Invictus...

I went to see the movie Invictus with some friends from church recently. Good movie for those of you who haven't seen it. It's a bit of a sore spot for many Kiwi's due to the fact the Springboks defeat the All-Blacks in the final (possibly with some food poisoning involved), but a great story about the struggles in South Africa after apartheid ended.

I just wanted to share the poem the movie is named after. Nelson Mandela had a copy of this poem by William Henley in his cell while inprisoned for almost 30 years. It definitely has a humanist side to it, but there is a Christian side as well. I take the third stanza to be the hope we have in Christ, that we have nothing to fear in this world or the world after. The last verse as well. Not that we can make our own way to heaven, but that we are responsible for making the choice to walk that road or not. Or perhaps the whole thing could be taken as Christ's viewpoint while on earth. What do you think?

Invictus ("Unconquered")

Out of the night that covers me

Black as the pit from pole to pole

I thank whatever gods may be

for my unconquerable soul

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced or cried outloud

under the bludgeonings of chance,

my head is bloody, but unbowed

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

looms but the horror of the Shade

and yet the menace of the years,

finds, and shall find, me unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate,

how charged with punishments the scroll

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

Oops...

Well, so much for keeping this updated regularly. I told myself that when I got back from the States, I would try to put something up everyday. Two months later, and this is my first post. I guess maybe I'm not really the blogging type, I could never keep a journal very well either.



It has been an interesting couple of months. I feel at times like I'm spinning my wheels frantically, trying to stay busy, but not going anywhere. I've been here for almost a 15 months, and to be honest, am not sure what I have accomplished in that time. And yet at other times, I feel that I'm making a great difference in peoples lives. When one of the teens asks a good question or I can see that a connection has been made, I realise maybe that never would have happened. I don't think is because I'm doing anything spectacular, I just happen to be the right person at the right place.



There has been alot of time spent in reflection lately as well. I'll be leaving in 10 months, but to what? Likely back to university for prosthetics certification, but that's only if I get accepted. Maybe into the engineering field, but with the current job market (here and in the US), how smooth will that be?



*Disclaimer: To anyone reading this, I don't want you to think that I'm depressed about the work here or burned out. I'm just musing about what has been on my mind lately.

Hello Wisconsin!!

After a week in Oklahoma, I headed north to St. Louis for a night to see my grandma and some other relatives. Finally got to my parents house in Coon Valley on Friday evening. I was really worried that I was gonna be freezing when I got this far up, but the weather has been unseasonably warm, barely getting below freezing at night, and up to the 50's during the day.

Deer season opened Saturday morning. I missed it last year, it was nice to get back to. This fella wandered by at 8:15, so I decided he would taste pretty good. The antlers are just a nice bonus, right?

It's somewhat strange to be back "home". It kinda still feels like I belong here, but so much has changed that I'm like an outsider. Peoples lives have moved on (mine has too), and it's just different. I guess that's just part of life. God is taking care of us all, no matter where we are.

"There are no foreign lands. It is only the traveler who is foreign." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

I'm back....kinda

I made it in to OKC on Friday night, a mere 36 hours after leaving Tauranga. It's been a wonderful visit so far. Catching up with old friends and teachers that I haven't seen in over a year has been great. Oklahoma weather, not so great. Cloudy, windy and scattered drizzle for tomorrow. I'm looking forward to and dreading speaking at outreach tomorrow evening. Hopefully they have lots of questions, and I won't have to talk that much and can just answer.

Oh, and taco bell and arbys are just as good as I remember

whew!

I made it. The pac-rimmers left early this morning for rotorua. This week has been fun, but really tiring. We took them up the mount and around to all the historic sites in Tauranga on Monday. For a bushwalk, visiting a resthome, and a glowworm cave on Tuesday. Into three different primary schools, on a tour of a working kiwifruit orchard, potluck, and Wednesday night church. I'm pretty pooped, but 30 hours of plane travel should fix that, right?

Pac-Rim...

The OC Pac-Rim study abroad group arrived today. 20 students and 2 faculty, and 4 days in Tauranga. Pray for good weather, most of the things we've got planned are outdoors. This week is gonna be CRAZY!!!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” ~Matthew 6:35

Guy Fawkes...

So yesterday was Guy Fawkes night. It's the closest thing to the 4th of July they have over here, although it's a completely different reason for celebrating. For a bit more info, go here.