The Start of Something New!

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO SIT THERE AND DO NOTHING! ITS TIME TO MAKE THE MOST OF MY LIFE!

So after talking with Amy Taylor the other night at HGHS House Choir, she mentioned something about Cheri Henderson. Cheri has decided that her goal for September (I think its September anyway), is to try something new each day for the entire month!
I too have been thinking about this and have decided to do this - try something new, each day of September and I will also attempt to write a blog

each day of my "Something New Month!".

Depending how this goes, I will also try this for the month of October considering shaving my hair on October 16th will be something new :)

So stay tuned for more updates about this. If anyone has any ideas of things I can do, let me know and I will attempt to do them.

"This could be the start of something new....I feel in my heart, the start of something new"

The week that was

So I have now pretty much been back in Hawkes Bay for a week now and honestly I am loving it so much!

Just being away from Hamilton, being able to catch up with family and friends and spend some time "relaxing" or at least attempting to relax is so amazing.

It was so great earlier this week just to be able to sit down with Mum, Dad and Ash and just be able to watch a dvd and have a FAMILY GAME NIGHT! Wow, honestly im sure this was the first time in years (literally), that we have had a family game night but it was such an awesome thing to do.

Seeing Poppa again and spending some good quality time with him. Emailing people about my hair shave in October. Going out for dinner to a friend's place and catching up with her and her boyfriend. Meeting up with people at church who I have not seen since like MAY! Attending the HGHS House Choir and seeing Blue House come out victorious. Not needing to set an alarm in the morning. Hearing that a friend from church has cancer and is starting chemotherapy soon and needs to have 14 rounds - not cool at all.

Hearing that friends in Hamilton now have a fractured collarbone or have to wear a moonboot on their foot. Going into Heretaunga Intermediate and meeting up with my AT (associate teacher) for Practicum. Handing in assignments.

What a week it has been. It has had its ups and downs and certainly excitement, pressure and feelings of worry but it has also been a week of teaching, thinking about next year and my future and also a week of discovery.

When we can't piece together the puzzle of our own lives, remember the best view of a puzzle is from above. Let Him help put you together.

~Terri Guillemets

From the bedroom of Kathryn Allison Stewart, in Mahora, Hastings, NEW ZEALAND,

OVER AND OUT!

Want to make a difference in our world? Start now with NZ!

One thing with me is that I always have a desire to help out those who are struggling or are in need. This is something that I have always done and probably will continue to do for the rest of my life.This can often have its pros and cons but I still strive to do my best.

The other day I was thinking about everything happening overseas and had a real burning within my heart. There is so much drama and war and many other things out in the big wide world that I wish I could help with right now.

The more that I thought about this though, the more I realised that yes there is so much of this happening in the world but there is also so much of this happening in our own backyard.

As one of my friends from Taurima said the other day when I posted this as my facebook status, "God is calling us, the people of NZ to make a difference to ourselves and our country before tackling the wider problems in the world! If we don't clear ourselves up first, we'll be picking splinters out of others' eyes but missing the planks in our own! - God."

Its time to clean up NZ people, if we want to make a difference in the world, it starts right here.

Glass Bottles

Was having a conversation to someone on msn tonight and then all out of the blue (or actually more like, from God) I got this random "picture" to share with this person I was talking to.

At the time we were talking about how hard life is at times and some of the struggles this person is going through currently. She is a Christian but is also having a rough time with God at the moment. Well with me being me, I naturally tried to drop God into the conversation and I actually succeeded (or at least God did, through me).

Right, here we go and I apologise in advance if it does not make much sense.

The image I got from God was of our lives being like a glass bottle.

RANDOM, I KNOW!

What happens to a glass bottle when it is dropped on concrete? The glass bottle smas

hes and breaks up into lots of pieces of glass - some pieces so big that we notice them in an instant and others so small that we don't notice them at all. You then find it hard to avoid the glass and potentially stand on it,your foot bleeds and you get glass stuck in it.

SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH OUR LIVES?!?!

Well when our lives "hit the concrete" so to speak, it seems like it all shatters into a billion pieces and our hearts "bleed" and long for more - long for something better than what we are facing and instead of moving on from there, we get "stuck in the glass" and stay right where we are or even let

the glass sink further into ourselves.

When God comes in, he is like the ultimate mender or fixer and restores that bottle to the way it was or he makes a better bottle. He "mends", "fixes" or "restores" our lives and makes a "better bottle" out of our lives.

God can come in and restore that grief, loneliness, heartbreak and whatever else we feel. He can mend, fix or restore that smashed bottle and he can make a better bottle. God can make our lives so much more than they are or ever were but we just have to let him come in and "Fix that broken bottle".

Now I could type (and you could read) for hours about God and what he can do for you, and what he has already done for each and every one of us but the choice is up to you and you alone!

What does your bottle look like now?

If your glass bottle is broken right now, will it remain broken or will you allow the glass maker/ultimate mender/fixer/restorer to take over?

Hawkes Bay oh how I have missed you!

So im now back in Hawkes Bay for a wee bit of my break and honestly, the feeling of being back here in the bay is just incredible!

Being back here now after not being in Hawkes Bay since the middle of May is so awesome and it is such a great feeling to be able to just sit back, relax and spend time with the family again. Many laughs have already been had since I have been back and I only got back here on Friday night :)

Lets hope the laughter and the great moments continue for years to come.

Hawkes Bay you are incredible and I have missed you dearly!

Please let time freeze while I am here because I already know that time is going to just fly by over the next week.

Until next time,

Good bye and farewell from the land of the sunshine in the sky (aka Hawkes Bay).

God Bless,

Kath - over and out :)

Mop Shave Update!

So here we are on the morning of August 23rd, 2010! I have just been onto my fundraising page for my hair shave and have noticed that I now have $100!!!!!

The scary thought about the hair shave is that it is now less than 8 weeks away and as much as I would like time to stand still for just a wee bit, somehow I don't think it quite will.

So 16th October is the date of the hairshave - still a bit unsure about the time but at this stage there are myself and at least three others who are keen to shave their hair. Lets hope there are a few more to come. Not sure how many females have shaved their hair for CanTeen before but its going to be an experience of my life that I will NOT FORGET!!!!!!

Anyways, thats pretty much it for now.

Keep up the awesome work of spreading news about the hair shave and keep the sponsorship donations coming in.

Many many thanks and blessings,

Love Kathryn!

2010 - THE BEST YEAR OF MY LIFE!

2010 so far is honestly the best year of my life and I just want to say a massive thank you to each and every single person who has been a part of this year so far and also a massive thank you to all those who will continue to be a part of my life in the years to come!

I have done so much this year that I never honestly thought I would do, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and into the unknown, I have begun to realise a life long dream, I have met people who have literally transformed my life, I have made what will be the beginning of many lifelong friendships, I have got back into Christian camping and best of all, I have grown so much in my faith and in my relationship with God.

When I look back on 2010 in later years, I know it will be a year that will stand out and be one to remember for a long time.

The best part is that 2010 is not even over yet and I know this is only tiny compared to what God has instore for the rest of my life.

"I serve a man who has a plan"

At church last Sunday (after a crazy weekend at ARISE Conference), I was meant to be on Dynamite (Kids Church) for both the morning and the night service.

In the morning service, we didn't really have that many children turn up so Phylicia (the person in charge) said I could pop into the service if I wanted to.

I went in and praise and worship was just finishing and it was so great to be able to hear some of the songs we had sung at conference.

People got up and share a few testimonies of what happened to them at conference and how conference has changed their lives.

We then had Pastor Glyn Barett get up and speak. What an amazing speaker he is.

His word was about serving a man who has a plan and how every single little thing in our lives and the lives of those before us has happened for a reason and is the reason we are where we are today.

His grandfather had been in the war and been shot twice on different occassoions. If those shots had been like a centimeter or even a millimetre off, then his grandfather may have been killed and Glyn would not be alive today.

When Glyn's father was growing up, Glyn's grandfather was the leader of the Communist Party in their area. One day Glyn's father was playing soccer with a bunch of boys (probably all around 12 years old), and there was one 40 year old on the field trying to re-gain his youth. Glyn's father ended up doing something and injured one of the boys legs or knees (can't quite remember). He then said to Glyn's father, I will forgive you if you come to church with me on Sunday. WOW - Big thing to say to the son of a communist party leader.

Glyn's father ended up going to church and eventually became a Christian, went to bible college and started up his own church (IN A CHICKEN COOP)!! All of this was happening because God new that Glyn would be someone who would serve a man who has a plan.

Years later, Glyn himself (and his wife Sophie) start up a church of their own after many years of being unsure about what God was telling them to do. The first person to get saved in their church was a girl who at the time was cutting herself and was doing drugs. If those shots at Glyn's grandfather had been slightly different, Glyn's father would have not gone to church, become a Christian, gone to bible college and started up his own church. Glyn himself would not have been born and would not have started up this church in the United Kingdom. This one particular girl would not have been saved and would still to this probably be cutting herself and taking drugs.

There is so much more to tell but I will leave it there for now. All of this has happened because Glyn and others in his life, serve a man who has a plan.

Everything that happens in our lives, happens for a reason. At the time of hearing this message, I knew I had needed to hear it. Straight after Glyn had finished sharing his word, I ran back to Dynamite and gave Phylicia a big hug and said thank you because I had needed to be in church to hear that message.

So often in our lives we want things to happen then and there... we want them NOW and when it doesn't happen we get annoyed such as me not getting into univeristy last year. I was really annoyed with God at that but thinking about it now, I probably would not be at ARISE Church (as I would not have gone to Wellington first), I would not be living in Taurima and having one of the best years of my life, helping others turn towards God and I would probably not even have got back into Christian camping or being in a relationship with Nathaniel Feldon right now. Basically in a Nut Shell, my life would be completely different and all of those people I have had an impact on this year, would probably not be part of my life.

Who know's where I would be right now if it was not for that fact that "I serve a man who has a plan."

Assignments Galore

We didn't think that we had that many assignments due in during the first half of this semester - that was until we got the first one or two in during week four and then realised how much work we actually had to do in the last two weeks.

At the start of the year, we were all told that the first year of the Bachelor of Teaching would certainly test our patience and our commitment/dedication to teaching. Well that is certainly not wrong at all. The past couple of weeks have been full of many assignments, lesson plans, teaching times, tests and so much more.

I can now say that it is now mid-semester break and I have made it through the first half of second semester!!! These first six weeks have seemed to go so much faster than the first six weeks of semester A but I only only have 6 weeks left of Semester B for 2010. Six weeks of classes, four weeks straight of teaching and then the first year of my degree is over - O>V>E>R!

Time to relax and get in my last three assignments, do a bit of reading and have some time away from Hamilton! Hawkes Bay, here I come!

ARISE Conference 2010

Wow, what an incredible time ARISE Conference 2010 was.

There was so much in my life before I went to conference that I was worrying about or thinking, no... God won't give me that or he wont let me do that. At conference there were so many incredible speaks such as Reggie Dabbs, Glen Berteau and Glyn Barrett and many more.

Long story short, I came away from Conference with not much sleep at all (maybe 16 hours tops over three days/nights), a new outlook on life and quite a few new friendships formed too.

More info to come later.

Love and blessings,

Kathryn xoxox

Practicum 2010 - Heretaunga Intermediate!

All first year Bachelor of Teaching (Primary) Students (at Waikato University), do a practicum of four weeks at the end of the year. Basically this means four weeks of being an actual teacher and putting all the things we have learnt throughout the year into practice - or at least attempting to.

At the moment, there is a massive list of schools to select from on a database. We make five selections and then once the database closes, its pretty much all up to the computer from here and the computer makes the final selection. I guess that is fair enough since there are like 160 of us to make decisions for.

I was looking on the database a couple of weeks ago and trying to see if I could get a school in Hawkes Bay for my practicum. None of the schools were avaible so I emailed the lecturer in charge of it all and pretty much asked him to work his magic and see if I would be able to get a school in Hawkes Bay. He emailed me back and the next day I was sitting in his office having a meeting with him

about possible schools.

A week later, I get an email back from him to say "Hi Kathryn, FYI, Regards Mark"

Attached with the email was a copy of what he had sent to David Lunny at Heretaunga Intermediate.

So long story short, im going back to my old intermediate for practicum at the end of the year which will be interesting but I know it will be a challenge that I can handle and honestly, im just going to place it all in God's hands and let him do the work through me.

Thursday 5th August signaled the day that my oh so wonderful science assignment would be due.

Lets rewind back to Wednesday 4th August shall we?

I told myself that that this assignment WOULD BE FINISHED on August 4th, 2010 and NOT August 5th. For those who know me really well, you will know that I have a habit of procrastinating and leaving things till the last minute so I decided that I would finish this particular assignment the day before instead.

Around 9pm that particular day, I thought my assigment was almost finished - then I read the assignment guidelines again. I had done part of it wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Later that night around 11:50pm (still August 4th), my assignment was still not finished although I was certainly ready for sleep - my body had been ready for sleep for nearly 2 hours :) I was starting to wonder if I would actually get it finished on Wednesday or not.

11:57pm - still not finished,

11:58pm - still going

THIS WAS LITERALLY DOWN TO THE WIRE

11:59PM WEDNESDAY AUGUST 4TH - MY ASSIGNMENT WAS COMPLETE! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

12:15AM Thursday August 5th - Kath in bed (in PJ's), computer turned off and Kath half asleep already!

7:30AM Thursday - Kath woke up, not tired at all and glad that she did not have to worry about her silly Science assignment any longer.

Time is ticking away

Today signalled the begining of week four for Semester B 2010!

Honestly tis so crazy to realise how fast this Semester is going and I don't know why it seems to be going so fast but it is. Here is the countdown so far.....

3 more days till my first assignment of this semester is due!

14 more days till my Maori pronouncation test

10 more days till I get to head to Wellington for Conference

18 more days till I get to see a glimpse of Hawkes Bay once more,

18 more days to get assignments done and dusted before mid-semester break!

YIKES!!

I pray and hope that the rest of this semester goes by fast but at the same time, it goes by slow enough to allow me time to complete everything I need to do.