This last weekend, Cason and I went with a group to Hobbiton on Saturday, which is where they filmed part of Lord of the Rings movies and the Hobbit movies. It was such a blast, and we had the perfect weather for it! Then, on Sunday, all of the brick house girls plus Jasmine and Noga went road tripping along the coast of the Coromandel, which is a peninsula here on the North Island. During the road trip, we completed one of our goals, which was to go to Cathedral Cove, where they filmed part of the Prince Caspian Narnia movie. We all had so much fun together, and this weekend was so awesome! (The link should have a video of photos.)
Last week we discussed relationships. We began the week simply talking about the building blocks to all relationships, and then we moved onto teaching on romantic relationships. Tuesday, we specifically discussed the subject of trust, and it really opened my eyes to the lack of trust that flows through my life. Within the job sphere of things, I have always been trusted with much. I think back to my high school job helping manage the concession stands at the baseball-soccer complex or my college job at Picture Keeper- I started at the bottom and made my way up to being trusted with much. That sphere of my life has always been characterized by people trusting me, but if I look at the relational side of my life, I trust very few people. It's definitely not an easy realization to make. Looking over the span of my life, I can say that I've never really held a great deal of trust in people, and there was several reasons for that. One of the most convicting part was looking at the close relationships in my life and realizing that even those have a thread of distrust in them. I wondered why my relationships were constantly struggling and why things weren't getting any better, and the simple answer is that they were missing these important building blocks.
All close relationships involve a deeper root of trust if you want them to succeed. You can lock your heart in a box and say "I will never trust again. It's simply not worth it," which is what I have done for quite a long time, but it's a guaranteed life of loneliness. I have people around me all the time at home, but yet I was still lonely. There was almost no one on the inside who knew when I was struggling and when I was soaring. There was no one who knew how hard the months of March and May were for me. There was no one who knew how hard work was for a bit emotionally. I lived in Morgan's castle all alone, out of choice, like I had for many many years, because I was too afraid to trust again. I'm finding though that if I don't want to be lonely, if I want relationships that are alive and filled with Christ, then I have to trust and I have to be trustworthy, and I'm finding that to be well worth it. This was my big moment last week. :)
In medical stream, Kiwi Jess and I taught vital signs, as we are the two RN's here, and then Natalie and Cason taught exercises and stretches for physiotherapy. I loved teaching vital signs to the group, and it actually made me miss work. I kinda miss having my purple stethoscope slung over my neck, and I miss critically thinking through scenarios. I will be back running around before I know it!
