Two Years Ago Today

Today is Waitangi Day and the two-year anniversary of the day we moved to Wellington! I can't believe we've been here two years - if you want to read about our first days in Karori click here, or just look at the archives on the right for February 2008. The biggest difference I noticed as I reminisced was how much the girls have grown!

Someone told me that it takes two years for a place to really feel like home and I completely agree. We all now feel settled in our life here and are quite content - but it took some time to get to this place! I think I've said this before but I think it's a great privilege to live in different places and I love the people God has put in our lives, the things we have learned, the experiences we have had - but it also is bittersweet in that there will always be something we long for in the place that we aren't in at the moment.

In many ways our lives remain the same as they were in Texas - we still homeschool the girls, we keep busy with lots of extra-curricular activities, we love our time with friends. But in many ways our lives are different - we only have one car (and that's all we ever need), we walk a lot more from place to place, we seem to spend more time with friends on trips and things (I think that is a result of the children being older), we don't see Dugald as much because his job has been more demanding, we've learned to live on less as the cost of living has surprised us, we've learned to live with less control of the indoor temperature of our home, we are learning about the Kiwi can-do spirit - it surprises me in so many ways, things I would have bought or hired help for or whatever I'm surprised to find my friends saying we can do on our own.

The differences in living in a smaller country versus a bigger country are huge too - and like everything both good and bad. I love how resourceful people here are in general, how it is a natural part of life to recycle, reuse, fix rather than replace. I love how the shops close at 6 pm every day (except the grocery store, it closes at 10pm) and are only open until 4 pm on Sunday. At first that drove me absolutely crazy but now I value how it makes sure people spend more time with their family and friends. I am even getting over the price of going out to eat - at first it killed me because there are so many great places to eat here but they seemed so pricey - but it has forced me to cook more and us to eat at home more and have friends over to our home and that is a good thing.

We came here because we thought that was how God was directing our family and we had our own understanding of what He might want us here for - to spend time with Dugald's side of the family, to get to know his culture, etc. We have done that, but I think God had much bigger reasons for bringing us here and even though it has been difficult at times I am grateful and I feel like He has grown me up a little bit in my understanding of Him and in my ability to trust that He has the very best plans for me - not the happiest, easiest or most comfortable - but the best and that He is faithful in all things.

We welcome visitors to our humble abode and would love to show you our great town so come visit us - it's worth the effort and the long plane ride!