Dr Seuss is so great - this ones up there with fox and socks i'd say :)

Oh! The Places You’ll Go! – Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!

Today is your day.

You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.
You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.
And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.
Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
You’ll be on your way up! You’ll be seeing great sights! You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.
You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don’t. Because, sometimes, you won’t.
I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.
...
Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.
I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.
And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.
But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.
You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
Kid, you’ll move mountains! So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So…get on your way! 

hooooooooome :)

i'm so excited to come home, like you would not believe

i'm making a list of all my favouritist things that i miss, i'm gonna do them all

1. drive to Otaki on a sunny day and buy a real fruit icecream

2. go to mcdonalds at midnight with Natasha ingram and buy a cheeseburger and sit on the beach and hannout

3. make ambrosia

4. sleep in past 10 and still be allowed to have breakfast

5. hug my dad

6. see all my favouritist people in the world

7. get excited about hillsong conference - and if i'm really lucky convince more people to come hahaha

8. do some baking

9. sleep in my bed

10. see my mum

11. have some chicken nibbles 

12. have a spa

13. turn up at jess bakers house for a sleepover at a ridiculous hour

14. go for a walk along petone beach

15. play the piano

16. have a really long shower

17. go for a drive. i miss driving

18. listen to music really loud and not care what everyone else thinks

19. look like a bum and not worry about walking to the toilet, or going to the kitchen to get something yum

20. make dinosaur pasta with michelle lam

...and maybe just maybe, i'll do a bit of study for the two tests i have the week after i come back haha.

Truman

wake up. breakfast. study. uni. lunch. uni. dinner. study. sleep. repeat.

I feel a bit like i'm on the Truman show (apart from the whole people watching me thing....) my life doesn't go beyond a 1 or 2km radius of my bedroom. church is down the road, uni's a 5 minute walk away, the gym and stadium is like 200m away, the dairy is on our street and the supermarket is a 10minute walk from my place and thats about the farthest i go. I guess it's both the good and the bad thing about Dunedin! but life feels very boxed in and scripted, right now. but its all part of the package, there's definately a billion perks, and a so many fun, exciting, and sorta scary things about living 800 odd kms away from the rest of the world slash my family. but i'm here for a reason and i know that with all my heart, but i won't pretend that every day i don't know the exact number of days it is until i come home for mid-semester break.

I've always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you've got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish.-Chuck Norris
chuck is a wise wise man.

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love. 

- 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

church hunting.

I love the house of God so much. These past couple of Sundays have been both a little bit sad, and so beautiful! Leaving a really great church is hard, because the truth is no matter where you go your not going to find something exactly the same. but the beautiful thing is that it doesn't matter what city you're in because the house of God is STILL the house of God. a church might sing different songs, the preacher might have a different preaching style and the people surrounding you can be complete strangers - but the God of the universe, my best friend and saviour - it's always his home and therefore it's always ours. i remember before i left having this beautiful moment with God where i was having a bit of a waaah about leaving Arise, and he just whispered into my ear saying, never love my church more than you love me. that's a powerful thought, if it's God's will we should be willing to up and go if that's what he wants, because life isn't primarily about loving church, its about loving him. church on Sunday was so great. it was so different to any service i was used to, the whole night ran in a completely different order, the worship, the preaching, the atmosphere was different. But his presence was undeniable, and despite everything - the fact that he was there in the most unreal way... that's what made it feel like home.

longest week of my life.

This past week, has without a doubt been the longest week of my life... and that's definately a legit call. It has actually felt like at least a good 3 or 4 weeks since i've slept in my own bed in wellington or seen my friends - yet it's only been 8 days, the craziest 8 days ever.

the past week has been crazy - i swear i've felt every single emotion a human can feel, all smushed up into a week. It's been fun, scary, awesome, sad, hard, exciting, exhausting, full-on, lonely, busy, beautiful, eye-opening, crazy, heart-breaking, and so much more.

i'm quite excited to get started into Uni tomorrow, its been a long week just waiting for it to begin. This is going to be one of the hardest years of my life, but I am so pumped about that fact that my God is faithful. That his promises remain, and that though he never promised this was going to be easy I know with all my heart that it will definately be worth it.
2012 - you're mine.

big beginnings..

saturday was a day that i had been both dreading and looking forward to for over a year and a half, and its finally been and gone. the last few days have been such an adventure and so exciting, but definately 3 or 4 of the hardest, scariest and most exhausting days of my life. it's literally like trying to meet and remember the names of hundreds of people a day, as well as getting enrolment and uni sorted, and making friends, and trying not to miss home to much, and being independent, and having fun, and not sleeping through meals - something i have not mastered quite yet. it's a beautiful thing knowing that my saviour and best friend is with me every step of the way every day, because if it wasn't for him i'd be back in an instant. this is going to be one crazy year, and definately one of the hardest yet in so many ways - but his love never fails, he is a faithful God and we are the salt and light in this world, so that's exactly what i'll be. in other news, i'm legit counting down the days until sunday, can't wait to be back in his house!

freedom

we have a beautiful saviour who came to give us freedom

he gave his own life, so that every morning when we wake up, the mistakes we made yesterday can be forgotten, but when we choose to hold onto the past and not walk in the freedom that he gave up everything for, we take the power and the significance away from what he did.

he didn't die so we could hide away what's wrong, or die so that we could hide all our mistakes and put on an act. he gave it all, and so all we need to do is give us and all our imperfections back to him.

it's crazy watching how much God can transform a life that is willing to be changed, a person that admits their faults and acknowledges that they're not perfect, but are made perfect in HIS love. 

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

set a fire down in my soul that i can't contain, that i can't control.

no matter how long we've been walking with him, for all of us there's still things in our life that we like to control. things that maybe at times we place above God, things that we're scared of surrendering to him & things that make us feel safe or comfortable.

how on fire for God somebody is can't be based on how high they lift their hands in worship, nor by how many times they've read the bible or how many verses they know off by heart. being truely on fire for God means surrendering everything, giving him control even when it's hard and scary.

camp

new years resolution of getting back into blogs is currently failing.

this coming week is going to be the one of the greatest weeks of my life.

i'm believing for futures to be revealed
i'm believing that strongholds will be broken... that depression, that eating disorders, that peoples past hurts, guilt will be broken off their lives
i'm believing that every person will encounter God, and fall more in more in love with him
i'm believing that girls will begin to understand their worth and realise that what he thinks of you is so much more than what the world can offer
i'm believing that every single person will legit have the funnest week ever
i'm believing that people will have dreams birthed, have life defining visions that will change everything
i'm believing that even the leaders and interns and everyone who actually makes camp happen, won't just watch lives change but will experience something themselves
i'm believing that more than ever chch, wellington and ham will become more like a family
i'm believing that young people will have moments with God that they will remember for the rest of their life
i'm believing for so much more, for a generation to take a stand and run after God with EVERYTHING.

i am so so so excited for camp, but i can't help but think that though for everyone else this is the start of something huge, for me camp is the end of what's been the most beautiful, greatest, funnest, most challenging season of my life. i'm still coming so so so expectant, and i'm still coming ridiculously pumped to see lifechange, but for everyone else this will define where elevate goes this year, for me this is just the most beautiful way i could ever imagine to say goodbye to something i have learned to love.

i was talking to Rhi tonight about me when i first started coming 3 and a half years ago, it was great. it's funny, because i was already a christian when i came. but i was just this quiet, angry kid that wasn't pumped about living in a new city and hanging out with new people.it's beyond amazing to think how much has changed in that space of time... i've gone from crying on my way into town cause i didn't want to go (funny story that...) , to legit having like a meltdown over the fact that i have to leave.

life is an adventure, and i definately am pumped about the next step. but right now i just can't stop thinking about what this week might hold. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.