My paperwork is finally done and my visa has been approved!  Lori and the kids have been going through the passport application process and, then, their visas will be next.  I leave for New Zealand in about 10 days and this is all becoming very real!  As we continue to prepare for our move one of our inspirations in this, Alison Weinstock, is preparing a move as well.  Alison is also an American living in New Zealand as she answered God's call on her life.  However, she is preparing to move back to the United States just shortly after we arrive in New Zealand.  I wish her the best of luck on her transition back home and understand when she says she feels like she is living in two worlds at once.

We still have many things to do here as we try to get ourselves and our house ready.  It seems overwhelming at times but I know that God does not call us based on our abilities.  He calls us based on our hearts and then gives us the resources and abilities required.  I have tried to read as much as I can about New Zealand and I am very excited about seeing the Land of the Long White Cloud in all of it's beauty.  However, there are some things here that I will miss like our families, the garden I have worked in of the last five years, traveling to the Smoky Mountains each fall, and our backyard where we like to relax (and where we had turkeys this morning before church).  But God has greater plans for us as we join with the Nazarenes and Christians in New Zealand to spread the gospel!