Prodigals are Coming Home

Last night I attended the final evening of the "Bringing Home the Prodigals" tour at the Auckland Town Hall. It was outstanding. Wayne and the team at Focus on the Family have helped see nearly 2,000 New Zealand families touched this week - in Christchurch, Lower Hutt, Tauranga and Auckland. There would have been at least 700 people there last night petitioning on behalf of their prodigals! After being involved with planning a month back, I had the privilege of sitting in the crowd and hearing Rob Parsons share his simple yet incredibly impacting message...

1. We've made prodigals out of those who weren't prodigals due to our church culture and a lack of our heavenly Father's perspective.
2. Adam and Eve had the perfect Father and the perfect environment, yet they turned from their Father. We can't carry false guilt at not being the perfect parent or child. Even if we were able to do life over again we'd still make mistakes.
3. "When the Father's house is full of the Father's love the prodigals will come home!"
4. Pray that when the prodigals come home they'll meet the Father first and not the "older brother" (see Luke 15).
5. Lean on God in prayer for your prodigals. Don't ever give up. "Leave a light on."

The evening culminated with the opportunity to place cards with the names of our prodigals at the foot of a cross erected on the stage. I wasn't the only one shedding tears as I wrote down loved ones' names. The prayer cards will be taken on the next leg of the world-wide tour in Australia. Over 50,000 people have attended this event so far and Rob Parsons hasn't finished sharing his passion yet. Prodigals are coming home xx

Dreams Come True

Dreams really come true! Last weekend Wayne and I went cycling round the waterfront... I've been longing to do that since I moved back to NZ from Japan! It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon and Mission Bay was buzzing with people out for some fresh air and sunshine. The freedom I found riding most places in Japan was just the same x I hope that we get back on our bikes again soon. Wayne's hoping to take me riding in Woodhill Forest and the Redwood Forest down in Rotorua. Can't wait!

Marriage Weekend

Wayne and I recently attended a fantastic Marriage Weekend at Totara Springs Christian Camp. We went as Focus on the Family reps because the guest speakers - Roc and Bev Bottomly - were from the Focus Institue in Colorado Springs. Some of the topics covered were: Marriage Purposes (to become 1. happy 2. helpful 3. holy), Gender Differences, Past Damage, and Overcoming Overload. We were certainly challenged and hope to share some of what we learnt with others.

Two books were highly recommended: "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas, and "Love and Respect" by Dr Emerson Eggerichs. These can be ordered from the Focus on the Family website.

On the way home we stopped at the Opal Hot Springs for a leisurely soak :)

Fleury's Birthday

Last weekend family and friends gathered to celebrate my little sis' 26th birthday. I helped Mum put together a delicious meal with beef from Paddy's farm for our main. Wayne's parents were in town so they joined us for a great evening loving Fleury xx

Hot Spring Expeditions

Wayne and I have started visiting some more off-beat Hot Springs :) Last week we had a lovely 30 minute plunge at the Athenree Hot Springs on our way back from Tauranga to Auckland. There are two natural mineral pools within the Holiday Park complex. The larger pool is 35°C and the smaller adult relaxing pool is 39.5°C.

We also discovered the charming and scrumptious Flip'n Bear Cafe on the main highway (State Highway 2) at Athenree Gorge. We'll be sure to stop there again for some good coffee and a taste sensation.

Then on Saturday night Wayne and I drove south for an hour to the Miranda Hot Springs, an oasis located just off State Highway 2. The largest pool is 47m by 17m and is believed to be the largest hot water mineral pool in the southern hemisphere! It is maintained between 36°C and 38°C while the adult-only sauna pool sits at around 40°C-41°C. We recommend the pool-side egg burgers :)

Catching Up

On Saturday Megumi, a lovely friend from Kobe, and I had great fun catching up as we visited Mt Eden, had a coffee at Circus Circus (a favourite cafe of mine in Mt Eden), went up Bastion Point, had delicious seafood chowder in Mission Bay, did some shopping at the downtown supermarket, and had some sticky date pudding and hokey pokey ice cream at our place. I'm already looking forward to when Megumi brings a different group of intermediate students to Auckland next year :)