2 weaks left

Well.

I am amazed and delighted that we are now so close to beginging this next stage of life.

The house sale looks like it is going ahead, the contract is clean and has been confirmed by both parties. The inspections are all passed etc. We are just waiting on the confirmation of mortgage finance.

We have a place to live in Christchurch - kindly provided by a colleague from work. With rental properties so tight its a real blessing to be able to know 2-3 months out that we have a place already arranged. We can't move in for a while after we get to New Zealand but we wont have furniture for 2 months anyway!

We even have bridging accommodation arranged thanks to the Watsons!

When we made the decision to return to Christchurch we felt very tentative about it. Since then many things have worked out to help make us feel we are being responsive to the Lords direction, rather than just directing our own course.

Some more updates. Judy is still feeling well, although the hot weather slows her down a little. To put that in perspective the hot weather slows me down a LOT. We have shifted attention from preparing the house for sale to getting ready for the move. We have a good supply of boxes and wrapping material from 14 years ago. Some of you will have received emails from me 14 years ago mocking Judy for saving the boxes, the cardboard padding, and even ironing the packing paper flat! I guess I still think that was pretty funny, but as in nearly everything, I now am the beneficiary of her foresight.

We have maybe 50% of the house packed. I suspect that as we delve deeper into the various corners of the house that I might need to revise that percentage downwards. Fortunately I do have a new stress management tool available.





 There is a little more mud on it now :-)

Judy has also had some delightful stress management in the form of her piano pupils. Indeed they  have been a great source of pleasure over the years. Lessons have finished now and we pray that each of you find a new teacher to develop your undoubted skills.
A bunch of her piano families unbeknown to her, arrived after one of the children's last lessons this past week.  They presented her with a photo album with several snaps of past recitals and other piano related photos, and some gift cards. Cards from the children were delightful including the spelling errors.  

We are sure that none of these pupils are thinking "No more lessons this summer"!

As we count down the days before we head out to LA, we also have been reflecting on 14 years of life in the USA. It was good.

Some of it was very good. Bill and Hazel taught us so much in the short time we had with them. The congregation of Newtown OPC also extended our understanding of being in the body. Many friends we have made over these short years have made an indelible mark on our lives. America is a beautiful and blessed country. Don't credit all the bad press it gets (both internally and externally).

This brings me to the subject of sadness. Initially I was going to write that we are sad to be leaving but have no regrets. That seemed to be the right thing to say. Thinking about it a little, I can't say that at all. The opposite is true -  I'm not sad to be doing what I think is God's plan for me and my family. I have a hundred and seventy four regrets though.

speaking of numbers - how do you make Seven even?

Remove the "S".

One more! There are 10 sorts of people, those who understand binary and those who don't.

We attended Eliot's graduation ceremony in an enormous theatre and because our assigned seats were at the top almost in the back row we could have taken a picture of any student (800 graduated) receiving their degree (actually, the folder itself is empty - they receive the certificate in the mail later) and said it was Eliot.  Except, he had decided to wear flip flops, which helped us identify him, only barely though.  Thus, Judy took new photos at home of him with his graduation paraphernalia.

The weeks ahead look like this:

June 17th we drive west (via Canada, another very special place!), We hope to see some of the sights as we drive to the airport in Los Angeles, leaving the USA on July 3rd. Eliot will be coming with us to the airport so we are looking forward to unbounded strangeness.

Once we get to NZ - I don't really know. Our container arrives in NZ on August 19th and will take some time to clear customs I think so we will be living out of our suitcases for a long time!