piha sabbath

This week was a busy one. The biggest contributor to the busyness was the youth ministry training conference we were leading this weekend. In my opinion the conference went well. We had a good turnout of youth workers and parents who were interested in learning more about how to serve and lead the young people in their lives. While things went well, the conference and all the preparations leading up to it were exhausting.


















That's why today was so refreshing. On our way to church this morning I realized that there was nothing I had to do today. This was the first Sunday in quite awhile that I haven't had to preach or teach. I don't mind preaching or teaching but having a Sunday off was sublime. After church we came back to the house we're staying in and just relaxed.


In the late afternoon we took a drive out to Piha beach. Piha (pee-haa) is a world famous surfing location. It's also an incredibly deadly surf site. Each year the rips at Piha claim several lives. The whole place encapsulates the rugged beauty of New Zealand's West coast. Lion Rock stands as a sentinel in the center of the beach and is the site of an ancient Maori pa (fortified village). The other dominant feature of Piha is the black ironsand of the beach itself.

We hiked as far up Lion Rock as we could then sat for awhile just watching and listening to the waves far below. After hiking back down we wandered about on the beach and then drove back to Auckland where we enjoyed some soup and chili, watched some television, and now I'm about to go to bed. It's been a good day of rest.