Swiss Watch

We’re in New Zealand!!  Crazy!!  The above photo is of me and my awesome friend, Hannah!

Ever since we left back in December, I’ve always looked at this New Zealand portion of our trip as “hanging out with Hannah and Richard time.”  So even though I knew we’d be in this beautiful country, I was much more excited about getting to see my dear friends than doing any sort of sight-seeing.

So, even though Hannah would send me all these emails with cool ideas about what we could do or see during our stay, I always thought to myself – 1) We’ll probably be ridiculously poor by the time we get there, and 2) We could just sit around at a coffee shop and just talk and catch up the whole time and I’d be totally fine with that.

But Tuesday night, after settling in and having a nice dinner with some of their friends, we began talking about plans for the rest of the week.  And even though I still felt like we could sit around the house the whole time, the more Hannah talked about all these cool places, the more excited I got about possibly doing them!

All that to say, I figured I’d regret not doing these fun things with Hannah and Richard, and even though I’m already poor, what’s another $50 gonna hurt?    When else will I be able to do these cool things with my awesome friends in this beautiful city??

So today, we ventured off to Rangitoto, an island that was formed by a volcano.  We spent the entire day hiking around the island, up to the top of the volcano, stopped for lunch, then hiked back down to catch the last ferry back home.

On our walk back to the ferry, this random German  guy somehow tagged along with us and walked the last 1 1/2 hours back with us.  He and Richard began talking together, and Hannah and I finished catching up on things, talking about the trip, etc.  I loved that Hannah and I had that time to talk!  I miss having that crazy girl around…

Well, at some point Richard mentioned to Ten (the German) about my trip with Liz, and so he and I started talking about it.  He asked some really great questions, like “How do you expect people to take action as a result of your trip?”  “The US has poor people as well…why don’t you just stay in the US and help with all the problems there?”  “Isn’t it difficult to just go visit these places when it won’t really do anything to solve the problem – ending poverty, etc.?”

I loved that he was challenging me with all these questions…and we talked about that last question for a while.  He mentioned that even though it’s good to go and visit all these poor third world countries, it will take more effort and more change within the government to REALLY make a difference.  I told him I agreed, that a lot of these countries are suffering as a result of their corrupt governments…but I shared that I also have a heart and a passion to see the world, and to use the gifts I have been given to do what I can to raise awareness…knowing that my small part is just one of many little parts of a bigger plan.  I shared that I felt God led me on this trip, and all I can do is follow where I’m being led, and do what I feel I am called to do.

He seemed to understand my thoughts, and said that it reminded him of a saying they have in Germany.  “It’s like a Swiss watch…”  He explained that in the watch, you have all these little wheels that turn bigger wheels.  And you need both the little and big wheels to work together to make the watch work.  He turned to me and said, “You’re like a little wheel.”  And I smiled and said, “Yes…”

I know Liz and I have probably blogged about this idea before…  But it was good to be reminded of it today.  Especially since I’ve started trying to really process through things, and think through all that Liz and I have seen and done.

It’s tempting at times to believe that nothing will come of this trip…that we will have gotten ourselves into thousands of dollars in debt, not having made much of a dent…  These countries will still battle these issues, the people we’ve met and grown to love will still wake up fearing that their villages will be attacked, or wonder how they will have food to feed all the children under their roof…

But I must keep doing what I can…keep going where I’m led.  I know I’m only playing a small part.  But my small part is important (essential, even!)  in carrying out a much bigger Plan…

If we are called, we must go.  If we are being led, we must follow.

The little wheels are just as important as the bigger wheels.