A Beloved's Journey

Just before New Years I tried something that I had never really done before. After reading the wonderful book series 'Sensible Shoes' I decided to take myself on a 'silent retreat.' The purpose for my retreat was to quiet my heart and mind and listen to what God might have to say. I was a little apprehensive to be doing a silent retreat. My brain often feels like a free-flowing highway and I wondered if I was actually going to be able to slow it down enough to make this work. I knew that staying at home wasn't going to help so I packed a bag with my journal, pen, bible and lunch and headed to  the place where I grew up, Living Springs. Home. I've always known I was blessed to grow up in such a beautiful place and I always deeply value the time I spend there. I hadn't been there for 3 years, which is the longest time that I hadn't visited in quite some time. I knew that a lot of changes had happened over that time and I think I was just worried ...

On Wednesday my students found a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest. Why the mother bird built its nest on a small branch, at the edge of the tree on a precarious lean I have no idea but hence why baby bird was on the ground. I wasn't there for the initial find, a colleague dealt with that and put the bird back in the nest. Unfortunately only an hour later some of my students came to tell me that the bird was back on the ground. I went out to find a tiny baby bird wriggling on the ground utterly helpless. He was ugly, there were no feathers, you could literally see his insides, his eyes were big, black, closed dots on his head and his wings flapped around in despair. He was in a sad state... and I had several students now watching to see what I would do. I picked the baby bird up and searched for something to feed it. I knew that holding it was the best way to keep it warm. For the next 40 hours I feed him, kept him warm, protected him from my cat and provided a heated ...

As many of you know I need to raise $20,000 before I can move on to the next step of the adoption process. So what is the next step and why $20,000? Currently I am raising money in order for my Home Study Report to be approved. This report talks about my job, personality, house, beliefs family etc etc. Basically it sets out to show whether or not I am a good candidate for adoption. Part of this report needs to prove that I am financially able to afford to adopt and stay at home with Bunny for at least a year to form strong attachments. Being a single person with a mortgage the financial situation has been seen as a bit of a squeeze. My social worker has said that I will need evidence of $20,000 in my account before she will put my Home Study through for approval. So will the adoption cost $20,000? No. It will cost more than that. Once my report is close to being accepted I need to register with ICANZ (InterCountry Adoption New Zealand). This is almost $2,900 and covers the ...

On Tuesday approximately 97 people attended the fundraiser quiz night at The SugarHorse in Christchurch. We packed the bar and the outside court area. There were laughs, groans, plenty of food and incredible raffles. And I was humbled (and a bit overwhelmed) at the generosity and support of everyone who attended or supported in other ways towards the evening. Everyone wanted to know the story, to know what was happening next and were so excited for the journey. This community continues to grow. I didn't know at least a quarter of the guests that night. In fact one whole team I had never met and two others I only knew one person! There were friends from church, from work, from high school, from kids camps years ago, my cousins, Mum's workmates, my cousin's workmates, my friend's friends and parents and sisters... the list goes on! The quiz was extremely difficult. I had planned to slot into a team but instead I enjoyed talking to everyone and soaking up the atmosph...

A month from today I will be holding a quiz night at Sugarhorse to raise funds towards my $20,000 target (we have just over $3000 currently). I also have 3 raffles that will be drawn on the night but tickets can be brought from me beforehand. Each raffle has one main prize pack with lots of goodies. Tickets are $2 each and you can choose your number. The raffles are detailed below with the amazing organisations that have gifted items. If you are interested in buying some raffle tickets email me at amy.millar85@gmail.com. Thanks! Raffle #1: The Beauty Raffle This raffle is for the women... Hair by Sonya voucher - My incredible hairdresser who manages to turn my wild array of curls, twirls and straight into gorgeous flowing curls every time. Sonya is an incredible woman who also has a heart to make a difference in the world (ask her about how she is supporting girls rescued out of slavery in Cambodia). Sonya is incredibly skilled at her profession, not many people c...

Today on my walk through Hagley Park I stumbled upon this sign written on a bridge. It wasn't just aimed at pigs, there was one for fish too. To start with I was frustrated. If I had chalk with me I probably would have drawn a picture of a women or child and written, "Is your lifestyle (or wardrobe) worth more than her life?" I was fuming that someone could consider that this cause was worthy to 'brandish around' the community. It's an animal for goodness sake... people are dying! As I walked on I reconsidered. This person is obviously passionate about something (not eating animals) and had the courage to put their message out there, to stand up for their cause. My anger and frustration turned to a sort of admiration (sort of). What are you passionate about? What are you willing to stand up for? In order to really live we must be truly passionate about something. I work with people who are truly passionate about the environment, or truly passionate a...

'More often than not, the journey to where God wants to take us requires that we travel further than we ever expected... if you simply give up because the journey was longer and harder than you expected, then you have become a settler when you should be a pioneer. The unfortunate reality is that many of us would... rather settle for less than sacrifice more.' The Last Arrow by Erwin Raphael McManus Pioneering is never easy and settling for the comfortable can seem the best option. But pioneer we must. The past few weeks have been filled with difficult challenges. One of the most recent (and most costly) being waking up to a water cylinder that had been leaking throughout the night. You don't want to discover a leaking water cylinder even at the best of times but when you know the only way to pay for it is to use money you have personally saved for your dream (adoption) it can be dream shattering. So $2,500 and a new water cylinder (and lino) later I'm back to savin...