Repented AND baptised!

We always rejoice when believers obey the Lord's command to be baptized. As baptists we hold to the clear biblical teaching of 'Believer's Baptism' - ie not infant baptism or sprinkling or some other mode, but a full immersion following the new birth wrought by the Spirit.  In some cases, baptism follows salvation after many years as it is taught and better understood - and so we praise the Lord for His work of convincing and convicting in the lives of Betta and Adele.  Cameron is a young convert who early expressed a desire to be baptised.  We are so excited!  All three shared testimony and apart from the water in the baptismal pool (which was apparently Very Warm), there were also many watery eyes.

Lunch was a congenial affair as a large contingent of church family brought picnic food to the Scenic Reserve. 

Nick used the opportunity of an eager audience to expound some points of theology (but oh dear, just look at Graham in the background).

Man, oh man

Nick was out for the morning helping Andreas and Danielle with more shifting of boxes and furniture; the boys and I pottered around at home (Aaron amused us with a stick-on moustache - he has a flair for the dramatic!)

We took lunch to the Bothas and spent a good half hour socialising while they had a break from their labours.  The men had a giggle as they sheepishly shared this snapshot - such affectionate brothers :)

Around Timaru in 4 Days

We've been having some small-scale storms recently with black skies - nothing compared to the epic electrical storms we got used to growing up on the Highveld in SA, but exciting nonetheless to see distant flashes of thunder and hear the accompanying growl of thunder. 

That was your weather report, and now on to the news... Spent the mid-section of yesterday with the Rawlins having lunch together at their place. The boys have very much been enjoying Peter and William's company, and I always enjoy Nadine's friendly chats! I was banned from taking photos of Nadine under threat of never being allowed to return, so here are the permitted snaps :)

The boys and I went out today to shop for their back-to-school stationery but most of their books from last year still have enough pages for them to be usable this year. It was not nearly as painful as I thought it would be and is another job off the holiday to-do list.  For our Friday Family Fun night we started watching the 1989 version of "Around the World in 80 Days"; we hadn't realized before we started watching just how very long it actually is, so by 9.15 pm we were only halfway through!  Will enjoy the second half sometime in the next few days.  We are enjoying the old classics (courtesy of Mrs T-K who seems to have an inexhaustible supply of musicals and oldies) - last Friday we watched "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" which has intricate and brilliantly choreographed dance and fight sequences which the boys appreciated, but they tried to read their kindles during the singing and soppy love scenes!

The return

While some people were up at 6.30 am making apricot jam, we enjoyed a peaceful morning at our motel, listening to the rain pattering against the windows...rain?  Oh no!  That squelched any plans for exploring a few walks and shops in Akaroa, but we had been keeping an eye on the weather forecasts so weren't too surprised or disappointed.  After a stop at the fudge shop (and again, commenting on how much my parents would like that particular shop, which has placemats to purchase amongst a wide range of other delightful goodies), we left Akaroa and drove to Christchurch.  Stopped at the coffee shop overlooking the bay where we stopped in October for a photo - this was what we saw back then;

 this morning Nick made me take a photo of the foggy non-view :) 

I discovered that a Chai Latte, three jaffas and a piece of fudge do not help car-sickness and it was a relief to be out of the bends and turns of the mountain passes.  We stopped in Hornby for lunch and shopping although our regular bargain-hunt at Hallensteins was fruitless.  We were home before 4 pm, the boys were dropped back home after a swim and a very enjoyable day and a half with the Rawlins', and we were all back to normal.  I vacuumed the house.
Met up with a group of gals at Liz's place for some crafting but honestly, we gabbed more than glued.  Although of course, with that early-morning jam-making, at least one of us had already had a constructive day and didn't need paper productivity! 

Barrocco Celticao in Akaroa

Holidays are a good time for a quick getaway for Nick and me...we delivered the boys into the safe-keeping of Willem and Nadine and their four children (how much trouble can two extra be when you already have triplets+one?) and took ourselves to Akaroa, which sparked our interest in October last year when we visited for the first time during a free afternoon at Family Camp.  It's a quaint little town with Frenchly named streets and old but well-kept buildings; our motel was on "Rue Jolie".  We arrived late afternoon on Monday, and feeling somewhat peckish hastened to find an eatery.  Settled on the "Harbar", a cute place directly on the water's edge.  Several Little Brown Jobs were eagerly fluttering around and were brave enough to eat out of our hands; they must have known we were tourists and wouldn't swat them away as surely the locals must do - presumbaly the novelty of birds sitting right on your table would quickly wear off. 

After a hearty fushnchups we wandered through town on the main road, alongside the shell-strewn beach, thinking how much my parents would love this town if/when they come to visit us again! 

Now this would definitely not be a Suitable Booking Arrangement if you were in South Africa - these people hire out kayaks and also do guided tours and dolphin swims in the bay.  You simply use their cellphone which is attached to the inside of the car, and dial a number to make a booking.  They also had an iPad set up in the back seat with signs posted on the windows saying "look here", so you could see how much fun it would be to use their services.  In SA all you would see is a smashed window and a disconnected cord with no phone!  We still marvel at the low crime rate here.

Whaling trypots (above) are dotted about the foreshore, dating back to the mid 1800s. 

We walked all the way to the lighthouse, admiring the views and scenery along the way.

At 7 pm we were seated (in the front row, mind you) and ready for our main reason in deciding on Akaroa as a good one-night destination - the International Akaroa Music Festival was taking place from 11th to 20th January and although we hadn't known anything about it before a quick google search for something cultural, this really grabbed our interest.  It's an annual event; during the days there are workshops and classes for students, and in the evenings there are concerts, varied in style and arrangement.  We picked "Barrocco Celticao" which boasted "a collection of exotic early, traditional music; 16th century dances to folk songs and modern jigs and reels followed by a ceilidh".  It was amazing!!  We sat enraptured as a group of five musicians entertained us with a variety of instruments and vocals.

Of particular interest (aside from the fiddle and mandolin) was the lute (above) and the theorbo (below) - again, something us uncultured backwoods folks had never heard of, but its additional giraffe-like neck sets it apart from a regular lute and supports and base strings.  Brilliant sound!

Had a brief sampling of some scottish dancing from a cute wee lass...

And then it was time for us to dance!  We must have jigged and reeled for a good hour at least, not counting the water breaks.  A ceilidh, as we discovered, is much like a barn-dance with a set pattern of dosey-dos and "swing yer corner gal", just in a different accent.  We are considering returning next year, armed with a group of musically inclined friends who also happen to enjoy dancing.  And...we're still not done with this remarkable evening...the musicians quickly packed up and regrouped at the Harbar (our dinner spot) for some jamming.  Wow!  We enjoyed the live music over a well-earned green apple drink but didn't stay the entire evening...left around 10 pm and could still hear the strains of violin and accordion carrying as we neared our motel.   Absolutely, absolutely wonderful experience. 

I've uploaded two videos to YouTube which you can watch here and here.

Debtors to mercy alone

Another whopper of a sermon today on "The Triumph of Grace" - available to download on MRBC's website (link to the right).  And it's plain to see why we're pleased that Liz and Graham are back from holiday! Brought them home after church for a BBQ complete with overgrown giant marrow from their garden.

After the pm service which was an interesting teaching and discussion on the Sabbath, we joined up with the Gregorys at the Bay (we would have had the Phillipses in our collection of people too but apparently our choice of seating was inferior - grass is for smoking, not sitting on, I'm told) for the Talent Quest finale, in which we kept up a running critique of the performers and their choice of items, clothing, suitability of range to voice and so on.  Spectatorship gives one the privilege of judging each item, and we definitely had our favourites.  Timaru and the surrounds have some big talent! 

Go Lizzie go - running up to get a shot of The Vocal Network, a barbershop quartet who were the winners in the adult section.

Were supposed to have a game of Balderdash at the Gregory's after the concert, but since someone forgot to actually take the game along with them, we just had a good natter with Liz and Graham and their friends Andrew and Charissa who are up from Dunedin.

A lot of hot air

We seem to be benefiting from Australia's heat waves with some gusty nor'westerlies blowing in the afternoons, and soaring temperatures in the late 20s and early 30s most days this week.  Unfortunately 'gusty nor'westerlies' means blustery hot wind, great for getting washing dry but not so much fun to play outdoors.  The boys don't seem to be much bothered by the wind and heat, finding creative ways to cool down!  They bought themselves body boards to use at the beach, so we took them to the Bay after tea to try them out.  Nick and I watched from the safety of the car - the sand whips around your ankles until you get to the water's edge.

The Works

Shared a super yummy breakfast with the Phillipses this morning - BBQ'd sausages, scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, and yoghurt, fruit and cereal.  Took many hands to pull it all together and lots of help afterwards with the clean-up, but well worth it! 

Fiddler on the stage

After a fabulous morning service and fellowship lunch, people were in no rush to get home - we pulled out the freshly washed teacups and served a second round of tea and coffee, an unprecedented act in the almost three years that we've been here!  We weren't home long before it was church time again.  Good thing Nick wasn't preaching, because two thirds of the Gonan family came home with us after service (their home in Kakanui is over an hour away) and Nick was deep in conversation with 12-year-old Aviel who was delivering a keen critique of his message, and they got to church late!  I'm usually his time keeper I guess but I was already at church for a music practice :)  We had Alfie Orr full the pulpit in the evening, and then after another lengthy time of fellowship we picked up fushnchups and joined a small collection of friends (including our latest addition, Dennis, far right - who may or may not become a more regular part of our fellowship as he's living here in Timaru but spends weekends in Dunedin where his brother and girlfriend live) to watch the last concert of the carnival, which was Marian Burns - this was the one concert I had really been looking forward to, as she's a fiddler.  We were sadly disappointed though at the blasphemy throughout her too-lengthy introductions to songs, and then she only did about two or three fiddling pieces - not that she's not talented, but I would have preferred less singing and guitar!  Nevertheless, we amused ourselves with trying to start up waves through the crowd and eating yummy blocks of cheese.  The boys had a ride each - Caleb on the bumper cars and Aaron on the Octopus (all by himself - not so much fun!)

Dreamboat

Nick has been looking around at kayaks for some time and finally found a really great deal on a second-hand Prowler 4.5 on TradeMe (4.5 refers to the length, I'm told).  He and Tom went to collect it from Christchurch on Thursday night, and today was his first opportunity to test it out.  He and the boys took wetsuits, a body board, the inflatable raft, the kayak, a bottle of sunscreen and a few snacks to Caroline Bay where they spend several hours playing in the ocean.  As it turns out, they couldn't have picked a better day, with the temperature climbing to 33°C during the afternoon.  Nick is VERY happy with his purchase!  I was very happy to be left alone at home to do the blog and play violin (I did have a talk with myself, out loud, to remind myself that I enjoy being at home on my own, just in case I felt inclined to mope).  The trio returned home mid-afternoon, tired but victorious after a great time on the water.  

A bit of history

Look who came to tea tonight!  

Renee was my bridesmaid and we were trying to figure out when last we saw one another - seems like it must have been around 2001 which was when she relocated to the UK.  What an absolute delight to renew our friendship, and to meet her family - husband Andrew and step-daughter Charlotte (the boys took an instant liking to Charlotte both because she's just lovely, and because she reminded them of Maddy Garnett).  The Dodds have been touring NZ for the last three weeks in a super-tiny campervan and this was to be their last night in the country before flying out of Christchurch in the morning.  We had a BBQ together, then took them to Caroline Bay to catch a bit of the fair.

The kids did the Octopus...

...and the Round-Up, while us grown-ups spent more time chatting and trying to find shelter from the wind.

Back home for dessert, then Andrew and Renee had to repack their suitcases in preparation for their two very long flights home via Singapore.  Absolutely fabulous to spend the evening together, but over far too quickly and we were sad to wave them goodbye early on Saturday morning.  Perhaps 2025 might see us together again?

wednesday & thursday

Nick has had a smaller workload this week with no bible studies during the holidays, and a guest preacher this coming Sunday evening, so had time to visit people.  We called in at Lindsay and Nyree on Wednesday afternoon (Nyree had thrown her back out on New Year's Day so sat very still...at least the bruises from the rake incident have healed - one must be sure to recover from one injury before moving onto the next one!) and we visited with Les and Marg on Thursday afternoon.  Tom popped in on Wednesday afternoon just in time for fritattas for tea, and Andreas and Danielle came by for a hello in the evening too.  During the mornings while Nick was at the office, the boys played outside on their ripsticks or read books, while I have been sorting cupboards and cleaning the house and catching up on washing after the time away.  Vacuum packing blankets and winter clothing is a novel way to save space in cupboards - and Briscoes sales mean affordable vacuum storage bags.  I love holidays at home!

Start of 2013

New Years' Day 2013: Nick took the day off from preparation but we failed to organize anything with friends so had the day at home.  The boys seemed to have more success in the social department, with a group of children readily available from the street.  I came across a Chinese Skipping rope at the $2 shop recently, and this was a rather ideal opportunity to introduce it!  It didn't take them long to catch onto "Tinker Tailor Solider Sailor" and the jumps in and on the rope.  Good fun - a revival of a game I played when I was at school.