Classtime has been in session much longer than four days

It is hard to believe that I left Colorado twenty days ago. For the first week time seemed to go pretty slow, I didn't have a schedule, or anything that I had to do, but now that classes have begun time is beginning to fly by. This past week opened my eyes to the bitter realization that my time here is going to come and go very quickly. I want to be sure that I am aware of the lessons that this place inspires. In an effort to do this Erik and I went to the campus bar to have a pint, eat some kumara chips, and talk about the things we have learned since arriving in this beautiful country. So, here is a list of some things I have learned since stepping onto the plane at DIA:

1. Every single person, whether they party, hook up with girls, believe in a different god, or speak the same language as me, have the ability to profoundly influence my understanding of Jesus, and God's heart for me.

2. I have an incredible group of people that I consider to be my friends and family back home, and our seperation during this time will only make those relationships more fruitfull.

3. New Zealanders show the hospitality spoken of in Hebrews 13 everyday everywhere, and hopefully being around them for five months will help me to lay down my time simply so that I may hear someones story, or help them to get to where they are going.

4. Guiness may be the best beer in the world...it is the only beer where the bubbles fall rather than rise to the top. I really like it a lot, this one is for McClintock.

5. My heart is capable of smiling, I never knew this until I was able to see how my inadequecies have been used by God to show someone else something about Christ.

6. When we accept ourselves for what we are, we decrease our hunger for power or acceptance of others because our self intimacy reinforces our inner sense of security. We are no longer preoccupied with being powerful or popular. We no longer fear criticism because we accept the reality of our human limitations.

7. New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote, and it is was the last major land mass in the world to be inhabited...about five hundred years ago by the Polynesians.

8. Although New Zealand and the United States are very similar they differ in many ways, but no matter the cultural differences between people, everyone has inherintly been given the drive to be compassionate and loving.

9. I have learned a lot about what the gospel of grace really is. Grace means that I don't have to be a "christian" to be a Christian. I don't have to be involved with Younglife or any other Christian organization to be a follower of Christ. I can take Sundays to explore His beautiful creation, rather than go to church. I am a Christian, I have been given a grace that transcends my inadequecies as well as my accomplishments, I try to love others whereever I am at, and I love Jesus...and that is enough.

10. My flesh begins to burn after about 12 minutes of direct sunlight. It doesn't matter if I have a "base tan" or not. In all seriousness, it is a bummer that the most environmentally conscious country in the world got stuck with the hole right above them, which was the result of our environmental ignorance.

Welp. there's the list, hopefully it continues to grow the entire time I am here. Thanks for reading...