Dear friends,
Just like all of you, there are many different ways to map out the Rhodes family life in the past few months. Isaiah keeps getting taller! Jubilee has lost (and regrown) so many teeth! Nova's superpower of making friends is like extra chocolate chips in the scrumptious "biscuit" (cookie!) of life. Ames has now walked much of the Earth (well, lots of places in the USA and New Zealand anyway) barefoot and proud of it. Michael hauls the kayaks onto our (small) minivan and has traversed many a mile on land and sea as the captain of our family adventures. I try to do thrice-weekly aerobic exercise so I can keep up with these amazing people.
As Inigo Montoya says in The Princess Bride: "Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up." The summary: We ended 2023 with meaningful work and life in our South Auckland neighourhood, as well as an incredibly full and life-giving trip back to the USA to spend holidays with friends and family. The first quarter of 2024 has marked "Round 2" for us in Aotearoa New Zealand... and we are grateful. We feel more settled, more at home, more connected at church and in our community. We receive these good and lavish gifts with thanksgiving.
Here are some photos and thoughts from along the way from the last few months...
Soufpac Kids Club has been the primary launching pad for our family to become part of the Randwick Park neighbourhood. These kids and whanau (families) have invited us into their place, and it is becoming our place together. We play and laugh together, and learn more about God together (most recently we had a theme on F.R.O.G. - Fully Rely on God - thanks to Leap Day! our theme verse was Proverbs 3:5-6). Please pray for the kids who come. Pray also for their parents and caregivers, that they would know the deep love of God. Pray also for the "big" kids who age out of Soufpac. We target 7-11 year olds, so many kids age out, and then it is unclear what is "next" for them. There is not a clear path forward with a youth group or a church to link them into directly. Please pray for our capacity and wisdom as a team to love and support these youth well. I have a direct interest in this as a parent! Isaiah "ages out" in a matter of weeks when he turns 12, and I want to make sure he continues to have a place of deep belonging in the neighbourhood with people who are followers of Jesus. This is something I have found, a gem, a gift, of living as neighbours in places on the margins of society: "their" youth are actually "our" youth. Their children are my children. They are our children. Our streets. Our playground. Our community center. Our problems and pain. Our griefs and gifts. Our joys and strengths. Everything is ours. This "our-ness" is a treasure of un-imagineable wealth, a gift from our good God who created us all in His image to love Him and to love others.
nacho night at Soufpac
cleaning up rubbish to make our neighbourhood a more beautiful place
Silver beet (swiss chard) delivery! One afternoon Soufpac Kids harvested vegetables from a community garden and then delivered them to neighbours.
Ninjas for the day! Our big end of year event was going to Ninja Valley in Hamilton where we PLAYED. HARD. ALL. DAY. Too many smiles to count. Lots of sweat. Big time fun.
Mista challenges Michael to battle
mums, nans, dads, and papas all joined in on the fun!
Outdoor Adventures have been a huge highlight for our family. There are so many beautiful places so close to us, and the more we see, the more we want to go out there and get in it.
SHEEEEEP!! (actually, lambs)
Sometimes the adventure is right in the backyard. We don't have A/C, so midday on warm summer afternoons the inevitable refrain becomes: "So... you ready to have a water fight?"
spring time cherry blossoms at the
Botanic Gardens (a 15-minute walk from our house)
Pine cones vary so much! But Jubilee loves them all equally.
Ames turned ten and got a solo backpacking trip with dad at the stunning
Mt. Taranaki.
bonus camping trip (planned within a few days' time) one particularly beautiful weekend on the Coromandel at
Waikawau Bay
Abel Tasman Coast Track Backpacking Trip.
Hiking the
Abel Tasman is a LIFE HIGHLIGHT. We did as a family in January before the kids went back to school. Michael did so much work to plan for this trip! The kids were TOUGH hikers. 30+ miles and four days of "tramping" (everyone had a pack except Jubilee), lost tent poles, lots of fording rivers, navigating high tides, enjoying incredible views, rock jumping, and so much more...
feeling fresh at the trailhead
it rained basically all day our second day of hiking
enjoying an evening at one of the bays (we spotted a seal playing in the water moments after this photo was taken!)
Nova fording a river
last day of hiking!
Note Ames' (lack of) footwear. Jubilee hiked the rainy day barefoot (the whole day!!) because she didn't want to get her shoes wet. HA! These crazy people.
always so happy to find critters along the way :)
one of the beach stretches
Neighbourhood Life. We do "intentional neighbouring" with several other families here in Randwick Park. Dave and Denise Tims, Faye and Steve Molens, and us are the core group, all connected to
Urban Neighbours of Hope in various capacities. More recently, we have added Rebecca Hooper to the crew. She lives in a "cabin" (single room) in our driveway, and she shares kitchen, bathroom, meals, and life with our family. Pauline, a long time Randwick Park resident, lives a few streets over, and has also joined our crew of intentional neighbours. We eat together, pray together, and care for our neighbourhood together.
our fearless leaders, Dave and Denise Tims. Maybe one day I'll have dreadlocks as long and bright orange as Dave's (I'm joking... I think)
As neighbours living intentionally, we work to say YES to hospitality, both in giving and receiving. Here we are eating lunch in the home of Jubilee's school buddy, Ayat.
game time with Isaiah's classmate (and soccer teammate), Arush
Faye (who is also coordinating Soufpac this year! thank you, Faye!) manages the local Salvation Army Family Store (she and her husband Steve are Salvation Army officers), and one day Ames found a perfect pirate captain's coat at a bargain price
Dave's cotton candy machine is always a win
Faye and Steve took us to the airport on our way back for our visit to the states
Rebecca Hooper (aka "Hoops" since she is the second Rebecca around here) loves our kids, and loves to bake! Quite a winning combo around here :)
There is so much more we could share! Birthday parties, time with family and friends in the states, lots of life always happening. Here are a few more highlights...
we were disappointed that the ski slopes were closed for rain, but then we thought of bungy jumping...
more espresso less depresso
Isaiah did robotics during a gifted program he was selected for last year
the number of worlds, stories, competitions, joy... that overflow from "stuffies"... it just blows my mind
That's not a reptile. That's an Ames, warming himself on a rock after an icy swim. YOLO.
Jubilee's face
Nova looks like a natural with that bow
here's the crew
My knight in shining armor
Hermione (Nova) and a "Reading Fairy" (created and played by Jubilee) with dad on Halloween. The boys and I were at school camp, so no trick or treating for us. (Oh, the hardships of life!)
Jubilee won 3rd in her cross country race!
Isaiah and Ames' school soccer team won third place!
Our trip to the states...
cousins!
great hair and great snuggles with Patch (newest member of Gayzie and Grandy's family)
Just Discipleship on display at the Society for Biblical Literature conference bookshop, and its distinguished author, Dr. Rhodes.
Seriously, though, it has been amazing to see Michael flourishing in his writing, teaching, and preaching in the past few months. He has an impact on the local church via his day-to-day teaching, and also on the global church through his published books. He also is incredibly supportive of my more neighbourhood-focused work, and helps lead our family toward love of God and neighbour through our family devotionals (we are reading the gospel of John right now) and nightly hymn sing alongs. What are some of your favourite hymns and songs of worship? What are some of the ways you are growing as a disciple of our Lord Jesus? We would love to know how you are growing up in the faith, guided by the gift of God, the Spirit not of fear, but of love, of power, and of self-discipline.
Michael and Nova with Uncle Brantley and Aunt Katie. Nova ran her first 5K!
This is just for laughs. Isaiah and I were messing with Ames, who was FAST ASLEEP on the Houston airport floor on our travels from Auckland to Memphis.
Gayzie time!
playing a game with my mom and Granny on a short but wonderful visit to Florida
cousins!
blue tongue... an inevitable after effect of a blue raspberry supreme at Jerry's Sno Cones
mmmm... Jerry's. We got to eat at some of our favorite Memphis spots during our visit!
... and get to see some of our favorite people! The girls with Laura
Jubilee and her best friend from Tate street, Tevortz
Jubilee and Michael lookin' good for a wedding we attended
yay seeing past teachers that we love!
a big joy of our time in the states was continuing some of our long-standing traditions, like the Advent Extravaganza, pictured here. Michael and the band led us in raucous and worshipful Christmas carols. Pete and Catherine, as always, were such generous hosts.
Grandadaddy (my dad) and grandkids on the golf cart!
big fun at Mamey and Grandadaddy's house... leaf blower battles...
playing in the leaves with cousins
cousins and cupcakes!
Christmas morning snuggles with Mamey
cousins and board games... wow, lots of our favorite things combined and enjoyed in all sorts of ways... what a special time together!
pickleball with Mamey and Aunt Christen
Pit with Uncle Ryan was one of the loudest, most entertaining, full-of-joy scenes I have ever witnessed
a quiet moment
a loud moment
a snuggly moment
I can't even describe the competition that elicited this photo
Special moments with friends that are like family
Michael and "the guys" about to hike their annual winter hike
Laser Tag for Michael's birthday
Special time with our South Memphis friends, neighbours and Bible study buds: Rhoda, Greg, and Honie
Rock climbing with Grandy, Gayzie, and Aunt Katie
just so silly
Ames working on his family tree school project. He had lots of amazing resources thanks to Granny Hart, Grandadaddy, Grandad Sasscer, and probably many others who have studied and recorded so much of our family history.
Isaiah and Ames are always learning to play new sports! This is Isaiah's school cricket team.
"Are you not entertained?!" living room gladiator fighting
"the biggest icecream cone in the world" -Jubilee
For my birthday, Michael took me moped-ing around Waiheke Island for the day! This is us walking through one of the gardens at one of the many beautiful vineyards on the island.
Much love,
Rebecca, for all of us 💚💚💚💚💚💚
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