Connect

Chris and I spent the weekend at Living Springs for the national youth ministry conference, Connect. It was very exciting, the national team is excellent and put on a great conference under very difficult circumstances. While our kids stayed in Oamaru with my parents, where there wasn't any snow, there was plenty up on Banks Peninsula where we were, so much snow that it packed out the gutters of the building and caused flooding inside! So, on top of workshops and worship, we also had to mop up leaks and shift rooms. Then the fire alarm went off because of the water in the system, and because it is a large complex, it takes a while to check all the rooms. The fire brigade turned up, in a 4 wheel drive with chains and spent the next couple of hours trying to improve matters. They weren't very happy, because the water increased the chances of a real fire, with the water shorting out the electrics. They would not be able to get a fire truck up the road which is steep and windy and at that point covered in snow. However, things managed to get sorted out, even in our wing was without lights or heating on Saturday night. And the conference managed to carry on regardless! Connect brings together youth leaders from all over the country, so it is a wonderful chance to get together with great people.
We have two weeks of school holidays and Katarina has got straight into some craft activities. We went to the library this afternoon and Hannah has read her books already! Zach has been to a friends house already, although I did managed to drag him to the Art Gallery for quarter of an hour, and Janine made pikelets for tea. And I gave blood today, for the first time in ten years or more.