A Day to Remember

We took a day to rest and the next day we attended a memorial for the victims of the February 22 earthquake. It was held at Hageley Park. There were about 10,000 people there. They honored the people who died and encouraged those who survived to rebuild and honor Christchurch. Prince William was even there representing the Queen. It was about two 1/2 hours long. It was nice to get a feel for where the city was at and where they wanted to go.Memorial ServiceThe boys be so patient doing the serviceA building nearbyA car on the walk home that had been crushed by a chimney

Adventure Begins

The adventure to New Zealand has begun. We said our good-byes with lots of tears and left Tucson on March 14. Papa and Gigi drove us to LA with all the luggage that we could pack in the car and on top of the car. We squeezed our bodies in and drove the eight hours. We got to our hotel and tried to get some sleep. The next morning we went to the beach with Papa and Gigi to make some memories. As we got to the beach we realized that Landon had a fever....not good...our plane was leaving in less then 12 hours. We took his temp (which was 102 degrees) and started praying. God answered our prayers and 3 hours later his temp was gone without one dose of medicine. We said our last good-bye to Papa and Gigi and organized ourselves to get to the airport. At about 6:00 pm we loaded on the hotel shuttle and headed to the airport.

I (Erin) was dreading this part. I had images of long airport lines and long walks with crying children. To my delight there were no lines and only a 5 minute walk to our terminal. Having 3 kids we had plan on lots of time to get through the security and checked in and we ended up ready to go with 2 hours to spare. We were able to relax and at 10:00 pm loaded on the plane and took off.

The flight was 12 1/2 hours to Auckland, New Zealand. The kids were amazing...and I mean amazing. They slept for 10 hours of the flight! It was a good thing too, because their mom hates to fly and was nervous enough as it was. On our flight we were blessed from God with a concierge named Maggie. She notice that we had three kids, could not sit all together (because there were not 5 seats in a row) and that mommy was stressed. She helped with the kids, chatted about New Zealand, and got tea for Erin!

We landed and Maggie was there by our side once again. She met us at baggage claim and helped us get all of our luggage. She got us through customs, helped recheck our bags and walked us to our new terminal. I am really not sure how we would of done it without Maggie. Thank you Father for putting Maggie in our life!

We then loaded one more plane for a short hour and 20 minute flight to Christchurch. We arrived on March 17 at 10:20 am. When we landed we were greeted by Lynton and Peter both Navigators from Christchurch. And so the journey begins!Car packed and ready to go!Tight fitLuggage is all ready to go.Yes that is all of our luggageOnly the shuttleMy little troopersMaggie....such a blessingLast plane ride and view of New Zealand

His Ways

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9

As we have shared with most of you our travel plans have been delayed due to the earthquake in Christchurch. As we look back on this journey we have taken with God, this verse comes to mind! His ways are not always our ways. We were ready to go, but God was not ready for us to go yet. His timing is always perfect. Remember a little over a month ago when our visas were lost in the mail. We did not understand why that would happen or why God would allow that to happen, but His ways are not our ways. Had our visas not been lost it would have been very likely that we would have already been in Christchurch for our first week maybe even in the city checking out the sites (which is where most of the damage and deaths were). God’s ways are so much better. He protected our family!
So what now....? We still feel the calling to go to Christchurch. We are currently trying to secure a rental house since there is a shortage and as soon as we find one we will reschedule our flight. We have been working with people in Christchurch and have been on the hunt and applying for homes. We would like to get there as soon as possible and help the students as they return to school and work through the many losses they are experiencing!