Catch Up-Part One

Catch Up- Part One

We took a quick trip to Northern Ireland before going home
to Canada

Since I have arrived home and even before that I got out of the habit of writing on here, I would say I feel bad about it but I haven't. Before I left Dublin I felt God telling me to live in the moment, be fully present in what was happening around me, that didn't change when I got home.

When I got home it wasn't necessarily pleasant, it was hard ,I had car problems that cost to much money to fix, I had no money due to the fact I lived in Europe and spent it all.Then there was the fact that I was home in Calgary with no clue what the next step was.

Logically I started to job hunt. I am very blessed to live in a place that essentially always has plenty of jobs avialable but strangely I could not get one in that first month home. I was forced to live on the good will of my family and God and that was really hard. Here I was almost 24 and I felt helpless. But God is forever faithful, not only did he make sure I was provided for I was given more than I needed, no it wasn't money but not only was my needs provided for I was blessed by so many around me.

When I got home I got to attend the wedding of
a good friend. Thanks Lindsay for helping
me get there

Then finally God provided a job, it wasn't at all what I was looking for but they were offering money, how could I say no, it was above minumum wage, it wasn't working with food or retail, I couldn't say no. So I accepted it, the only downside was it was only part time and would not provide what I thought I needed.

But God again was so good through this season, I made it through I always had enough. Finally through months of prayer for the Lord to bring me full time work the Lord provided a place for me at the place I was already employed which was in some ways an incredible answer to prayer. I like where I work and I am so thankful for all God has given me in this.

One of my jobs when I got home, she has great jewlery

Now that is only one aspect of the past six months. But this is long enough as it is, I will write another time of what else is going on.

I have missed writing here so hopefully my postings will become more frequent.

The liturgical practice of LENT

LENT is something that I have come to adore in recent years, however my feelings about it are hard to express.
This season actually tends to be the time of the year that I most enjoy. It is a time of slowing down and remembering who God is in preparation of Easter.

When participating in lent you are encouraged to give up a luxury in your life for forty days. During the forty days you abstain from the (now) forbidden luxury in the name of remember Christ. Except on the Sabbath, one day a week you declare the Sabbath and you party. You do NOT abstain on this day, on the Sabbath you partake and enjoy what you have given up.

I find that during Lent is the only time that I truly keep and appreciate the Sabbath. Other times in the year I do go to church and life goes on the same as any other day. However during Lent my focus is clearer and more direct, I find I appreciate my Sabbath day of rest, I slow down and truly just rest. I find that as I indulge in my luxury I think more clearly about who God is. I crave deeper intimacy with him, I find I crave to know more of His word just so that I can truly understand and appreciate why I am putting myself through a fast.

Yes we could all be very holy and proclaim that I should feel this way all year long, and I am not saying that this is not something I do not experience at other times of the year however there is just a different feeling associated with Lent. There is a shared knowledge that people are around the world are also partaking in this spiritual time, that you are all thinking and remember Christ together over these 40 days. Then at the end everyone celebrates together, we know truly how to celebrate the rising of Christ from the dead because we have been focusing and thinking on it for the last 40 days. This is truly a feast day, this is when the fast ends, this is when we all party.


So I encourage you to participate, just try it out once, what do you have to lose?

I miss it. but thats not the end of the story

I miss it but...

I am determined not to miss out on life here in Calgary by dwelling on how much I miss Dublin. I know in my heart that I will go back so right now I am struggling to learn balance. I am struggling to LIVE here in Calgary, to invest in the people around me with out dwelling or worrying about Dublin. Its a struggle but one I am excited to see what God places in life here in Calgary. I am so blessed.

How can I not love that face and fall

But that's not the end of the story.

My life here is full, since coming home from Dublin I have seen God provide for me in every area I have had a need. I went from frantically panicking about having no job and bills to pay to having 3 jobs in a matter of a few weeks.

I desperately wanted a community to be apart of. I wanted it to be diverse, challenging and loving, a group who wasn't afraid to argue or be different. I can now happily say I am apart of a small group that is definitely all of these things and more than I would have dreamed for myself.

I wanted peace about life. I wanted to know that I am going down the right path and I can honestly say that although I have absolutely ZERO idea about what the future will look like I am at peace with where I am right now.

BUT

I miss it.

I miss the kids.

I miss the people at DCM

I miss the teens.

I miss the HARD times and the GOOD times.

I miss the city.

I miss my roommates.

I miss my church there.

I miss the laughs.

I just miss Dublin.

But I will keep looking at the Lord and thanking him for my incredibly blessed life.

Choose Life Kids

A secret about Snow

Alright I am about to share a secret with you all, and its a little scary for this self professed summer girl but I think that I am falling in love with snow. Mind you this love will only probably last until February but at least right now, snow is magical. There is something so peaceful about a fresh snowfall, all I want to do is sit in a warm room wrapped in blankets and by the light of candles and watch the snow fall. 

I stumbled across this poem today that I feel expresses my feelings about snow perfectly.

London Snow

BY ROBERT BRIDGES

When men were all asleep the snow came flying,

In large white flakes falling on the city brown,

Stealthily and perpetually settling and loosely lying,

      Hushing the latest traffic of the drowsy town;

Deadening, muffling, stifling its murmurs failing;

Lazily and incessantly floating down and down:

      Silently sifting and veiling road, roof and railing;

Hiding difference, making unevenness even,

Into angles and crevices softly drifting and sailing.

      All night it fell, and when full inches seven

It lay in the depth of its uncompacted lightness,

The clouds blew off from a high and frosty heaven;

      And all woke earlier for the unaccustomed brightness

Of the winter dawning, the strange unheavenly glare:

The eye marvelled—marvelled at the dazzling whiteness;

      The ear hearkened to the stillness of the solemn air;

No sound of wheel rumbling nor of foot falling,

And the busy morning cries came thin and spare.

      Then boys I heard, as they went to school, calling,

They gathered up the crystal manna to freeze

Their tongues with tasting, their hands with snowballing;

      Or rioted in a drift, plunging up to the knees;

Or peering up from under the white-mossed wonder,

‘O look at the trees!’ they cried, ‘O look at the trees!’

      With lessened load a few carts creak and blunder,

Following along the white deserted way,

A country company long dispersed asunder:

      When now already the sun, in pale display

Standing by Paul’s high dome, spread forth below

His sparkling beams, and awoke the stir of the day.

      For now doors open, and war is waged with the snow;

And trains of sombre men, past tale of number,

Tread long brown paths, as toward their toil they go:

      But even for them awhile no cares encumber

Their minds diverted; the daily word is unspoken,

The daily thoughts of labour and sorrow slumber

At the sight of the beauty that greets them, for the charm they have broken.

The Word

"The Word we study has to be the Word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegeses, theologians and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word. Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions or leaders to replace the authority of knowing Jesus Christ personally and directly . When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvicted and unpersuasive travel agents handing out brochures to places we have never visited."

The Ragamuffin Gospel

Brennan Manning

HEATWAVE

If you haven't heard, Ireland is in the middle of a heat wave.

Beautiful day at the sea

It is the strangest experience I have ever been apart of, its not as hot as some places but its still just so hot. You cannot be inside because you will roast because no where has air conditioning and so you spend as much time as possible in the sun.

No complaints here, some of my best memories are being made in the sun these past two weeks.

We went to the sea

Swimming in a river

Had a huge water fight

Went on the slip and slide

and so much more!

Quick who is this?

Water fight in action

The sun drove us a little mad

Camps

Camp Set-Up

What can I say, its been a while since I blogged, yes I have been busy but I have also been avoiding this blog. You see, I am having one of the most amazing summers and I just don't know how to write about it.

I struggle with where to start, the campsite itself is beautiful and located in the famous Wicklow mountains, it has a forest to explore and adventure in. There is a field where we do the slip and slide, then there are the tents which are really more like houses that have the blood, sweat and tears of so many poured into them (a story for another time...).

Our "Bog" swing in the forest

Then there are the people, the leaders that I get to work with every week are incredible, they are so fully of life and love. They are inspiring to get to work alongside, the way that they just love the kids so unconditionally is really something so unique.

The beach during girls camp

Finally there are the kids and they are wonderful. Now I will be honest they do not always look like the "worlds" definition of charming and great, but they are. They are kids who can make you laugh for hours, they love fiercely and will teach you so much about courage and loyalty. They are really what makes everything work, camp is only wonderful because its a safe place for the kids to be for the week. Its a place where they get to meet and encounter God and its just so wonderful.


I have been so blessed this summer to be serving on the DCM camps, they are a place of safety, growth, love, encouragement, and so much more. It is an incredible experience and I can't wait to share more with you all.

We went the creative route during the sand-
castle competition... can you tell who this is?

Thank you for sticking with me even through my blogging lull.