Brothers

Videos from the Interislander

January 13, 2020 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I had some videos I wanted to share with last week’s post about going to Hastings, especially the part of the trip spent on the ferry. I didn’t get them stitched together in time, though, so you get to see them today.

I took the videos with the intention of just showing them to my brothers, but then I thought others might be interested too. So here you go—the highlights from the ferry part of the trip! It was a fascinating ride for me, and I’m so thankful I don’t get seasick. The Marlborough Sounds are beautiful. If you’re needing to get from the South Island to the North, I highly recommend this mode of transport! Unless you want to get there quickly…in which case, take an airplane, and forego the scenery.

But in my opinion, the ferry is the best.

(See the pictures from the trip here.)

River Walk

March 5, 2018 // Esther Filbrun 4 Comments

When we moved over here a month ago, I asked Mom, “Do you think I’ll always think of the East Coast as the most beautiful side, and miss it? Or will I eventually think the West Coast is the most beautiful, and if we move back to Canterbury, I’ll end up missing the West Coast?”

She answered, “I don’t know.”

I think I’ve now found my answer now:

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A month into being here, I think I can pretty comfortably say that I’ve fallen in love with West Coast scenery. Before we moved here, I already really enjoyed it—there’s a certain charm to the rugged beauty of this place, but I knew I didn’t like the rain. However, I’m finding I haven’t minded the rain at all (so far, anyway—better wait until I’ve gone through a couple winters to make that an absolute statement!). And we still do get a good amount of sunshine, which is lovely!

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But the colors here…I think at this point I’d really miss them if we would go anywhere else. Yesterday afternoon, we as a family had time for a quick walk, and we’ve been wanting to find out exactly where a creek is that we’ve seen signs for.

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So we took off to explore for that, and turns out it’s just a 10-15–minute walk away, around the corner, down a hill, and around another corner.

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It ended up being a lovely little creek that gushes under a rickety old wooden bridge (rickety, as in when I walked across it, several of the boards were bouncing under my feet!). It also has that special enchanting gurgle as it tumbles over several series of rapids on its way down to join the river.

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After exploring the creek, we retraced our steps, crossed the railway line, and headed down another road. We found what we assume is a fishing access road that follows the creek for a ways as it winds out to the riverbed. It wasn’t a very long walk from there to the river.

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The scenery along the way, though. Gorgeous. Even though we were less than a mile from town, we were immersed in the country. There were animals, green, green grass, trees galore, the river off in the distance, and the mountains behind that…. Ahh, it did my soul good.

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Skirting the gravel piles, we walked down a short four-wheel-drive trail and then headed west along the rocky riverbed. It wasn’t far until we hit the creek again, where it spread out and hurried over rocks and around hillocks of grass and small shrubs to merge with the river that flowed at its toes off to our left.

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Then a patch of sand, another bit of rushing water (perhaps a side-channel of the Grey river?), more sand, more rocks, and we hit what appeared to be one of the main channels of the Grey river. That water was moving much faster, and appeared to be just as big if not bigger than the river that flows past our town to the south. It had gouged out a cleft for itself in the rocky riverbed, and formed a swift-moving current through which it ran down to where the two rivers intersected. On either side, for quite a distance, smaller trickles of water fanned out, all heading downstream.

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The boys had heaps of fun wading in the rushing water, but the current was strong, so they mostly all stayed together to keep from being washed off their feet!

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Then they headed upstream to find driftwood to send down the chute.

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It truly was a lovely evening! And although pictures aren’t perfect, and don’t come anywhere near to doing it justice, the memories made will live in our hearts forever.

Thank you, Lord, for my family. For the time we can spend together. For laughter, and a beautiful creation, and most of all, for Your gift of love that we can share with each other.

Christmas and Life Update

December 30, 2017 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

I’ve planned on stopping in many different times to do just a quick blog post, but each time, the thoughts just didn’t come together.

So here I am today, with a few spare minutes so at least I can say hello!

My time lately has flown by, often crazy busy but in other moments slow and wonderful, too—all wrapped up into one beautiful package called “life”.

I’ve had my busy moments.

I’ve been working on a variety of projects lately—getting some sewing completed, starting some more sewing, in between swapping stories with my brothers and working at my away-from-home job quite a few different days.

Besides some of my own projects, part of my time and brain space has been taken up in trying to understand how buying homes in New Zealand works, and what one needs to do or have to buy a place.

Beyond that, there are endless questions about how to organize a cross-country move (thankfully it’s only four hours away, but still…!), and all the technical little details about how we’re going to get ourselves and our stuff over there in good time—and still somehow leave this house in decent (i.e. mostly clean and tidy) condition.

It’s an intense time. But it’s wonderful. I’m thankful I only have to do one day at once, and that the amount of stuff to think about for just today is all I really need to worry about for now.

I’ve also been away from home quite a bit these last few weeks, so that adds more socializing (yay!) and also another level of busyness.

But it’s also been slow…

As much as life has been full-on, though, there have been times that it’s been amazingly slow and I had time to just enjoy the moments.

When I was on a trip over to the West Coast to pick up my brother, I distinctly remember several times where I was able to just sit and soak in the gorgeous scenery flowing past. I also read quite a bit, and finished a book on that trip.

Another afternoon, I had time to sit down with a cup of coffee and read a magazine for a while.

Over Christmas, my brothers and I played lots of different games. That was relaxing, and a great way to bond. It was beautiful.

Christmas Day, our family went out to the beach for lunch, and had a delightful time. The boys loved swimming in the sea, and I greatly enjoyed watching them and having some quiet time to enjoy nature and think.

Also over Christmas, our family did a little celebration of Hanukkah. I remembered the second-to-last day of the holiday, but we started then and lit one candle per night for it. But still, it was a time to reflect on the story from thousands of years ago, and for me, it’s always fun and relaxing to have candles burning in the window after dark.

Otherwise,

I’ve been working on my plans for the new year. Due to moving, and lots of anticipated life craziness over the next few months, I’m (working on) keeping things down to more of the basics. They still aren’t all finalized, but I’m hoping to take more time for that on New Year’s day.

Despite everything that needs to happen in the next 3 – 3 1/2 weeks before I move over to the West Coast, I’m still feeling very relaxed about how things are going. God is good!

Oh—and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and will have a blessed new year!

How is life treating you right now?

Springtime Memory-Making

October 19, 2017 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

Today is a beautifully sunny spring day, almost untypical for this year’s weather. Usually, Canterbury’s spring consists of some rainy days but mostly sunny ones—this year it almost seems like its the opposite! However, after three years of drought I’m enjoying every moment I hear rain drumming on the roof.

This afternoon, the little guys had a hose running into our front creek, and took great delight in dousing each other and all the land around them with a liberal helping of water.

Reminds me of old days back on the farm when my brothers and I used a small pool for swimming in…or played in the spray from the sprinkler. Great memories!

You can see our oldest lamb, Daisy, on the far left of this picture.

And here are the two newest additions to our family: Dusti (left) and Debbie (right), both born yesterday! They’re so cute right now, just learning to take the bottle, and both have good appetites at this point!

Keep looking to Jesus. And, if needed, get out the hose every once in a while. Apparently, it’s great fun!

What are some of your favorite memories of springtime when you were a child?

Snippets of My Life

February 23, 2017 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

“It needs to be something profound,” my brain argued. “If I can’t make a good contribution to someone’s life, then it isn’t worthwhile.”

“But you haven’t posted in weeks,” my more logical side contended. “Not posting at all is just as bad—if not worse—than posting something that may or may not be encouraging.”

I made some dark chocolate yesterday from cocao butter, cocoa powder, a bit of salt, stevia, and vanilla essence. It’s turned out delicious!

Sigh. The struggle is real, folks. But today, I thought I’d drop in and say hello and give a quick update on life. Outside, one of my brothers along with a few other helpers are currently scraping paint off the side of my sleep out in preparation for painting. This guy…he’s dedicated. I’m thankful. That job is one that I’ve wanted to do for years, but never taken the time for (partly because I knew it was going to be a huge job, and partly because I can’t stand painting). But he’s getting it done! Two walls are already completed, so there’s only two left to do. Definitely a blessing there!

We’ve had a family living with us for over a month now. That’s been an incredible blessing, giving us a lot more fellowship than we’ve had in a good long while. They’re currently waiting for their visas to come through so they can find a job and live here on more of a permanent basis, but for now we’re just appreciating the fact that God has brought them into our lives.

This morning I worked on uploading more books. I always try to stay at least a little ahead, but this week caught up with me and Tuesday didn’t have a review. I made up for that yesterday, and have now completed the project.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, I’m planning to do a bit more promotion work for a book that launched last Saturday—the first in a collection of Jane Austen re-writes! This one was a retelling of Emma. That’s one of the books that I haven’t read, but would love to sometime. Jane Eyre is at the top of my classics list right now, though—I loved that story, and am hoping to reread it since it was so good. Maybe Emma can be next? Here’s a quote from the book, Emmeline, that I really loved:

Such encouraging words. Yes, as I’ve discovered and rediscovered lately, prayer can be the most essential thing a person can have in their life.

I’ve been working on making Bible memory work a more consistent thing in my life lately. I’ve always done some, but I’d really like to make it an everyday occurrence. Lately, I’ve just been finishing up Luke 12:22–31. What a convicting passage! Usually, I don’t worry too much about clothing or food (another way I count myself incredibly blessed—or else cursed, if the comfort of that materialism has taken my focus away from the Lord), but I do tend to worry about other things. Reading through this passage lately has reminded me again of how much my worries are no big deal to the Lord. Simple or hard, ALL things are possible through Him, and I can trust that He has and will accomplish His bigger plan in my life. I just need to take it to Him.

“And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.” —Luke 12:25–28, emphasis mine

I especially find the part about “doing that thing which is least” annoying—of course I can’t grow a foot taller just by thinking about it! Jesus calls this a “least” thing, though, so only imagine what could be done with our Father watching out for us. Wow. My faith appears pretty small when I think of things that way.

What’s kept you busy these last few weeks? What has the Lord been teaching you lately?

Boating the Creek and Giveaway Winners Announced

January 25, 2017 // Esther Filbrun Leave a Comment

The giveaway ended yesterday evening, so today I had the priviledge of collecting the results and randomly picking winners! What fun! Thanks again, everyone, for entering and sharing while it was running. The publicity was much appreciated.

LRD 500 Reviews Party

And without more ado, I announce…

Kendra S as the winner of the $20 Amazon giftcard,
Megan C as the winner of the DVD When Things Seem Impossible,
and Deborah F as the winner for the Janet & Geoff Benge book.

All winners have been contacted, and their prizes will be sent off soon. (If you haven’t gotten your email yet, contact me here.)

I wanted to share a few photos from a recent excursion our family took to the ocean. We took a few friends with us, and my brothers spent some time blowing up one of their inflatable boats so they could go boating on a creek out there. It was a lovely sunny afternoon, and all enjoyed themselves immensely!

My oldest brother took our youngest brother for a ride.

While some people were out boating, the others worked on building up the “dock” a little.

Then, since a day isn’t complete without at least one slightly challenging task, my oldest brother decided to create his own water craft: A “Y”-shaped log laid over another large log, the ends of the Y acting as outriggers to keep the raft/boat/whatever-you-call-it level.

Those who were still out on the boat weren’t sure what to think…

…especially when he asked to borrow one of their two paddles, as his pole (a washed up branch) wasn’t getting him very far!

So they ended up making it back to port with one paddle, doing a bit of twirling in the water as they went. And the one on the logs got back in safely, too—amazingly, he didn’t even get wet!

Thus ended a fun afternoon at the creek.

I’m so thankful we can do things like this as a family—being out in God’s beautiful creation enjoying spending time together is a precious, precious thing. I’m so thankful for all my siblings and for the unity we have as a family. We’ve been through a lot together, but we can still smile, laugh, and praise the Lord for His goodness to us. Life isn’t always easy, but trials serve to highlight what a treasure we have in these relationships and the memories we’re making together. I’m so thankful!

Over to you: What have you been doing with your family lately that will leave good memories for years to come?