NEW BLOG

I have created a new blog, since I can't figure out the "issues" I have with this one. See ya on www.ibetts.blogspot.com

Our hero is back!

Jeremie is back from Maadi Cup 2007! Although we're all proud of him (their team came 16th), Kylie is absolutely enraptured with her hero - her big brother! She insisted that he sit next to her for lunch and then she kept looking at him with the most incredible expressions on her face - pure admiration and melting away in his presence... The rest of us had to pull ourselves together really hard not to blurt out laughing. It is too cute and a precious memory without a photo! She kept telling him with her most "cooing" voice: "I like you! I like you sooooo much!!!", all the while turning her eyes as to melt any heart. Those are the moments you just want to hold on - but can't. In a few days she'll be back to telling him how annoying he is... :)

Favorite sayings of our 3-year-old

"I'll do it!" (getting independent and making sure everybody knows that) "What about me?" (making sure she's not forgotten in the busy family) "Just do it!" (When she wants us to do something that we are hesitant about or not wanting to do)

B-Final Tomorrow

Jeremie's rowing team of 4 has qualified for the B-final, which will be happening tomorrow at 1:05p.m. and will be broadcast live on Sky-TV! Since we don't have Sky, we'll load up the car again - Nathalie will come again, too, and of course, Kylie, and we'll head to Lake Karapiro one last time for Jeremie's LAST rowing event - at least for this season!!! He said he didn't want to do rowing again in the next season - we'll see what he'll say after a few weeks of having a life again :) Anyway, we're really proud of him making it into the B-final! Even if they were to come last, they would be 16th out of all the schools in New Zealand!

This is no scaredy-cat

Kylie has just spent the better part of the last 1/2 hour outside in the back-yard - by herself - in the pitchdark (no, it's not bed-time yet, since she took a nap in the car)- in rainy-stormy weather-conditions. She was recently given a very nice rain-coat; with that and her gum-boots, she was well equipped for facing the elements - and giving our dog some attention/affection. I'm amazed at how fearless she is - darkness? rain? storm? alone? - no worries for Kylie. She had a great time! The downside of this is that she tends to take off by herself when we're in public places, and I have to chase her down. I'm working on training her to always stay close to me - at least when we're in public.

New Zealand Flax

I've just come from a visit to Leilani's school "Art Camp". She got to learn quite a few cool, new artsy-type things - New Zealand schools are really good when it comes to that! (far better than maths and spelling...) They learned how to weave the very typical "New Zealand Flax". And taught me, too! I love learning new cultural crafts - what fun! Here is a photo from my first tries. When the flax dries, it becomes brownish and makes a nice decoration. Looking forward to that!

Help anyone?

I'm sorry that my entries don't have any paragraphs any more, which makes them difficult to read. Anybody out there that can help me fix this problem? I can't figure it out...

AON Maadi Cup

The long-awaited, much prepared for national school rowing championship has started! Today, at 7:30am, Jeremie was on one of the first races, competing with rowers from more than 100 schools in New Zealand. The girls and I got up real early. Leilani was brought to friends who could later take her to school (she'll be on an Art Camp all week), Kylie was taken straight from her bed to the carseat, and off we went - at 6:00am. Nathalie took off school for the day, since she really wanted to see Jeremie race - at least once! I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the races! Rowing is a pretty graceful sport - although VERY competitive! Jeremie's teams did fine, although I'm not sure they're gonna win a gold medal, but that's fine with me :)! Here are some photos of the day. The first one was taken right after the start of the 2km race (couldn't take photos at the end, because it was too far). The second and third were after a race during debrief. You can see Jeremie with his 3 team-mates, his coach and their coxen, a light girl directing the boat, since they are rowing backwards. They are completely wiped out after every race, breathing heavily, even five minutes after the end. We brought Jeremie his favorite food in between races: some left-over Tahitian "Poisson Cru" (raw fish salad). Fish is on sale at the moment, and so I made some yesterday (very rare occurence) Anything to cheer the boy up :) I'll be back there on Wednesday for the next race and we'll see if he makes it into any finals later on in the week.

Some photos of our new home, the view and Kylie at our picnic yesterday The water you can see from our house is the view on the Bay (we live in the "Bay of Plenty"). There is a 30m steep bank from our property down to the water - hence the fence :)

Happiest Person on Earth

My life is far from perfect in every respect - and yet - today, I felt like I was the happiest person on planet earth. For the first time in a couple of weeks, I took a break from running around, unpacking, shopping and cleaning. I took the time to take Kylie and Toffee for a walk. WOW! I am SOOOO blessed!!! It was a BEAUTIFUL day. The park that is close to our house borders on the water and I was just blown away by the beauty of God's creation - once again! The stillness of the water, the quietness of the park, interrupted only by singing birds. Toffee (our dog) running around happy as can be and chasing sea gulls in the water, Kylie enjoying herself thoroughly. She asked me to go back home and get a picnic to eat at the park, which we did. It was so much fun! I was pondering just how blessed I am: Besides having God in my life and a wonderful husband (though absent at the moment), how many women have the privilege of staying home with their small children? I couldn't bear the thought of dropping Kylie off at some daycare every day. I love taking care of her and walking with her on the journey of discovery of LIFE! I get to teach her German and French, which she will need in her future life. She's my little disciple, along with the 3 other precious treasures the Lord has entrusted into my/our care. I may not have many earthly goods but I couldn't be happier if I did! My needs are met - and more. Our new house is feeling more like home every day. The view is just stunning! What a blessing!!! Nature itself ministers to my soul - so much! I see and feel God all through it! THANK YOU, GOD!!!

Around dinner time

We've had some interesting "conversations" before and around dinner the last few nights: 1. Found out that Kylie will maybe? become a vegetarian... It hit her for the first time that a precious chicken actually had to die so that we could eat some of it for dinner. Being the animal-loving and very deep-feeling person she is, this dinner prep ended up being quite a scene - with intense, heart-broken, traumatised-type of sobbing for at least 10 minutes! First when the chicken was cut up and then a whole new wave of grief and shock hit her when it was tossed into the frying pan. To our amusement, though, when the chicken pieces were served with lots of vegetables, guess what she picked out first to eat? The chicken - somehow she didn't get the connection... hmmm 2. Conversation between Nathalie and Jeremie: Nathalie: "So, are you gonna become a missionary, Jeremie?" Jeremie: "Don't know. Don't think so. Nathalie: "Why not? Jeremie: "I just prefer a more settled life and not moving around so much." Nathalie: "When I was your age I didn't want to become a missionary either. I wanted to live in America and make lots of money. But that's changed now." Jeremie: "Hmmmm." 3. Tonight's conversation started with the remark (by Nathalie) that we've all put on weight since we came to New Zealand (arrgh - she's right, too!). She remembered how she used to be so very skinny in Tahiti - probably because there just wasn't that much food available in our house(there was always enough). She realized how she doesn't like the materialsm in the Western World and that she was happy in Tahiti, not having very much and that she wants to raise her kids in a non-western/not-so-materialistic country. I threw in that I had felt that way too before I had kids and really did prefer raising them in a less wealthy context. I'd just been thinking today about how blessed we are in New Zealand. I can go to the library with Kylie and pick out 20 books, CDs and DVDs, all for free and keep them for 6 weeks! In Tahiti a trip to the library was a special treat because it was a 1-hour drive from our house. The kids were allowed to choose only 3 books, that's it. And they could keep them for max. 2 weeks. I find myself thinking about the orphans in Africa very often, and how I could bless them when the Lord releases me to go there for a visit. When I learn new recipes at Playcentre for fun things like playdough, goop and bubble liquid etc. I think of how much those things would bless the orphans. But how they would probably rather use the money spent on those things just for food... for survival. Interesting food for thought these days - - - Rich left for Fiji yesterday early morning. He'll be gone for 2 weeks and we'll miss him!

White House on a Hill

We almost made it through our first week at the new house! OOUFF!!! It was/is VERY strenous - both physically and emotionally this time - - - especially knowing that there is no guarantee that we will be able to live here for a long time. Is it that I'm getting older (had my birthday this week, too) or the strain of moving is accumulating and really getting to me...??? Don't know. Maybe both... When we were praying about our housing situation with our children a while ago, Nathalie "saw" a white house on a hill. This is exactly where we've now ended up.(photos to follow when I can find the cord from the camera to the computer) Anybody know what I'm talking about? - not finding things half the time? I can't wait to get organized and finally have a place for everything and everything in its place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're gonna get there, little by little. One thing about moving is that in every new house you need things you don't have and you have things you don't need anymore/can't fit... So I've been doing a bit of shopping this week in pursuit of some colour coordination and organization. We have been blessed in amazing ways - let me tell you: Before our move, we had been trying to find a double bed for Leilani and Kylie. They had been sleeping on bunk beds but Leilani really doesn't like sleeping on top and Kylie can't cuz it would be too dangerous. Since Leilani doesn't mind sleeping in the same bed with Kylie, we were on the look-out for a double-bed for the two of them. I really wanted to have this bed on the day we moved in, in order to avoid having to assemble the bunk beds just to take them down again later. In the morning of our move, when Rich went to our former landlords to pick up our stuff from their garage (where they had kindly agreed to store it for the last 3 months), they came out and asked if we couldn't use a double-bed. They had one they didn't want anymore and wanted to give it to us for free! Now isn't that amazing?! I was so blessed!!! And it's good quality too! The week before the move I had been looking around in every possible store in Tauranga for a new sheet/duvet cover set for Rich's and my bedroom, since the colours we had clashed with the colours of the new bedroom. I didn't find anything I liked that was affordable at the same time. Well - this week, a couple of the stores decided to put their bedding stuff on sale - like 40-50% - and I found what I liked AND could afford. I was so blessed! I had mentioned about Rich picking up a new/used dining table set. That's another story - we had felt that it was time to upgrade to a table that could seat more than just our family - since we love having guests. There again we'd looked around all over and the auction we ended up winning was a fantastic deal - beautiful and exceptional price! Yes, we are blessed - there is more I could say, but it'll have to wait for another time - I'm tiiiireed.

Coming up silence

Now that you've had a good dose of posts - and even photos! - you probably won't hear from me for a few days - until internet gets set up in our new home.

Rambling

Since I didn't have anything better to do on a Friday night - - - after all, we're just moving again tomorrow - - - I put together some family photos from the past year. Enjoy! Jeremie just got back from a day of rowing championships - getting up before 4am (he's wasted and in bed), Nathalie is babysitting for friends, Rich and Leilani went for a 4 hour drive (round-trip) to pick up a used dining table and 8 chairs. We bought it last night on trademe, the New Zealand version of ebay. And Kylie's sleeping- yeah! I better get to bed, too. Got to get up with Jeremie at 4:45am tomorrow for another day of rowing and a few other fun activities (for me)... :)

Random Reflections As we come to the end of our 4-month journey into our new home, I am reflecting on what I've experienced and learned: * THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY (and no need to panic - ever!) - I learned this from Darlene Cunningham during our "Leadership Training School" in Tonga under very challenging circumstances * Life is really enjoyable if you concentrate on the positive sides of ANY circumstance! * There is ALWAYS something positive you can find - no matter what else goes wrong * It is possible to enjoy the journey and not just the destination! * Attitude makes all the difference! * It's okay not to understand God - he's God after all * It's okay not to be able to answer all the questions * If Mom is happy, the kids are, too! * My back isn't made for living in the car * How to buy a house in New Zealand (at least theoretically) * It is possible to pull off a nice family-Christmas with guests in less than a week. * Never leave your wallet in the glove compartment of your locked car when you go fishing (actually Rich's lesson) * ALWAYS back up the information on your computer * I could be happy living anywhere - in the middle of the city, the country, suburbia, surrounded by houses * I really enjoy close neighbours and building relationships with them * It's not bad living in a small house - there's less house-work to be done! * Changing your phone numbers (and memorizing them) on a regular basis is good brain training and keeps ya young :)

Staying at home today Yeah! I get to stay home most of today and I am so excited! Since we moved into our 2nd temporary housing (almost 6 weeks ago), life has been such that I have hardly spent any time at the house, except early morning and nights. And for this home-buddy, this has been a challenge. Right now I should be driving Jeremie to his rowing practice (getting up at 5:00am just about every day), but he's come down with a cold and I sent him back to bed. He's got the two main rowing competitions www.schoolrowing.org.nz of the year coming up. The first one starts the day after tomorrow - the next one in ten days. The intensity of their preparation just blows me away. As much as we think that it has been good for Jeremie (and he is doing really well), we all can't wait for the season to be over. The days - and week-ends - have been very long because of it and it has really limited our social life to bare bones. If Jeremie continues in the next season, he will at least have his driver's licence and this will be a HUGE relief (to us!!!). I've got to gear up for our upcoming move on Saturday. Pack up once again and clean the whole house - NOT my favorite occupation - but I've got to admit that I am VERY EXCITED to finally get "settled" again - who knows for how long...

My little PEARL Kylie is quite a witty, funny little 3-year-old. She keeps amusing us whith her comments and ideas. A few days ago, she decided that her name was not Kylie anymore but "Pearl" - out of the blue - no idea where she got that from... To my knowledge she has never heard the name Pearl before. And pearls are definitely not part of our everyday family conversations. (Although both Nathalie and I each own a tahitian pearl - gifts we got from Tahiti!) Already months ago, she started giving funky names to her stuffed animals. A very creative mind indeed :)! Pearl - a very appropriate name she gave herself - our precious princess! Friday is her favorite day of the week. That's the day we go to Playcenter

http://www.playcentre.org.nz/playcentreDetail.php?id=134&assocID=35.

Today, she made pink playdough with rum flavour (choice of one of the Moms) and later helped bake spaghetti/cheese scones for morning tea (or snack). Besides swinging on the swing which is a favorite any day, she got to watch big, colourful frozen balls of ice melt in the sun - with the best part at the end when she was allowed to hammer the rest of them into small pieces!

Other favorites are dress-up, water-play and painting - especially finger-paint where she REALLY gets into it and usually ends up very messy.

Vive le playcenter!!!

F E A S T I N G Yesterday was Rich's and my 19th wedding anniversary - - - WOW! It was funny - the night before we were talking about it and I was just about to say, "It seems like it was yesterday", when Rich said, "It all seems like a big blurr." We had a good laugh at our different ways of remembering our special day! I think it's probably a pretty typical male/female difference :) Besides making a nice dinner and giving me some beautiful flowers, he is blessing me with the most wonderful gift this week: A prayer-retreat at the House of Prayer! Since the hours of continuous prayer were upped to 8 per day, it has become possible for us to make a way where I can spend 3-4 hours before the Lord every day this week. I can't tell you HOW MUCH this means to me!!! I am getting unraveled/melting away in his sweet, tender presence. Just Him, my Bible and me - undisturbed!!! - in an atmosphere of worship. It is the best thing EVER!!! The last season of my life where I could have this kind of deep and loooong communion with my lover Jesus was before I got married - it's been a looooooooong time! I soooooo long for Him - - - am soooooo hungry for him - - - sooooo desperate just to BE with him!!! BE - not do! It is just amazingly WONDERFUL - because HE IS!!! He is ravishing me with his beauty, washing over me with his presence. I could go on and on. Wish this could last more than a week! The phrase that Jesus said to Martha comes to mind: "...Only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42) For the last 19 years I've been mostly a Martha. Sitting at Jesus' feet and just BEING with him, LISTENING to him without any agenda or time restraint, was a rare occasion in the midst of the busy-ness of raising a family on the mission-field amidst constant change and with tremendous pressures and stresses. Yes, I tried to carve out half an hour or an hour whenever I could, but I was just scratching the surface of communion with him. I'm sure this is the case for the majority of us mothers - - - and that's ok. Our wiping noses, changing diapers and cleaning the toilet, or being taxi for our kids etc are all a beautiful service to him and very worthwhile. BUT - oh - do I ever enjoy this special time with him!!! He is showing me so many things, ministering his amazing love and comfort. I better go now and get breakfast ready for the troops before leaving the house for the day. "My soul will be SATISFIED as with the richest of foods, with singing lips my mouth will praise you. I STAY CLOSE TO YOU; your right hand upholds me." from Ps.63

Highlight of the day Although I must say that church was pretty cool this morning (I actually got to stay in the service instead of doing childrens ministry), the highlight of my day was - - - GUESS ??? Well??? Catching my first waves EVER on a buggy board this afternoon! It was soooooooo much fun! I can't believe I've waited this long for this experience! Somebody looked at me like I was crazy when I told her this week that I have only gone into the ocean ONCE in the two years that we've lived here. "Why did you come to New Zealand if you don't like swimming in the ocean?", she said. Why we came to New Zealand is a whole story in itself. One thing is for sure: it was NOT for the waves and the beach - although they are a fun family activity on a beautiful summer day like today! We got together with two families from Germany that are here at the moment. I even got to hold hands with Nathalie one time as we "rode" a wave right next to each other - mother/daughter bonding at a whole new level :) YAY!