The North Coast

Hi yous! (That's like the Irish version of ya'll)

Ireland is pretty great. We've been having a lot of crack. Apparently that's an Irish term that can mean either "fun" or it can be used in a sentence like "What's the crack?" which is like "what's up?" People basically say a lot of weird things here. Also, this keyboard is really hard to type on because the left shift key is smaller so I keep hitting \ instead of shift. Also, the quotation mark is on the 2-key and the @ symbol is where the quotation mark should be. It's surprisingly annoying.

But beyond that, I've just been very busy. Yesterday we had training with all the people who are doing summer outreach teams which was cool because we got to meet a lot of people we'll be on teams with later on in the summer. Jet lag is pretty rough though. Definitely almost fell asleep during a few seminars.

Today, we went to Knock Presbyterian Church which is Graeme's home church  (Graeme is one of our main coordinator guys) and then we went to a barbeque with a bunch of people our age (Graeme's small group). We went up to the North Shore (the uppermost shore of Ireland) which is where Giant's Causeway is. We didn't get to see it, but we are hoping to go back. We got really good ice cream. I was suprised at how pretty the beaches were. Like there was sand and everything. But the waves were crazy. It was very intense.

Here are some pictures!

Here's the team plus our new friend Fiona who we'll be serving with next week. She is fantastic.

Well, we start our first camp tomorrow from 6-8pm. Love you guys!! Cheers!

Day 1: Long naps and even longer flights

WE MADE IT!

I'm mostly just really happy to be here. But also really tired. Some of us managed to crash on the plane (Levi and his 11 hour nap)...but not this kid. This kid watched all of the Blind Side. I also didn't sleep before getting on the plane, so as you can imagine...I'm beat. It's also almost midnight here (8 hour time difference) which is not helping. I managed a two hour nap today, which I think brings me to a grand total of 5 hours of sleep in the last two days. No. I do not approve.

But today was fun...we met Graeme and Lois, who are two of the people who have organized their trip. Now I don't know if I just love them extra for their accents, but they were both great. The food here is more different than I would have thought. Even just a simple loaf of bread is not entirely the same as back home. The cheese is saltier, but the desserts. The desserts win. Ireland kicks America's butt hands-down. After dinner we went wandering through the streets of Belfast, saw the beautiful Queen's University (from afar) and visited our first Irish pub. We have our first training tomorrow and have to be up bright and early, so I'd better be off to bed. Can't wait to see what the rest of the summer holds. Much love...good night!

So this is good bye

Well hello there...

I guess this is goodbye for a bit. In less than 8 hours my team and I will be boarding a plane and on our way. We are off to Ireland where for the next two months we will be working with the Presbyterian church in to run vacation bible school and evening youth programming at different locations around Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland. I am incredibly excited. Like beyond a normal level for humans to reach.

It's surreal to think that soon I'll be in a country I've never been to, surrounded by tons of people I do not know. Luckily, I have a great team who I'm pumped to get to know. You may be curious how I came into this crazy adventure. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure.

I really had no intention of going on Deputation when I first heard about it. It just wasn't even on my radar. Then, a week before applications were due, both the message at Bethany on Sunday and the Inn on Tuesday called me to the trip. I've never felt so compelled to do something before. All of a sudden, I had to go.

C.S. Lewis in The Pilgrim's Regress says to dive is not an action, but ceasing to hold yourself up..."to abandon all efforts at self-preservation." So I dove. I stopped planning my summer and I signed up for two months in a foreign country with people I didn't know. I was so excited to be assigned to Ireland and have loved getting to know my team. Looking back, I can see even more how God was working having me sign up for the trip. It will be good to get away and serve outside of my home church and the youth ministry I grew up in. While it is hard to leave, I can see how important it is for me to go. It all just makes me more confident that this is where God wants me to be.

That being said, I know God is going to work in fantastic ways this summer. I can't wait to update you all with stories. Thank you all for supporting me. I hope you'll continue praying for me and my team as we embark on this journey.

Be sure to check back here for updates and also check out www.theinnseattle.wordpress.com to see posts from my team and the other 7 teams serving around the world this summer.

To be honest, I'm not sure where I am headed or who I will meet or how this summer will turn out. But I know I don't have to worry about it because worrying could ruin everything. I have a mission, I have a team, I have a purpose. So while I wander, I am not lost...simply seeing where God will take me.