The Zoom Zoom Affect of Living Busy

I would have to say that of all the months since we have arrived here in NZ the month of July has ZOOMED by. A simple breakdown of the month will reveal that two weeks of School, a major 6000 word paper for my leadership class, John and Carolyne taking the month off, prison ministry, a two day retreat, 3 planning and strategic church meetings,
and of course Kelly and Jen and Jason and Chelsey all going back to Canada in the middle of the month lead to some extra party type stuff going on, has kept us very busy!
The class I took was called interpreting the parables with Dr. Craig Blomberg and it was very enjoyable. I was a late addition to the class so it caught me off guard especially since there was a pretty hefty book that needed to be read prior to class beginning and with a written review. But it was great timing as I am preaching through the parables in ICC right now so it greatly enhanced my understanding of the stories of Jesus. (If you want to hear them online you can just go to twango.com and type in kevin nichol and it will take you to my message site) My paper was due in on the 20th but i had to get a weeks extension to finish it so I handed it in today. The focus of my paper was the metaphors that both Jesus and Paul used to describe leaders and leadership. I even had my sister give me a hand with some of the sentence structure and English stuff. Thanks sis! We had some good friends offer me there batch out on the cormandel peninsula so I could have 3 days of solid paper writing. It was just what I needed to get this monster off my back. I am so thankful. Here is a shot of the mountain that the cabin is located on. We are in the middle of making some massive decisions about ICC. Currently it needs some serious work especially financially if we are going to stay open for business. Could use your prayers regarding this as I think some tough decisions are looming ahead if our current plans do not encourage growth both numerically and financially.
John and Carolyne both came back expressing that they had a fantastic time away and are feeling much better. They will be retiring from the church leadership in February O8 and our leadership decided to let do whatever they have a passion for in the fellowship over the next 7-8 months. Our objective is to believe God that they will finish well here and that God will provide wisdom for the next steps in his journey for them.
Well this is getting kinda long so I will shut it down and throw on a few pictures of my month.
God is Good All the Time!