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In the last post I promised an update on the major changes in our lives. Many of the decisions we have recently made were incredibly DIFFICULT and often bittersweet. However, we continue to pray and trust God as He opens/closes doors and guides our paths. Knowing that we have not made decisions without first praying to our Provider gives us peace that He will direct our footsteps.

We truly feel at home in almost every area of our lives here in New Zealand. It's a country that has a special place in our hearts, not only for the beautiful creation and weather, but also because of the people and church community that really make it "home". Because of this, the decisions we had to make were exciting but also slightly painful.

I received a job offer from Rehoboth for a full time teaching position for the 2011-2012 school year. I had only committed to half a year at Ponatahi Christian School, so the school staff here in NZ were aware that we would probably be leaving by July of 2011. Although it was exciting to receive this job offer from RCS (especially since I am passionate about all the subjects I will be teaching), I knew that our lives had changed a lot in the past few months and we had another person to think about before making this decision - Leah.

Leah has fit in wonderfully with us and she feels like part of our family. Complete reconciliation has not happened between her and certain members of her family, making it unlikely that she would be able to move back to her family's home. We truly believe that God has placed this precious girl in our lives for a reason, and we have the opportunity to provide a Christian home environment for her. We felt that leaving her in July would only destabilize her and possibly even cause feelings of rejection. But not only that, we simply didn't want to leave her because she has grown to be a big part of our lives. So we had lots of long talks with her about her desires for her future and feelings about the choices we had to make.

One of her first suggestions was that she wanted to come with us to Canada. We knew this would be a major shift for her and weren't totally sure about how it would be accepted by her family or the community she lives in. So we first decided to talk to her brother-in-law and sister to get an idea of how they felt. Although they felt that they would really miss Leah and were worried that she might never come home (due to possibly meeting a Canadian guy. Warning: Don't get any ideas guys! She's not allowed to date until she is 30. Those are our home rules :)!) they still thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for her to experience another culture and meet new people. We were all excited to hear such a positive response to this "brainstorming".

To make a long story short: We knew we would never take Leah overseas if she didn't have permission from her parents- specifically her father. So Leah wrote a long letter to her dad, asking him for his advice. He responded immediately and gave his full permission for her to go. In fact, he said that he had moved (from Holland to NZ), so why shouldn't Leah have the opportunity? It seemed like the doors were opening for Leah to come with us to Canada!

We met with the pastor and his wife, and they suggested we look into the schooling to ensure that Leah's NZ credits would be transferable, in order to keep all of her options open for post secondary education. What a surprise and answer to prayer it was when Leah was accepted as a student at Rehoboth Christian School, with enough credits accumulated for her to be able to join the Grade 12 class and complete her last year with them! Her OSSD diploma will be accepted in NZ universities as well.

So... with this background information, a lot of prayer, consultation with family and church, Sam and I decided it would be best if I accepted the job offer from Rehoboth. It felt so great to finally make a decision so we could begin plans for moving back to Canada! We also have a house in Canada that needs lots of work, so this was another factor for going back home. Sam has a great boss and loves his job here in NZ, but its not something he wants to do forever either. Moving back home will mean that he can hopefully pursue something related to his future goals/aspirations. However, he has been very thankful for his job opportunities here in NZ and they have provided him with even more handy-man skills.

Of course, another major factor was family! We do miss our families a lot: the festive gatherings, loud birthdays and boisterous parties, as well as just hanging out and being together for no particular reason. As great as Skype is, it's still not totally the same as seeing them in person!

It's a strange feeling. On one hand, the time is flying by here and we really only have about 4 months left before we go back home! I want to savour every single experience- especially the moments with my students. I am going to miss them and the school so much. But on the other hand, we are both incredibly excited to see family and friends again! I can't wait to go to the school Bazaar, Hosanna choir concerts, family showers and weddings!

We'd love for you to prayer for us in the upcoming months. Leah has lots of paperwork to get through and we have lots of people to say good-bye to.

There you go :). Hope this satisfies your curiosity. If you have any other questions, post a reply and I will try to answer them in another post.

Cheers!