Ireland in the Rearview

It is crazy to think that month 1 of this 11 month journey is already complete. There were definitely days this month that we all thought, “Shew, these are going to be 11 LONG months!” But for the most part, the past month flew by. There were incredibly beautiful moments and incredibly heart-breaking moments. There were moments of joy and laughter, and moments of tears and frustration. Through it all, our team has bonded in the most incredible way. I could go on and on about how much I adore each of the women on my team, but I’ll save that for a later blog. For now, I want to quickly (kinda) summarize my first month on the World Race.
 
In my last blog, I discussed our ministry with Adopt a Neighborhood. I joked about how we were becoming painting professionals, and we definitely did a significant amount of painting. However, it is difficult to put into words how blessed we all were by this ministry. I think it’s safe to say that most of us walked into this task struggling with the idea that painting a room in a house didn’t FEEL like ministry. Truth be told, though, each of us left Ireland with our own unique story/stories of impactful ministry in the homes of these people. God anointed moments with people like: Nora, Nellie, Bridey, Mike, Honor, and so many more. They offered us tea, cookies, and advice from their hearts. We had the opportunity to talk to them about our personal relationships with Jesus and how our love for Him motivated us to put aside our lives and serve His people. We were able to love on them and give them something while expecting nothing in return, and their hospitality and gratitude brought us unending joy.

Professional painter in action

 Our sweet Nora. We loved her so much.

We continued teaching Children’s Church every Sunday, which was a blessing. We sang funny songs, taught stories, played games to help them learn memory verses, and spent time loving on the sweet kiddos.
 
We also had the opportunity to participate in “Healing on the Streets” and street evangelism on several different occasions. While the concepts behind both of these things were somewhat overwhelming, God definitely provided all that we needed.  We had (mostly) beautiful weather on those days. We had the ability to talk and pray with people who just needed their voices to be heard. We had the opportunity to speak life into people who had only encountered darkness, loneliness, and death. We met Edward and Martin; people who just needed to see that there were people who cared- no agenda, no hidden purpose- just honest love.

Healing on the streets… Sorry it's sideways. Technologically challenged.

Face painting and puppets on Shop Street!

Master puppeteers
 
The people of Discovery Church, though, were the biggest blessing of all. I wish that I could list off each person to you and how their unique, beautiful spirits touched our hearts. Their generosity, gratefulness, and willingness to help and serve along side us blessed us tremendously. It hurt us to say goodbye to these people, but I still pray every day that God will bless their lives for how well they loved us. The Cullen and Feeney families, Ruth and Keith, Willie and Teresa, Fran, Herjit, Irina, and so many more: Please know how much we love and appreciate each of you. You are greatly missed.

And finally, as promised in my “11 things” blog, I did keep a list of running tallies for month one. Some of the categories may vary from month to month, but it was fun keeping track and I look forward to continuing this exercise in the months ahead.
 
So, here she is… Ireland in numbers:
 
Cups of tea: 34 (Yes, I was only in Ireland for 24 days. Don’t judge me.)
Cups of coffee: 16
Biscuits (aka: cookies)/cakes/scones: too many to count
Meals that include rice: 12
Meals that include pasta: 7
Meals that include potatoes: 14
Times I showered: 10
KFC’s spotted: 1
Times “P.S. I Love You” was referenced: 23
 
Advice for future racers in Galway/Ireland:
 
1. Learn the lingo so that you don’t look make a fool of yourself.
A few helpful hints:
“Crisps” are potato chips. “Chips” are French fries.
“What’s the craic (sounds like: crack)?” means “What’s up?” or “What’s going on?”
Boot: trunk of a car
Bonnet: hood of a car
Rubbish: trash
Biscuits: Cookies
If you want someone to drive you into town…
Don’t say: “I need a ride.” (This has a very different meaning)
Instead say: “I need a lift.”
Aaaand… Just avoid talking about fanny packs altogether.  Trust me.
 
2. Visit the Cliffs of Moher. And go ahead and go pass the “Do not enter” signs. Everyone does. But be careful since your tour guide probably won’t tell you that pieces of the cliffs are breaking off every day until you get back onto the bus.

 
3. Hang out on Shop Street in Galway and visit our friends at An Tobar Nua – a Christian coffee shop where a team of World Racers once worked.
 

4. Visit Discovery Church. I promise you will be blessed just by being there.
 
Alright, I guess that is all for my Ireland wrap-up. I will miss the enchantment that Ireland holds and the unending hospitality of its’ people. I believe in my heart that I will go back to Ireland one day. As Herjit said on our last Sunday together, “It’s not 'goodbye', just 'I’ll see you later'."

Thanks so much for reading my ridiculously long blogs! I'm going to try hard in month 2 to write short, more frequent blogs… We'll see how that goes. 

P.S.- I am only less around $700 away from the full $15,500 necessary to be fully funded for this trip. Praise the Lord! We do not have to be fully funded until December, but we have to have raised $11,000 by October in order to stay on the field. Obviously, God has already provided the funding for me past this point, but a few of my teammates are still in need of funding. Please pray about financially blessing any of these amazing women: Hannah Brents, Ashley Francis, Mikala Weigand, Lindsay Burke. You can check out their blogs by clicking on their names and you can donate by clicking on the “Support Me” link on the side of their page. Thank you!