So month one is over. Whaaaat? I'm already now spending my first night here in the beautiful country of Ukraine.
Crazy!
Time is already flying. It's exciting… especially when I start to get a little homesick. But it's freaking scary, too. I feel like we're always encouraged to seize the day. Carpe diem, ya know? We're told to make sure that we made every day worth it for the glory of God. And I feel like I totally did that. But even then, it's hard not to look back on the last three weeks and say, "God, did I really go all out? Did I do what I was set out to do in Your name?" It's tough, man. Most of us get this one shot. Like, maybe 3 or 4 of the 55 of us will ever come back to Ireland while the rest of us will have to let ourselves find peace in the fact that we accomplished what it was that God wanted us to do this month. Thats just something to think about.
Crazy!
Time is already flying. It's exciting… especially when I start to get a little homesick. But it's freaking scary, too. I feel like we're always encouraged to seize the day. Carpe diem, ya know? We're told to make sure that we made every day worth it for the glory of God. And I feel like I totally did that. But even then, it's hard not to look back on the last three weeks and say, "God, did I really go all out? Did I do what I was set out to do in Your name?" It's tough, man. Most of us get this one shot. Like, maybe 3 or 4 of the 55 of us will ever come back to Ireland while the rest of us will have to let ourselves find peace in the fact that we accomplished what it was that God wanted us to do this month. Thats just something to think about.
So some quick highlights from Ireland:
1) The weekend we went to Galway and Cliffs of Moher. Totally not planned as well as it could have been, but it was a beautiful mess. And God's natural creations are mind-blowing. I thoroughly enjoyed going off the beaten path, even if it meant walking through cow poop and crawling under barbed wire, and ignoring signs like this:
2) All our beautiful kids from the neighborhood that embraced us Americans and our crazy sport of Ultimate frisbee. This includes, but is definitely not limited to, Carl, Patrick, Liam, Joe, Kevin, George, Fiachra, Steven, Brian, the other Joe, and so many other awesome little guys that I can't name them all! You guys blessed our lives more than you can know!
3) Dina the springer spaniel and Stephanie the schnauzer. God placed those two dogs in our lives to fill the void of the puppies that several of us left back home. Seriously, God, thanks for their love and attention.
4) The greenness of everything. I'll never feel comfortable diving for a frisbee on any other grass except Irish grass.
5) The experiences we gained this month from our ministry has totally given us a new boldness to approach strangers about the love that Christ has for them. We were challenged this month for a reason.
So what's next? I'm glad you asked 🙂
Well, after sleeping in an airport Monday night in Dublin, then a 4 hour flight from Dublin to Istanbul, Turkey, then sleeping in Turkey's airport Tuesday night, flying from Turkey to Kiev, Ukraine Wednesday morning, and a 16 hour overnight train ride to Lutigino, my team has FINALLY made it to our second month of ministry!!
I had a layer of dirt and sweat that peeled off of me in the shower… #worldraceprobz
As of right now, we've been told that we're doing sports ministry (softball) and eye clinics this month. I can't even begin to tell you how excited that makes me. I know guys, totally hard to understand why I'd ever be excited for sports ministry 🙂
Its like God is totally delighting my heart this month. He knows how much I love working with teenagers, and here it is, he's set out a month full of building relationships through softball with kids of all ages in this area of Ukraine. Thank you, Lord. Seriously.
And tomorrow I get to go to my first full day of eyeglass clinics!! 7am to 7pm! But I'm SO excited to meet with the locals and just be able to help bless them as much as possible.
And so there it is, folks. The end of chapter one, and the beginning of chapter two. Amen.
P.S. There's a little bit better wi-fi, so blogging will be a tad bit easier 🙂 I apologize to my brother who sent me an iMessage last night saying that I needed to hurry up and update again.
