our endeavour to obtain New Zealand permanent residence visas.  Our Christian university degrees weren't recognized by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and we began a long search to find another source of the needed "points" to qualify for the system.  In April 2003, through the wisdom of a friendly lawyer, by the grace of God, and an obvious case of "God turning the heart of Pharoah" a short-term law reprieve saw us slide in with the proper points due to the fact that our daughter, Heidi, was born in New Zealand during a very specific window of time.

However, our permanent visas weren't really permanent.  We were restricted to remain in New Zealand.  If we left New Zealand, we would lose our permanent visas if we didn't return within two years.  Several trips back to the States reset this clock on more than one occasion.

We have now lived in New Zealand, with our permanent visas, long enough to demonstrate our commitment to the country.  The stickers on 27 May award us the freedom to come and go from New Zealand with no time restrictions.  New Zealand is home for us, and we would be happy to die here, if God so wills it.  However, we are pleased that the New Zealand government has given us the passport freedom to obey God's travel directions.