Shayna | Ōhakune, Manawatū – Whanganui

“For me, it would be every day. Every day you need to be brave. Every day you need to have courage to be able to wake up, courage to be able to accept whatever’s going to be coming towards you today, whether that’s in mahi, whether that’s in life, but just being brave, to be able to walk out, to lift your head up high, and to embrace whatever challenge you might be going ahead.

Walking through that challenge, and coming out at the end, no matter what you achieve, you can get through anything. It’s really about setting your mind right, for me, how I set my mind right, or set my day right, but every day, I need to wake up. I need to not be afraid, but have courage. For me it’s my faith, my faith in God, my faith in knowing and trusting in Him, that my foundation is set in Him, so therefore I can stand and walk out on this day. 

I was born in Whanganui. I was actually raised on the Whanganui River, up at the upper reaches in Tieke  and Parinui. I spent a lot of time here in the Waimarino, Raetihi, wha etahi Makakahi, Pipiriki, all our Marae down in the awa Owara. I moved here in 2004, met my husband here in 2004, and Ruapehu, or actually Karioi will be my forever home. I love it here. As you can see, we have a beautiful mountain over there. If you don’t know, his name is Ruapehu, and we refer to him as Koro Ruapehu, or Matua te Mana. 

My journey with my faith was where me and my husband together wanted a strong foundation for our children. We wanted our children to grow up knowing God. We wanted our children to have this freedom in life where nothing will worry them, that no matter what they did yesterday, it doesn’t affect them today. That what they will do tomorrow will be tomorrow. Your decisions that you make ain’t going to affect you. They’re not going to condemn you, but you’re going to learn from those lessons, they’re not going to have a hold on you. So what I did yesterday does not have any hold on who I am today. We wanted more for our kids. We wanted to experience life where we could, where we had a relationship with God. We wanted to learn about marriage, and what marriage actually means. We’ve learned what real true love is, and that’s by having a relationship with Jesus and having a relationship with God. Me and my husband are able to lead our family, he leads our family to Christ which helps us to be able to be better parents, be better human beings, contribute more to the community, but most of all love each other, because that’s one of the, that’s one of the biggest things in the Bible. Love each other, no matter who they are. Extend that love. That love that He gives you is free for you to give to others.”